A meeting with a talented Afghan artist was a lightbulb moment for Banyule Network of Uniting Churches Mission Development Facilitator David Landis-Morse.
By Andrew Humphries
When Banyule Network of Uniting Churches members decided to sit down and investigate new ways of engaging with the community, inspiration came from an unlikely source.
It meant some thinking outside of the box had to take place, but Mission Development Facilitator David Landis-Morse is so glad that it did.
Inspiration came after a meeting between David and an Afghan refugee who, in 2019, was a resident at the Melbourne Immigration Detention Centre in Broadmeadows.
A talented artist, refugee Nasir had been provided with painting materials while at the detention centre, enabling him to create a number of substantial canvas works that went on display within the church.
The two-week exhibition of Nasir’s work proved to be a great success.
“A local school turned up to view the works and then donated a couple of laptops to the detention centre, which was a wonderful outcome,” David says.
“We often face-timed with Nasir at that time and that meant he had the opportunity to engage with people about his work.”
It was, David says, something of a lightbulb moment at a time when Banyule network members were looking at ways to expand their engagement with the community.
“At that particular time, it was suggested at a joint Church Council meeting that, given we were in a very stable position financially, we look to experiment with a few things over the next few years,” David recalls.
“It was about heading in a different direction in some ways and trying a few different things, like engagement through art, to see what might and might not work.”
For Banyule members, that broadening of community engagement was an important part of the ethos of living out Christian principles.
“We have a pretty robust mission plan that says it’s not just about fellowship for people in the church, it’s about strategic engagement with the wider community,” David says.
“So, in that sense, it’s about growing disciples and actually asking the question, what does Christianity mean in our world?
“It’s about demonstrating what it means to be followers of Christ in this world.
“This all coincided with the success of Nasir’s exhibition, and was the first time I thought to myself we could really do something with this church space, and trial something a little bit different.”
A focus on art and artists has opened up a wonderful connection for Uniting Church members, says David Landis-Morse.
Since then, successful workshops and exhibitions have continued to promote art and the community within the Banyule network.
In October last year, Rev Sandy Brodine organised a two-day ‘pause and paint’ workshop for teenagers promoting the ancient art of icon painting.
Led by Uniting Church in Australia icon painting teacher Peter Blackwood, the workshop provided opportunities for those attending to pause, pray and reflect each day as they enjoyed painting.
Another successful initiative was a 10-day workshop, with Banyule Council support, involving local artists exploring their art and issues around faith.
“The artists were asked to come into the church space and produce artworks in response to that space,” David says.
“On one of the days the artists spent some time chatting with some of our older members and hearing their reminiscences, and they then did a collaborative artwork in response to that.”
It was an awakening for many of the artists, David says.
“Afterwards, artist in residence Felicity Gordon spoke about how it had been a wonderful journey of healing for many people because they had sometimes felt excluded from churches, but to be welcomed into ours, and to make art as part of a welcoming community, proved to be a fantastic experience for them,” he says.
“Some of these people had certainly felt disenfranchised previously, and some of them actually spoke to me about that.
“We have now been approached by the Heidelberg Arts Society, whose members are keen to do something similar next year, and for us it’s about making those strong connections through art.
“Some of our church members are looking to put together a series of pictures around seasons of the spirit later this year, with the idea being that they are put up on our wall as a way of encouraging worship in those spaces, and what it looks like when that worship is done responding to art.”
David takes great pride in the fact that a small spark lit after meeting a talented refugee artist from Afghanistan has grown into a wonderful connection linking Banyule network members and the community.
“This space is a new thing for us, and we’re still finding out what it looks like, but there is great excitement around it,” he says.
“It’s about different ways of seeing the world, and there is so much happening in this space.
“It does mean people need to be prepared to volunteer though, because there is a lot of organisation involved in setting up these activities, and it does take some time and energy.”
David Landis-Morse at the Sycamore Tree Café, which provides a meeting place for Banyule Network members.
Heartbeat of the community
As Mission Development Facilitator with the Banyule Network of Uniting Churches, David Landis-Morse has a big job.
That’s no surprise, given the many services offered by the network and the important role it plays in the local community.
The Banyule network encompasses four separate congregations, Fresh Expressions hub Common Ground, the SPACE Contemplative Community, Messy Church Banyule, and mental health hub Hope Springs.
And, at the centre of so much of the network’s missional focus, is the Sycamore Tree Café.
David is one of the network’s three pastors but, before that, he managed the café for about 10 years and knows its importance within the Banyule network and wider community.
“In many ways my role as pastor picks up on many of the programs we ran through the café,” he says.
“The general thrust of the role is to be outward facing, and to engage with the community in that regard.
“I really enjoy that community engagement, and it picks up on a lot of the stuff that I had already been doing, including a lot of volunteer stuff when I was managing the café.
“That is something I can now push in different directions.
“I have a lot of connections with people in the community and am involved in a couple of local council organisations, which allows me to utilise those connections and ensure the church can interact more successfully with the community.”
Those community connections mean the network is able to work closely with the Banyule Council in a number of areas, including mental health.
“We’re a social enterprise, and we tick a few boxes for the local council in that regard,” he says.
“For example, the council is interested in mental health programs, and we run such a program in Heidelberg Heights, and it’s an example of the sort of initiative that the council is happy to get on board with us.”
As the Banyule Network of Uniting Churches seeks to continue its engagement with the community, there are deeper questions to consider, suggests David.
“Those deeper questions focus on what being a Church should look like at this point in time, as opposed to what it was at the end of the last century,” he says.
“Where are the connection points between the Church and modern society that see the Church as a space to hold and step into, and speak with a degree of authority on issues?”
