“Stillness on the Way”
Each year, Christmas begins not with noise, but with a small light, a candle quietly burning, reminding us that hope can still find a way, even in a restless world.
This Advent, I’ve been reflecting on what it means for us to be Pilgrims of the Spirit, a Church learning again how to walk by faith through change, uncertainty and renewal.
That is the heart of our Faithful Futures journey: trusting that even small steps, taken together, can lead us toward God’s larger hope.
In these past weeks I had the joy of joining one of our congregations for their 170th anniversary, a celebration of faith lived across generations, of stories carried through challenge and change, and of a community still choosing to shine Christ’s light in their neighbourhood.
Moments like that remind me how deeply God’s faithfulness runs through our shared life.
I also recently visited another congregation where members of a local African community were grieving the tragic loss of young lives.
What moved me most was the quiet way the church gathered around them, offering prayer, presence and love.
In a world that often misunderstands or judges difference, they chose compassion. And that is what Emmanuel, God with us, looks like today.
The passing of the Treaty Bill in our Victorian Parliament has been a significant moment of hope. It is not the whole journey, but it calls us deeper into covenant, into listening, truth-telling and walking with First Peoples toward healing and justice.
Across the world, the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza brought a brief moment of relief, but the recent flare-ups of violence remind us how fragile and incomplete peace remains.
Advent speaks directly into this reality, the tension between hope and heartbreak, between the promise of peace and the longing for its fullness.
So we keep praying, we keep hoping, and we keep believing that God’s light still shines in the darkness.
So wherever you find yourself this Christmas, whether surrounded by family, carrying quiet grief, or waiting for a new beginning, may the stillness of Christ bring you peace.
May we, as Pilgrims of the Spirit, continue binding our canoes together, sharing breath, sharing hope and walking into the future God is shaping among us.
To all across our Synod, in congregations, agencies, chaplaincies, councils, presbyteries and homes,
may the light of Christ gently guide your steps,
may the love of community hold you,
and may the deep peace of God rest upon you and those you love.
May you know Christ’s hope, Christ’s joy and Christ’s peace in this holy season.
And may God bless you today and in the year to come.
Rev Salesi Faupula
Moderator, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
The video of the Moderator’s Christmas message can be found here
