1st December 2004. JMM press release

9th June 2003.

Hi to my GECCC e-friends!

Hope you’re enjoying this Monday holiday. (Some of you watched the tennis last night: it’s sad that lovable goofy-faced Dutchman lost, eh? 🙂

A few things:

==>> Some of you asked for the powerpoint notes, and/or full notes for yesterday’s message on Pentecost. The full manuscript can be found at http://jmm.org.au/articles/2675.htm . Powerpoint notes are attached. (I hope those of you with yahoo/hotmail addresses clean out your Inboxes regularly!).

==>> Re Powerpoint and Data projectors. You gave an overwhelmingly positive response to yesterday’s trial. As a teacher, I find that technology marvelous. But, yes, the cost is an important factor. Some of you were beautifully honest: ‘We’re below budget at the moment, and it would not be responsible to fork out anything on luxuries.’ I can resonate with that: we have to be responsible with the Lord’s resources. Others said something like: ‘If God wants us to have something like this, well, miracles still happen!’ I can resonate with that too (after all yesterday was the celebration of one of the greatest miracles the world has seen – the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Church). One person said: ‘Rowland/Jan, if I heard you right, you’re willing to donate something towards one of these, and I will too. Count me in for the $300-something one tenth of the cost!’ I can resonate with that too! Churches which pursue excellence in these areas see more people coming back again! What happens with this sort of thing in progressive churches is that we have a Thankoffering Day, with options – overseas missions, local ministries of compassion, data projector – and we trust one another to be led prayerfully in what we give over and above our regular tithe… But be careful: when God’s people get generous with their financial resources the heavens open and God will pour out an overflowing blessing (Malachi 3:10)!

==>> Please pray for the Leadership Group as it meets this Thursday night. Some important matters will be discussed then relating to future directions for our church.

==>> Last night’s prayer meeting was wonderful. Then we had a good attendance at the first Sunday Evening Seminar (Marriage Enrichment). Why not diarise the next one (‘How to Help Your Friend: an Introduction to Counselling’ on July 6th)? Remember too the Careforce nights, led by Mick and Dorrie. Jan and I are signing up for these. They’ll be good!

==>> Sometimes I have my devotions with the Irish Jesuits. (See
http://www.jesuit.ie/prayer/index.htm#regular ). Now, you ask, aren’t they Catholic? Yes. And my next response is what those of you who have come to know me would expect: ‘The Catholics, like the Baptists, are a mix of good and evil; what God is doing and what the Devil is doing. We need prophets to help us sort out which is which. But if God is doing something through anyone, I want to be part of that. There’s terrible stuff in the Catholic Church – and there is in all not-yet-redeemed institutions, religious or otherwise.’

==>> Happy churches tend to honour ‘champions’. GECCC is good at that (and brilliant when blessing people who leave for whatever reason – I’ve never known a church as good as Glen Eira in that department!). Back to champions: this week I’d like to suggest we honour Ramona. She has done a wonderful job as part of the Leadership Group, and as Prayer Convenor, and as producer of the church bulletin. Ramona is diligent, faithful, very prayerful, checks her work carefully, and I hope when you put the bulletin in your Bibles to pray for the various items/people there during the week you’ll thank God for people like Ramona (and Dawn) who have done the hard work of putting it together! Thanks from all of us!

Today I’m counselling (better get off this computer soon), Tuesday study, reflection and prayer, Wednesday day off, Thursday visiting one or two GECCC‘ers, then having my eyes checked with Steve Wakeling, then the Leadership Indian dinner and meeting, Friday is counselling again, and an evening with the Walls and another church couple. The BUV Assembly is on Saturday (and on that day Ron Steven’s mum turns 100 – flowers or something Mick/Dorrie?) – then next Sunday I’m preaching in the morning at Balwyn Wesleyan Methodist church (when I came to GECCC it was on the understanding that I’d be free to continue, on a limited scale, the wider ministry I’ve been called to), then lunch with one of our Indian families.

Avagoodweek. You’re all in my prayers, and I would covet yours.

Shalom!

Rowland Croucher

—

(December/January 2001-2)

Dear friends

What a year! September 11 was the historically-defining event. If the doomsayers are right, we’re in the countdown to Armageddon. The ‘doomdeniers ‘ suggest it’s the beginning of the end of all fundamentalisms. I’m between these extremes. As the Scottish writer-theologian James Stewart put it, ‘The world is moving on, not to chaos but to Christ!’

If September 11 was the lowlight of the year, the highlight for me happened yesterday. With my wife Jan and daughters Amanda and Lindy we helped with Christmas Services in three sections of Melbourne’s women’s prison. It was all very moving. Many of these women are mothers who will not be sharing Christmas day with their children. In tears, one told me her husband was murdered last week. But they all joined in the carol-singing, and my 5-minute (yes!) talk told the story of 18-year-old ‘Jane’, the angriest client I’ve ever had. Jane kept saying ‘I’m a problem!’ I kept responding ‘You’re not a problem; what you’ve done is a problem. God loves you Jane, before you fix your problems, as you fix them, or whether you fix them or not.’ It’s the most attentive audience I’ve had all year. Those women drank in every word. Pray for them – and the ministry that Jan and Lindy conduct there every week. The text of my talk can be found at http://jmm.org.au/articles/2613.htm .

(‘Aaarrghhh, not another perfect family Christmas letter’, one of our adult children said the other day while opening the mail. So a warning: this para contains happy family news, so skip it if you wish): Lindy, our youngest, has finished her first full-time year as a ‘novice’ with a missionary order ‘Urban Neighbours of Hope’ at Springvale, working with asylum-seekers, drug addicts, ex-prisoners and the homeless. Amanda and John (Southwell) live in the front part of our home. Amanda completed a post-graduate diploma in counseling this year, and works with young post-release women. She married a man with ‘green fingers’: the garden’s never looked so good. Karen is a product manager/editor with a medical/pharmaceutical company. She and Ross (McPhie) have done a great job with our two granddaughters (Abbie is now at the Uni of Melbourne, Coralie next year finishes high school). Paul and Kiong live next door, which is great. Paul has two jobs: full-time father, and poet. Jay’s and Will’s grandmother waves to them each day as they go through the back fence to school (where, of course, they’re doing brilliantly!). Jan loves her part-time pastoral position at Boronia Baptist Church. Rowland has had a good year. More of that below. And we really enjoy our extended family at #7 – Jenny, Bec and Shaun! End of family news {smiley}.

John Mark Ministries continues its work. I’ve counseled a dozen burned-out pastors in the last month alone. The highlight of my writing-year was the GRID Leadership Letter article ‘Does the Australian Church Have a Future?’ Who was it said ‘I don’t enjoy writing; but I do enjoy having written’? (Like Robert Lynd’s ‘I do not wholeheartedly enjoy storms at sea, but I enjoy having been through storms at sea’). The JMM website has 10,000 hits a day, with articles about Terrorism, Harry Potter, the Church, Theology etc. – and two of my current projects: finding Christian hosts for homeless kids in Melbourne, and getting a few million people to sign a petition calling for Christian minorities in Muslim-majority countries to be given the same rights and freedoms as those enjoyed by Muslim minorities in the West.

Finally: get the Moriston Orpheus Choir version of Morte Christe (‘When I survey’) and I defy you to be unmoved!

Shalom! Rowland Croucher http://jmm.aaa.net.au

A PERSONAL NOTE FROM ROWLAND CROUCHER:

Jan and I are now back from four months’ sabbatical (the Australian desert and coastline are beautiful!).

Welcome to the new website. It’s one of about five ‘John Mark Ministries’ services. The others: counseling (personally and by email), retreats, seminaring and consulting (mainly at pastors’ conferences and with churches), preaching, and writing (for our clergy/leaders’ list and websites).

This website has over 4100 articles, and is soon to grow much larger! (Currently we are registering 8,000 – 12,000 hits a day). Here are two excellent ways to find your way around here: start your day with meditations from the Devotions or Sunrise Sunset sections; and use the Keyword Search facility.

Your feedback, prayers, financial assistance, and donations of F.W. Boreham books etc. are always appreciated!

Please pray for the following ministry-opportunities: January – to Gold Coast for Solo Singles’ Conference; February 1-4 Caregivers’ Conference (for counselors-of-clergy) Melbourne; 4 Balwyn Wesleyan Methodist, 9 – 13, Everton Hills Wesleyan Methodist Conference, Queensland; 23 – 25 N S W CRC Pastors’/Leaders’ Conference; Canberra; March 11 Balwyn Wesleyan Methodists; 18 Plenty Valley Baptists; 25 Boronia Church of Christ (a.m.) Blackburn (Baptist) Sunday Evening Fellowship (p.m.); April 1 Ringwood East Baptists; 8 Balwyn Wesleyan Methodists; 13-15 (Easter) Balwyn Wesleyan Methodist Family Camp; 22/29 Knox Baptists Melbourne; 29 – May 1 St Paul’s Grammar School Staff Retreat, 5-6 Aberfoyle Mens’ Conference (South Australia), 8-11 ‘Visiting Professor’ Malaysian Baptist Theological College, Penang; 11-13 – Ministry in Malaysia.

Plus: various people and couples booked in for residential retreats and face-to-face and email counseling.

Thank you and Shalom!

Rowland Croucher. March/April, 2001.

Special Financial Appeal

Dear ‘friend of John Mark Ministries’,

I’m Philip Hughes, secretary of John Mark Ministries (Victoria).

First, my best wishes for the year 2000!

John Mark Ministries, as you know, primarily offers counseling and encouragement to hurting pastors, ex-pastors, church leaders and their spouses. Rowland Croucher, the director, normally gets a new contact/enquiry every day from people wanting help or advice in difficult situations.

However, after nine years of intensive work, Rowland needs a rest, and is taking a study-sabbatical until June/July 2000. (He still does a lot of email counseling, and work on the John Mark Ministries website, mail-list etc.)

The ‘downside’ of this is, of course, that there is no income from donations from counseling and retreats for this period. Rowland’s wife Jan has resigned from her pastoral position, and she will be on a senior-age pension from late January. They still have a $81,000 mortgage from the construction of their retirement flat / ministry centre. The ministry needs a new car. And Rowland has sold his personal Boreham library to help meet expenses.

Can you help?

Feel free to email Rowland with any questions. He’s around until mid-February, when he leaves for a study-tour of Israel, donated by a kind North American friend.

Thank you, and may God bless your ministry.

(Rev. Dr.) Philip Hughes
Christian Research Association

UPDATE (August 1st, 2000): Thanks to all who have prayed for and given to this little ministry. The sale of Boreham books (including my library) has bought a car, and Jan’s superannuation plus a few other donations has wiped off the mortgage. (She now has a senior-age pension of – wait for it – $50 a week!) After our four-month sabbatical JMM’s coffers are just about empty, so your prayers (and/or invitations to preach/counsel) are still welcome! Thank you!

From a Previous Prayer Letter

Summer 1998-9.

Dear ‘Net friend,

I’m writing to you as one who is a personal friend, or is on our mailing-list, or who has corresponded with me as a ‘Net counselor/ Christian apologist/ Director of our little ministry to pastors, ex-pastors and Church leaders. Or, maybe, you’re just visiting our website!

John Mark Ministries started as a little Faith Ministry on April Fool’s Day 1991, with no promises of financial support. God has been good: although my salary is small ($20,700 AUD. a year) I have been paid every month except one January!

We now, however, are facing another of those Januaries….

Recently our Board approved the building of a Ministry Centre/Library/ Resource Centre. Already a pastor, church leader, counselee or missionary have stayed there at the rate of one or two each week. Cost: $120,000, of which JMM hopes to finance 40%, and we two 61-year-olds the rest (for an upstairs flat)!

Our counseling, seminar and preaching fees cover some costs. We are getting no book royalties at the moment, but the reprint of Still Waters Deep Waters and our final book in that series A Garden of Solitude are at the printers: hopefully out in December and January respectively. Sale of FW.Boreham books pays for ‘Net expenses (but not my two hours a day ‘Net time, or study/writing time). Gifts from committed friends are needed to pay for one day’s secretarial help, $5000 a year phone bills, etc. and now – capital expenditure. The help of several volunteers is most appreciated.

And there are several strategic projects awaiting an investment from someone: # the writing and publishing of a manual for pastors’ wives get togethers (urgent) ($5000); # completion of research into why pastors leave parish ministry (is there a Masters’ student out there who’d like to work with Christian Research Association on that one?) (about $10,000); purchase of a bulk lot of my two next publications at a discount – to be recouped from sales ($20,000); # we have nothing in our long service leave or car replacement funds.

The opportunities are terrific: over 7,000 hits daily on our website (8146 yesterday); counseling opportunities galore (I have to refer four out of five to other helping professionals); a worldwide list of over 1,300 clergy and church leaders who receive mailings five times a week; 50 emails each day from people all over the world seeking some sort of help or advice…

Thank you – and Happy Christmas!

Rowland Croucher.