Spirit of Mission 2007

In its 21st year, Spirit of Mission was celebrated at Doltone House in Pyrmont on the evening of Thursday 31st May.

Spirit of Mission Report - A time to build
Spirit of Mission Photo Gallery
Spirit of Mission Award Winners

SOM – a time to build

PLEDGES of renewed support poured in at this year’s Spirit of Mission dinner as Wesley Mission paid tribute to its major donors. The evening was filled with excitement as supporters of the Mission realised the potential for good that lay within our collective power.

A total of 340 donors, staff and supporters attended the dinner, held at Doltone House in Pyrmont, a vast converted warehouse on the pier. An amazing $7660 in donations came from those assembled – about $5000 more than last year. On top of that, guests placed large bids for paintings and drawings by Wesley Mission clients.

The chief guest speaker was the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Mr Mal Brough, and the veteran ABC religious affairs commentator, Mr John Cleary, was MC for the evening. The guest speakers engaged the Mission Superintendent, Rev Dr Keith Garner, in a spirited interview on the future of the Mission.

A highlight of this year’s Spirit of Mission (SOM) dinner was the auction of artworks by residents and users of Edward Eagar Lodge (EEL), the Mission’s crisis accommodation centre in Surry Hills, Sydney.

Eight artworks attracted bids totalling $2250 in a silent auction, bringing pride and joy to the artists and EEL staff.

EEL activities officer Elyse Patten, who runs the art class, says that the class has immeasurable value in building up comradeship among lonely souls and igniting confidence and hope among homeless people who battle depression daily.

Care for the homeless was the SOM 2007 theme, and one of the emotional moments of the evening came at the screening of a film of homeless cases handled by Wesley Mission in Newcastle and Sydney. The audience paid the film the instinctive tribute of absolute silence at the end of the screening.

Wesley Rehabilitation Services (WRS) client Trenton Langfield’s talk on recovering from alcoholism drew the loudest applause of the evening. Trent talked about the darkest time in his life, when he pushed his worldly goods around the streets in a shopping trolley, abusing his body and mind with drink until he came to Wesley Mission and entered a rehab course. His thanks to WRS Senior Co-ordinator Nerida Dunkerly were heartfelt.

Minister Mal Brough congratulated Trenton on the “eloquence and humour” he showed in laying bare the story of his life. Trenton’s recovery and positive attitude was a “remarkable achievement”, Mr Brough said.

The Minister said that care for the disadvantaged was a force that needed the will of individuals banding together to help those suffering hard times.

He recounted that the giant accountancy firm, KPMG, had told him that graduates coming for job interviews were surprising their interview panels with an unusual question: they want to know what the firm’s philanthropic activities are; “What do you give back to the community and how can we be a part of that?” they were asking.

John Cleary provocatively asked the Superintendent what he thought of the recent Tax Office ruling that stripped favourable charity tax status from organisations that espoused a political view or sought to change government actions.

Acknowledging with a smile that he was being put on the spot in front of a member of the Government – Minister Mal Brough, who was sharing his table – Dr Garner rose to the occasion and said that while Wesley Mission was apolitical, he felt strongly about the need for churches to state the case for what they believed to be right and just.

“We must not close down the prophetic voice of the churches,” Dr Garner said. “Politics is too important to leave to the politicians.” He said that the silencing of the churches in the former Communist Eastern Bloc had contributed to the dimming of justice and liberties in those countries.

Wesley Mission was bound to “speak out for those who have no voice”, Dr Garner said.

ABC commentator John Cleary asked the Superintendent what gave him hope. Mr Garner referred to the passage in Nevil Shute’s famous book set in Australia, On the Beach. Faced with doom, the protagonist says, “There’s got to be hope”.

“We give people hope not just by financial incrementalism, but by giving them dignity,” Mr Garner said. He talked of Wesley Mission working against want and hardship because this was what Jesus Christ wanted.

“In helping others for Christ we encounter Jesus not on the road to Damascus but on the Emmaus road,” Dr Garner said. We know who we serve in the same way that the followers of Jesus realised that they had instinctively known the Risen Lord in the stranger who joined them as they walked to Emmaus.“Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked to us on the road …?” the followers said (Luke 24:30).

Spirit of Mission Photo Gallery

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