Victorian Council of Churches

National School Chaplaincy Association commends Govt’s wellbeing budget Media Release 15 July 2022 The National School Chaplaincy Association (NSCA) has commended the Federal Government on its decision to consider the health and wellbeing of Australians when planning the upcoming budget.   NSCA spokesperson Peter James said the announcement by Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers shows that Australia is prioritising holistic outcomes when considering policy.   “A society that is healthier both physically and mentally doesn’t just benefit Australia socially but it makes economic sense, as it is always cheaper to prevent problems than fix them,” he said.   He cited the National School Chaplaincy Program as an example of a preventative measure, and said he supports it being evaluated against wellbeing outcomes.   “The school chaplaincy program is sometimes misrepresented by those with an ideological bias, but the fact is that chaplains are fully qualified in the youth work model of care that underpins both chaplaincy and student welfare work.   “Within this model chaplains are trained to national standards in how to recognise mental health issues, and how to ensure students with such issues connect with other care professionals.”   Mr James said the model is tested and proven, and revealed that a recent independent study by respected academics, which will be released publicly soon, demonstrates that Australia’s school chaplaincy program contributes to internationally recognised youth wellbeing outcomes.   The study, conducted over four years by academics attached to the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Social Policy Practice Research and Development considered student wellbeing outcomes chaplains achieve for government schools.   The outcomes reported are mapped into the Nest framework of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth – a wellbeing framework with international standing used nationally to promote youth wellbeing outcomes for the whole child in the context of family, education, health, and culture.      The findings demonstrates that chaplaincy contributes to the six interlocking areas of wellbeing of the Nest framework.   It found 87% of respondents felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their student’s sense of being valued, loved and safe; 78 per cent felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their students’ health; 81% felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their students’ participation; and 75% felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their students’ sense of culture and identity.   “School chaplaincy meets Australian schools’ wellbeing criteria which is what makes it a vital support program for schools and why a 2016 Kantar Public report, commissioned by the federal department of education and training, found that 91 per cent of parents support chaplaincy services and activities in schools,” Mr James said.   He also noted that importantly, chaplains are qualified to meet the spiritual dimension of care and personal development that is a recognised part of Australia’s educational goals.   Details of the study’s findings: * Being loved and safe – 87% of respondents felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their student’s sense of being valued, loved and safe. Children and youth who are loved and safe are resilient, can withstand life’s challenges and respond constructively to setbacks and unanticipated events. * Having material basics – 76% of respondents felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their students’ lives by supporting their basic material needs. Children and youth who have material basics have access to the things they need to live a ‘normal life’ and to participate in education and training pathways. * Being healthy – 78% of respondents felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their students’ health. Healthy children and youth achieve their optimal developmental trajectories. They have access to services to support their growth and development and have access to preventative measures to redress any emerging health or developmental concerns. * Learning – 69% of respondents felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their students’ learning. Children and youth learn through a variety of formal and informal experiences within the classroom and more broadly in their home and in the community. Children and youth who are learning participate in and experience education that enables them to reach their full potential and maximise their life opportunities. * Participating – 81% of respondents felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their students’ participation. Participating includes involvement with peers and the community. In practice, participating means children and youth are supported in expressing their views, their views are taken into account, and they are involved in decision-making processes that affect them. * Positive sense of culture and identity – 75% of respondents felt that chaplains had made a positive impact on their students’ sense of culture and identity. Having a positive sense of culture and identity is central to the wellbeing of children and youth, and is particularly important for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other culturally and linguistically diverse children and youth.  Media Contacts:           Lyall Mercer – 0413 749 830            Barbara Gorogh – 0479 062 782 Dawn Penney, CEO Korus Connect The Korus Connect vision is one of supported communities with thriving people – engaged in their local area, collaborating with one another and concerned for the welfare of their neighbours. We desire to see communities that are connected, supported and whole. ‘Korus’ is a union of the Greek word khora – which means space, and ‘chorus’—which refers to the harmony and wholeness that comes from connection. ‘Korus’ speaks of a space for people to unite, join together, and be supported and inspired.

On 22 July, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St Mary Magdalene, one of the most important and prominent women in the Gospels. On June 10, 2016, the liturgical celebration honouring St Mary Magdalene was raised from a memorial to a feast, putting her on par with the Apostles.

Archbishop Arthur Roche, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, in the letter announcing the change, said the decision means “one should reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the New Evangelisation, and the greatness of the mystery of Divine Mercy”.

Mary was the first recorded witness to the resurrection of Jesus, his most ardent and loving follower. She had stood with Mary at the foot of the Cross on that brutal Good Friday afternoon and had been by the side of Mary during these difficult hours. On Easter morning, Jesus appeared to her in the garden by the tomb. Mary had been weeping bitterly over the death of Jesus, yet he appears as a gardener; he speaks her name and in hearing it spoken she recognises him. In response she cries, ‘Rabbuni!’ (John 20:16-18). 

It was she who brought the news of the Resurrection to the Apostles, and Peter and John raced to the tomb to see what had happened. St Thomas Aquinas referred to Mary Magdalene as the “Apostle to the apostles” because she was the first person to announce the good news of Christ’s resurrection.

Christian Bergmann, a staff writer for Melbourne Catholic, reflects on this further: “In Mulieris Dignitatem, Pope John Paul II said that this scene in the Gospels is what ‘crowns’ every other interaction between Jesus and the women around him: he trusts her as a witness, trusts her to give testimony, and trusts her with ‘divine truths’ (§16). Even though it is not stated explicitly, there is something scandalous going on here: in the ancient world, even in Jewish law, women were not always seen to be reliable witnesses in a court of law. Their testimony was an inherently compromised one. What Jesus does here is entrust a woman, as a disciple, with bearing witness and testimony to him. It is a remarkable and moving moment in the Gospels”.

Author and artist, Jan Richardson has written the following blessing in her honour. “As we celebrate the Magdalene’s feast day, I offer this blessing to you. Wherever you are, whatever threshold you are on or are approaching, may courage and grace attend you…”

The Magdalene’s Blessing

You hardly imagined

standing here,

everything you ever loved

suddenly returned to you,

looking you in the eye

and calling your name.

And now

you do not know

how to abide this ache

in the centre

of your chest,

where a door

slams shut

and swings open

at the same time,

turning on the hinge

of your aching

and hopeful heart.

I tell you,

this is not a banishment

from the garden.

This is an invitation,

a choice,

a threshold,

a gate.

This is your life

calling to you

from a place

you could never

have dreamed,

but now that you

have glimpsed its edge,

you cannot imagine

choosing any other way.

So let the tears come

as anointing,

as consecration,

and then

let them go.

Let this blessing

gather itself around you.

Let it give you

what you will need

for this journey.

You will not remember

the words—

they do not matter.

All you need to remember

is how it sounded

when you stood

in the place of death

and heard the living

call your name.”

St Mary Magdalene, pray for us!

Read a most fascinating presentation ‘All the Marys’ by Diana Butler Bass.

Every five years, the Australian government releases a comprehensive report on the state of the nation’s environment, put together by a panel of independent scientists. The latest report (2011) was finally released this week. Critics accused the government of sitting on the report to avoid bad press at a critical moment prior to elections. The overall conclusion of the report is that climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, and resource extraction have pushed Australia’s environment into a serious and severely deteriorating state. Australia has one of the highest rates of species decline in the world and has already lost more mammal species than any other continent. Brendan Wintle, an ecosystem and forest scientist at the University of Melbourne, told The New York Times that the findings were “very much a precursor to an extinction crisis in Australia, unless we see transformative change”.

With this in mind, it was interesting to read Prof Walter Brueggemann’s reflection this week on the way we read the Bible, preferencing an anthropological lens so we read the Bible as though the God of the Bible was solely preoccupied with the human project.

He writes:

All of that of course has changed under the impetus of environmental studies, the climate crisis, and a new appreciation of the non-human creaturely world. As a result we are able to give fresh attention to this alternative accent, rediscovering in Scripture what has always been there that we had missed because of our reading lens. We are now able to see that what we thought pertained singularly to human creatureliness has in purview all creatureliness, human and non-human. What follows here is one wee probe to see how this newer attentiveness permits and requires us to read Scripture differently.

Thus a consideration of Genesis 11:1-9.

This fourth “sin story” in Genesis (after Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and the flood) that seeks to impose a singular homogeneity upon human language, thus forcing all peoples to submit to the imposition of a centralized power that wants to silence all local variations of human expresssion. The outcome of the narrative is that such an attempt at the formation of a monolith is foiled by the character of YHWH who opposes such homogeneity, creates confusion, a failure to communicate, and so requires a multiplicity of languages. Short story: The creator God opposes and foils the most hubristic attempt at human unity. 

The best study of this text known to me is that of Bernhard Anderson, “The Tower of Babel: Unity and Diversity in God’s Creation.” His study was published in 1977 and republished in From Creation to New Creation: Old Testament Perspectives, 1994), 165-178. Anderson draws this conclusion concerning the narrative:

God’s will for creation is diversity rather than homogeneity. We should welcome ethnic pluralism as a divine blessing, just as we rejoice in the rich variety of the nonhuman creation: trees, plants, birds, fish, animals, heavenly bodies. The whole creation bears witness to the extravagant generosity of the Creator (177).

The drive for human unity, homogeneity, and power operates against God’s will for heterogeneity, diversity, and pluralism:

There is something very human, then, in this portrayal of people who, with mixed pride and anxiety, attempted to preserve primeval unity. But their intention to hold on to the simplicity of the primeval past collided with the purpose of God, who acted to disperse them from their chosen center (173).

It is important not to miss Anderson’s prescient observation, already in 1977, concerning “the nonhuman creation: trees, plants, birds, fish, animals, heavenly bodies.”

I had this Genesis narrative (and Anderson’s study) in purview as I tried to read the dense, technical book of Dan Saladino, Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them (2021). The book is a study of the ways in which our “food habits” have contributed mightily to the loss of biodiversity, and the death of many myriads of species of food. Saladino traces the loss of biodiversity in specific detail concerning wild growths including hadza honey, murnong, bear root, and memang narang, all plants unknown to me. He then goes on to consider cereals, vegetables, meats, seafood, fruit, cheese, alcohol, stimulants, and sweets. At the outset of his book he indicates the political dimension of our food crisis:

Food shows us where real power lies; it can explain conflicts and wars; showcase human creativity and invention; account for the rise and fall of empires; and expose the causes and consequences of disasters. Food stories are perhaps the most essential stories of all (3). He describes the loss of biodiversity as a threat to life on the planet, so that biodiversity becomes a crucial practice for the sake of human welfare (183).

When we ask what has produced the loss of biodiversity, it is clear that we have to consider industrial food policies coupled with the indulgence of our consumer inclinations. This combination has made biodiversity an expensive, inconvenient discipline in which we have no interest and have, heretofore, invested no energy or resources. The outcome of such practice is, in Saladino’s phrase, “eating to extinction.”

It seems the intention of our current food practice is to grow more food – bigger, better, and faster – so that we need not and cannot pause for the preservation and protection of species that fall outside the regime of bigger, better, faster. Such practices are propelled by profit, and clearly have no interest in the sustainability of the biodiversity of creation. Thus it takes no great imagination to see that the hubristic monopoly of food production and consumption is a replay of the Tower of Babel narrative, saturated by human greed, and informed by technological capacity that aims only at profit. Further, it takes no great imagination to recognize that our consumer habits have almost no interest in food production but are driven by our taste preferences and our hyped-up appetites. Thus the homogenization of languages featured in the Babel narrative has its obvious counterpart in the homogenization of species in the interest of greater productivity. As the tower-builders excluded languages other than their own and regarded other languages as expendable and disposable, so contemporary food practice can regard foods other than our immediate preferences as expendable and disposable. Thus the parallel of ancient language reduction and our current practices of species reduction. And conversely, the limits on such hubris imposed by the holy God will cause a crisis, soon or late, concerning such indifference to the realities of creation.

It is conventional, in Christian interpretation, to twin the narrative of Genesis 11:1-9 with the narrative of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-13. Whereas Babel attempted a monolith of its dominant language that sought to silence all alternatives, the work of the Spirit at Pentecost is to permit, evoke, and accept the speech of faith in many languages:

And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – in our own languages we hear  them speaking about God’s deeds of power. All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:6-12).

This capacity for a multi-language community is the work of the Spirit that with the power of the creator overrides all conventional boundaries and makes a new common life possible. We may entertain the thought that it is exactly the work of the Spirit, the work of the creator God, to provide and insist upon biodiversity and the preservation and protection of species. Just as Babel sought to reduce language to a single one that exercised control, so the industrial food project – coupled with undisciplined consumer yearning – seeks to reduce species in the interest of speed, quantity, and profit. But the Spirit will have it otherwise, because the creator God is insistent upon the teeming myriad of species that refuses our mindless, undisciplined reductionism (see Genesis 1A:20-25; Psalm 104:1-23, 27-28, 145:15-16).

Saladino has assured us:

The damage we have caused is reversible, endangered species can be saved and ecosystems can be repaired. The science exists; all that is needed now is the political will (223).

It remains our work to protect and advance biodiversity. But if all that is lacking is the political will, it may indeed be the Spirit that evokes political will for the Spirit has, in every generation, “rushed upon” some of us to move us beyond our conventional assumptions and our conventional preferences to risk for the sake of more generative action. It seems clear enough that biodiversity is the will of the creator, even as a multi-language community turned out to be the will of the Spirit.

Walter Brueggemann, Church Anew, July 8, 2022

Dr Graeme Blackman, VCC President, was guest at the Annual Event of St. Thomas Day celebrations on Saturday the 16th July 2022. He delivered an address to the gathering.

STEFM (St. Thomas Ecumenical Fellowship of Melbourne) is an informal fraternity of episcopal churches from Kerala (Malayalam speakers). Christianity has existed in India since St Thomas the apostle brought it to the sub-continent around the year 52 AD. Syro Malabar Christians and many other Syrian Churches of India consider the Apostle Thomas as their founder.

It is believed that St Thomas, affectionately called “Mar Thoma”, arrived at Kondungalloor on the Kerala coast in 52 AD. The fruit of the Apostle’s two decades of missionary work saw the establishment of more than seven communities (churches) on the south western coast of India. Unfortunately, at the end of his missionary efforts, St Thomas met with hostility and was martyred at Mylapore near Chennai, in 72 AD.

This year, 2022, marks the 1950th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Apostle Thomas.

The memorial feast of St Thomas the Apostle is on 3 July each year.

STEFM consists of several VCC Member Churches (along with other non-member churches) – St Mary’s Indian Orthodox Church, the St George Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, the St Marys Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, the St Thomas Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, the Melbourne Mar Thoma Church, the Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, the Church of South India, and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church with their communities in South East, North and West.

Each parish associated with STEFM presented an item, with choirs, singing, drama and dancing.

For months, widespread protests have been taking place in Sri Lanka over the country’s worsening economic crisis, the worst since gaining independence in 1948. Blame has been directed at government policies along with the president’s incompetence and corruption. Thousands of people demanding “total system change” have rallied in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his powerful brothers to quit politics amid a deepening economic crisis. The President has now fled the country and resigned. 

People have been struggling with daily power cuts and shortages of basics such as fuel, milk powder, food and essential medicines. People are unable to access gas for cooking. Inflation is running at 50% and vulnerable people are on the brink of starvation. 

The country doesn’t have enough fuel for essential services like buses, trains and medical vehicles, and officials say it doesn’t have enough foreign currency to import more.

This lack of fuel has caused petrol and diesel prices to rise dramatically.

In late June, the government banned the sale of petrol and diesel for non-essential vehicles for two weeks. Sales of fuel remain severely restricted.  

Schools have closed, and people have been asked to work from home to help conserve supplies.

There are import restrictions, and Sri Lanka is unable to buy the goods it needs from abroad.

Sri Lanka’s currency has lost value. In May Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in its history as the country struggles with its worst financial crisis in more than 70 years. It failed to come up with the unpaid debt interest payment of $78m (£63m). 

Dr Mayukha Perera, a former officer of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, and now resident in Colombo, said the crisis was causing challenges and problems on every front, and that prayer was needed for Sri Lanka’s citizens, the government and for the Church. In a report by Jenan Taylor in The Melbourne Anglican, Dr Perera said material aid was vital, but that people should be discerning about who they provided it to and how they provided it. He also said that one of the things that the world community of Christians could do was pray for Sri Lanka’s citizens who were suffering as well as for those who had become deeply angered by political events, that they would be discerning about the right and wrong way to do things. He also said another prayer was needed for the elected representatives who were in parliament, so they could serve the best interests of the nation until they could establish a government that was competent and strong.

Dr Perera also asked people to consider the Christian churches in the country. In some ways the crisis was a good opportunity for them to see beyond their own interests and needs and look out for others who were less fortunate. Many Christian organisations and churches were stepping up and being channels of food distribution, opening soup kitchens and giving cash to support people.

The Uniting Church agency UnitingWorld is supporting the Methodist Church Sri Lanka (MCSL) and Deaf Link to provide emergency food relief, as well as education support for children who have been affected by widespread school disruptions. They are targeting the most vulnerable: people with disabilities, unemployed widows and families supporting children and the elderly. 

Reaching the most vulnerable in Sri Lanka

Prayers for Sri Lanka

• Pray that God will have mercy and intervene.
• Pray that the President, Prime Minister, and Cabinet will resign immediately making room for the interim/unity government.
• Pray that the opposition parliamentarians will come together, and work together for the benefit of the nation.
• Pray for protection for those who are protesting around the country and that the powers that be will hear the voices of the people. Pray that the protests and protestors stay peaceful and non-violent, as there are more and more happening around the country.
• Pray for the judiciary for impartiality and justice to be upheld and corruption curtailed.
• Pray for the people of Sri Lanka who have been stretched beyond their capacity to cope in the past few weeks, who are tired, frustrated and bitter.
• Pray that the people will remain hopeful, peaceful but dissatisfied and vocal in protest, and endure until change takes place.
• Pray for the emergence of a credible political solution. Pray for courage to make the hard decisions and policies needed to bring stability to the economy.
• Pray for economic improvement and for resilience for the Sri Lankan people, so that they may continue to push through the next few months/ years as the government seeks answers for these losses.
• Pray for God’s mercy to be poured out on the people of this country and to bless Sri Lanka with the resources they need to help the country recover.
• Pray that the Church in Sri Lanka will be a beacon of hope to the people who continue to look for hope in these dark times.

A rep0rt by Chloe Booker in The Age (17th July 2022) states that Victorians have gambled – and lost – $66 billion on pokies in 30 years, since electronic slot machines were introduced in the state. On this day 30 years ago, 10,000 pokie machines were launched in Victoria. There are now 30,000, mostly in suburban pubs and clubs.

While the machines are largely confined to casinos in the rest of the world, Australia has more than 75% of the world’s pub and club pokies. Australia is home to less than half a per cent of the world’s population, but has 18% of its pokies, with 80% of these machines found outside casinos.

Tim Costello from the Alliance for Gambling Reform said, “While we shake our heads in disbelief at America’s guns, the rest of the world shakes their heads in disbelief that we’ve allowed this”.

Costello said politicians were too addicted to pokie donations and taxes to act. Gambling taxes delivered $1.6 billion to Victoria’s coffers last year, all of which goes into a hospital and charities fund. This includes $665 million from pubs and clubs pokies revenue, not including more than 2600 machines at Melbourne’s Crown Casino.

Gambling has been aligned with entertainment, and harmless fun, while at the same time it destroys so many individuals, families and communities. ‘Gamble responsibly’ serves to shift the blame, and shame, onto the individual, whereas the industry itself needs reform to protect the vulnerable.

Dr Mark Zirnsak is Chair of the Victorian Interchurch Gambling Taskforce. The 2020 video interview (see link below) was a contribution to the ECCV*’s Gambling Harm Prevention Project to proactively raise awareness of gambling harm among culturally diverse communities. Much of what Mark shares is also true in the general community.
(* The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) is an independent, member-based peak body representing the migrant and refugee communities in Victoria).

Many of the VCC Member Churches have made statements about gambling and the need for action on pokies reform. Below are two letter-writing campaigns by the Uniting Church – one on TV advertising for gambling on SBS, and one on Crown Casino.

This Sunday, July 17th, at 11am, the Welsh Church, a member of the Victorian Council of Churches, will be celebrating their 169th church anniversary (20th July).

The Welsh Church traces its history back to a number of Welsh Calvinist Methodist communities (Presbyterian) that were established on the goldfields where Welsh churches were also established, notably in Ballarat, Sebastopol and Maldon. Welsh miners had gathered for worship at the Collins Street Baptist Church in December 1852 and from 1853 at the Common School in Collins Street, but in 1854 a site at 320 La Trobe Street was granted by the government for the designated purpose of a Welsh Calvinist Methodist Church.

A small chapel was built on this site in 1856, with the words ‘Welsh Chapel’ written in gilt letters above the door. The Welsh language was an important element of church services, as was music and singing. Services were delivered in both Welsh and English.

The present church was dedicated and opened in December 1871, under the Ministry of the Rev. W. M. Evans, to whom the pioneers of the Welsh cause owe much, for it was his zeal, dedication and organising that made possible the completion of the building.

Prior to the turn of the 20th century, English services were introduced to meet the needs of the first generation Welsh Australians. Twice monthly Welsh services are still an important component of the church today, under the leadership of the present Minister, Rev. Siôn Gough Hughes. It is the only Welsh Church in the Pacific Basin that has a minister who conducts services in the Welsh language.

Today, the Welsh Church describes itself as ‘a radically inclusive church, a warm and welcoming worship community situated near the heart of Melbourne. Don’t let the name confuse you, you do not have to be Welsh to worship with us. We were founded over 150 years ago to serve the Welsh People of Melbourne but since then our horizons have broadened and now we see ourselves as a very multi-cultural church, one in which you will find a welcome. We offer a traditional Welsh welcome to all people, regardless of age, sex, orientation, denomination or national origin. Even though most of our services are now in English we still think our Welsh traditions are important. We still hold services in the Welsh Language twice a month, we keep up the Welsh values of hospitality and warmth, preaching and prayer and we have a deep love of music and singing. At least twice a year we hold a Gymanfa Ganu (a singing festival), a service of song in which we sing hymns to the Glory of God in both English and Welsh’.

All the services are live-streamed and the Welsh Church is on Facebook.

From this week’s Revised Common Lectionary
“This is what the Lord God showed me – a basket of summer fruit. He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by.”

Amos 8:1-2

“A basket of summer fruit” – at its best, a delicious fragrant collection of ripe fruit. But let the summer heat do its work and the fruit quickly becomes a mess and has to be discarded.

Amos’ vision was an illustration of the imminent collapse of the nation of Israel. The basket represented good turning bad, the end of an era. There was no hope of recovery or reversal.  The moral and spiritual deterioration in Israel had passed the “point of no return.”  A basket of rotten fruit must be emptied and the fruit thrown away, and the corrupt nation would soon be removed from the land and scattered abroad. Indeed, it literally happened 30 years or so after Amos’ vision. The northern kingdom fell to the Assyrian army. The southern kingdom fell to Nebuchadnezzar and the people were taken into captivity.

The reason given for the demise was the state of the nation (vv4-6):

• Lack of concern for the poor and needy
• Love for money
• Cheating for material gain
• Religious hypocrisy
• Abuse of power in terms of slavery

Amos’ vision pointed to a particular point in time in history. But there’s a great deal for us to reflect upon in our time – about the state of our communities, our nation, our global village.

Hymn writer Carolyn Winfrey Gillette has penned words to a familiar hymn tune. Her words speak to our contemporary context.

God, You Spoke Your Word Through Amos
Tune: BEACH SPRING 8.7.8.7 D (“God Whose Giving Knows No Ending”)
Reference: Amos 8:1-12

God, you spoke your word through Amos long ago and far away.
Still your call for love and justice speaks to people in our day:
For we’ve trampled on the needy and brought heartbreak to the poor;
Lord, our way of life is greedy – we are always wanting more.

We confess the way we’re living harms the planet in our care;
Many times our ways of spending hurt the poor and cause despair.
In a world where millions hunger, we consume without much thought.
So your land and people suffer; may we hear what Amos taught!

Even here within our churches, we have sometimes failed to be
Bearers of your love and justice to your world community.
All our songs and celebrations and the feasting that we do
Turn to mournful lamentations as we cry, “Lord, where are you?”

Lord, renew in us a vision of the world you’re working toward.
Guide your church to make decisions that acknowledge you as Lord.
May we seek your ways of justice, care for earth, and gladly give;
May the words you spoke through Amos guide the way we daily live!

Indeed! May it be so! Amen.

© 2010 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
During these difficult times, Carolyn has allowed use of her 400+ copyrighted hymns for free. At the same time, she welcomes donations to her hymn writing ministry through PayPal, referencing her email address carolynshymns@gmail.com. Details on website, www.carolynshymns.com.