Somerset Schools

As those who follow our prayer news will know the local community here in Somerset is facing a significant opportunity wrapped up in the amalgamation of the two local primary schools.

For years there has been what has been called a "thin red line" arbitrarily drawn along a street in Somerset which demarcated which primary school a child would go to. Despite the fact that the two schools are only 800 metres apart this division has also impacted relationships and attitudes in this small community.

With government incentives and some visionary leadership the decision has been made to amalgamate the schools and invest more than $6 million dollars in new school facilities at what is now the location of West Somerset Primary School (which just happens to be where we are currently meeting as a church).

A media release from the state government gives some insight:

Mr Bartlett also acknowledged the hard work of the Somerset and West Somerset school communities, which began 18 months ago.

“In many ways the Somerset and West Somerset school communities are trail blazers. Community and school leaders realized the impact of the changing demographics in their community, and both school associations had the foresight to work collaboratively with their school communities,” he said.

“The result of that hard work will result in a $6 million investment to refurbish and modernize the West Somerset site using both our $5.7 million School Futures Fund and the Australian Government’s $370 million Building the Education Revolution package for Tasmanian schools.”

As a new school community is formed and people struggle with the changes, please be praying for Connections as we seek to be people of God in the midst of it all. It is a significant opportunity for the local community in many respects and much good can come of it.

Re-Vision - Kid's Christmas & Community

[Brochure pdf]

We've had a month in the Surf Club but in the lead up to Christmas we are again without venue - so picnics in the forest, church in the park and other like activities will abound. The season of adapting continues raising disconcerting but exciting questions of "who are we?" and "what are we doing?"

Often the answer to these sorts of questions revolve around a "returning." What was our original vision? What did God place on our heart at the beginning? Are we still heading that way or have we gone off course? Often we don't need new vision we need a re-vision!

One of the things that has been close to our heart as a church since the time we began was to be a presence in Somerset that helps to build Somerset as a community with a growing identity. For instance, if we have hopes and dreams about buildings to have or to make use of, they revolve around having a facility that can be, in the true sense of the word, a community centre.

One of the ways in which communities are built is through a sense of being able to "do things together" in the local space. So, for instance, earlier this year some of us were involved in an Easter festival ran at a local school with some local leaders from Fusion Australia - it brought kids and others together to simply have fun in the local space.

We are planning a "Kid's Christmas" time in the park on Christmas Eve. Not only is it an opportunity for those on the fringes of the church who want to some form of spiritual expression over Christmas (without interrupting Christmas Day) - it is also an opportunity to build community.

On the eve of Christmas we can provide a safe and accessible time for children and families to gather around, engage with the Christmas story. And so we can do something community-building while sharing some gospel truth at the same time. What an opportunity!

Married Life

There's great joy in the season that we are in. In the Connections community we have had new babies, engagements, and forthcoming baptisms (in the Cam River this coming Sunday) and more weddings.

Four weddings in five months. The first of these took place on a beach in Hobart this Saturday last.

Not only are weddings and baptisms and the like good in their own right. They are also a great witness, particularly when they are held (in an appropriate way) in a public space.

But also, from a church-planting perspective these occasions of life are great catalysts for community building. Sharing the beginning of married life, or the testimony of baptism, creates connections of community between people. Acquaintance turns into "I was at your wedding, wasn't it wonderful." Broad knowledge turns into "Thankyou for sharing how God has been at work in your life."

These weddings and things - they are a gift of grace in many ways - but a gift to us as a community, for they give us something to share in, and so share in each other.