GETTING TO KNOW - PRESBYTERY OF SOUTHERN SA
Our family The Presbytery of Southern SA covers the geographical area that is the southern half of the Adelaide suburban area (south of a line along Currie/Grenfell Streets) and then south and east to the state border. We are both urban and rural, with a significant Congress community alongside a predominantly Caucasian Englishspeaking heritage. That said, we also include a vast range of likes and opinions across every human interest imaginable: worship, music, scripture interpretation, theological perspectives and social values. Through the Presbytery, congregations are encouraged to strengthen and support one another so that they can fulfil their role of worship, witness and service. Through these COVID-19 times, congregations – both big and small, city and rural, have engaged with video worship, whether pre-recorded or live via Zoom or Facebook. Newsletters and magazines took on extra significance (and size) as did intentional care via phone calls. People linked in to worship from interstate and overseas; one family shared a Tenebrae meal with friends in the USA, in American time, about 15 hours behind Australian time; a large church found a creative way of holding two worship services on a Sunday morning while meeting COVID-safe requirements; and a monthly congregation’s magazine swelled from four pages to ten every three weeks! We have been brought messages of hope and encouragement as the Moderator and the General Secretary have travelled to many parts of the SA Synod in recent times, as part of gathering information to inform the Synod of SA’s new Strategic Plan. They have discovered a Church that turns out to be much more creative and adaptable than we might have thought possible!
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