Church

It seems fitting that I should say a quick note about the church here in Adelaide, seeing as it is the reason why I came to the Land Down Under:

Hope Valley Uniting Church is part of the Uniting Church denomination, Australia's third largest. The history of the Uniting denomination is a very interesting one and, in many ways, very inspiring. The Uniting Church was formed back in the 1970's by the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregational Churches in Australia. Their goal was an ecumenical one, to combine elements of the low protestants and create a more unified approach to teaching and sharing the gospel. The interesting thing about this union of churches being the vast difference between them doctrinally. Presbyterians, of course, come from a more reformed perspective while Methodists hold to a more Armenian soteriology. They solved these differences by writing the Basis of Union, wherein they espoused a straight forward gospel message and allowed for differences of opinion on all things not fundamental to that gospel. What a neat thing for the church to do! To say that there are things which we don't agree on and never will because we cannot know, but we can still worship and be in communion together. I wish more mainstream protestant churches in America could put aside stringent dogmatics enough to see that there is a greater ecumenical mission of the Church which we could all work toward despite differences in doctrine. In this sense, the church is really an inspiration. Unfortunately, the Uniting church does fall prey to some of the things that come from a looser, all-encompassing doctrine. Luckily, the fact that decisions are made on a largely congregational level means individual Churches can avoid such pitfalls. Hope Valley certainly seems to have weathered the storm and came out on the other end just fine. It has two fine pastors who are deeply rooted in the gospel and care a whole bunch about pastoral care of the Church and the community at large. Apart from the two lead pastors, there is a wonderful children's pastor, a solid worship pastor, and Jon, the young adult pastor. They are a wonderful staff and I am delighted to sit under and learn from them all. I know I will gain a ton from their guidance.

The Church has recently been renovated and is gorgeous in and out. The people are inviting and friendly and I really felt welcome there last Sunday. They run three services every Sunday--a traditional, a contemporary, and an evening service which primarily serves the youth and young adults. Having attended all three now, the church runs very similar to most low church settings you'll find in America. It was good. Though nothing could replace Hillsdale Free Methodist, I felt much at home.

I will certainly be posting more about the church and its functions soon. I think I will be spending a lot of time there ;-).

In Christ,

Chris