CANBERRA, Australia (Mennonite Mission Network) — Praying room-by-room, more than fifty people offered blessings at the March 22 opening of Irene’s Place—a house of discipleship and peace in Canberra, Australia’s capital city.
Irene’s Place is an intentional community for interns from around the world to come and learn about reconciliation, justice and discipleship while living in a community built on pacifism and worship. The name “Irene” comes from the Greek word for peace.
Moriah Hurst, Mennonite Mission Network worker, said, “We are starting a place for learning about what it means to be people of peace.”
People from at least 15 congregations representing five denominations attended the house blessing. Starting at the front door, members of the Irene’s Place organizing committee led the group in prayers of blessing for the house and its ministry. Prayer leaders first acknowledged the aboriginal caretakers of the land, then Jim Barr, senior minister of Canberra Baptist Church, where Hurst also pastors, asked God to bless the house “from roof to floor, from wall to wall, from end to end.”
Clair Hochstetler, a Mennonite hospital chaplain from Goshen, Ind., now serving in Canberra, presented a fruit tree for planting outside the front door with these words: “May the door of this home always be open to others.”
The group then moved throughout the house, asking God to bless each space and the activities that would take place within its walls.
Hurst said all is in place to start Irene’s Place except participants. Hurst and one local theology student currently live in the house. A discipleship and service program, while well-known among North American Mennonites, is a new idea in Australia. Hurst is working with Mission Network’s Radical Journey program to bring a team of young adults from North America to model the program in the hope that activities at the house will draw the attention of Australian young adults.
A March 16 Canadian Mennonite article reporting on a young adult retreat in British Columbia said, “The Anabaptist movement of the 16th century…was really a young people’s movement, since most of those involved were dead by the age of 30.” The speaker challenged the young adults with this question: “How do we respond to our salvation?” An open discussion followed where participants explored how peace is lived out in their daily lives. This is the challenge Irene’s Place is taking up in the Aussie setting.
In response to Christ’s call, Irene’s Place seeks to challenge the ready recourse to violence and conflict at all levels of human activity—from interpersonal and family relations to local, national and international interactions. Through training and interaction with others during service to the community, Irene’s Place will teach and model peaceful actions.
The Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand, one of the sponsoring groups for Irene’s Place, had several members attend the house opening. The association would like to start similar programs around the region, recognizing that young adults are the future of the Anabaptist movement in Australia and New Zealand.
Irene’s Place also receives support from Mennonite Mission Network, Canberra Baptist Church and the Ansvar Trust. Hurst is backed by a ministry support team led by Assembly Mennonite Church in Goshen, Ind. Other congregations on the team include College Mennonite Church, Goshen; North Goshen Mennonite Church; Rocky Ford (Colo.) Mennonite Church; and Rossmere Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pa.
More information about the blessing and about Irene’s Place is available online at irenesplacecommunity.blogspot.com. Hurst’s blog at moriahhurst.blogspot.com contains the words of the March 22 blessings.
