Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand

In early November 50 members of four of Johnsonville’s churches got together to participate in an evening called “Something in Common”.

Facilitated by Mary-Alice Arthur (who is described as a facilitator for inspired change), the people of Johnsonville Uniting Church, Sts Peter and Paul Catholic Church, St John’s Anglican Church and the Broderick Road Chapel spent four hours getting to know one another.

Using a process of both group and one-on-one sessions they swapped stories about some of their deepest experiences in faith journeying.

Towards the end of the evening the groups expressed the essential elements of what they had learned through the creation of artworks.   Talents that in some cases had been hidden since childhood were unleashed to give meaningful expression to key elements of peoples stories.

Finally, a list was compiled of all the things those present thought could be done in future with the input of each of the four contributing congregations.   The list included:  combined worship services on a seasonal and themed basis, sharing information on small group activities, joint communications and promotions to the wider community, inter-church teams to staff the local op shop, family group events, and mixed musical groups.

The event gave an added boost to the already healthy spirit of ecumenicalism that thrives in Johnsonville.   In the words of one of the participants “we have far more in common with one another than we have differences and we need to work together in reaching out to the wider community.”