The Past Today

The Rev. Dr Clive Pearson is presenting a monthly seminar on 'The Past Today.' Each month, usually on the last Saturday of the month at St. Matthew's Uniting Church Baulkham Hills he has been taking people through parts of our past as the Church which we might learn from in the present.

His first seminar in June was about the Nicene Creed. This was the prompt for the series, given that this year saw the 1700th anniversary of its inception. On the 20th May in 325 CE/AD approximately 300 bishops gathered in the imperial residence in Nicaea (now Iznik), a city to the east of Constantinople (now Istanbul). They had been summoned by the emperor, Constantine, to resolve a crisis that would shape the subsequent history of the Christian faith. How should the relationship of God ‘the Father’ and Jesus (the Son) be understood?

The wrestling which lies behind Nicaea are still with as we seek to respond to Jesus’ question, ‘Who do you say that I am?’. They are present in our worship and in the organization of our hymn books. The workings of the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople can serve as a check on our worship especially when one or more of the three ‘persons’ goes missing in our liturgies and is never mentioned. Something then is not right. They are a critical part of our ecumenical heritage.

In July, Clive presented on 'Herstory.' He focused attention on women from the history Church who have made a great mark on aspects of our life and faith today, but who often go unknown, unrecognised and unappreciated for the part they have played in the tradition which we have received.

August was about, 'Plagues, Pandemics and Christ.' Throughout its history the church has had to negotiate plagues and pandemics. What happens when there is no vaccine, no daily briefing, no zoom? How did the church exercise its care of those in need? What were the costs in lives, ministry, communities? Why did Christians behave in the way they did? What did they think? Of, course, what can we learn from those in the past which can shape us as the Church or today as we continue with COVID-19.

September's episode of Clive's' presentation ‘Allah’ explores how the Christian faith has engaged with Islam over time. Of course, the word ‘Allah; means God in Arabic and it is the word used by Arabic Christians. It is good for us in the Church today, especially in non-Arabic speaking traditions that Allah was used by the Church long before the English word ‘God’ was used.

This presentation is on 27 September at 10am at St. Matthew's Uniting Church Baulkham Hills.

Rev. Jon Humphries, Ministry Leader at St Matthews Uniting Church, Baulkham Hills