Home

News Article

Special Service to Celebrate 90 Years of UCWPA - Read Rev George Martin's formal address
Thursday, October 8, 2009

Beginning with the mission statement of Jesus (Luke 4:14-21) Rev Martin delivered the main address “People On A Mission” to the large crowd gathered in the Uniting Church Port Adelaide for the Uniting Care Wesley Port Adelaide’s celebration of 90 years of working in partnership with the community 1919-2009. Rev Martin spoke of the many waysPortMission, later UCWPA has creatively adapted and grown to effectively respond to the varying needs of individuals and the community. The celebration commenced with a welcome to country by Kaurna Elder, Auntie Josie Agius, a long-time friend and supporter of UCWPA.  Prayers were offered by Rev Don Catford former Superintendent and Peter Bicknell, chairperson of the Board welcomed all present including Lin Hatfield-Dodds, National Director of Uniting Care Australia who travelled to Adelaide to bring a national greeting.Musical contributions included a solo by Mark Waters, Manager Employment Access and an excellent choir organised by Noela Bajjali, Recordkeeping Coordinator. Specially hand crafted glass doves were presented to Rev George Martin, Rev Don Catford, Peter Bicknell and Libby Craft in acknowledgement of their individual contributions to UCWPA as outstanding leaders and carers. Libby Craft, CEO reminded us of the centrality of our values and the meaningfulness of our culture in the expression of our care and support for others in her introduction of a DVD “1919-2009 Celebrating 90 Years of Working in Partnership with the Community”.  Dinner was served by the members of the Port Adelaide Uniting Church following the service.
 
"People on a Mission" - Address given by Rev George Martin 25th June 2009
Intro: To all the people associated with UCW Port Adelaide now and in the past, “Happy Birthday!”  Life is very complicated these days.  Recently I bought a pair of socks.  On one sock was an L, on the other an R.  Now I even have to think when putting on my socks.  But those complexities of life won’t stop us from celebrating 90 years of community service among the people of South Australia and more particularly, the Port Adelaide region.  In the process, we shall have a look at our beginnings and developments along the way.  It is good to be reminded of how tough times can be and how creative some of our predecessors have been as they responded to the desperate people and conditions that confronted them.   
Mission statements:  According to St Luke, Jesus visited his home town of Nazareth fairly early in his public ministry.  While at worship in the synagogue, he was invited to read from the scriptures.  This is part of what he read.
The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me; he has sent me to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim release for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind; to let the broken victims go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
How is that for a mission statement!  Mind you, if anyone made such claims in Adelaide today, he may well be regarded with much scepticism and probably offered specialist treatment in a secure facility funded by Australian taxpayers.   However, the tasks he claimed for his own have been relevant right through the ages and have been passed on through those who claim to be followers of Jesus.  Central Methodist Missions have been part of that tradition.  Central Missions were formed to enable congregations to respond in an organised and practical way to the needs of the communities around them.  They sought to put into practice the admonition of Jesus of Nazareth to love God, love yourself and love your neighbour.  Helping others was also to be accompanied by renewed effort to get people to follow Jesus and attend church.  While welfare work was not contingent upon recipients coming to church, it was certainly part of the thinking of the day. 
Our Beginnings:  A hundred years ago Port Adelaide had passed its prime.  Middle class residents were moving into the more salubrious suburbs of Woodville and even Alberton.  Then the drought of 1914 led to substantial unemployment.  Housing was too expensive for people on low wages.  Alcohol addiction grew and poverty became more widespread.  Social security was completely inadequate.  Children and their mothers were having a really tough time.  World War 1 added to the problems of the Port and surrounding areas. 
Membership of the Port Methodist Church was running down in tandem with the region.  In spite of falling income, the church even considered abolishing pew rents in an effort to attract new members.  Then in 1919, the first year of the Mission, Port Adelaide was severely hit by the world-wide influenza epidemic.  What an introduction to the work of a Central Mission awaited the unsuspecting Rev Fred Brasher.  The Port Mission and Fred Brasher survived.  A group of staff and volunteers distributed food, clothing, furniture and bedding to needy people of the region.  A sister of the people tended those who were sick, helped those in need of shelter and brought a little hope in times of despair.  Ministers, staff and volunteers gave unstintingly of themselves as they strove to improve the quality of life of people in need.
From hand out to help up: The passing years have seen marked changes in the life of the Port Adelaide Central Mission.  In the 1930’s Rev TP Willason opened a free kindergarten so that families in the Port could benefit from early childhood education like those in more affluent areas.  He also embarked upon a job creation project involving a fishing fleet crewed by unemployed men in the Port.  When Arthur and Mabel McCutcheon came to the Mission, the range of services expanded still further.  Mabel McCutcheon was an experienced, trained nurse.  She was aware of the benefits to be gained from the relatively new discipline of physiotherapy and the importance of foot care to the wellbeing of elderly men and women.  A clinic was established for the provision of physiotherapy and chiropody services free of charge or at fees the locals and those from more distant places could afford. 
Meanwhile Arthur McCutcheon was busy setting up a hostel for homeless men in Dale Street and acquiring premises at Semaphore Park for the establishment of an “Old Folks Home”.   The Mission was still handing out material assistance to people who needed it but services were now enriched by developmental approaches, job creation and the active promotion of wellbeing through health care.  A social/medical interface was evident in the Port long before the concept became fashionable.   Evangelism was still a motivating force with Tom Willason and church attendances were maintained throughout the tenure of Arthur McCutcheon.  Love of God, self and others remained underlying values of the Port Adelaide Central Methodist Mission.
Through the 1970’s to the present, material assistance has remained a constant.  Services have expanded dramatically while group work and community development have received significant emphasis.  (The Aboriginal Community Development Project was a unique case in point.  It was led by Gary Killington and a little known theolog named Peter Bicknell.  The latter eventually teamed up with Redex Trial driver Don Catford to lead the Mission into the 21st century.)   Advocacy with service users, and on their behalf, has contributed to positive changes in government policies.  Organisational structure has changed from time to time in order to provide better support for staff and more effective services for clients.  Changes of emphasis in service delivery have been made, often as a result of government edict, but mainly in response to the changing needs of people in the region.  In fact, with some services, a state wide perspective has been necessary while remaining cognisant of local peculiarities. 
Management practices have been adapted to meet changing circumstances while policy development and implementation have become increasingly important elements in the overall scheme of things.  (In 1988, the Yes Prime Minister Diary was published.  Mid-year I bought half a carton of them for about a dollar a copy and sent most of them to public servants.  An entry for the second week of February reads, “Once you specify in advance what a project is going to cost, what it is supposed to achieve, and whose job it is to see that it does, the entire system of Civil Service administration collapses and you are in the whole squalid world of professional management.”)  The Port Mission of 1919 has now joined the ranks of big business.  Neither the worshipping congregation, once central to the Mission, nor the evangelical emphasis appear on the Board meeting agenda as matters for consideration.  UCW Port Adelaide has to be a thoroughly professional organisation to survive in a very difficult environment.  However it is still a person centred organisation.
Looking Ahead:  We are able to look to the future with some certainty.  The environment in which we function will always be the same.  There will be drought, financial crises, unemployment, wars, disadvantaged people, inadequate funding and changes of government.  Fashions of yesteryear will be presented as the latest trend, minority groups will compete for attention, people will live longer and health care become more expensive.  There will be changes of government but we don’t have to worry about that.  As that icon of the Civil Service, Sir Humphrey Appleby said, “The Civil Service is neither right wing nor left wing.  Political bias varies from Department to Department.  The result is a perfectly balanced and neutral Civil Service.  After all, we run the country.”  Government priorities will change but accountability procedures will remain as irksome as ever.  We can be sure that too many members of our community will be troubled by the pressures of coping with life in the 21st century. 
Let us have another look at the mission statement of Jesus.  When we take account of the cultural and religious background giving rise to his reading from the scriptures, we get a better understanding of what it means for us today.  Professor Manson wrote, “The term poor is to be taken in its inward spiritual sense and similarly the expressions captive, blind, oppressed indicate not primarily the down-trodden victims of material force such as Rome’s, but the victims of inward repressions, neuroses and other spiritual ills due to misdirection and failure of life’s energies and purposes”.  Jesus was not going to free the Hebrew population from Roman occupation.  But he did see it as part of his mission to liberate them from the mental health problems arising from an oppressive government and religious regime combined with inadequate coping mechanisms.  UCWPA is right on the ball with its expansive mental health involvements.
Conclusion:  UCW Port Adelaide originated as a strategic response of the Methodist Church to the growing needs of men, women and children of the Port Adelaide region.  It has developed into a state-wide community service organisation underpinned by the values of self respect, respect for others and an understanding that individuals are still capable of personal growth.  It reminds staff and governments that ordinary people are important and are worthy of a fair go.  Building community is a great mission in life, one that is consistent with the responsibilities that Jesus of Nazareth placed upon his followers.  Love God, love yourself and care for one another.  Having a mission in life is very commendable.  Being on a mission turns the great ideas into reality.
 
To view photos from the event click on the UnitingCare Wesley link above then go to Products, Events & Fundraising>UCWPA Events