Your Invitation
Filed under Invitation, News and Events, Reconnect 2010
Revisiting our earlier years at Belconnen Baptist Church.
Nearly 40 years have passed since September 1970 when a group of Christians calling themselves the Belconnen Baptist Fellowship advertised a church service to be held in the Page Primary School in Petterd Street, Page, ACT. This was the first public event in the life of the community that spawned the eventual formation and development of the Belconnen Baptist Church.
Prior to this event there had been many monthly meetings held in fellowship member’s homes during which there had been much casting of vision for what could eventuate. The history of what did eventuate has been a mix of innovation and conservatism that has influenced the discipleship of many Christians over nearly 40 years. The spiritual life spawned over these years has expressed itself in many ways both within and far beyond Belconnen.
We invite you to revisit the early history of Belconnen Baptist and its influence through its hundreds of members. We are considering doing a number of things around the 40th anniversary of that first public witness at Page Primary School.
1) We want to invite all who have contributed to and benefited from fellowship at BBC in the 1970s and 1980s to share their reminiscences – sending a letter, e-mail, audio or video greeting and update on yourself and maybe joining in our weekend event.
2) We want to be inspired by the reach of the witness of the fellowship within and beyond Belconnen and through the lives of members and of their children.
3) We want to reflect on the visions that founded us, the visions that developed amongst us, and not neglect the visions that have at times divided us and spawned departures into different territory.
4) We want to celebrate the work of God’s Spirit in our lives as a consequence of having been part of the history of BBC.
We want to give opportunity for all to express their attachment to some part of our history whether able to travel to Belconnen in 2010 or preferring to contribute either memories of the past or updates on the intervening years. We would hope to collate all such contributions into a form that can be shared together and also distributed to all contributors maybe on a DVD.
Can you see yourself somewhere in this diagram? We all spent some time inside that large circle, involved with the visions of earlier days and contributing to them via our involvement and our interactions with each other. Many of us have moved on in various ways and have taken something of those days with us to different cities, different countries and certainly different cultures. Your story could inspire – please consider contributing to our reconnection.
For those able to be present in person we envisage a range of activities which could include:
- Catching up with Page, Belconnen and Canberra as it is now;
- Social occasions to meet and renew fellowship with those not seen for quite some time;
- Times of reflection on significant events and relationships of early BBC life and how they have influenced us;
- Time for prayer for those who continue the visions both in Belconnen and in other places;
- Reflections on our life pathways that have touched back then but are now leading in different directions;
- Reflections by current BBC leaders on how the past has shaped and is shaping the present;
- A celebration of our past and a commissioning for our futures.
The exact “shape” of Reconnect-2010 will be determined by your contribution.
To assist us in getting started with this please let us know some of the things that were significant for you (and for any of your family). These significant things may be particular time periods, particular activities, particular challenges, particular visions – whatever you choose. Your list of significant things will enable us to shape our reconnection. For most of us the past contains both positive memories and some disappointments. After 20, 30, or nearly 40 years perhaps we can benefit by reflecting on both in a spirit of thankfulness for life’s journey.
Please also help us by sending us e-mail addresses for family and friends that you had when you were a part of BBC. Do please also remind us of when your friends were involved as our records for those who did not formally join in membership of BBC are thin.
Sincerely,
Steering Group,
Garth Eichhorn, Ian McTaggart, Bruce Millar, and Bruce Morey.
