Greetings …

I have been pondering what to write in my final Minister’s Greeting for the Koonung Heights Community News.  I have said a lot in this space and as I wondered what might be helpful today, some song words came to me that I think have relevance for where we are.  The song is Closing Time by Semisonic, and the line reads … every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end’.

I have since discovered that these song words are actually borrowed from Lucius Annaeus Seneca who lived from 4 BCE to 65CE.  As well as being a Roman Stoic philosopher and statesman, he also spent time as both a tutor and advisor to emperor Nero.

We are in that liminal in-between space of ending and beginning and that’s probably why these words came to mind.  Over time Koonung Heights has not only grown to be a community that we love and a place where we feel at home, but we have also been a congregation that has been known for our welcome.  We have cared for others and worked to support projects in our own country and abroad.  We have spoken for causes that matter.  We have much to rejoice in.

Yet every ending holds a seed of possibility. We have discerned the Spirit’s call to amalgamate with Surrey Hills Uniting Church, and have already stepped forward in courage.  In doing so we let go of how things are for each community, and look to embrace how things will be in the Koonung Heights-Surrey Hills Uniting Church.

Thanks for being willing to come on the journey into the future God has prepared for us.

Blessings – Rev  Heather Hon (she/her).