A project funded by the Synod’s Missional Grants program will take artist, storyteller, and developer of Lost Sheep Resources, Andrew McDonough, to six remote schools across outback New South Wales.
‘The Flying Padre’ Pastor David Shrimpton worked to put the funding proposal together for this SRE project. He said the grant would help enhance Special Religious Education (SRE) classes he delivers in remote schools.
“It all started October last year. I was in Adelaide for a conference,” Pastor Shrimpton said.
“Andrew McDoneough was part of that group. We were chatting before the conference started. I asked, ‘Would you consider doing something remote, doing SRE?”
“He produces the lost sheep resources, does books, writes, illustrates. It was quite a big ‘yes.’”
“Nothing more came of it until I saw and heard about these grants. I thought, this is a great idea, but how do we get funding. The travel is no problem, because he’ll just shadow me.”
According to Pastor Shrimpton, the SRE classes have been well received at the remote schools he visits, like Tibooburra, Wanaaring, Louth, and Clare, among others.
When Mr McDoneough visits the schools with Pastor Shrimpton later in the year, the schools will be divided into two visits, one for the northern part and another for the south.
“We’ll get Andrew to Broken Hill, do a day at each of those, then do another three days south,” he said. “It’s been a work in progress.”
Pastor Shrimpton said he aimed to take Andrew McDonough through the schools during second week of November.
“In the fourth term we look at the Christmas story and I will probably leave part of that up to Andrew,” he said.
“When I do SRE, we do an introduction, singing, a bible story, more singing, close in prayer, then hand it back over to the teachers.”
Rev. Shrimpton said one of the highlights of this part of his ministry was the rapport he developed with the teachers.
“They will ask us how much time we need. They have the sense the kids enjoy it. The kids are amazing. They remember from one visit to the next. It might be a ten week period til I see them. They remember the stories. They remember the songs.”
At the time of this interview, Rev. Shrimpton was in Broken Hill. He had recently returned from Lowth, where a school fete and local races brought 4000 people to a town that usually has a population of 150.
“That went very well,” he recalled. “It was a fantastic day. People just camped everywhere. They all get dressed up for the races.”
“There’s the fashions of the field, there’s novelty fashions of the field. There’s other people in all the same shirts. Then you had them dressed in their finerery, fascinators and everything. Among all this dust, eight races, for myself to be there.”
“I go and cook donuts. The school kids, they’ve seen me do donuts and other things. It’s a different interaction then with the students and the school.”
The use of Lost Sheep Resources is funded by a Synod Missional Grant. The Synod’s Missional Grants provide congregations up to $10,000 for missional activity through the Synod Growth Investment Fund.
Rev. Shrimpton said that he wanted to extend, “A big thank you to the Synod.”
“It’s very flexible as to the usefulness of that grant.”
For more information on the Flying Padre, and to donate to his ministry, visit his website here.
