Welcome to the Australia Tour blog! I’m just waiting in Omaha’s Eppley Airfield for my flight to Dallas, then on to Brisbane and finally to my first destination, Melbourne, Australia. The flight between Dallas and Brisbane is 16 hours, then another couple to Melbourne, but I’m ready. My friend, Rod Dungan, who served Countryside as Interim Associate Minister for a few months before Rev. Alexander came, gave me his recipe for the perfect international flight: Drink two glasses of water and one glass of red wine every hour. Sounds fun, but I think not! I didn’t get to sleep last night until around 4:30 am, so I think I’ll do just fine sleeping …
So here I am, in case you’ve already forgotten what I look like …
In case you’re wondering where I’ll be, here’s the basic itinerary (I’ve listed the exact times and locations where I have them, for those of you who may be in the area. Sorry I don’t have all the specifics.):
Saturday, Sept 22: Melbourne. Learning Festival: What Progressive Faith Communities Can Look Like In Practice 9:30am to 4pm at Kingswood College Senior School Centre, 355 Station Street, Box Hill
Sunday, Sept 23: Melbourne. Preaching at Ewing Memorial Church 10.00am. 59 Burke Road, East Malvern
Tuesday, Sept 25: Perth. 2 workshops: Faith and Popular Culture, Post Modern Spirituality, Technology & Worship
Thursday, Sept 27: Darwin. 3 workshops: From the Areopagus to Aerospace: Incarnational Worship in a Post-Christian World (Daytime), Jesus Goes to the Movies (evening)
Sunday, Sept 30: Melbourne area. Preaching at Toorak and Glen Waverley Uniting Church; “Darkwood Brew Unfiltered” event (evening). 603 Toorak Road, Toorak. 4.30pm. Cnr. Bogong Ave & Kingsway, Glen Waverley
Monday, Oct 1: Melbourne: The Incarnational Church: An Emerging, Mainline Worship and Ministry Paradigm for the 21st Century Event starts at 9.00am. CTM, 29 College Crescent, Parkville
Tuesday, Oct 2: Canberra. “Faith, Technology, and Darkwood Brew” Evening workshop.
Wednesday, Oct 3 – Thursday, Oct 4: Canberra: “From Inward Illumination to Outward Service” (over 1 and half days).
Friday, Oct 5: Adelaide. “The World’s Most Dangerous Bible Study” (daytime) and PCNet Forum: “Lightning in a Dark Wood” (evening)
Sunday, Oct 7: Adelaide. 3 events: Creative Worship at Pilgrim Church; “Pilgrim Pathways” Forum; “Listening for the Spirit in a Skeptical Age: Was it God Talking or Just the Pizza?”
I’m out of breath just looking at the list! But I’m looking forward to it. My writings (especially The Phoenix Affirmations) and work on experiential worship has connected me with a lot of folks from Australia over the years. I’ve never had a chance to meet more than the few who have come to the U.S. for a visit. So I’m looking forward to seeing some old friends, and meeting new friends who are really old friends whom I never knew I had!
I’ll return to the U.S. on October 8th, recover for a day, then be back at Countryside on Wednesday, October 10th. I miss you all already!