Trevor writes:
> Too true, but there can also be a lot of pain in losing a "sacred place". > > (Warning, story coming up - I apologise in advance if anyone > recognises the > town I am talking about and is offended or annoyed by the story) > [cut story] > > Even the process of moving to another church of your own denomination, if > indeed you are able to move there, can involve pain. I am very aware of the pain caused by giving up 'your' church building. I find it somewhat difficult to understand as I haven't stayed in one place long enough to get that attached to bricks and mortar (or maybe part of the reason I don't mind moving is that I'm not the sort of person who gets attached to bricks and mortar), but I've often had to minister to people who are. The church where Bruce and I were married is now a police station (the former Methodist church in Albury for those who are trying to guess) and it doesn't worry me, although I do sympathise much more with the former Presbyterians in Traralgon who drive past what used to be 'their' church and is now Churches' restaurant and Angels' night club (or is it the other way around?). What I was trying to get across is that for those in places like Corryong, there is the pain Trevor describes at the loss of 'your' church and on top of that there is the issue of having to choose between not going to worship anywhere, going to a denomination that worships in ways you find seriously alienating, or driving a couple of hours to the nearest church of your own denomination. Regards Judy -- "Politics is the work we do to keep the world safe for our spirituality" - Judith Plaskow Rev Judy Redman Uniting Church Chaplain University of New England Armidale 2351 ph: +61 2 6773 3739 fax: +61 2 6773 3749 web: http://www.une.edu.au/campus/chaplaincy/uniting/ action for peace: http://www.une.edu.au/campus/chaplaincy/uniting/links/peace.html email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
