Holiday church #4

So much for promises...

More recent holidays have been on the NSW south coast. Much preferred to the north coast for climate, topography, vegetation and  settlement (see, I remember my school geography).

An old friend of mine ministers at a small church in Eden, but we've not attended that. One of the most exciting things about it is that it meets in the RSL Club. Exciting? Because the club is a recognised and important part of the community. Just the place. Identical to Paul speaking in the Areopagus.

The churches we've attended have been further north, at Milton where we stayed on a diary farm for a number of year's holidays in a very comfortable cottage (no longer on the holiday market, unfortunately) and at Merimbula, where we also holidayed a number of times.

We liked both these churches for different reasons. Milton was a transplant of a Sydney diocese church, quite large and active. Merimbula a completely different style, reflecting its diocese of Canberra-Goulburn. I was also pleased to discover that someone I'd met quite a few times in Sydney is now the bishop: Stuart Robinson.

Churches in country towns would appear to me to have opportunities for evangelism and service that don't exist in large cities. With the smaller populations any activity is more conspicuous, easier to promote and better connected with 'someone I know'. The minister is also more easily able to make an obvious contribution to community life with the smaller number of social foci typical in small towns.