On the responsibilities, burdens and joys of historic churches.
Christ Church Geelong: Foundation Day, Sunday 8th October, 2000
Rev'd Dr John Davis, St Peter's, Eastern Hill
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 3: 11
There is a small collection of historic churches in this state that pre-date Victoria and the gold rush. I bring you greetings as the Vicar of one of these, St Peter's Melbourne, on this celebration of your Foundation Day here at Christ Church Geelong. You were worshipping in this fine church a year or so ahead of the good people of Eastern Hill and we actually let go the chance to share architects with you, even though the bishop had commended the Blackett design going up in Geelong, as discussions continued.
I offer a proposal. Perhaps we should all be forming an association, something along the lines of the First Fleeters, to allow for an occasional get-together or at the very least the circulation of information about and between these pre-1850 foundations. Perhaps tourists and pilgrims could be encouraged on a latter day Victorian pilgrims' way, as a reminder of the foresight of that founding generation. Perhaps a brochure should be prepared, and a section of the Tourism Victoria website reserved for this aspect of our history, on an ecumenical basis. It is worth considering.
Those of us who worship in these historic churches do not want to be custodians of musty and decaying museum pieces that from time to time are appropriately dusted off. What a tragedy that would be and how demoralising, how sad that would be if that were broadly so. We must be offering more than fascinating insights into the quaint habits and customs of long dead forebears. These places need to be the focus of living communities now. We know and accept that. But because of our long traditions, we each carry particular and special responsibilities, and these go further than our ongoing worries about structural problems in towers, the leaks in the roof or aging drainage systems.
Historic churches are then so much more than admired designs of bricks or stone and mortar. Because of their age, they hold a particularly significant place in the hearts of generations of people, in the corporate memories of families and communities. These are sacred places. This is sacred space.
This recognition relates to an accumulation of experiences, the adding together over the years of significant happenings. The patina of worship and hope and dutiful service can be observed in a place like this. The power and faithful strength of the prayers of the generations can be felt. At times it can be contagious.
So it is that all manner of personal, civic and national occasions have been celebrated within these walls. They will be in the future. The worship of God, on-going rites of passage, times of individual prayer and reflection, the offering of the services of the Church in words and music, in preaching, in prayer, in sacraments - so the round will continue, as it has through all these years. The style and the details will change but the overall shape of things will be there. The people will be different; the expressed needs and desires of the surrounding community may be different.
But it will be the fact of what continues to go on here that will matter. That it goes on, how it goes on - each is of importance. As in every Christian church, God will be worshipped, neighbour will be loved. If this is not so, then the place has abandoned its purpose. Christ Church Geelong will remain as a gathering place for this part of the people of God; an historic and much-loved gathering place that is in itself a focus and a sign to the wider community within which it is placed.
Today too then we give thanks for and honour the vision and the determination of that first generation of pioneers who cared sufficiently about their God and their Church to start what they did here, on that October day in 1843. We honour the remarkable work of the first bishop of and in Australia, Bishop William Grant Broughton. My former parish in Albury has just celebrated the 150th anniversary of his establishment of an Anglican parish there. He certainly got around.
What a remarkable generation that must have been. Bearing in mind that most of those who were here in Geelong were here willingly and not at Her Majesty's pleasure, what a huge task and challenge confronted them. What hopes and fears they must have had. Some no doubt would have come up from Van Dieman's Land, with that Tasmanian experience behind them. Others would have been fresh off the boat. Houses, shops, pubs, courthouses and lock-ups came very early. But churches and schools and banks were in there too. Developing farms around these tiny communities had to provide the essentials of life that could not be imported by sea.
Part of the drive of the newly arrived settlers of course was to be able to reproduce as faithfully as possible as early as possible, those central aspects of the cultural environment of home in a strange and new land; like a parish church. The driving impulse of some may indeed well have been as much cultural as religious. In name, in geographical placement and in architectural design, as well as in the familiar words of the services that would take place within, Christ Church Geelong was clearly intended to reassure and to comfort. All was not so strange after all.
More than 150 years later, perhaps even bigger challenges confront those of us who worship and serve in these historic churches, so long at the centre of our community life and now facing so much that is uncertain. It would be nice to think that in another 150 years we will all still be continuing in service and ministry, valued and cared for. But that is by no means clear. None of this may be taken for granted no matter how venerable are our stones.
Changes in taxation and local government rating systems for instance in a generation more hostile than indifferent to religion could see most of our churches turned into concert halls, art galleries and storage sheds, just as happened in much of central and eastern Europe for several generations of the 20th century. In many rural regions as well as many parts of our suburban areas, the changes in demographics as well as the aging profile of those who continue to care to go to church may see the same result in any case. Things are no longer the same. Nothing, including our continuing existence then, can be taken for granted.
Perhaps it is fortunate that we are unable to see into the future. Good stewardship demands that we look after that which we have received and which has been entrusted to us. Part of that may be understood to be buildings and plant - all these fine things that surround us. But none of that will ultimately last if the centre has not held.
The centre must be that foundation of which St Paul spoke in the portion of the first letter to the Corinthians that formed the second lesson this morning. That is at the heart of our stewardship: that foundation is God in Jesus Christ. Lives changed, shaped, nurtured and encouraged by the relationship of love that is Christian discipleship have been and must be the centre of what goes on here at Christ Church Geelong.
Therein lies the hope, therein lies the future. Even the most beautiful of surroundings are secondary to that truth. But it is also true that these fine stones can yet see many succeeding generations, each in their own way attempting to live lives of service and care, offering worship to our God with gratitude and thanksgiving for all the blessings received; for the hope and the new life experienced and known.
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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Views is a
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St Peter's Eastern Hill, Melbourne Australia.
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