The Ugly Duckling Company

And just like that, it's here: our last full day in Australia. In the afternoon, Paul and Sharon met with a representative from the Anglican church and then someone from the Salvation Army. To the left, you can see the Sydney harbour bridge on our last day. (It was a stormy one!) These two meetings mark the end of our month in Australia. We caught the 4:55 ferry out of Circular Quay and watched the Sydney Opera House move slowly out of sight through rain and distance. Nevertheless, for UDC Australia, this is still just the beginning.

We're coming closer and closer to the end of our time here in Australia, but we are still making the most of it. Paul, Sharon and Sarah spent the day at the Baptist Association of NSW and ACT headquarters. From left: Sharon, Karina, and Paul discuss how to bring a live-facilitated Happiness Lab to Sydney! In the morning, local Morling College lecturer Karina Kreminski came to discuss what it would look like to run Australia's first live-facilitated Happiness Lab! We're so excited to follow along with her as she undertakes this project at the start of 2017. Lunchtime was a chance for us to catch up with Keith Jobberns. Above is a video in which he discusses the work UDC does. From left: Paul, Belinda, Ian, Sharon, and Sarah Finally, we finished the day with Ian and Belinda, familiarising them with our resources. Belinda even walked home with Table Talk for Christmas to help her facilitate conversation with her new neighbours at their upcoming gingerbread

Sharon, Sarah and Rick enjoy a windy walk on Manly Beach.  We returned today to the greater Sydney area and to our other host for the week, Rick Lewis. In the spirit of sunshine, we traveled by ferry into Sydney to suss out the harbour, the Sydney Opera House, the harbour bridge and, finally, Manly beach. Blue-bottle jellyfish were scattered across the sand like sea glass, and we returned for an evening of Australian barbecue the colour of happy tomatoes.

       Today was another busy one as our trio split between churches and activities. Paul spent the day with Springwood Baptist Church, preaching at both morning services and a later one in the afternoon. Sharon returned to Wentworthville to preach and lead the worship music for their morning service. Sarah also returned to Wentworthville, but spent the service time with a small group of youth in the kitchen, making both pancakes and a mess. These were consumed by the congregation as they emerged from the service and gathered to drink tea and converse.        But for Springwood, this was no ordinary Sunday; it was celebration Sunday! Springwood Baptist set aside this specific day to be cognisantly joyful and thankful for God's presence and provision.         This meant that along with their services, the whole church was gathering for a picnic and friendly cricket game in the park. We went along, ate, cheered, and celebrated the sunshine.        We returned together

        We were up this morning for a training session with members of Wentworthville Baptist Church. Together, the church members engaged with Paul and the practicalities of evangelism in their church context, and we ended it all with a curry lunch.         Today was also a chance to continue going through a new set of Resolve video edits. 

Late yesterday evening we made the trip to the Blue Mountains, a huge National Park and one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is also, coincidentally, where Baptist minister, friend and host Philip Waugh lives. Springwood Anglican Church leadership lean in to see Paul's demonstration of the Table Talk app. Therefore, we were able to wake up in the morning ready for a lunch meeting with the Anglican church in the nearby town of Springwood. Through a fortuitous set of circumstances, this meeting was arranged with the help of two friends from St. James in Bream! We loved getting to see some friendly faces and talk familiar geography. It's a Bream reunion! From left: Phil, Paul, Sharon, and Sisters 1-3 The day's excitement continued with a trip to see the Three Sisters, a trio of sandstone pillars in the Blue Mountains. To Sharon's delight, they were not clouded in fog as they were the last time she came. You can see them for yourself!

From left: Paul, Joh, Ian and Sharon meet in the Church of Christ division office.        Paul, Sharon and Sarah continued working with Church of Christ connections this morning in Sydney. John and Ian from the Church of Christ office were interested in what Paul had to say about training and supporting lay evangelists. Garden party attendees enjoyed some Australian sunshine and conversation.        This week also has us heading all over the suburbs and neighbourhoods of the city, and this afternoon was no exception. Rick Mumford, pastor at Wentworthville Baptist Church, took us out to Wentworthville so that Sharon and Sarah could participate in a women's garden party. We bonded over cake disasters, Sharon shared her story and we ended the afternoon tea with a thought-provoking round of Table Talk for Women. Sharon demonstrates the Table Talk app over a round of refreshments.        We finished in time for a dinner with Wentworthville Baptis

       This is it: our last day in Adelaide for the trip! Our time here flew by (sometimes literally, if you consider the winds rolling off of the ocean this week). Because we needed to prepare for Sydney, Paul, Sharon and Sarah spent the morning ironing out details for our final stop and continuing to tweak Resolve.  Who knew the standard 52-card deck could tell you so much about the Bible?        We changed gears to speak with Geoff, who works with Church of Christ's CareWorks as a community-builder in several settings. We told Geoff about Puzzling Questions, Table Talk and The Happiness Lab and, in return, he told us the story of the prodigal son using a standard 52-card deck. It was a productive meeting for all of us.         After lunch, we met with another set of Church of Christ leaders to get an even broader sense of Australian contemporary church context.  Mark (left) and Paul say goodbye until next time!        We left the meeting for the air

Paul discusses potential uses for Table Talk in ministry context with a group of Sydney area Church of Christ pastors.        Thanks to the invitation of our Church of Christ friend Mark Riessen, we spent the morning at Adelaide's Tabor College, a Christian college whose offered degrees include various ministry-related ones. Our first session involved a discussion with current Church of Christ ministers surrounding the challenges and joys of their ministry contexts and how evangelism operates both in and out of these contexts.        For the afternoon, Paul led another discussion on the role of evangelism in today's culture, this time with ministry students currently attending Tabor College. Both groups were sharp-minded and engaged as we worked together toward a new understanding of evangelism and evangelism resources.        We then used our afternoon to review new Resolve videos our producer sent over. Each day is one day closer to an exciting conclusion!

From left: Paul, Frank and Sharon take in St. Peter's Cathedral in Adelaide. Today is in the running for our busiest day yet in Australia. We caught a tram into the city for a morning meeting with St. Peter's cathedral Dean Frank Nelson and spent our time discussing the role cathedrals play in the Adelaide community.  Paul and Sharon share a laugh during a radio interview at LifeFM.  Our next stop was radio station LifeFM! Thanks to an interview with Lyn Arnolds, Sharon and Paul were able to share information about UDC and our hopes regarding Australia with a larger audience. We look forward to hearing the finished product! From left: Sharon, Paul and Andrew meet on a sunny day to discuss UDC resources. The day continued still with Church Development Facilitator at Baptist Churches of SA Andrew Turner and his insights on further connections within Australia's Baptist community. Finally, we were joined for dinner by Greg, Mark an

       Our team split this morning to spread UDC across as much of Adelaide as we could. Sharon shared a sermon on dwelling at St. Oswald’s Anglican Church while Paul spoke on evangelism at St. John’s in Salisbury, a nearby community. Sarah and Paul were treated to the company (and later the coffee!) of assistant minister Ben, and the UDC three regrouped for a lunch and afternoon with Stephen Bloor, which featured a stormy seafront view, a lively discussion on the future of UDC Australia and, among other things, an educational introduction to the inner workings of the Australian parliamentary system. Bloor will be leading the Big Conversation in Salisbury. Ben (right) interviews Sharon before her talk at the All Nations service Sunday evening        In the evening, our party of four returned to St. John’s for Sharon’s second talk of the day. The evening service, titled All Nations, featured an intimate and relaxed service with a focus on music and Sharon’s talk. After the friend

       Today, Paul and Sharon returned to the Churches of Christ conference. The theme for the Churches of Christ conference was Living Hopefully. Paul was interviewed about the various resources we have created and then asked to take a session outlining how we see the world.

       For our first official day in Adelaide, we spent the day outside of Adelaide. Australia was kind enough to give Sharon permission to drive during our time here, and we had to take advantage of the chance to meet even more people!  Meeting members in Gladstone We drove through what a local described as South Australia’s serious farmland to a town called Gladstone. There, we met John Stead, bishop of the huge geographical district of Willochra (it’s approximately 90 percent of South Australia, to be exact). This diocese serves several rural communities in South Australia and heads up the coast from Gladstone in the general direction of the mammoth state that is Western Australia.  We returned to Adelaide in time for the opening of Churches of Christ annual conference. Paul and Sharon were interviewed as part of the general program of the evening, and all three spent the remainder of the evening making connections with local church leaders and churchgoers alike. There w

       We were on the road again today, this time by bus. After a conversation with the Horsham Church of Christ leadership team, Simon saw us off at the bus station for our five hour trip through the golden countryside. Sharon and Sarah were also pleased to see their first wild kangaroo through the bus window as we crossed the border between the states of Victoria and South Australia. Tomorrow starts our first official day in Adelaide, and we’ll be busier still this week!  Sharon and Paul walk through the Glenelg neighbourhood.

       Today we said goodbye to Melbourne and officially drew a close to our first week in Australia. It's hard to believe how much such a relatively short period of time can hold; we talked, laughed and prayed with so many wonderful people in that week!  This koala is 14 meters tall! From left: Paul, Sarah, Sharon, Simon However, we're looking ahead toward even more of the same. For today, that meant a train trip to Horsham. Our new friend Simon is a Churches of Christ pastor there, and he ensured that it was a day of incredible hospitality.  Sharon and Sarah with their lovely host, Joan (right) The three of us were hosted overnight by different church members. Joan, who hosted Sharon and Sarah, had all three of us over for a delicious dinner and joined over 50 others at a local church for Paul's evening seminar.  Horsham community churchgoers gather to play and critique the Table Talk games. This time, the attendees had a chance to play Table Talk

Creative Ministries Pastor Abrahm Gunn hops in front of the camera in the spirit of Christmas.       Monday was the first of two days set aside for our Table Talk for Christmas filming project. We had a few brave takers, and we can't wait to see who else will be willing as the trip continues! Sarah loves these filming sessions because they provide a chance for us to get to know a little bit about the individuals that frequent Cross Culture, the congregation we've reached out to film. We can say with certainty that she knows more about snowboarding, dogs and Japanese food than she did when the day began! Bert, a theology student and gem aficionado, helps us out with our Table Talk video project.        In true UDC style, Monday was fast-paced and conversation-heavy. In addition to the Table Talk interviews, our team spoke with various clergy to better understand where the Ugly Duckling Company fits in Australian culture and to collaborate on ways to expand fledgling i

       As part of yesterday's seminar (which you can read about in yesterday's blog ), we split into small groups to explore different questions we were asked by our non-Christian friends. It's an extensive list, with topics moving from technicalities of the religion to our personal stories as Christians to how religion interacts with science to how religion interacts with other beliefs to conviction and truth to suffering and back again. We don't have all the answers.   Questions about suffering and evil: Why did God let this happen? Why is there so much suffering? Why doesn't God get rid of evil? Why does God not help us in the situations we are in? If God is love, why is there suffering? Doesn't that prove that God is selfish? If Christianity is true, how do you explain the terrible behaviour of people who claim to be Christian? Is God responsible for bad things that happen in our world? Questions about life as Christians: When did you

After yesterday's slight lull, we went full tilt today. The morning began with a trip to Kew for a celebration of Kew Baptist Church's 160th anniversary celebration. Paul shared the message, and by the end of his talk about the power of prayer he had a quarter of the church down front, pretending to be their favourite Biblical characters in a demonstration of the "crowd of witnesses." Paul illustrates the crowd of witnesses with a crowd of witnesses at Kew Baptist Church Festivities continued with a BBQ in the church hall. Because of the special occasion, church members from all three services (the youth service, the traditional service and the Vietnamese service) and members from years past all gathered together. We got caught up in conversation with people from all of these groups, and Paul was so pleased to stumble into the pastor of the Vietnamese-speaking services. We're looking forward to working together to translate the Table Talk apps into Vietn

In order to really take advantage of our physical presence in Australia, we have filled our schedule to the brim with meetings, seminars, services and time to work on the Resolve course. Our first Christmas tree of the season! This was also an opportunity for us to embrace the spirit of Christmas that's been following us around as we prepare for the Table Talk for Christmas season. Have you seen your first tree of the season? We sure have, just in time for the Australian summer. Steaphan Paton's 2013 piece, entitled "Cloaked combat" on display at the NGV A large part of Melbourne's culture is an emphasis on the visually stunning, which includes both an incredibly prolific street art culture but also more traditional art. The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) lives downtown and, although redesigned and built in 2002, is the oldest and biggest art museum in Australia, tracing its history back to 1861. It's stuffed with Australian art, from th

Flinders Street Station, lit by the setting sun   Today was our chance to experience the Australian train system in its glory. Melbourne is a beautiful mix of modern aesthetics and traditional architecture. The Flinders Street Station stands out as one of the later, a beautiful rust yellow stone giant with green accents towering over streets of businesspeople weaving back and forth among the crowd.  From left: Paul, Bill, Sharon and Sarah enjoy their meeting at Syndal Baptist Church Our first trip was to the Syndal suburb, where three of the largest Baptist churches in Melbourne exist within 15 minutes of each other. We spent the morning in conversation with Bill Brown, the pastor of Syndal Baptist Church. After another changeover at Flinders Street, we headed toward Thomastown for a chance to speak with one of the Salvation Army's Divisional Leaders, Major Michael Wright. Michael's interest in the Table Talk apps is a very real reminder of their ap

        Two planes later, Paul, Sharon and Sarah have made it safe and sound to Australia and have successfully made it through days one and two in Melbourne. Because of our location for the month of November, prepare for us to refer to ourselves as the UDCDU contingent (the Ugly Duckling Company Down Under).   Cross Culture We are so fortunate to be set up with an office right along Swanston Street, which features a downtown hub for dining, the stunning architecture of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and access to the river that flows right through the city. Nestled into the midst of this, right across from the Queen Victoria Library, is Cross Culture, and therefore us! Cross Culture is a congregation of roughly 600 with services that cater to Australia's English and Mandarin-speaking populations, and they are serving as our office hosts and for the week. Resolve We've been sure to make the most of it today. Together with our team on the othe

We'd love to hear from you if you're interested in any of these exciting opportunities. To get in touch, email office@theuglyducklingcompany.com App developer (FT or PT, volunteer or internship) An app developer is required to take the lead in developing iOS and Android based apps to support existing and new products. It is likely that the successful applicant will be educated to degree level and have a good understanding of the importance of design and user interface in this arena. The Ugly Duckling Company is a dynamic and rapidly expanding Christian charity committed to creating resources, mechanisms and initiatives to encourage spiritual conversation in a wide range of contexts: around the kitchen table; in the local pub; at the local community centre; in the work canteen or across a city. We are keen to hear from applicants who, in addition to having the right technical skills and attitudes necessary for effective team working, feel that they would benefit from