Key turning points for The Gap include the appointment of Richard Cassady as community worker/youth worker, the congregation’s involvement in recovery efforts in the wake of the November 2008 storm, and the development and implementation of a strategic plan.

Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsfK4p4iG8g

The Queensland Synod of the Uniting Church in Australia is sending out complimentary copies of the DVD to all people in placement in Queensland, including people working in congregations, chaplaincy, teaching roles, Presbytery leadership and Synod staff. Further copies can be ordered from Pilgrim Learning Community (Queensland) and Mediacom (elsewhere in Australia).

The participant’s manual can be downloaded here on the Faith Stories site. See the sidebar for instructions. It is anticipated that the manual will be updated over time. A generic version, without the references to the Uniting Church Basis of Union, will be be made available soon.

This site will also provide an opportunity for people to share about how they have used Mission Stories, including suggestions for prayer, songs, and connection with other themes.

Session 1 -- Mission in the World

Early Church, Christendom and 21st Century contexts for mission
God is in the world
Documenting what we know about our local community.

Session 2 -- Gospel Community

Missional Church is made up of Gospel People.
How do we embody the compassion and generosity of God?
Documenting what we know about our community of faith.

Session 3 -- Missional Discipleship

Worship, witness and service as expressions and resource centres of discipleship.
Exploring the commitment to following Jesus in the context of relationships.
Documenting what we know about how we resource people living out their faith.

Session 4 -- Community Partnership

Finding a connection with congregations, agencies or parachurch organisations, community stakeholders or allies, exiles.
Documenting what other congregations, agencies, stakeholders and exiles know.

Session 5 -- Who Are Our People?

Exploring the hopes and needs of particular people groups, cultures and subcultures.
Building a welcoming environment and entering the worlds of other cultures.
Documenting what people in particular people groups know.

Session 6 -- Five Marks of Mission Together

Bringing together evangelism, social justice, nurture, learning and environmental stewardship.
Honouring and respecting each other in missional community.
Documenting our existing expressions of mission and ministry.

The stories feature Queenslanders from Townsville, Emerald, Maleny, Caloundra, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with commentary from guests such Trinity Theological College Director of Studies in Systematic Theology Geoff Thompson, Pilgrim Learning Community director Rob Bos, and Blue Care Director of Mission Colleen Geyer.

Each session includes processes for discussion, Biblical reflection, prayer, and engagement with the Basis of Union (an additional option for Uniting Church contexts). Groups are provided with a chance to assess their effectiveness at the end of each session by researching their own commitments, achievements and “mission stories”.

Duncan Macleod says, “It has been inspiring to interview so many people from grassroots Queensland. Jason Bray and Mike Crowhurst, the Red Earth Films team, have created a visually appealing resource that will equip church leaders here in Queensland and across Australia”.

Mission Stories will be launched at the Signposts of Hope conference being held at Alex Park in the two days before the Synod, May 19 and 20. See more on Mission Stories at www.faithstories.org.au. Register for the Signpost of Hope conference at www.ucaqld.com.au/signpostsofhope

Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRvXZPakkFQ

Most of the action in the trailer/introduction episode was filmed on the first and second floors of the Uniting Church Centre in Bayliss Street, Brisbane.

Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxGoefo1Vg4

Credits

Faith Stories was written by Duncan Macleod, Graham Beattie and Peter Armstrong, with filming shot by director Jason Bray via Red Earth Film Productions with producer Fabiane Ramos and editor Mike Crowhurst.

Peter says that he hasn’t seen a course quite like Faith Stories. He says it’s great to have a resource that connects our faith with listening skills, an awareness of what God is doing in the lives of people, and a broad understanding of the gospel. “It’s not a course instructing you on how to convert people. Faith Stories is about equipping Christians with the skills and knowledge they need to bring their best to their relationships. It’s about deepening the understanding of your faith and your life. It will encourage you to strengthen your relational networks with family, friends and the workplace, and in those contexts have the skills and confidence to share your faith in effective and powerful ways.”

Georgia Dee talks about how she was sick a lot as a child in hospital. “I had the Anglican and Catholic ministers come around to my hospital bed and help me with my homework that my mother would bring me from school. And after we’d done that then they’d talk to me about the Gideon’s Bible that was always in the hospital room.”

Jacqui Le Roux grew up in a home where God was used as a swearing word. At the age of 15 she noticed that one of her friends had a natural way of talking with God. She remembers her friend asking God, “Please help us find a car park”. Jacqui remembers thinking, “I didn’t know you could talk to God like that”. She was shocked. She’d thought that God was a bit of a ‘meanie’ and a task driver. The prayer started Jacqui on a journey discovering that she could talk to God as a friend.

Rob Williams and Danielle Airton came to Redcliffe Uniting four years ago with his wife, asking to have their son Cameron baptised. Rob discovered a community that offered more than they expected and stayed around to grow a faith with a supportive family.

Danielle Airton, when she came to church, regarded herself as an atheist. Her husband had grown up in a family of faith but it was Danielle who felt stirred to seek baptism for their son Ashton. Through a “Search for Life” course she is exploring many of the questions that she’s been asking for a long time.

Greg Adsett talks about having a lifetime of involvement in the church. His father, Graeme, is a Uniting Church minister. Through Greg’s youth he was able to access a strong group of peers through a youth group. It was through running a drop in centre that Greg saw that God could change lives. It was in his teenage years that Greg made a commitment to follow.

Lynne Angel, at the age of 14, was invited by a friend to join a local Baptist youth group in Sydney. Over four months Lynne learned about the way God had been involved in her life, protecting her. She gained a faith that taught her to love other people.

Friends Darren Born and Gordon Hart share a common faith, even though they come from very different backgrounds. Darren talks about growing up in a church family, based on camp sites run by his parents. He didn’t have much choice as a teenager about being part of the church but he was deeply influenced by high school camps. Gordon comes from a bike culture. He brought his daughter to church one day. As they got out of the car his daughter jammed her fingers in the car door. The minister prayed for her. She stopped crying and miraculously her fingers were fine. Gordon realised that there was a power in this world that was much better and bolder than him.

Peter in his introduction to the course, reminds us of the importance of relationships and faith sharing.

“Faith Stories is designed to empower you with the confidence and capacity to connect those you know with the story of Jesus. Through the strongest of human needs, relationships. While technologies come and go the need for people to connect to others never fades and in many respects seems to grow stronger every day. In a world that lacks intimacy there is a wonderful chance, through relationships and friendships, for Christians to share their love and hope of a personal relationship with God.”

Lu grew up in Brisbane, part of a family involved in what was then a Tongan Methodist congregation. When he left school, at the end of Year 12, Lu also left home and left the church. He started a life of wandering with a diploma in business in Townsville before exploring a possible career in law. His experimentation with alcohol and recreational drugs, however, made it difficult to stick with anything. He headed around Australia, picking up seasonal work, welding and truck driving.

By the time Lu arrived back in Brisbane, his addictions were affecting his capacity to face every day responsibilities and relationships. Like many addicts, he used alcohol and drugs to numb the sense and escape the scary world associated with mundane reality. At times he lost hope in life, feeling that there was no point in continuing.

The turning point for Lu was a conversation with a cab driver. He’d just finished work as a bouncer in a Fortitude Valley night club and was heading off to a drinking hole in Springwood. The taxi driver was playing gospel music and opened up a conversation about faith. At first Lu was not interested and told the guy to just drive. However Lu found himself strangely warmed by the atmosphere inside the cab. As the driver prayed for him Lu found his body warmed from head to toe. Stepping out of the cab he saw his surroundings with a new sense of hope and meaning.

Lu’s first step was to find a Christian church. The next morning he found himself in an Anglican church listening to a sermon on the parable of the prodigal son. With help from the priest he was able to talk and pray through his newly found relationship with God, focusing on his Spirit-given desire to share hope with his friends.

Lu devoured the Scriptures as he rebuilt his life in God. He found a Uniting Church congregation who provided an incredibly warm experience of love and acceptance. Over time, of course, as he took on responsibilities for youth ministry, Lu realised that the people in the church were human like anyone else, doing their best to serve God and their world.

Lu enrolled at Trinity College to study theology as a private student, supporting his family as a welder by day. He was accepted as a candidate for ordained ministry, going on to serve as a minister in Coopers Plains and Park Rd Tongan.

Years later, Lu shares about his conversion experience in the setting of ‘club ministry’,. With his friends he’s going back to connect with the clubs and pubs to share a message of hope for people who are in danger of giving up on life.

Graham and Duncan developed the course after noticing that most resources on evangelism overlooked key obstacles in the minds of Australian Christians. The course begins with motivation associated with hope for transformed lives, rather than obligation or guilt. Christians are invited to take the course not as a way to convert their friends, but to become more effective and gracious as they communicate their faith.

Graham’s work on Spirit-given life quests was inspired by Gossiping the Gospel, an evangelism-training course developed in the 1980s. Duncan found his inspiration for material on entry points to the gospel in the writing of Mennonite missionary John Driver. We need more lots of ways to describe the good news of Jesus, Duncan says. The course includes a session on coaching for faith response, step by step, rather than pressuring people to make one big commitment.

A key element to the Faith Stories course is the DVD, prepared by Jason Bray and Red Earth Films. Peter Armstrong, minister at Redcliffe Uniting Church, introduces each session and invites us to connect with the faith stories of Uniting Church members from Queensland.

The DVD includes a photocopiable participant’s manual and is available for purchase for $100.