JourneyOnline
ON FRIDAY 2 and Saturday 3 of September, Boonah Uniting Church will be holding their annual floral fete.
In previous years the floral fete has been popular with the community and attendance numbers at the congregation have increased.
Mary Gasteen is a keen floral artist and her artwork will be featured at the fete.
She found herself suddenly empowered to speak openly to others.
“As I explain the significance of the flowers chosen for each of the arrangements, I gained such confidence in my ability to speak to others about God.
I now feel my tongue is unbound to talk about God even when there are no flowers for inspiration.”
She was amazed at the impact the floral art had on so many people who attended in previous years.
“Visitors were simply awestruck.
They went home and told their neighbours “You must come down to the Uniting Church and see the flowers.
“For the first time some churchgoers were saying they could see the sequence in the Bible story.
And others who were not churchgoers were seeing the story for the very first time.”
Secretary of the Fassifern Uniting Church Ladies Fellowship, Kaye Stegeman says this year the hall display themes will be floral and the scriptural displays will be based on ‘a hymn of your choice’.
“For the first time, the scriptural displays will be open to individuals as well as local churches and people from out of the district are welcome to enter as well.
“We feel we have been guided to make changes that have turned this annual event into a blessing for our congregation and our community.
We hope other churches will consider floral art as a way of helping people speak about their faith as well,” said Ms Stegeman.
In January 2009, Boonah Uniting Church congregation spent a day reflecting, with their new minister Rev Bruce Bartleet, on the future direction of their parish.
One tangible outcome was a new mission statement to guide their planning.
The Ladies fellowship wanted to align the floral fete with their new mission statement of “walking a journey with Jesus, we offer hope, friendship and care, making disciples in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
“The challenge was to make this function appeal to modern audiences while keeping the best of the old traditions that made the day special to older residents.
But our most important consideration was how to use this event to increase God’s kingdom,” said Ms Stegeman.
