In this part Rev. Dr Garry Deverell explains why his opposition to same-sex marriages is not an opposition to same-sex relationships.
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Should the church celebrate same-sex marriages? Well, maybe. (Neither yes nor no.)
Should the church celebrate same-sex marriage? I answer ‘maybe’. What I mean by ‘maybe’ is that marriage should be a state responsibility; that the state should marry both same-sex and different-sex couples; and that the church should bless the relationships of both same-sex and different-sex couples, but not ‘marry’ anyone, because marriage should be a civil and not a religious rite. ‘Maybe’ was a massive over-simplification.
Yes, the church should celebrate same-sex relationships.
Rev. Peter Weeks argues that, yes, the church should celebrate same-sex relationships at a discussion at Williamstown Uniting Church – Electra St on the 11th of September 2013.
From the Forum on Same-Sex Marriage; the case for ‘maybe’
Should the church celebrate same-sex marriages? Maybe
When it comes to marriage, my head and my heart are split. In the six years that I’ve been a minister of the Uniting Church, and thus a registered religious marriage celebrant, I’ve celebrated the marriages of 34 couples. They’ve been of various ages. Most, but not all, have been Australians. All but two of the couples had been living together for years when they came to meet with me. Sometimes, a year or so after the wedding, I’ve baptised a child of the marriage. In other cases I’ve baptised the children, and then married their parents. Weddings have been held in the Royal Melbourne Zoo, at a farm, on the top of Mount Dandenong, and in a hotel owned by the groom, as well as in churches. Some people have asked me to preside at their wedding because they or their relatives have been congregation members; some have been friends; some have just been looking for a pretty church; others have been guests at a wedding I’ve celebrated and have decided that they’d like me to do theirs too; and in one case I was related to the groom, so I had a fun year telling people I was going to marry my brother. Continue reading
Posted in Events, Random Musings
Tagged history, marriage equality, same-sex marriage, Uniting Church
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Sermon: We are the sheep that God loves passionately, crazily, extravagantly; we are the uniquely valuable coin, whose recovery causes such celebration.
Sermon for Williamstown
15th of September, 2010
Luke 15:1-10
In today’s two parables we find ourselves in the heart of Luke’s Gospel. Christianity would not be the faith we know if it wasn’t for these two stories and the one that follows them. Our identity as Christians would be very different without this trio. The stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, reveal to us the overwhelming nature of the love of God. They also reveal to us who we are.
The setting of these stories is one of both celebration and condemnation: “Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” When Jesus shared a meal, the people around the table experienced the banquet of the kingdom of God. One of the signs of the coming of the kingdom was the sharing of table fellowship with tax collectors like Matthew,[1] Levi,[2] and Zacchaeus,[3] as well as with respectable people like Pharisees.[4] Rich, poor, women, men, sinners, foreigners, the despised and the respected – all were welcome to share food with Jesus.[5] Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged celebration, judgement, lost coin, lost sheep, love, same-sex marriage, Sermon, this is the heart of my faith, welcome, Year of Luke
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Sermon: Why the Uniting Church is not a Bible-believing church.
Sermon for Williamstown Uniting Church
September 08, 2013
Philemon 1-21
Way back in the sixteenth century, when the Western Church was splitting into Protestant and Catholic, some radicals accused Protestant Reformers like Luther of turning the Bible into a ‘paper pope’. The Protestant Reformers had freed Christians from the authority of the Pope but, the radicals said, had set up in place of the Pope a book, the Bible; trusting in another human creation instead of in God.[1]
Was that true? Is the Bible a ‘paper pope’ for Protestants? For some churches, it might be. Some churches proudly proclaim that they are ‘Bible-believing’ churches, and I think that declaring a belief in the Bible is a good indication that you do follow a ‘paper pope’. But the Uniting Church is not one of those churches. As seriously as we take the Bible, we do not ‘believe’ in it. For us it isn’t the word of God. According to the Uniting Church’s Basis of Union we find in the Scriptures ‘unique prophetic and apostolic testimony’ to the Word of God, who is of course a person, Jesus, and not a book. That Word of God is heard when the Scriptures are read and understood in the worship and witnessing life of the Church, the Basis tells us.[2] Continue reading
Sermon: Avril bangs on about asylum seekers yet again
Sermon for Williamstown
The First of September, 2013
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” – Hebrews 13:1
Last Wednesday this congregation hosted the Synod’s Service of Lament for Asylum Seekers. It was a service for people who are desperately sad about the current political discussion about asylum seekers; for people who needed a place to lament both the horrors that force people to flee their homes, and the horrors some of them endure after reaching Australia; for people who needed the chance to confess our own complicity in what Australia is doing; and for people who needed to be reenergised to keep up the campaign for more humane and just policies. It was a very good service (I can say that because I was only a small part of it) and I wish you could all have been here. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged asylum seekers, Hebrews 13:1-8, Luke 14:7-14, Sermon, Williamstown Uniting Church, Year of Luke
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Event: Should the church celebrate same-sex marriages?
First in a Spring Series of Controversial Questions:
Should the church celebrate same-sex marriages?
7.30 pm, Wednesday the 11th of September, 2013
Williamstown Uniting Church-Electra St
Moderator: Rev. Alex Sangster
‘Yes’: Rev. Peter Weeks
‘No’: Rev. Dr Garry Deverell
‘Maybe’: Rev. Dr Avril Hannah-Jones
Join us for a panel followed by open discussion
Everyone Welcome
Posted in Events, Random Musings
Tagged discussion, events, same-sex marriage, Williamstown Uniting Church
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Reflection for the funeral of Jemima Pearson Campbell Hannah
Scripture Readings
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – Read by Murray Hannah-Jones
Romans 8:37-39 – Read by Samantha Bykersma
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Preaching of the Word
We are gathered here today to say good-bye to Jemima Pearson Campbell Hannah, and to commend her to God.
(In the rest of the service I’ve referred to Jemima by her given name, but for this part I have to call her ‘Granny’, so when I say that you’ll need to replace it with the name that you knew her by.)
Rev Doc Geek 