Don’t you love spring cleaning for the new year and sorting out old stuff, then coming across a box of old photos, letters and memorabilia, bringing to mind a load of memories? This morning I’m not going to suggest we do any spring cleaning but I am going to show you some memorabilia from our past right back to our very beginning. Most of you, including myself, were not part of Safehaven’s beginnings but a handful of you are. Before I start this journey down memory lane, a few things –

1. Not all I have compiled may be is accurate (like all recorded history ;-) but it was the best I could muster from ploughing through old postings, emails and chats with some old hands. If any of you spot any inconsistencies please shout.
2. Not all I have documented is complete (like all recorded history ;-) If there are significant events that I have missed, again please shout.
3. I have generally documented the highlights and high points of our past (like all recorded history, the winners’ stories are all there ;-) but rest assured we have had our share of lows, painful events, broken lives unrestored, relationships left unhealed. But we move on.
4. I have precious little photos but I know many exist. I did not have the time to seek out photos that you have in your own albums.  I have however, taken many from Alf’s album – thanks Alf. So if you have good photos of our past events & activities, please do share them with us. Because moving forward I would like our archivist Cyrus and our creative director Jimmy (haven’t told them this but now they know!) to do their magic and turn my primary six powerpoint show into a extraordinary FCC Corporate Video.
5. Today its not a one-way sermon. Please participate during this segment with your comments and recollections, cheers and tears, Amens and Hallelujahs!  I certainly did while I was compiling this over the last few weeks, much to the amusement of my kids. 

After the last slide brings us back to the present, I will turn to our current state of the union, and try and give you a sense of what lies ahead. You can be sure that this first segment will take up more time than the latter, for it is easier, far easier, to talk about the past than the future!

SO, LET US BEGIN

This is our courageous past. And I think it is fitting as we begin the new year to acknowledge that time and place in 1998 when God called and 7 people said yes.  We have only recently been reminded of the tale of a young woman called by God in a pretty unmistakable way.  I wonder how many women Gabriel visited in that “sixth month”.  Maybe there were others who were asked and declined the invitation.  But Mary didn’t say no. She said yes. It may have been courageous or crazy, but she agreed unknowingly, I suspect, to this convoluted story of angels and shepherds and heavenly hosts and unwelcoming innkeepers and dirty stables and an arduous and difficult journey. So if you are one of those 7 who said yes in 1998, and are present today, please stand now so we can acknowledge your courage, and perhaps even your craziness!!

Aside from it being fun to reminisce on old times, the other reason why I show our beginnings, is to remind us how far we’ve come, yes plodding and trudging no doubt, fighting the same battles sometimes over and over again, conflict from outside as well as from within, unsure of the future, but we’ve never given up and as Peter said last Sunday, we’re still alive! Our doors are still open! And that’s a real achievement!

So I salute all those who have not given up on us. I also salute those who have given up on us, because many of them have moved on to fight other battles and other causes that are just as important as what we are trying to do here, perhaps in ways and structures that they are better suited for. There’s a lot of work out there in God’s kingdom, and faithful laborers are always in short supply.

From the short history of SH/FCC you have just seen, what sense did you each get about what our church is all about?  What thoughts, words, traits, images came immediately to your mind?
(Responses elicited --  Evolving, Progressive, Proactive, Healing, Persevering)
Well, you have hit the nail on the head. These are indeed characteristics of our community and our church.  In our Identity Statement, we acknowledge that we are a DIVERSE community, which doesn’t mean we have no choice but to tolerate each other. It means rather, we have made a choice, a commitment to affirm each other's alternative Christian journeys.  We have made a choice to celebrate our differences. To do this we must remain open to engage with others who differ or disagree with us. And, we will do this in the spirit of love & respect, with mutual support and accountability, truly revealing the love and life of Christ in our community.

Perhaps what the state of our union currently looks is best shown in this Organisation Chart that our civil servant, Peter has laid out for us.

Our various ministries along with their ministry heads are unchanged except that Jorg takes over the Cell Ministry and we have the new Women’s Ministry under Su-Lin. We are grateful that she, in her very first year at Trinity Theological College, has taken up this task of providing a voice to, and a place for, the women among us.  You heard her preached last month on how lesbians have to overcome both heterosexual as well as patriarchal structures and attitudes. And that how in the heteropatriarchy of his time, Jesus reached out to women, all kinds of women, healing and affirming them. We must do no less.

Tuck & Jaime continue to lead our Prayer Ministry, at the pulpit as well as at prayer meetings and workshops. Gary continues to ably head our Worship Ministry, the worship leaders and musicians, as well as the smooth running of service each Sunday.  Jo continues to lead the Stewardship Ministry with the help of Cyrus, Dan & Melvin and cell group members in rotation – indispensable as greeters & befrienders, communion & offering stewards, and setter-uppers before service and cleaner-uppers after. 

We will have 2 Flagship Ministries that will reach out to the larger community and especially to those who suffer from injustice and discrimination, pain and suffering, hunger and poverty in so many different ways. It must be clear to us that God is not like us, waiting in the pews of the church. God is out in the world, struggling to relieve the suffering of all Her oppressed and forgotten children. All She asks is that we take one small step to join Her there.
   
The first flagship ministry, Safehaven, will continue to be FCC’s ministry to LGBT people both Christians and non-Christians. Because of our unique gay-affirming stand, it is our responsibility not just at church level but at the larger LGBT community level too. As Alphonsus takes over the reins from Jorg effective Jan 2007, he will continue and develop further public programs as he moves Safehaven forward.  He is already making plans for a public forum on Christian Perspectives on Homosexuality & Pastoral Care in a couple of month’s time inviting both pro- and anti- voices to dialogue. This distinguishes our efforts from the mainstream’s persistent solely anti-gay forums. 

Also, as we recognize we are each in different stages of our spiritual journeys, we are also in different stages of our gay identity journeys, so we have and will continue to try to best cater to these different groups. Living Water & LUSH are our initiatives to support men and women, respectively, who find their sexuality and faith in conflict.  Jaime and Wei have started a new mixed group Sprouts for newcomers to address the same issue.

Another new initiative under Safehaven will be in the area of HIV/AIDs support. Today, stigma and discrimination are major obstacles to effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care. We as followers of Christ ought to be reaching out to all people, including those affected by HIV/AIDS. 

In the ancient world of Jesus, those with diseases like leprosy, were considered "unclean and sinful," and lived alone or in small groups separated from the rest of the community. What did Jesus do? He reached out and embraced lepers and other outcasts, through acts of love and hospitality, not by stigma and rejection. Our programs will be two-pronged – support for HIV+ people and awareness & education. Already a small, low-profile group of HIV+ Christians meet regularly for support under the facilitation of Dan; their group is called CPR (Club Plus Revelation) to underscore how God continues to reveal His goodness in their lives, their name choice is also in step with AfA’s existing support group, Club Genesis, which however does not provide specific spiritual support for Christians. Plans are also afoot to organise talks to educate and raise awareness aimed at equipping care-givers (parents, siblings, friends) and lay people interested to help minister to HIV & AIDs patients. Geoffrey will spearhead this effort and it looks like it may be called CHASE (Christian HIV / AIDs Support and Equipping).   

I will lead Safehands, our other flagship ministry (once I ascertain that the original Safehands no longer exists and they do not mind giving us the name – actually the name is quite appropriate because the original Safehands were very much involved in social outreach with the several charity sales they use to organise to raise funds).

This ministry will reach out to the disadvantaged and poor around us. The widows and orphans, poor and hungry, held a special place in Jesus’ heart, and they should in ours too. How many times must the Lord tell us that we should recognise Him in the face of the hungry, naked and imprisoned?  As you have seen from our past, many members have volunteered regularly in community projects organised by Spaces, but we, as a church, have never really initiated any.

My main interest is to find opportunities where we can contribute effectively using our natural talents and gifts. Communicating with sick & elderly folk may not be everyone’s forte, not everyone can relate to children meaningfully, not everyone can hold a paint brush much less paint a flat, but there are many many other ways to help, like fund-raising events, think food and fashion, sporting events, marathons, Riding for Life. Even a simple outing like taking some kids out for a movie and MacDonald’s can be a real treat for them. We do not need mega events, we can start small. I want us to be contributing ably and willingly. As I said earlier, God only asks that we take that one small step. For now, I ask for those who feel called to be part of this ministry’s taskforce, to join me.  I already have some thoughts of what we can do, but let’s sit down and put our heads together to come up with concrete plans.

What I have come to realise in my time here with FCC is that in whatever we discuss and debate, something emerges and we don’t quite ever know what it is going to be. But its main shape seems to be providing a place of belonging, love and acceptance for all people. And we hope that when people get here, get involved and get to know us, they will begin to feel the acceptance and love not only of friends, but of God.

This is what FCC has to offer -- ourselves, as a community of faith, ever-willing to embrace everyone regardless, honest in exploring our faith, our sexuality, our suffering, our hard questions, together. We have no pastor, so we have no one position of power or authority, and that has been a blessing really. Because I have seen that from the wealth of the accumulated knowledge and personal experiences of all our members -- in religion and spirituality; in the sciences, the human sciences; in theology and philosophy; literature & poetry (where we can be sure God is just as present & active), we have and can provide pretty good answers to our often very hard questions. We have in the past confronted head-on and wrestled with issues of faith & doctrine, of the complexity of human sexuality, of relating to those of other faiths. And we have done so with 21st century minds – for we realise that we cannot be stuck in the past as Rev Yap reminded us last Sunday. We have to keep up with the times, and keep up with God. Do we want to continue to believe women are incapable of being priests? Or people sin when they love someone of the same sex? In time to come if not already, these perspectives will be viewed as quaint or even ludicrous.  21st century people who are trying to make sense of their 21st century lives, do not want to hear a church speaking in yesterday’s language holding on tight to a worldview that is two thousand and seven years old. I can tell you the members of mainstream churches rarely, if ever, ask themselves such questions (at least not in church) – they are either too afraid they will be put in their place by church leaders or are too comfortable in the security of believing, as infallible “whatever the church teaches” or “whatever the Bible says”, oblivious to the fact that they already violate much of what the Church teaches or the Bible says in their own modern living.
 We must not be afraid to take on the burdens of this complex world we live in, for it is a complex world and there are no easy answers.  But we can be faithful in our strivings.  Let me propose that as a Church and as a Community, we will strive to,

• be a welcoming Christian community to all people regardless, just as God affirms the worth and dignity of every human being
• be a community that is unafraid to wrestle with the hard questions of life, employing the authority of scripture, of tradition, of reason and of experience in forming ethical and moral decisions
• value the contributions of other religions while believing that God has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ to us as Christians, because we dare not impose our limited understanding on the ways in which God may choose to speak to all His peoples
• encourage each other in our individual spiritual journeys allowing open discussions and sharing without fear of censure or reprisal, engaging always in critical study, thought and reflection
• engage in reaching out to the less fortunate in our midst acknowledging that good faith necessarily results in good works, justice and compassion
• finally, be a community in which the life and love of Christ is made visible through the ways we as members, support, respect and are accountable to each other

If the above sounds vaguely familiar to you, it should. They are the very Community Life Principles that we have set out in the beginning to guide us in our community life together.  They govern our life as a Christian community.  They are boldly listed in our website and we should refer to them frequently.  

As hard as it may get to sustain ourselves and our community in the face of all kinds of difficulties, sometimes all it takes is for us to keep at it.  When we come out as a church with a difference, we need to keep at it. We’ve established a beach head. And we need to hang on and not give in. We must hold the ground we occupy. We need to make sure we don't give in and retreat back into our closets. We have begun the journey, and we must continue the journey, a journey that has no end. What we can offer each other is companionship on the journey as we move from one beginning to another. It’s tough but if we hang in there and we keep loving without compromising, challenging stereotypes, living honest and authentic lives worthy of God’s approval, we will hand over a precious legacy to the generations after us.
So let this year be one of new beginnings. In fact, every day is a new opportunity, isn’t it?  A new beginning and a commitment to live life anew.  So what shall I say as we head into 2007?
I say, “LET US BEGIN AGAIN ….”