Posts Tagged With: history

Memories of Church No.3 – Methodists and Mayhem

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Pieter Stok

This is part 3 of my early recollections of church.

In the mid 1960’s the church to which I now belonged rented a Methodist church that only had a few members left. After a couple of years we purchased the building and added to our congregation a small number of aged Methodists who refused to leave the building they had been part of for their whole lives. One of the “fixtures” was Mr. Robinson who, in his earlier life, had shown 16mm films in the local schools. He was also an expert on first aid and was always willing to give our youth group demonstrations. As we had Dutch parents and grandparents, Mr Robinson was our connection with the new culture in which we lived.

This was also the time that I was starting to think about the future. God put in a number of factors: there was a teacher who urged me to apply for University, which, as I have explained in earlier blogs was light-years away from my parents’ experience, and there was Rev. Deenick who urged me to explore the concept of Christian education. Rev. D. didn’t hit me with all of that at once but over time we had discussions, and he urged me to read certain books and attend particular conferences and so when the time came, in the then, distant future, I was helplessly drawn into a group of people whose aim it was to set up a Christian school, and ended up being a Christian school teacher.

At the time it seemed all so “accidental” but looking back Rev. Deenick and God were in close collaboration.

But I am racing ahead of myself. When I look back, being a Christian was a serous matter. It was not about having fun – and I am ok with that. Awe, obedience and doing things the right way were explicitly and implicitly drummed into us.

Then in the second half of the 1960s an upheaval occurred. One of the professors from the theological college (the “house” I mentioned previously) started teaching the doctrine of a second blessing with the baptism of the Holy Spirit*. To be blunt, theological war broke out and my parents were in the middle of it. As a teenager I pretended nothing was happening, after all, even though church was important there were also music, girls, cars and a bit of study to consider.

Little did I know then that this was part of the Pentecostal/Charismatic tsunami that was to hit Australian churches, and whether I liked it or not, I would have to reflect deeply on the Bible and what I believed.

* Both these men, Rev Deenick and Professor Schep, in opposing theological camps, are mentioned under my blog heading: Melchisedeks.

Categories: christian, Christianity, Church, Faith, Family, History, my dad, Reflections, Uncategorized | Tags: Christian, Christian Education, Christianity, Church, Devotion, Faith, history | 2 Comments

Memories of Church No. 2 or Coffee, Calvinism and Cigars

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Pieter Stok

Yesterday I started my reflections on growing up in a migrant church in the 1950s. Today the story continues …

By my mid teen years we were worshiping in Geelong. This congregation, which was much larger, did not have its own building yet and had also moved several times – from a Temperance Hall (with amiable rats) to Church Halls. At this time I attended “Catechism classes”, also in relocated army huts. (A story for another occasion involves the Friday after school Catechism classes held at our home. But that deserves a special heading of its own). Previously we had had Saturday Morning School. Every Saturday morning, (as the name suggests!) the children from Ocean Grove were herded into a windowless van my dad normally used to cart veggies, and were sent to a house in Geelong, which also doubled as a theological college, (these dutchies weren’t shy!) and we spent two hours learning about the Bible, Church History and creation while our Aussie friends played football, tennis or cricket. I must confess they were not my favourite two hours of the week. It was an attempt by our parents and the church to compensate for the lack of Christian education, not as I suspected at the time, a form of sadistic adult cruelty.

Around that time, due to the closure of our church, we started attending church in Geelong which had a very traditional dutch minister. When asked what the church was doing for evangelism, his honest reply was, “We open the doors of the church every Sunday.” He soon returned to Holland (and, I believe, to a “black stocking” church) and a new minister arrived who had a profound impact on my life. Rev. J.W. Deenick was a staunch Calvinist who had an amazing sense of the the Christian’s role in the Kingdom of God. With the gift of hindsight I realise that he planted some of that in me.

The church services were just as dull as usual – the hymns sober, the organ slow and not a

Image: Courtesy, Wikipedia

guitar in sight. I recall on one occasion being reprimanded by my dad for wearing corduroy trousers, “Would you visit the Queen wearing those pants?” “She hasn’t invited me,” I thought but didn’t dare express. However, now with the new minister there were activities to get involved in; Holiday Clubs (or Vacation Bible Schools) to run and Beach Missions to organise during the summer. For a keen teenager this gave purpose to a Christian’s life. Looking back, it was a time when we began to shed our ethnic hangups and sought to become part of Australian society and bring our own unique contributions: coffee, Calvinism and cigars – not necessarily in that order.

All the while we still had our dreaded catechism classes after which followed the more enjoyable youth club time with its topical studies, business meeting and games – as well as meeting girls. This is where I discovered my wife – after a few false starts!

Tomorrow I want to explore my entry into Christian education.

Categories: christian, Christianity, Church, Faith, Family, my dad, Uncategorized | Tags: Christian, Christianity, Church, Faith, family, history | 1 Comment

Queenscliff and the Field of Memories

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Pieter Stok

QueenscliffQueenscliff - A Panorama from the jetty

Queenscliff – A Panorama from the jetty. From the left: The fort with the black lighthouse, the water tower, the Ozone guest house and the jetty

On a whim, we drove to Queenscliff yesterday. As we entered the town the first sight was the empty field where the high school once stood. Only a few parking spaces and cricket practice nets remain. But even the empty space evoked a mountain of memories of 5 years spent at the school. Every day we took a shaky old Ford bus from Ocean Grove to Queenscliff.

Once a week a steam train would chug past with coal and shell grit. The school flag pole was multi-masted and could display a veritable united nations of flags – although it never did. And everyday we lined up on the asphalt rain, hail or shine to listen to Mr. Irwin’s instructions for the day.

The names of teachers drifted through my mind: Mr and Mrs Mason, Mr Anderson, Mr Griffin, Mrs le Maistre and, of course, the redoubtable Mr. van Every. There were the young things just out of Teachers’ College that stirred a boy’s heart … and many more. There was the small sailing boat a friend and I built in the shelter shed, and marching on the oval in preparation for sports days – adjudicated by a Colonel from the army fort near by.

The student body was an odd mixture. Sons and daughters of farmers, fisherman, migrants and officers from the Staff College at the fort. On the whole we got on well but my quick temper did get me into trouble on occasions. It was a simple time. You could leave school in Form 2 and work for the Post Office – Robbo did. By Form 4 a bank job was a possibility, Form 5 primary teaching and to do Form 6 we had to change schools. Finding employment wasn’t a problem. The unemployment rate was less than 2%.

There was the day a thistle funnel rocketed into the ceiling powered by hydrogen gas – unexpected but spectacular. We constructed a ghost house under the staff room and had unaccompanied walks across town to the tennis courts or the fort on Wednesdays for sport. That wouldn’t be allowed today in our litigious age. Once we went to see the Longest Day at the Vue Grande and on another occasion we visited the boat builders before the launch of a small boat.

I remember sitting in the sun telling my friends from form three that they were not real but figments of my imagination because I had decided that I was God. They were the years when girls took on a new meaning and confusion reigned in heart and mind. Oh yes, we learned things too. I learned that simple arithmetic was enough for me but you could never get enough of history and literature.

A small few acres crowded with memories now lies quiet and forlorn waiting for “Mac mansions” to be built over it. But these memories and many, many more will forever haunt this corner of Queenscliff.

Categories: History, Queenscliff, Reflections | Tags: history, Queenscliff | 4 Comments

Blindness of the Heart

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Pieter Stok

I have written previously about my father’s experience as an “conscripted” worker forced to work in Germany during World War 2. In the photo below, my dad (on the left) stands with two friends at a tram stop in Berlin in 1943.

At a tramstop: Berlin c1943

From the photo it is difficult to believe there is a horrendous war going on at the time it was taken. Almost four years of war have already been gone through, yet daily life, it seems, is going on as normal. Within the next two years allied troops would storm Berlin and it would become a divided city until the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. The people of Germany may have had an inkling, but certainly no knowledge of, what was going to happen in the future. As best they could, they were living life as normally as possible.

We may have a variety of responses to this. They must have been blind, or foolish or wilfully ignorant. Or, maybe, they were caught in a trap of their leader’s making and they felt powerless to do anything about it.

So often we live like that too. Men are good at denying symptoms of a disease until it is too late. Parents see behaviour in their children that should alert them to dangers but continue pretending that everything is ok. Or most seriously, we know there is a spiritual dimension to our lives but we fail to respond to it.

The other day I reviewed a book by Francis Spufford “Unapologetic”. What I liked about it was the struggle that he revealed as he dealt with those spiritual questions. He didn’t push that “spiritual nagging” aside but opened his life to its challenging journey.

My dad was a man like that. He was the black sheep of his family and the church. He asked questions that no one could, or wanted to, answer. However, as a child growing up it was plain to me that my dad had an on going conversation/argument/relationship with God. There was never a doubt about God’s existence. My dad just struggled to understand God’s intentions, or at other times submit to His call on my dad’s life.

One of the spiritual legacies my father left to me was the image of a real God who comes into our lives. He also showed me that this was a dynamic, on going and relationship. So, unlike the people in the photo above, there was never any doubt about how “life’s story” would end and who was in control.

Categories: christian, Christianity, Devotional, Faith, Family, History, Uncategorized | Tags: Christian, Christianity, Devotion, Faith, family, history | 5 Comments

If Only Time Travel Were Real

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Pieter Stok

If you enjoy history you must have had the desire to go back to a particular time or place in the past. After watching “Dr. Who” or “Back to the Future”, there is that desire to see history as it was happening; naturally with out the plague, guillotine or other deadly problem!

Fountains Abbey

Two places that always rekindle that desire are the Cistercian abbeys of Rievaulx and Fountains. Both are in sublime locations in North Yorkshire, UK. and enough remains (despite the efforts of King Henry VIIIth) to give us big clues as to their daily life and activities. But in the end we can only make well considered deductions from the ruins, archaeology and historical documents.

How great it would be if you could go back to these places when they were at their peak!

We tend to look at history through the lens of our culture and its values. We weigh things up with our 21st century mindset. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could ask the monks what their hopes, fears, dreams, motivations and aspirations were. What was it really like living in these remote and secluded places? How did they see God and His impact on their lives? What did they hope to achieve and … what was it like to pray for hours on end in a frozen Yorkshire winter?

Rievaulx Abbey

Nobody will ever wonder about our generation. We have written, blogged and videoed all our angsts and desires – ad nauseum. But these people can only be seen through the fogs and shadows of time. We can know them – but only just.

In the meantime, for me, these old abbeys exude a mystery and allure that keeps me fascinated.

Categories: christian, Christianity, Church, History, Reflections | Tags: Christian, Christianity, Faith, history | 6 Comments

Christian History Institute

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Pieter Stok

While reflecting on Reformation day and the contribution of Martin Luther I was reminded of the fantastic resource that the Christian History Institute is. Over the years I have used their resources in my teaching, both in churches and schools. One of my favourite resources has been their “Reformation Overview” which uses clips from films to look at key players in the Reformation.

If you have not explored their material I encourage you to do so. They have a wealth of valuable information on the history of the church – people and events. Their website has links to magazines, articles and films from the apostles to current times.

For example: this is an article on Luther’s early years. http://www.chinstitute.org/index.php/chm/sixteenth-century/early-luther/

There is material for all ages. In an age when we have tended to lose sight of those who have gone before us CHI keeps alive the marvelous work done by the saints who have paved the way.

Categories: christian, Christianity, Church, History, Luther, Uncategorized | Tags: Christian, Christianity, Church, Devotion, Faith, history | 3 Comments

Was The Past Really Simpler?

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Pieter Stok

Mr Spears Allansford

When I have a minute here or there I love browsing through my photos. They are great memory-triggers recalling times, events and people from the past – recent and distant.

The photo above was taken in 1954 in Allansford, Victoria. We had only arrived in Australia a short time earlier and after having stayed with a lovely Australian family we moved to a house in Allansford. One of the neighbours was the farmer in the picture. Most farmers had moved to tractors long ago but Mr Spears preferred the traditional methods. He wasn’t bound by engines or petrol prices. Many farmers kept a foot in the past and the present. I remember the thrill of helping rig up the horse and buggy at a friend’s farm because the old WW2 army Jeep wouldn’t start. It was important that we get the 10 gallon milk cans to the depot for pick up by the truck from the local butter factory. Riding in the buggy along the highway was a special pleasure.

When we lived in town I also remember hanging the billy-can on the side of the milk collection depot. One of the local farmers would fill these for the town locals; none of the pasteurised, homogenised and diluted rubbish in those days.

In my lifetime so much has changed for good and evil. Yet sometimes in the madness of a busy day I do fondly remember a time and place that was simpler. One of the reasons it was simpler was that I was young and did not have adult concerns. However the picture above makes me think the simplicity was due to more than just my youthful naivety.

Categories: History, Photo, Reflections | Tags: Alansford, history, Photo | 2 Comments

Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used To Be

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Pieter Stok

Opa and the bakery cart

I know I have stolen the title above but it caused me to reflect on my father. For a while my dad was an itinerant hawker selling fruit and vegetables from home to home, around Ocean Grove and Geelong. There was a tradition in my family of this type of work. A grandfather and a great grandfather had done the same. In fact it was an age of home delivery. The baker, butcher, iceman, milkman and even the draper came in vans on a regular basis. I remember the Rawleigh man coming with his suitcase of lotions and potions. The memories of hearing the milkman’s horse clip clopping past the house in the early morning and chasing the iceman for a piece of ice on a hot dusty day in summer, is still strong.

Slowly these mobile salesmen (I don’t remember ever seeing a woman do this) have faded into the past. Supermarkets and cars led to their demise. Nothing ever stays the same. Today we are seeing a modern version: Internet sales. The sales people are in our homes and what we want is delivered to our doors. I have to confess that a lot of my purchases are now delivered by my “Pay” pal.

Yet I still miss riding in the back of my dad’s truck during the holidays “helping” him on his rounds and meeting his amazing variety of customers; migrants from all parts of Europe, a WW1 gas attack survivor, and a seaman who had clung to a table when the Titanic sank. My dad being a gregarious man elicited amazing stories from these, now long gone, people. And I miss the smell of fresh bread wafting from the back of the baker’s van. Horses and carts on the street, even a few, seemed to have a way of slowing life down to a more reasonable pace.

The internet is helpful and efficient. Its range is enormous. But give me the hawkers and the colour and life they brought from house to house. I can’t imagine my children ever being nostalgic about a mouse click on an internet sales site.

Categories: Family, History, Reflections, Uncategorized | Tags: family, history | 3 Comments

Viking Ship Museum

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Pieter Stok

Today’s post is simply a favourite photo.

This photo was taken in the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum. It is a ship built in the C11th and was later filled with rocks to form part of a blockade of a channel. It was recovered in 1962.

Categories: History, Photo | Tags: history | Leave a comment

Changes I Have Seen In School

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Pieter Stok

Having been involved in schools as, student, parent and teacher over 55 years there have been a huge number of changes in that time. I have listed some but I’d love to read what you would like to add to this list.

1. At Ocean Grove PS we started writing with nib pens dipped into an inkwell. The inkwell

Ocean Grove Primary School circa 1957

could also be used to colour tip the hair of the blond girl with long tresses sitting in front of you. I was given the highly esteemed position of “Ink Monitor”. We had to dilute the “Swan” ink towards the end of the year as the school ran out of money. Biros were introduced in grade 5. They were expensive and novel.

2. The cuts/the strap/ corporal punishment was present (and received) through all my student life. And no, I wasn’t scarred emotionally.

3. We loved smelling the pages that came from the spirit duplicator – each page just slightly fainter than the page before. Then came the photocopiers with grey photocopy paper on a continuous roll. Now we have fancy scanners and printers that rocket along – when the work. There were also ink printing machines which wrecked your clothes with their unwashable ink.

4. If I went home and was stupid enough to say that the teacher was angry with me, my dad would add to my pain. Now, woe betide any teacher who challenges the little darlings.

5. I started with a slate and chalk – now there are iPads. Technology and communication is probably the most dramatic of all the changes.

6. Nobody had heard of drugs when I went to school. In my later teens the drugs of concern were alcohol and cigarettes.

7. Desks were not tables and chairs, they were solid (one piece) oak furniture – and if the lid dropped on your head you would be concussed for a week.

8. We had bottles of milk (1/3 of a pint) at the start of each day. If left in the sun too long it was awful. Also, being a “Milk Monitor”, (another esteemed position) who had to deliver milk to the classes and punch holes in the silver tops, we were able to get out of folk dancing and having to hold hands with girls.

9. Class sizes were huge. There must have been well over 40 students in some classes. Now 26 is considered a big class.

10. For most students family life was far more stable in days past. However, there was far less openness about abuse and family violence. As children we all knew of others who were frequently belted and everyone (including the teachers) kept quiet about it.

11. Marching into school with martial music was the fashion when I was a student. My dad, who had experienced WW2, thought it was appalling.

12. My early school years were also in the days before central heating. I have vivid memories of the Headmaster taking a few year 6 boys out to chop the wood and sharing it amongst the classes. He even asked the boys to hold the block of wood while he split it with the axe. Today there would be all sorts of regulations about that activity.

Things that haven’t changed

The importance of inspirational teachers.

Uniforms

Rebellion – petty (hair length/dress length/ chewing gum …)

Rebellion – major

Nits

What changes have you noticed?

Categories: Education, History | Tags: Education, history | Leave a comment