We are in tough economic times and it is tempting to be conservative and risk averse. No regional grants this year and uncertainty all around - maybe we should just bunker down for a while?
Maybe that church plant needs to wait till we turn the corner financially? Maybe we can’t afford to give the amount to mission we were planning to?
If you are tempted to think like this, come back with me to 1916 - a much tougher time in out history. It is hard to imagine how tumultuous 1916 felt to Sydneysiders:
- troops mutinied over the conditions of the Casula Army base - one soldier was shot dead at Central,
- so many young men were killed at battles like Fromelles and Pozieres
- there is a general coal strike
- the community is bitterly divided over concription - the labour government under Billy Hughes splits over this
In the middle of all this chaos some Sydney Anglicans were busy planting churches. I know this because St Barnabas Roseville East, where I serve, was one of those churches.
A group from St Paul’s Chatswood started a church inside a house in Macquarie Street, East Chatswood. Sunday school lessons were on the verandah. They lay a foundation stone in May and the building was competed 10 months later in July (you’d be lucky to get a Developement Application through Council in that time today).
Here are some lessons to learn from those planters:
- They were courageous and risk taking in the darkest hour. The week the church opened the Battle of Fromelles began. Over 7 weeks, more than 22000 Australians would be killed
- They began in houses but also built a church - at considerable expense. This was the new housing estate area of Sydney at the time.
- They did not wait for peace and prosperity but proclaimed Jesus to a city that needed to know him.
We stand on the shoulders of giants like this. They teach us to be strong and courageous, to trust in God in tough times, to pray, and to attempt great things for God.
Do you know the history of your church? What can we learn from it?
