Today's Meeting | ||||||||||||||
| We have managed to have another successful face to face meeting at Romanos, despite the growing number of Covid 19 cases. President Richard opened the meeting with Rotary grace, a loyal toast, and welcomed visitors. He advised there is money in the kitty so we can press on as a club. He also mentioned the possibility of swapping some wine being presented to the guest speaker with a bottle of olive oil. | ||||||||||||||
Apologies | ||||||||||||||
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Guest Speaker | ||||||||||||||
Our guest speaker was Susan Bazzana and was introduced by James Hamilton. Susan is the Head of St Martin's College at the Charles Sturt University. She thanked us for welcoming her to our lunch as we celebrate Christmas together and gave us the following talk.  People often ask me what I do as the Head of a university residential college but given it's Christmas I guess you could describe me as a highly specialised inn keeper. And like all inn keepers, the heart of what I do is about who I let in and what they will do to the place - this is true for College and also true for Christmas But I'll come to those a bit later. I thought I had better tell you something about myself to begin with. I grew up on the Far North Coast of NSW, in a town called Nimbin, which some of you may have heard of. It's famous for things I was never involved with - and I know you wouldn’t have guessed that I grew up there. My dad owned a small farm supply store and took peoples cattle and produce to the markets, so a lot of my childhood was spent opening farm gates and washing out the back of cattle trucks. I was in the first generation of my extended family to go to university - my cousins became teachers - but I wanted to be a journalist. One of my first jobs after graduation was as the Communications Officer for the Qld Farmers Federation. I was young and inexperienced but I was a regular listener to the Country Hour and could talk to farmers - so they let me in. After a few years I moved to Canberra to work for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (now an organisation called Agrifutures based here in Wagga) and again, they let me in because I could talk to farmers. While in Canberra I started doing my first work in churches including working in Junee, Temora and even Wagga. But long ago I swapped my rural credentials for coffees on Chapel Street and I lived inner city Melbourne for 20 years, the last 7 of those I was Head of Church Partnerships at World Vision under Tim Costello. Then I became the residential dean at New College Postgraduate Village at UNSW. Working with a community that was 85% international post grad residents. So I swapped the hook turns and shorts of blacks of Melbourne for the beaches and chai lattes of Sydney. This woman from Nimbin via the short blacks of Chapel Street and the lattes on Anzac Parade might not have seemed the obvious choice to run a ressie college full of farm kids but the St Martin's Board let me in and no doubt they are wondering what I'll do to the place. Let me tell you about the College St Martin's opened 30 years ago when 8 young people moved into one 8 bedroom, 2 bathroom cottage and were supervised by a Chaplain who also lived on site in a flat attached to a chapel that provided the residents with some community space. As the years progressed the College Board gradually added more 8 bedroom cottages and 30 years later we now have 12 cottages, the original chapel, a major new building called the Fairfax Centre and have been able to offer safe, affordable housing to over 1000 residents. James Hamilton and Adrian Whiting (both members of this Rotary Club) are currently members of our Board. The College is different to other accommodation available on campus in that it offers a strong, healthy community life and high-quality pastoral care. As Head of College I live on site and am available for the occasional midnight call out to deal with the drama that sometimes arises and which the residents can't handle on their own. People sometimes ask me what being Head of a College involves - it is a multi-faceted role where sometimes I think the biggest skill requirements are "not being easily shocked" and "being able to keep a straight face." I can tell you some very funny and some very scary stories about the challenges of living with young adults today. But in lots of ways being a Head of College is about creating culture and crafting a community. It is often about who you let in and who you keep out. Or as I said earlier, who do you let in and what will they do to the place. When you let someone new in - things change. They can make your life harder or easier. Trying to work out who to let in and who to keep out is challenging. Do you only take the academically and socially gifted who drink responsibility, keep their rooms tidy and will help you win intercollege sport or debating competitions? Do you take the potential residents where you know there are serious mental health issues that are going to need to be dealt with? Will the kid described to me by his mother as "our Greek prince" who has never been out of Western Sydney and can't cook or clean, be able to thrive in a College filled predominantly with farm kids? Will the farm kids who make up the majority of the College community be welcoming to the international PhD students who speak accented English, are often a little older and whose life experience growing up in cities like New Delhi or Shanghai is completely different to someone who finished high school last year in Condobolin? It's a great job being the inn keeper of such an interesting community. Inn keepers are a bit maligned at Christmas But Christmas like college is a time when there are questions about who you let in and who you keep out. I remember having a conversation with someone a few years ago about Jesus and whether she was willing to let him into her life. Her response was "If I let Jesus in, He would take over my whole life" "I don't have time for him". My friend hadn't realised that she was being an inn keeper - deciding who she was going to let in and who she was keeping out. Who do you let in and what will they do to the place? That’s the question that the Christmas story poses. Christmas cards, religious art and Christmas carols present the story as there being "no room at the inn" for Mary and Joseph when they finally arrive in Bethlehem having travelled from Nazareth, to participate in the census. I think we kind of imagine them driving around to a bunch of dodgy motels finding No Vacancy signs everywhere and doors being shut in their faces. But according to scholars it is more likely that Joseph and Mary would have arrived at the home of one of Joseph's relatives to find the guest room - like the town - was already full. (A bit like trying to book a bed in Wagga when the NRL comes to town). So Mary and Joseph get relegated to the back shed (or the ground floor) or a stable - some space that was shared with the animals. It would have been inconceivable for a first-century Jewish family to refuse hospitality to visiting family members, especially a pregnant woman. So it's a tough situation for all of them. For us the question is not so literal as whether the spare room is going to be free but it is more about whether you will let Jesus in and if you do what he'll do to the place. Many of us, like my friend, are hesitant to think about letting Jesus in, because we don't think we'll like what he'll do to the place. If I let Jesus in I'll have to stop swearing or I won't get to sleep in on Sunday morning because I'll have to get up to go to church. In truth, the changes if you let Jesus in, will be so much more than your speech and your Sunday's - He reorients the desires of the heart. And the research shows that letting Jesus into our lives and allowing him to shape the way we live: Makes us happier and less likely to commit suicide It makes us more generous with our time and our money Our relationships are more stable It challenges us to put the needs of others before our own and to work for peace. We spend Christmas every year, either letting Jesus in or keeping Him out. This Christmas can I encourage you to think about who you are going to let in and what will they do to the place. There are many people we can let in - and Jesus is far from the worst of them. He is likely to turn the place upside down - but in a really good way. | ||||||||||||||
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| A drone shot of St Martins | ||||||||||||||
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| Student at the Fairfax Centre | ||||||||||||||
| President Richard presented Susan with a bottle of wine, she said "So I don't get the olive oil yet?" | ||||||||||||||
Today's Guest | ||||||||||||||
| Stuart Heriot introduced his wife Barb as a special guest and welcomed all. | ||||||||||||||
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Prize Draw | ||||||||||||||
| President Richard assisted Susan with drawing a number for today's lucky winner. Secretary Phil had a challenging time finding the members numbers using his mobile phone. After six number draws of absent members President Richard's eventually took out the prize. | ||||||||||||||
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