Sunday Stuff Spring Planning
Welcome to Solace Spring planning 2012. Solace has had a yearly opportunity for all of us to give feedback and look to the future for at least 10 years. Some will remember half days in Mont Albert with a lavish meal at the end. Some will remember years when we dreamed and then filed it away –undone; some will remember deadlines and “must do” years when difficult decisions had to be made (usually about venues, staffing and money); some will remember a few good ideas taken up and quietly put into practice. We certainly are a mob who are open to change and genuinely seek new life giving ways.
Last year we met together Solace-wide on a Sunday and studied the demographic of Alphington. We noted the fact that the suburb is hidden away in side streets with the main arterials acting as hubs for regional “destination shops.” We have not really begun developing in either market. Solace itself fits in the “destination shop” category and to date we have only touched the surface of the local community. The October 21st market day is our first planned response to the local environment, whilst also responding to a few opportunities with locals that fit our vision and mission. (ie. Wednesday’s healing chants.) As we promote ourselves more we will also grow as a “destination”.
Last year’s planning day also highlighted the need/opportunity of gathering together “Tweenies”. We have had 2 sessions, with 2 more planned for 2012 and a full 2-3 year program now planned out at a macro level.
Today we ask you to participate as fully as you can. We ask you to put aside other commitments and centre your self here at 751 with the “Sunday Stuff” community. Take a moment to come to that centered awareness or mindfulness. We encourage you to listen to and voice your feelings and your thoughts.
We do not believe in growth for its own sake, any of these scenarios could be God blessed. We merely seek to name out current situation and respond faithfully together
You may like to work alone or to work in a group. Please choose one scenario and invest it with life, explore it and improve it. Allow the actual choosing of a scenario to take all the time it needs as this alone is a massive step of discernment ( -in what is worthwhile for Solace to invest in as well as what is worthy of your time today.) Feel free to write up an alternative scenario.
Some guideline questions:
Read over the scenario and start writing all over it: what do you like/dislike, why?
What else would happen? What would go wrong? -be successful?
Share the above together
Do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) –name 3 of each
How does this scenario make you feel?
Solace Vision
We see a future where all people in Australia have a rich and satisfying spiritual journey.
Solace Mission
We make Christian spiritual community accessible and meaningful; deeply connected to traditional practices and open to the rapid changes of postmodern life
Scenario 1 - Same Old Sunday Stuff
After 12 months at 751, “Sunday Stuff” had some Sundays that were full to over flowing. Fortunately both adults and children happily squashed up or sat on the floor for the all-age time and once we started separate activities the venue was fully used but big enough. From feb to aug, over 90 gift bags were given out at Sunday and Tuesday. When asked staff could name quite a few one off visitors, and a wider group of people who seemed to be interested in Solace but only came once or twice. Some people started to come infrequently as needed or as their other life demands allowed and one or two families and individuals became part of it regularly.
Whilst the venue was squashy at times, overall we managed those busy Sundays and found that given the fluctuation in numbers and some correspondingly small Sundays it worked well enough. It was great to be in a fairly sustainable cycle with a depth of staff leadership, lots of regulars able to lead all aspects of the gathering as needed and lots of people on the kids’ team. We could make ends meet financially as well. After so many years as the stretched flag bearer we all breathed a big sigh of relief.
Sunday focused its energy on improvements of quality by delivering excellent teaching, great singing times, good leadership around our monthly practices, training for the kids’ team, incredibly high quality kids’ engagement and a warm, mature inclusive vibe. 751 was slowly fitted out and grew in beauty and a sense of the sacred.
Over the years at 751 about 2 or 3 people who move on each year for various reasons and a new family and one or two individuals who become regulars each year. Others stayed on the fringe or came or went for various reasons. By and large the pattern remained with a few squashy Sundays in warmer weather and for big events and even a few very small Sundays in the middle of term three.
The main group of children grew older each year and in 2014 the “tweenie” group was our largest Sunday children’s group. Lots of these kids also took part in the wider “tweenie” group that met every 6 weeks on a Saturday. The pre-school/toddlers group struggled to get viability with about 6 children involved –with only 2 or 3 coming on any given Sunday. This group grew into a small primary group too.
By 2017 the tweenie group was getting smaller and the primary group was also fairly small. The room was full of wise and gracious grey heads. Some of the children now attended “Tuesday stuff” or its new sibling “Thursday Stuff” or had made other faith/life choices.
By 2019 the adults at “Sunday Stuff” started planning a new form of adults-only gathering that met weekly at 7pm on a Sunday night and included a meal. With joy and gratitude we celebrated all that “Sunday Stuff” had been, and its role as the early anchor of Solace. In 2020 “Sunday Stuff” was closed, a few families sadly moved to a mainstream church, a few people moved on to an unknown destination and a group of 30 adults started “Sunday night stuff”.
In 2024, a staff member from “Tuesday Stuff” along with 4 families started a new gathering on a Sunday morning at 751.
Scenario 2 - Repeat Sunday Stuff
After 12 months at 751, “Sunday Stuff” had some Sundays that were full to over flowing. Fortunately both adults and children happily squashed up or sat on the floor for the all-age time and once we started separate activities the venue was fully used but big enough. From feb to aug, over 90 gift bags were given out at Sunday and Tuesday. When asked staff could name quite a few one off visitors, and a wider group of people who seemed to be interested in Solace but only came once or twice. Some people started to come infrequently as needed or as their other life demands allowed and one or two families and individuals became part of it regularly.
Liv was very aware of room/people dynamics and knew that if 751 was bigger then mysteriously more of the new people would stay and more of the irregular people would come regularly. After prayer and discussion we decided that a good course of action was to duplicate “Sunday Stuff” exactly. Since we already had a history of “Sunday Afternoon Stuff” we started at 2pm in Feb 2013., with as close to half of the regulars as possible offering to move.
The group that moved to 2pm felt a bit tired and stretched (but could understand the need) the group that stayed at 10am felt empty and lacking energy. For a awhile it felt very awkward and weird, sometimes people would choose a different time slot based on their other Sunday commitments and the groups were fluid. The kid’s team was stretched and the staff worked a long hard day.
In spring 2013 the 2pm group moved to 3pm and at least once a month they finished up with a BBQ at 5pm. In 2014 Sunday 10am offered pre-school and primary kids sessions only and the 3pm offered primary and “tweenie” sessions only. This did not work perfectly and families with 3 children or a wide stretch of ages struggled to fit in, dropped their eldest off at 3pm or moved to a mainstream church. The staff and leaders involved in kids’ planning started to enjoy Sundays again.
After Easter 2014, a new warmth and confidence started to pervade each group. Various individuals and families had joined both groups and the kids’ teams had enough people on them. Over all more children, at more life stages were easily incorporated into one of the two gatherings. 10am reached a sustainable place quite quickly and new people fitted in so easily we struggled to remember a time when they had not been around. 3pm was smaller but a core group just loved the time slot as it enabled a slow start to Sunday and fitted into an unused spot in the weekend.
Staff started working shorter Sundays and could also have more Sundays off. The personalities of each gathering started to emerge -with different practices showing up on the monthly routine, different school holiday activities and over time the teaching and input started to also diverge. Sunday remained a busy and long day for the venue and some staff, with predictable tensions between each group over cleaning up and occasional requests for longer use/meals causing minor tension. 751 was quickly fitted out in 2015 as sustainability took a quantum jump and the venue grew in beauty and a sense of the sacred.
Scenario 3 - An alternative to Sunday Stuff
After 12 months at 751, “Sunday Stuff” had some Sundays that were full to over flowing. Fortunately both adults and children happily squashed up or sat on the floor for the all-age time and once we started separate activities the venue was fully used but big enough. From feb to aug, over 90 gift bags were given out at Sunday and Tuesday. When asked staff could name quite a few one off visitors, and a wider group of people who seemed to be interested in Solace but only came once or twice. Some people started to come infrequently as needed or as their other life demands allowed and one or two families and individuals became part of it regularly.
Liv was very aware of room/people dynamics and knew that if 751 was bigger then mysteriously more of the new people would stay and more of the irregular people would come regularly. After prayer and discussion we decided that a good course of action would be to begin a very different alternative to regular weekly gatherings for families. Over the years some people had a hankering to take the same amount of time (2 hours per Sunday on approx. 40 Sundays each year) and use it in large chunks; so in 2013 “Weekend Stuff” was born. About a third of the current Sunday Stuff chose this new style.
“Weekend Stuff” happened 4 times a year from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Once in each season. In 2013 the “araluen” campsite at Anglesea was booked four times (feb, may, aug, nov). After the first one the Sunday stuff “Tweenies” never wanted to be part of it again and the staff slept for a week. In May it was so cold and wet that we huddled together over our coffees. Over the year the group who had started “weekend stuff” kept showing up at 10am “Sunday stuff” because they missed weekly gatherings. But it held together and the Nov weekend was an absolutely amazing time.
“Sunday Stuff” felt quiet and empty and a bit stretched for most of 2013. Some of its regulars also chose to go on the weekends away (mainly feb and nov). But in Spring 2013 lots of new families (especially families with toddlers) started coming and pretty soon it was humming along. In 2014 it offered only pre-school and primary kids’ sessions and a new group of families quickly become core to its operations.
The “Weekend Stuff” crew started special Easter and Christmas gatherings at 751 and from feb to nov gathered monthly on a Sunday night at 5pm at 751 for a BBQ. This was a perfect time to catch up, invite new people and enjoy a meal together. A simple Jesus meal liturgy was incorporated into the BBQ.
In 2014 “Weekend Stuff” moved 2 of its events to CYC Phillip Island and most of the time the staff reviewed campsites and had problems to solve about food, standard of food and costs. Solace subsidized the camps but this meant that some people chose to make their financial giving the cost of the camp and were not able to give anything more to the organisation. We tried cooking for ourselves and fully catered, we tried volunteers for kids’ teams as well as paying young adults to join us for the weekend. Some people thrived with this pattern and others went back to weekly gatherings.
In 2015 a “WS” project was added to the routine and at least once a year the “WS –ers” took on a justice project including in 2018 an overseas trip to paint an orphanage in Vietnam. At least one weekend a year felt like a “fizzer” and one or two were amazing times of community and spirituality. By 2018 we could only use large 100+ venues and every gathering was a “must attend” booking in the calendar. The “WS-ers” could never consider weekly “worship” again.
Scenario 4 - A larger venue for Sunday Stuff
After 12 months at 751, “Sunday Stuff” had some Sundays that were full to over flowing. Fortunately both adults and children happily squashed up or sat on the floor for the all-age time and once we started separate activities the venue was fully used but big enough. From feb to aug, over 90 gift bags were given out at Sunday and Tuesday. When asked staff could name quite a few one off visitors, and a wider group of people who seemed to be interested in Solace but only came once or twice. Some people started to come infrequently as needed or as their other life demands allowed and one or two families and individuals became part of it regularly.
Liv was very aware of room/people dynamics and knew that if 751 was bigger then mysteriously more of the new people would stay and more of the irregular people would come regularly. After prayer and discussion we decided to lead a new vision for all of Solace and look for a warehouse venue. “SS-ers” formed a vision group and invited people from Tuesday. Alongside staff and governance a detailed plan emerged that included a café and a pay-for-use spirituality centre. This was time intensive for the team from Easter 2013 onwards.
In late 2013, although a warehouse had not been secured, $90,000 had been raised as seed funding for this new vision and we advised our real estate agent that we would not take up our next option on the lease. In dec 2013 we left 751 never having finished the courtyard or contemplation room. We had loved our time there.
In early 2014 we rented various venues and Sundays and Tuesday stuff met as able. The Rusty Spring festival occurred as a one day event in some of the under-used buildings at the Abbotsford Convent. Anxiety and excitement was high. In February a good enough warehouse was leased in the industrial area of Darebin, 5 minutes further north of 751. The vision group spent $50,000 making it habitable and fit-for purpose and we celebrated Easter together in our new warehouse. Some of us felt tired, some felt excited and could see the future, some were disappointed and overall the venue felt BIG.
The first people to run our café tanked and after 3 months of terrible relationships we dissolved the relationship and started again. Lee and Norman from “Just Planet” came on board and after a further $50,000 of fund raising we opened a new “Just Planet” café. Under their leadership two people who had no experience in café’s but a lifelong dream to run one slowly made it a success.
Dislocation was a common feeling at Tuesday and Sundays. Long-term regulars felt tired when they saw the scope of work needing to be done yet again, but newer people felt excited and energized. Partitions and sacred objects started to make each gathering work and each grew into its space. At times finances were extremely tight and staff hours were too long.
The café offered boxes of organic veggies and food evenings and courses of all kinds. In 2015 it also started employment training –helping low skilled people get a cert IV in hospitality. In 2016 Praxis interns started overseeing a youth drop-in centre and linking up employment services, “Tweenie” activities and Tuesday stuff relationally –helping youth find holistic answers in this variety. Play groups abounded during the day.
The spirituality centre started as a weekly Christian meditation and mindfulness class. By 2015 a full program of retreats and classes was offered and linked up with Tuesday and Sunday Stuff. Solace started looking for yoga-trained staff with a Christian spirituality to hire as well as those with theology degrees.
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