Background
I was not a very sporty type of person, participating in some sports in primary school, it became more apparent that my health was unsuited to any kind of energetic activity.
Chapter 6 (Word)
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I started Sunday School in the Beginners Dept from age 3 or 4, maybe on and off, at first. My mother commenced at the church when I was 8, which meant more regular attendance for both of us to 'Marsfield* Mission' for a number of years now known as "*M... Community Church" - recently celebrating its 80th Anniversary.
During my time at 'Marsy' as the church was affectionately known, I think the longest serving pastor was Mr Stan Gray. Stan was the first married Pastor, after many years of single men in the pastorate. I won't get into the wisdom or not, of single men as pastors but in the old movie "How Green Was My Valley," Mr Gryffyd was certainly an example of how it was under single men in the pastorate.
In another chapter, I may have mentioned my Mother's gift of playing the harmonica or mouth organ. Stan Gray was also gifted in that as well. During Pastor Gray's time with us, he was instrumental in the formation of the Marsfield Mission Mouth Organ Band. My Mum was really in her element as she had won Eisteddfods etc on the harmonica as a girl.
In my early days at Marsy, there was the MM Boy's Club. We had exercises and then went away to camps and so on. During the times we had a car after Dad left us Mum would often be the taxi driver for the old ladies from local aged care facilities, to and from our church.
I remember one day we were coming up Epping Road and sitting at the corner of Epping Rd and Wicks Road, waiting at the Traffic Lights. We had the old Cavanough sisters in the back. All of a sudden, out of the blue, from over in the back seat came "Green!" From one of the old ladies to indicate the lights had changed. Many of the old folk were a delight, even with some of their strange ways.
Miss Violet Sullivan had been a Missionary in the South Sea Islands. She was also an author of several Bible Study books one series called "Bible Study Made Easy." I did a search for this but it is no longer available. My brother Joe was her gardener and lawn "manicurist." Many's the time I remember Miss Sullivan calling Joe on the phone to come and do her lawn. We felt as though she was the ship's Captain with her binoculars, looking out her kitchen window and shock horror... noticing a brave blade of grass that was daring to push its head up on the horizon...then it was time to get Joe on the job, once again.
I really enjoyed something that happened only yesterday (now back in 2014 as I wrote this.) I was taken back to these times we speak of in this very chapter. I had the real joy of catching up with some very old friends. A brother and sister I knew from when I was about 10.
Back in those days, we all used to go to the Katoomba Christian Convention together at Easter and just after Christmas, each year. Katoomba is located in our Blue Mountains to the West of us. As a child, of course, I was a lot further away from the mountains then, East of where my wife and I live today. It was so lovely seeing Bev and Malcolm after so long, yesterday.
The period, I think, when I had reached my "spiritual 'high' " in my life: (if one can put measurements on such things), was around 1973, some years after we are talking about, now. It was at this time I began to take a leadership role in the church I had been attending since I was a young boy. We mentioned my music involvement before. You see, the church of which I was a member for all those years, had a "Non-Denominational" bent.
You may ask...
"What is a Non-Denominational Church?" Or what isn't it?
This "non-denominational" bent dictated that there had to always be an impartial view to anything smacking of "denominationalism" if there is such a word.
As my Dad would have said "I'll give you 'a fer instance!' " Due to "Marsy" having come from, originally, a combined congregation of formerly Methodist and Baptist folk, some special conditions were laid down in the "rules and regulations" at the formation stage. The constitution of the church more or less stated that any pastor appointed to the church, should not preach on the subject of "Baptism". I think the view was that if they allowed baptism* at the church it would cause people to question the "Non-Denominationalism" of the church. I feel there was a genuine concern that if such a thing as Believer's Baptism was allowed to take place at the church, then they would also have to allow sprinkling (or christening) to be a part of the programme.
Just as an aside, here; (Tangent ok, hehe)I'm amazed at many film scriptwriters' interpretations of Jesus "going down into the water" when he was baptised by John The Baptist. Only this last Easter I have been astonished at the scene, in King of Kings where Jesus is portrayed as standing in the Jordan River and John the Baptist has in his hand, a container (presumably with water in it) supposedly to sprinkle Jesus!
Maybe He was sprinkled into the Uniting* or Anglican Church...I think not. Makes me wonder (and I trust I'm not being spiritually profane, here); if Jesus would have been considered Baptist because of His baptism.
While we're on the subject of "baptism"- a word derived from "baptizo", meaning to DIP or IMMERSE- don't tell me we wanted to Baptise the container, did we??!!
I do know "Non-Denoms" who also Scripturally Baptise - "Marsy" did not. The excuse was as previously stated the church's origin...its composition of Baptists and Methodists* so it was a compromise in between Methodist Sprinkling, and Baptist's Total Immersion. The church's location was a long way from the nearest either Baptist or Methodist, church, hence the reason some folks got together and put it into operation.
Author Notes
*baptism ie either infant sprinkling or adult immersion.
Dad has now left us and we are struggling on our own.No such thing as Single Mother's Pensions in those days. Not at the start anyway.Picture Titles:Top - is me (at about 9;and my childhood friend Wendy at 8,(now, as we write, a Grandmother) and my Nanna at the back. Second left is me about 10; Second Right: Me with the boys at a Boy's club camp; Third Left: Pastor and Mrs Gray;
Third Right: The Yearly Sunday School Anniversary Choir.
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