Best of both worlds

By Andrew Humphries

At first glance, Rogers Park in Chicago and Coburg in inner Melbourne would appear to have little in common.

After all, more than 15,000km separate the two locations.

For Coburg Uniting Church Minister Rev Ron Rosinsky, though, there are more than a few similarities between them.

And Ron should know, having spent a considerable amount of time in both.

Ron moved to Australia in 1992 and has been at Coburg UC since 2018, having spent 14 years at Ascot Vale Uniting Church before that.

Like Rogers Park on Chicago’s northside, Coburg is an area, Ron says, with more than its fair share of battlers and those doing it tough.

The same could also be said of Coburg’s congregation members, who Ron fondly describes as a “merry band of misfits”.

“It’s a wonderful congregation and the members really reflect the community in Coburg, which is very fruity, scrappy and colourful,” Ron says.

“I love the fact that it’s a seriously diverse community here.

“There are a lot of battlers, and some people with mental health issues, something that has been exacerbated as a result of lockdowns during Covid.”

It’s a ministry which reminds Ron so much of Rogers Park, and the “ghetto church” in which he undertook his student placement as part of seminary training.

“It’s funny how life sometimes circles around, and I do feel like I have come a long way in one sense, but also that what I’m doing here in Coburg is a return to what I was doing in Chicago,” Ron says.

“They are very similar roles with very similar features, based around a tough neighbourhood, a lot of homelessness and disfunction, and containing people who feel alone in the world.

“And as long as there is a sense of disenchantment with the way things are, there will be a place for a church, whether that’s Rogers Park or Coburg.”

The role of that church couldn’t be more important, says Ron, when it’s so easy to lose a sense of community in an increasingly fractured world.

“I think the community here at Coburg sees us in the church as having a very welcoming space,” he says.

“It’s about doing radical social inclusion as best we can here, and letting people know they are accepted and blessed.

“We can do that through food and music and by enacting a spirit of blessing by saying to people ‘we’re not here to stand over and judge you, we are here to stand with you’.

“We have all been through the fire of life, and maybe we all have something to give that helps people feel that they belong and (helps them to) find meaning in life.”

While Ron’s time at Ascot Vale was a rewarding experience, after 14 years there he knew it was time for a change.

“I felt I had done everything I could there and this position in Coburg intrigued me,” he says.

“Coburg is full of people who are searchers.

“It’s a congregation with a big heart for the community, with a really strong foundation around community outreach.”

That sense of being such an important part of the community has taken on an added importance, thanks to what a significant redevelopment of Coburg’s church complex, costing just over $3 million, brings to the table.

“It’s a renovation that had been talked about since 2015,” Ron says.

“We wanted to create a continuing place of worship, of course, but also a performance space for performing artists aspiring musicians, thespians and theatre companies,” Ron says.

Funding for the project came through the church’s beneficial ownership of an old bluestone church on the corner of Bell Street and Sydney Road in Coburg, which is leased to social housing organisation Assemble.

The church has already spent the money on the stage one renovation, thereby guaranteeing a regular income over 50 years.

Stage two of the church’s redevelopment project will involve generating rental income from what can potentially be developed on land at the back of the property.

“That would be done in conjunction with an organisation or organisations which shares our values,” Ron says.

“We strive to express the heart of God that we know through the liberator, Jesus Christ, and to be a vital presence in the ‘Coburg ecosystem’ as a modern church for the modern person.

As he reflects on what lies ahead for a reinvigorated Coburg church, Ron is grateful to have found, in the Uniting Church, a faith community that comfortably fits within his own ethos and values.

“I would go as far to say that as a liberation theologian, who takes the Bible seriously but not literally, I don’t think I could do what I do, and preach the sort of sermons that I do, in any other denomination,” he says.

“I’m very grateful to the Uniting Church for what it has given me.”

That doesn’t mean, though, that there aren’t things the Church can do better.

“Yes and no,” Ron says, when asked whether he believes the Uniting Church has a bright future.

“I think the theology is right, and it has integrity, as are the values held by the Uniting Church, and we’re on the right side of history in terms of reflecting and expressing what we know about the Jesus of history and what He did around social inclusion and equality.

“But if I’m honest I would say we have to lift our game. I don’t think that some of our worship is very appealing and some of the expressions we embrace are examples of ‘yesterday’s liturgy’.

“We have to build enthusiasm for the product, which is Christian spirituality, and building peace on earth and goodwill to all.

“The Church is, today, probably lacking in charisma and a community development aspect, because it’s not contextualising its message to the modern person.

“In other words, we’re not making the connection between the anxieties and concerns of the individual, beginning there and then pointing them back to the resources of Christian faith.

“Instead we begin with a Bible lesson, or religious jargon, assuming that people want to hear that.”

“We’re not a neighbourhood house, as such, (but there needs to be) an element of community development, and of fostering good mental health in people through belonging, pastoral care and spiritual formation.

“If we can build that sense of belonging, the Church can become like our extended family, which is what the Apostolic Church was.

“(A good Church) offers a stronger sense of true self and belonging, of hope and meaning. 

“Because when you foster all those elements, God’s self-manifestation is powerfully felt.”

Artist’s final gift to the church

For more than 20 years, acclaimed Australian artist Graham Willoughby was a much loved member of the Coburg Uniting Church.

Minister Rev Ron Rosinsky remembers Graham as a big man with a good heart and a caring nature.

“He had a wonderful sense of humour and was a very welcoming person, and someone who didn’t take himself too seriously,” Ron recalls.

“He used to run a drop-in centre here for others, would happily chat to people and had a good heart for ministry.”

It was, Ron says, something special to have an artist of Graham’s calibre as a member of the congregation.

Born in 1942, Graham’s work featured in several Australian and international exhibitions, and was represented in numerous collections, including in the National Gallery of Australia, State Library of Victoria and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

“I remember he brought a few of his pieces of art to our men’s group a few years ago and they just stood in awe marvelling at what he had produced,” Ron says.

So, when Coburg was undergoing its major redevelopment, it was decided that Graham was the perfect person to create an artistic centrepiece for the project.

The result was a series of panels creating a façade of leaves, signifying, says Ron, the ‘Tree of Life’, and “the leaves of the tree which are for the healing of the nations”. (Revelations 22:2)

“The Tree of Life, a key symbol of Coburg Uniting Church, and a significant symbol found throughout the Bible, represents the human search for peace and paradise, and the promise of eternal life, divine wisdom, and the fullness of God’s provision,” Ron says.

Sadly, though, Graham became unwell and died a month after the artwork was put in place and so never had the opportunity to view the finished installation.

However, Ron was able to take photos as individual panels were being installed, and after all panels were in place, allowing Graham to see how it looked; get a sense of how it looked get a sense of how it would all look.

“It’s taken on a greater meaning now that Graham has gone,” Ron says.

“We knew we wouldn’t have him forever, but we had hoped he could have been with us a bit longer.

“Graham saw those photos and told his daughter Louisa that it had turned out just the way he wanted it to.

“It was Graham’s last gift to the church so, for us, the installation has taken on a certain gravitas.”

Windows reflect church’s history

While it’s been a case of ‘in with the new’ as part of Coburg Uniting Church’s major redevelopment, an important historical feature has been kept in place.

A series of stained glass windows have been an important part of a church in Coburg for well over 100 years, and have been proudly incorporated into the new development.

Congregation member John Congleton has a family involvement with the church stretching back to 1850 and knows a lot about its history, as well as the importance of the stained glass windows.

“The former Presbyterian Church stood on the corner of Sydney Road and Munro Streets and was built in 1899,” John explains.

“It was a large block and, as numbers increased, the congregation built two timber halls at the rear of the church as the block ran through to Louisa Street.

“In 1956 the Coburg Council announced a project to widen Munro Street and moved to compulsorily acquire the church site, so the church looked for another home and purchased the current site on the corner of Victoria St and Louisa St for 11,250 pounds.

“The congregation themselves knocked down several houses to clear the site and erected the current church in 1960-61.”

Thankfully a number of stained glass panels and windows were rescued from the former church before demolition and were incorporated in the new church, whose well-known post-war architect was Keith Reid.

“These were mainly smaller square stained glass window panels depicting the prophets and disciples, but also included other stained glass,” John says.

“When the current church was built in 1960-61, there were still shortages of building materials after the war, so the use of the rescued stained glass helped offset costs while retaining a link with the past.”

In the new build, the Mason, Congleton and Corless families donated three new stained glass windows, which were installed on the eastern side of the church.

“The church and hall, built in 1962, cost over $150,000 and were paid for by the congregation, many of whom made financial commitments over several years,” John says.

“In 1962, the congregation numbered nearly 400 members and three services were held each Sunday.

“Today we still have two families whose membership at Coburg goes back to 1850, mine and the Aitken family.”