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Tidings (June – September 2017) – page 1

SAINT THEODORE’S TIDINGS

Patronal Festival issue June – September 2017

The Anglican Church of St Theodore Cnr Swaine Avenue and Prescott Terrace

Toorak Gardens, S.A

Website: www.theodores.org

A Reflection on the Gifts of the Spirit

by Fr Grant Bullen

In the season of Pentecost, what are we saying about the Holy Spirit? What can we say that makes sense? The faith says that in Christ Jesus we hear God’s call to life. Then in the Spirit, God completes the work of liberation within us, carrying us into the fullness of life that we are promised. Simple enough . . . but how does the Spirit work? What is this Spirit experience like?

In recent decades most attention has drifted to the dramatic, the spectacular or supernatural. We have seen the ‘slayings in the Spirit’ of the TV evangelists – zap, the Spirit hits and everything is miraculously and instantly transformed. Infirmities are cured, bonds are broken, old lives stripped away. It is this world that has captured the language – words like charismatic and gifts of the Spirit, honest useful words within normal usage which now carry a ‘supernatural’ and ‘other worldly’ meaning.

When scripture and tradition talk about the Spirit, however, this is not where the emphasis lies. Rather the focus is on ordinary gifts that we know from our ordinary human experience. In John’s account (20:19-‐23) the giving of the Spirit is connected with the gifts of peace and forgiveness. In the story of Pentecost heard in Acts (2:1-‐13), the experience is one of excitement and exhilaration, combined with an uninhibited desire to communicate (described by onlookers as like people who are drunk). Such experience may be unusual to us, but it is not supernatural.

There is of course Paul’s classic list of Spirit gifts in 1 Corinthians (12:3-‐13) . . . perhaps the best known of all scriptural descriptions. It is full of the spectacular and supernatural – miracles, tongues and prophecy. But this list is the prelude to his famous discourse on love, where he categorically states that love is the foundation of all Spirit-‐inspired gifts. And this is only one of three traditional lists of the gifts of the Spirit – one is in Isaiah (11:2f) and another, again from Paul in Galatians (5:22f). Listening to the full description gives a different picture. There is wisdom . . . understanding . . . discernment . . . perseverance . . . honesty . . . fairness . . . knowledge . . . joy . . . peace . . . patience . . . kindness . . . goodness . . . gentleness . . . self-‐control . . . faithfulness . . . and most important of all . . . love! All are wonderful, precious and sometimes rare characteristics. All are special in their beauty. And yet all are ‘ordinary’ in the sense they are within our common experience of life – they are not abnormal or supernatural.

Taking this list as a whole we see a picture of a lifestyle of holiness, goodness and love, not an emphasis on a few spectacular gifts. It is this lifestyle Jesus calls us to. It is this abundant lifestyle of wholeness and goodness that the Spirit uncovers within us.

All life is imbued with the Spirit of God. God is the foundation of all life; God is the ground of all being. We encounter God’s Spirit everywhere. Indeed the Spirit of God dwells within us.

How does the Spirit work? Where do we see the movement of God in our lives? Not often in miraculous external intervention as if we’re invaded by some foreign power, but welling up from the depths of life itself . . . as that mysterious grace which draws and carries us. We see the empowerment of the Spirit in that long slow process of growing maturing humanity. The Spirit of God, over the years of our life, reveals and uncovers within us the true gifts and beauty of humanity that God invested in us at creation. This process of slow growth and transformation may not seem spectacular, but to my eyes it is wonderful and miraculous . . . and I am full of gratitude. It is the mysterious and powerful work of God’s Spirit.


Welcome to the new Archbishop of Adelaide On Friday April 28th, there was an installation service at St Peter’s Cathedral for the new Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide, Geoffrey Smith. He was previously an Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Brisbane. We warmly welcome Archbishop Geoffrey and his wife Lynn to Adelaide . . . and assure them of our best wishes and prayers. We look forward in the not-too-distant future to have them as our guests in St Theodore’s parish. The next issue of The Tidings will feature a detailed article on the new Archbishop.

Words from high places In late February this year, Fr Grant went to Brisbane to take the ordination retreat for the Right Rev'd Jeremy Greaves, a new Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Brisbane. He then preached for Jeremy's consecration at St John's Cathedral on February 24th. As a young man, Bishop Jeremy was in Fr Grant's parish at the Church of Emmanuel, Wayville − back in the late 1980's − and they have kept a connection over the years since. Jeremy is a regular attender at the retreats Grant runs at Sevenhill each year.

There didn’t seem to be anyone in

Sara preferred to let people work

out the hymns for themselves

He spoke of his vision of the Kingdom in the parish, and the state of the guttering

June 04 Pentecost Sunday ! 9.30 am Sung Eucharist

(Note: there will be no 8.00 am Communion Service on this day) ! Followed by celebratory brunch; BYO plate to share, and

wine or soft drink if desired.

September 24 Patronal Festival of St Theodore ! 9.30 am Sung Eucharist

(Note: there will be no 8.00 am Communion Service on this day) ! Followed by BBQ brunch; cost $5 to cover

meat/salad/desserts; BYO wine or soft drink if desired.

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The St Theodore’s Banners

One of the things I have been endeavouring to do as Editor of The Tidings is to include details and backgrounds of some of the “treasures” at St Theodore’s. Members of the congregation may have wondered about some of these items . . . but the ultimate aim is also that since The Tidings is retained by the South Australian State Library, our history is put on record.

I had always noticed the three banners in the Sanctuary of the church, but had difficulty in finding any definitive (or even consistent) histories. However, Fr Peter Thomson and Angela Jones were kind enough to provide some information, and I include their input below . . . but would be grateful if anyone can add to it so we can tell the full story. Please contact me if you can help with any additional information.

(Ed.)

The Sunday School banner dates to the 1950’s or early-1960’s, and was used in feast-day processions in St Theodore’s . . . carried by an older member of the Sunday School. The banner’s origins remain something of a mystery, as does the picture is painted on canvas. Fr Peter Thomson thought that the boy carrying the pitcher was our Lord − along the lines of “For He is our childhood’s pattern…” − and that the flowers were poppies, which depict Christ’s Passion. Given the time when that banner was made, it might have had something to do with remembering the fallen – even those who started out as children in the parish.

The Mother’s Union Banner. The original banner simply contained the Mothers’ Union logo, in gold on the blue background. In the welcome to Archbishop Jeffrey Driver, held in the Adelaide Convention Centre in Adelaide in 2005, this banner was actually carried by Angela Jones. In early 2012, the Parish Council became concerned at the threadbare state of the banner, and undertook a refreshment, with the addition of the new panel. The Parish consulted with Mr Ross Menhennitt, a fine embroiderer and restorer of textiles, who had retired in Melbourne. In discussion, the idea arose of the logo being replaced with a figure of the Madonna and child, for which Mr Menhennitt provided a beautiful sketch. However, the restoration was actually done by Glenda Laurie, an embroiderer whom the Parish identified through The Embroiderers’ Guild: she took on this work in which the central panel was replaced with a new ‘Madonna and child’ panel on new brocade. The new panel is a little longer than the existing banner, and hence hangs below the original length. The back of the banner bears the embroidered description: “New centre panel and banner reconstruction by Glenda Laurie (2012)”.

The Girls’ Friendly Society Banner. During the 1960’s, St Theodore’s had active Girls’ Friendly Society (GFS) and Church of England Boys’ Society (CEBS) branches. The embroidered banner bears the insignia “Girls’ Friendly Society” at the bottom. It was used in processions within St Theodore’s.


On being a scientist and a Christian I would not mind having received a dollar for every time I had been asked how it was possible to be a scientist and a Christian – as if the two were not reconcilable. But is that the case? Well, I can see the reason for the question . . . .

There have been great conflicts between scientists and the Church. The most celebrated is that of Galileo Galilei, a great Italian scientist (astronomer, physicist, engineer, mathematician . . . ) of the 16-17th Century. Galileo is responsible for a number of discoveries and inventions . . . among many other achievements, he discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter, which are named in his honour; he invented the military compass; and he actively supported the Copernicus Theory (the heliocentric model of the solar system) that the earth revolved around the sun, based on his own experiments and observations.

The (at that time) controversial heliocentric theory was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in the early 17th Century: Galileo was ultimately tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy", and forced to recant . . . “Because I have been enjoined, by this Holy Office, altogether to abandon the false opinion which maintains that the Sun is the centre of the world and immovable, and that the earth is not the centre of the world and moves, and forbidden to hold, defend, or teach, the said false doctrine in any manner . . . I abjure, curse, and detest the said errors and heresies, and generally any other error and sect contrary to the said Holy Church . . . “, despite what his scientific opinions were. Nevertheless, he was gaoled briefly before spending the last eight years of his life under house arrest, and he died − excommunicated − in 1642. We can reflect that 350 years later (1992), the Vatican formally acknowledged its error and “pardoned” Galileo!

There is a reason for the conflict. Science is based on careful observation and experiment, enabling theories to be constructed which connect the evidence. But however appealing a theory may be, it is of no value unless it explains the observations. Central to this approach is the willingness of the scientist to abandon a theory if evidence is produced against it – so in serious science (as opposed to ‘pseudo-science’) the scientific community as a group is always ready to adopt a new approach. There are no shooting wars over scientific principles.

Religion on the other hand is based on revelation and received – and perceived – wisdom, which can involve ‘truths’ for which modification to fit changing ideas may be difficult. This ‘truth’ will often be communicated directly to the believer, rather than through the filtering and refining process of collective investigation. And the ‘truth’ may actually be right, or wrong, or subject to interpretation. A person who has faith stands by his/her beliefs in the face of those uncertainties.

So what about Richard Keene? As a Christian, I believe in a loving and all-powerful God who created the earth, and whose Son teaches us a way to live – and to which I aspire. I worship as an Anglican, and strive to show my faith in the way I conduct my life and relationships with others. And as a scientist, I must admit that the more I learn about the intricacies and beauty of this world, the more I become convinced that it did not happen by accident and that there must be a guiding hand.

Perhaps the prime suspect for any supposed conflict might be the creation. From a scientific point of view, there has to have been a creation: the fundamental Second Law of Thermodynamics states that disorder increases in an isolated system . . . the universe is changing, and if it was infinite in age it would have reached equilibrium; secondly, there is heat from the sun . . . and since the sun has a limited supply of fuel, if it was infinite in age it would have cooled down (in the same way as a burning piece of wood over a long period); and finally, the world is still expanding . . . galactic light is distorted in a way that tells us the light sources are travelling away from us (called the Doppler Effect – which we know well as when a car is coming towards us and goes past, the sound is different when it is coming towards us compared with it going away from us . . . because when it comes towards us, the sound and the source of the sound are travelling in the same direction, but when it has passed us the sound and its source are in opposite directions). From a Biblical point of view in Genesis, there was a sequence of events – the creation of the Universe . . . light and dark; earth, sea and sky; plants; animals, birds and fish; humans – and in the Biblical account God created them in six “days”. I have no problem in taking the “days” as epochs and I rest comfortably that the order of the development of the various aspects of the creation makes perfect sense. However, what actually speaks to me about the creation story is its completeness . . . day and night; earth, sky and sea; animals, plants and fish; humans (male and female) . . . and in that I see the influence of an infinite God.


And the question of the ‘days vs epochs’ conundrum? To me the creation story is true in all its glorious detail, but the length of the time sequence is somewhat equivocal. And the process of evolution is not an argument against the involvement of a creator, but indeed is part of the creation plan. I think that the Bible reveals God’s word to us, much of it in story form . . . and what is more it will necessarily reflect the time, customs and culture in which it was written. Christ did not mention modern day science, and the intricacies of things such as IVF, stem-cell research, cloning, nuclear reactions etc., but that does not mean they do not exist – and we are required in the current age to interpret how God’s laws and Christ’s teaching relate to such issues in guiding the way we live as people of faith in a contemporary world. I cannot accept that I am to have that interpretive license in what is not mentioned in the Bible and yet have no such rights over what is there . . . and written from a perspective of a very different world to the one I experience.

So does Richard Keene have conflicts? Yes, and as a scientist I mention the healings by Christ, and the miracles. I can rationalise the healings to myself to some extent in terms of regarding holistic health being composed of physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual elements . . . all of which must be aligned for true health . . . rather than just the physical component. I can remember saying that to the senior students in the Anglican School in Towsville many years ago and getting a very affirming reaction from a group of students from New Guinea who talked excitedly about the healing by “witch doctors” in the societies they had come from, and how many of those healings had only a minor component of the physical.

But it is perhaps some of Christ’s miracles that cause this scientist the most problems, and I will give one simple example – the conversion of water to wine at the Wedding in Cana (Christ’s first miracle), which makes the idea of the camel passing through the eye of a needle look relatively simple! Anyone who has studied chemistry will tell you one of the first things they learned was the “Law of Conservation of Matter” which states categorically that “in any system that is closed to the transfer of matter (in and out), the amount of matter in the system stays constant”. In other words, in a chemical reaction only the atoms that are in the system at the start may be present at the finish . . . so the changing of water to wine poses an insurmountable problem, as water only contains hydrogen and oxygen atoms but the wine must contain carbon atoms as well (in the alcohol and some of organic compounds that give flavour to wine)! I tell myself I am being too literal, or there are some things that in faith I must accept because God is beyond the laws of science that I know . . . but I still wait for an interpetation of that miracle which helps me along the way!

It may surprise you that some the great names of science had a strong faith . . . and I give two examples (in addition to that of Galileo, of whom I spoke earlier) – probably two of the most influential scientists of all time:

Sir Isaac Newton was born in England in 1642 (the year Galileo died), and is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and was a key figure in the scientific revolution of the 17th Century: he was one of the inventors of calculus, he defined gravity (yes, he was the one sitting under the apple tree), and he removed the last vestiges of doubt about the heliocentric model of the solar system. Newton, a Christian, once asked “Whence arises all that order and beauty we see in the world?”

Albert Einstein (1860-1955) was born in Germany. A theoretical physicist, he developed the theory of relativity, a pillar of modern physics. Einstein's work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. Einstein was Jewish, and a man of faith in the Judaic tradition, and once stated that “I want to know God created this world”. He also once asserted that

“Strenuous intellectual effort and the observation of God's nature are two angels who, gently strengthening but none the less insistently strict, will lead me through

the travails and confusions of this life”.

Isn’t that beautiful? This last quote of Einstein has for much of my working life been a particular and special inspiration to me, and a framed copy of those words has adorned my university offices (in Townsville and Adelaide) for the last thirty years.

Richard Keene


Lest we forget!

In the Advent 2015 issue of The Tidings, there was an article on Carl Schrader − a young man who was a member of St Theodore’s parish and was killed at Gallipoli in 1915 at the age of 20. In St Theodore’s church, he is commemorated by a plaque behind the Bishop’s Throne in the Sanctuary (shown at upper left) and by a stained-‐glass window in the Baptistry (shown at right, with the inscription lower left). The article – particuarly the photograph of the stained-‐glass window – attracted the attention of Monument Australia, who have a website which documents all public monuments that have been erected in Australia – information that is extracted by the National Library in Canberra (and ultimately the National Archives). Monument Australia inquired of us about any Honour Rolls or other memorials . . . and as it turned out there are an impressive number of memorials for a small parish church.

The First World War (WWI – “The Great War”; 1914-1919) Besides the memorials to Carl Lauenstein Schrader in the church, in the Choir Vestry there is a memorial – a framed picture “The Place of Meeting” surrounded by the names of parishioners who fell during the War – shown below. In addition, in the Sanctuary on the ends of the two choir stalls, there are Honour Rolls listing parishioners whos served and those who fell during WWI (pictured at right).

(cont./)


The Second World War (WWII; 1939-1945)

In the Choir Vestry, there are two Honour Rolls associated with WWII. Firstly there is a polished wood roll of those parishioners who served in the war – men and women. The second is a brass roll which honours those who fell in WWII. Both rolls are shown on the right.

In the Choir Vestry, there is a wardrobe which occupies the southen wall, and bears the inscription “A.M.D.G. AND IN MEMORY OF REX LOUIS MULLER – CHORISTER AND SERVER – WHO DIED ON ACTIVE SERVICE WITH 2/A.I.F. 1945. ERECTED BY HIS MOTHER”. I must admit I am always deeply touched by this structure, as Rex Muller was a particularly close friend of my father, and was Dad’s Best Man at my parents’ wedding in 1939. My father’s photos include a number of pictures of him and Rex as boys and young men.

Outside the church, on the northern wall of the Vestry, there is a memorial dedicated to those who died in WWII: it is not clear when this was erected . . . immediately after the war, or subsequent to the re-‐building that took place after the fire in 1960.

You may have noticed the acronym “A.M.D.G.” which occurs on some of these memorials. The acronym relates to the Latin phrase “Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam” (sometimes written as “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam”) − which is the motto of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in the Roman Catholic Church. It is translated as “For the greater glory of God”.

After WWI, the Imperial War Graves Commission erected a series of memorial tablets in French and Belgian cathedrals to commemorate the dead of the First World War. Originally these related particularly to the Somme battles of 1916 and the Battle of Amiens that led to the 1918 Armistice . . . but it assumed wider usage in memorials for those who fell in WWI, and later in WWII.

Richard Keene

St. Theodore’s – Contacts Parish Priest: Fr Grant Bullen (Office - 8333-1567)

Associate Priests: Rev’d Dr Lesley McLean Rev’d Peter Anson Priest’s Warden: Ian Campbell Peoples’ Warden: John Needs

Parish Council (2016) – Fr Grant Bullen, Stewart Perkins

(Treasurer), Ian Campbell, John Needs, Lee Fulton, Martin Godfrey, Angela Jones (Secretary), Thea Reynolds, Helen Starr.

“The Tidings” Editor: Dr Richard Keene (ph. 0416-275-161)


An update . . . In the last issue of The Tidings, the work of “The Sowing Seed Fund” – a project seeking to advance the rights of young women and girls in Malawi – was highlighted. One of our parishioners (Tawina Jane Kopa-‐Kamanga) is a founding member of the organisation (Teams Advancing Women in Agriculture − TAWINA). Some things have happened since that time, and Tawina Jane gives an update . . .

Sustainable Farming School classroom block and office

Close-‐up of classroom block

The Sustainable Farming School (TAWINA Permaculture School for Girl Empowerment) has been built in the intervening period, and was opened in April. The cost of the project (roofing/pointing, plastering, landscaping and materials) was $AUD484: St Theodore’s parish made a contribution of $AUD320 (plus an additional $AUD35 contribution from a parishioner). There are some minor transfer fees, but these donations have covered about 64% of the cost.

Rear view of school showing outside learning space

(above) and in use (below)

Sustainable Farming School toilet (pit latrine)

Water tank excavation at the Sustainable Farming School

If any parishioners would like to contribute to the remaining $AUD209 cost of the project, it would be greatly appreciated. Please contact: ! Website: tawina.org ! Facebook: tawina.trust ! Tawina Jane phone: 0452-‐359-‐360 ! Email: [email protected] ! Mail: The Executive Director, Teams Advancing

Women in Agriculture, P.O. Box 83, Lumbadzi, Malawi.

Sustainable farming school classroom block and office

Close-up photo of classroom block

Sustainable Farming school Toilet (pit latrine)

Another view of the toilet (pit latrine)

PRESENT STATUS OF THE SUSTAINABLE FARMING SCHOOL LEARNING FACILITIES

Rear view of the school block showing outside learning space

Water tank excavation at the Sustainable farming school






















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