Parish Weekend Away 2024

Im a camp junkie! I love a good church camp! Or any camp for that matter. They are beautiful moments of intensity and fun and of slowing down that we don't get on a regular basis; they are moments of shared experience together. 

​If I have been made aware correctly, this is All Saints' first parish camp in a couple of decades. AMAZING!! 

Let me share a few reflections from the weekend with you. 

Camp started on Friday night, as All Saints and Mirimar gathered together, with a genuine intergenerational quiz, one that required you to have a combination of all ages on your team to be able to answer as many questions as possible; questions were catered to all ages, some that olders knew, and some that only 5,6 and 7-year-olds knew. It was a powerful display of intergenerational community! one I will not forget for a long time. 

Saturday was a mixture of worship, input sessions, food, and fun. Our children had a designated children's program for the morning, which was run by a combination of others from around the diocese who were prepared to lay their Saturday down for our kids; it was filled with fun, activities, and learning. Those who are a little older were treated to some input by our friends Alison and Martin Robinson, who have previously served here at All Saints. They spoke about prophetic imagination and listening for God's call on your life, being in and understanding your context, having a passion for what's happening there, and developing resources to support the work. A hunger and a passion was stirring in our people to see God move around us.

The afternoon was left available for free time, with some activities such as archery, football, and an opshop trip to make last-minute purchases for the fancy dress dinner, to spend connecting with one another, walking, resting, or having loads of fun. Some highlights from people were the inter-church football with St. Michaels Kelburn, who had their church camp at the same time, the water slide, and the op shop trip.

That evening, we held a fancy dress dinner with mocktails, again fostering a chance to spend time together and have fun. 

Following dinner, we spent time again listening to Alison and Martin as they shared stories from their context and how God has been moving; this led to a time of prayer and ministry as well as late-night fun. 

Sunday, we spent some time debriefing what we felt like God was saying to us from the weekend and what we felt like we were going to do about it—much to ponder and ruminate on. 

Following morning tea, we combined with St Michael Kelburn for the eucharist, where Bishop Ana spoke and presided. There were about 17 of us in the room together, with voices lifted high and hearts open to what God was doing. It was a powerful moment. 

We are a community that is open to being transformed and, through that transformation, seeing others transformed not through any of our own power but that of the Holy Spirit through Jesus on the Cross, that we might realize the value and magnitude of being part of the Kingdom of God and what that means for the hope of the world. 

Have a look through the pictures that are attached; we are excited for 2025. Watch this space.