Many associates will be keen to find out about developments at the Abbey of St Barnabas at A’Beckett Park.

This presentation (1.0MB PDF) was made to Synod by the Rev’d Edie Ashley (Project Manager) and the Rev’d Brian Turner (Chairperson A’Beckett Park Development Committee). If you’d like further information, Edie’s contact details can be found at the end of the document.

The Rev’d Canon Laurie McIntyre will be installed as the Abbot of the Abbey of St Barnabas on Raymond Island at 9am on Saturday 29 August. All are invited to attend, and join in this joyous event – those wishing to do so are asked to complete this form and return it to the Diocesan Registry (for catering purposes).

The story of the growth of this ministry on Raymond Island is detailed below.

The Abbey of St. Barnabas, Raymond Island – The Story So Far

The vision for A’Beckett Park that has emerged within the Diocese of Gippsland is now well publicised, within the Diocese and beyond.

In February 2007, a recommendation was passed in Bishop-in-Council that accepted the following vision and strategy for the redevelopment of A’Beckett Park from a run-down, under-utilised and deficit-producing camp-site to a cutting edge facility at the forefront of the Diocesan mission strategy.

The Vision: A’Beckett Park is an international Christian residential centre for spirituality and the environment and a place of pilgrimage, reflection, healing, learning and recreation.

The Strategy: To develop A’Beckett Park as an icon of the church’s commitment to and rationale for the care of God’s creation, both in its built and natural environment, and in the facilities, services and programs it offers to visitors.

To develop A’Beckett Park as a centre that leads the way in sustainability for the future, with cutting edge design and technologies that minimise its environmental impact.

Since that time, a working group, headed up by Edie Ashley as Project Manager, has been working towards making the dream a reality.

There have been dreaming days and listening, and the vision has grown in scale and acceptance across the Diocese and beyond. People outside the church who have learned of the project have shown interest and excitement and a desire to engage with the project. Overseas visitors, including people like John Bell from Iona and Ray Simpson from Lindisfarne have encouraged us with their support of the vision and pledged partnership into the future.

An architectural master plan for the site has now been developed and endorsed by Synod. This was funded by monies from the Ena Sheumack Fund, established by Anglican Women of Australia Gippsland for the development of the A’Beckett Park site.

We are in the final stages of establishing an incorporated body to be registered as an environmental society with deductible gift recipient status to enable more effectively the Diocesan commitment to Caring for God’s Creation as part of the Diocesan Strategic Plan. The society will be an active partner in the development of A’Beckett Park as a centre for spirituality and the environment as an integral part of the Diocesan commitment to the care for the environment.

Laurie McIntyre has been appointed as the spiritual leader for the living community that is to be the heart of the new site and is now resident on the island in the old manager’s house. This house, along with the chapel, is being redeveloped with monies also from the Ena Sheumack Fund. The house will be named after Ena Sheumack.

The latest development has been to establish A’Beckett Park as an Abbey and the spiritual leader as an Abbot. What was an embryonic idea within the ongoing development of the vision for A’Beckett Park seemed to take on a life of its own when Laurie arrived on the island. Even the Raymond Islanders have taken it on board with enthusiasm, and just a little bit of wonder about what is happening there.

So the decision has more or less been made for us. A’Beckett Park is now already known on the island and beyond as “The Abbey of St. Barnabas” and Laurie McIntyre as “The Abbot”.

This was not, of course, a completely random happening. In fact, a great deal of thought has gone into its birthing. A number of parishes in England are now rejuvenating their lives by returning to the vision of being an abbey. To quote from some material Edie Ashley has found on this, “The concept we’re building our church around is the old Celtic Christian abbey – a center for worship, refuge, hospitality, learning, art, and community. The ancient abbey embraced its neighbors in adjoining towns and countryside as its parish, and served the needs of the community. The Celtic abbeys were not closed monastic compounds that excluded the outside world; rather, they were open to travellers, neighbors, inquirers, and those seeking help. Every person they encountered did not show up for worship on Sundays, but the witness of the abbey impacted the community it served every day of the week. The Celtic Abbeys were a living demonstration of their way of evangelism, where belonging came before believing. Prospective converts were incorporated into the community before they became believers in Christ.”

So much for the Abbey bit. What about St. Barnabas? This comes from the fact the chapel at A’Beckett Park is the former St. Barnabas’ church from Bundalaguah. But have a look at Barnabas’ role in the early church. He was clearly a risk-taker and an innovator. He dared to welcome the persecutor Saul into the life of the church as Paul, and he led the charge at the Jerusalem Conference to enable the radical step of allowing the uncircumcised to become part of the church. In his mind, the old precious ways of the past were not to shape the new resurrection demands of the present. And his name seems to be derived from the Hebrew word for a prophet. He is Bar – son of – Nabi – the prophet.

The vision we pursue at the Abbey is a vision to be prophetic in today’s world with particular reference to the fifth mark of mission of the Anglican Communion, “to strive to safeguard the integrity of the creation and to sustain and renew the life of the earth”. We invite others to join with us as we continue that journey to make the dream a reality.

WORKING BEE AT A’BECKETT PARK – RAYMOND ISLAND

One person’s experience.

The weekend 24^th-25^th July was set aside as a combined working bee and welcome to Rev Laurie McIntyre. Laurie is to live on the island at A’Beckett Park. He will be a retreat leader, for groups or individuals who are seeking to spend a quiet time with God.

Several people arrived on the Friday. They had already achieved a great deal by the time I arrived on the Saturday morning. Rev.Janet Wallis was in charge of organising the necessary work. There was an effective team who had achieved minor miracles in the garden, cleaning up, weeding and cutting back. They had also climbed on the roof of the A frame and cleaned the spoutings. The roof is very high! I would not have liked to climb up there.

There was also a team re-organising and cleaning the chapel.

I was asked to support the team who were cleaning out the sheds behind the manager’s house. These are a series of sheds. They have been slowly filling with things which might be useful! This process has continued for at least 50 years! Our team worked hard for many hours. We cleaned out old pieces of timber, broken bricks, half empty tins of paint, etc. Two trailer loads went to the metal re-cyclers, two trailer loads went to the tip and we had an enormous bonfire. The sheds were quite empty at the end.

We stopped work for a time of prayer in the late morning. Laurie also celebrated Eucharist just before the evening meal. So we could offer our work as a gift with prayer.

We were blessed by the work of another team who prepared wonderful food for us all. At the evening meal we all “officially” welcomes Laurie. Rev Jim Connelly had written a poem and his daughter Cath had set it to music. We had a practise and then we all sang it together to celebrate Laurie’s arrival. I don’t think we would have won any choir competitions!

The day was exhausting but very satisfying.

Carolyn Raymond