An Interesting Day

Today began with a Service of Holy Communion at our local Aged Care Facility, a supported accommodation complex attached to our local Bush Nursing Hospital. It is always a joy to lead this Service, which happens once per fortnight, and averages a congregation of about 20 (there are 68 residents in the complex). Though it is billed as an Anglican Service, we get quite a spectrum of Christian affiliations. In the in - between week, my wife leads a devotional group with readings and prayers. After our Service, Communion is taken to the patients in the Hospital who are unable to attend.

The day ended with another Service of Holy Communion, this time in Beechworth Correctional Centre, a minimum security prison about 25 km away, which I visit each Thursday afternoon. There were 3 inmates present (the Centre accommodates 120). Some days there are no worshippers. The prison is a microcosm of Australian society when it comes to professed religious affiliation. Catholics are in the majority, followed by roughly equal numbers of Anglican, Uniting, Buddhist and Muslim, with some other Protestants and the occasional Jew or Orthodox. But the vast majority of prisoners state "no religious affiliation". There has been a noted decrease in the number of Anglicans - perhaps we're just becoming more law abiding.

It was good to bracket the working day with the Eucharist. It is reassuring to hold to Christ's promise about where 2 or 3 are gathered in his name. I have no doublt that God blessed and fed people at both Services. Tomorrow we will have a morning Communion Service in the Parish Church, we will get about the same number of worshippers as at the jail. That's the most challenging situation of them all.