Synod Meeting 2014: Connecting people with a divine spirit

The Synod Meeting 2014 was officially opened by the Moderator, Rev. Myung Hwa Park: “We are called to be a living sign of God’s presence. Members of the Church, the dwelling place of God, connecting people with the divine spirit, a community offering a whole alternative experience of life.”

Members of Ravenswood School for Girls then declared  “we are all parts of the one body,” from Corinthians 12: 12-27. In the spirit of “one body”, Pastor Hannah Dungan from Kippax Uniting Church asked table groups to interact as one and they were encouraged to get to know each other and think about the parts of the body each person in their table group represented.

Chaplain Jon Humphries from Ravenswood School for Girls then encouraged table groups to take two minutes to put two line prayers together for Synod and present them. Collected prayers were bought to the floor as groups blessed the meeting with collaboration, reconciliation, seeking God’s will for the Synod and prayer for the work of the Synod and decisions made over the four days of the meeting.

The Moderator then lit the candle that symbolises that the meeting space is a safe space. Rev. Park proclaimed that we will have a “spirit-filled day.” So began the first day of the Synod Meeting for 2014.