Crosslight - Edition April 2020

members’ homes are among the
survivors, but they’ve lost fences and
sheds. I’ve stumbled from sleep in our
campervan parked in the driveway of
the church house and inside into the
shower.
The manse is vacant after the recent
retirement of the minister and is a
welcome place of rest and respite
for Victorian Council of Churches
Emergencies Ministry chaplains
deployed for shifts in the relief centre
at the football club. Chaplains have
come to Bairnsdale from near and
far and represent many faiths and
denominations and I’m one of them.
I’ve had more pastoral conversations
in the midst of the mayhem this
week than for the whole of last year.
Midwives of sacred stories birthed from
the blackness.
Worship time begins, continues and
ends; we pray, sing, talk, listen, laugh
and let the tears fall. We rehearse our
faith so we can act and speak when
it’s called on. There’s a space for the
Spirit to bless us and the bread and
wine; nourishment for struggling
souls becoming what we are, the body
of Christ. There are greetings and
thanks at the door; “that was what we
needed”. Tea pots are hot and talk flows
freely again.
I stay on in Bairnsdale for the
remainder of the week, sleeping in the
driveway between shifts with strangers
whose faces became familiar. We listen
with open ears and ready hearts, dodge
the media, dine in style on delicious
Continued P12
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