Thought For The Week 29 May 2022

Last week I attended the dedication of Hope West Melton’s new worship  facility- a 150 seat extension to the original church plus new children and youth spaces.

I began my ministry journey 12 years ago as an intern at West Melton. This congregation had dwindled to around 12 people before reaching out to Hornby Presbyterian seeking a partnership with them. This resulted in 4 families who were Hornby members but living in the area committing to making West Melton their spiritual home. It’s encouraging to see that from these humble beginnings has grown a thriving faith community.

In those early days a group of us would meet weekly for prayer and a picture we got was of African animals searching out the watering hole during the dry season. They would come from miles around in search of refreshment. We felt God was calling us to be such a place of refreshment for spiritually thirsty people. It seems evident that this theme has been prayed into and worked out in the life of this parish. And their current pastor is from Kenya!

The original name for Timaru, Te Tihi o Maru, means ‘place of shelter’. This sounds like a great metaphor for our church. It resonates with me as Trinity West became a shelter place for Catherine and me after leaving a toxic church environment in the mid 1990’s. I think there is something about our open-handed response to people and ready acceptance of them that can provide hospitality and shelter for those in need of spiritual nurture.

Blessings,

Brent