Last week, Sydneyanglicans.net brought you coverage of the Big Day In from Kellyville Anglican Church, where the response to the day was overwhelmingly positive. As promised, this week we feature your experiences of the Big Day In, starting with Engadine, where Colin Buchanan and a crew of little superheroes were primed for their live cross.

Engadine Anglican Church was packed to the walls as members, and a few visitors, took part in the Big Day In service, Josh Maule writes.

While the sun blazed hot outside, around 400 adults and 100 children filled the air-conditioned church hall for the Connect09 campaign launch.

Various faces filled the seats, from parents and babies, to young adults, to silver-haired members. But not everyone was at ease.

"I've lived in fear and trepidation for the last hour," said rector, the Rev Rick Lewers. "I was just hoping everything would work."

Engadine watched the same broadcast as other Sydney Anglicans, with one difference: they had Colin Buchanan in the flesh.

Children gathered near the front of the stage as Buchanan dialogued with Nudge the puppet, and sang his new song Super Saviour with an army of young superheroes.

The congregation was quietly alert during the Archbishop's message.

Although he appeared only via pixels, Dr Jensen's message sank deep into the hearts of the congregation.

Over morning tea an anonymous churchgoer was heard asking for prayer in connecting with a friend. "Just pray for me; that I'd be courageous" " she said.

Other churchgoers spoke to sydneyanglicans.net about their thoughts on being part of Connect09.

"I think it's something we try to do all the time," said a senior member, Joy Randle. "I haven't got fear about it at all. I always feel I'm walking with the Lord."

And proving there is no age restriction for connecting, nine-year-old Sierra Mann said she was "thinking about asking one of her friends to go to kids' club".

Mr Lewers, says most people are behind the campaign. "I think people generally are excited and challenged," he said. "And I don't hear a lot of people say to me "I don't want to do this'. What we hear a lot of people say is, "we must do this, but it's hard'."

"We've had visitors here this morning" My assumption is that they've had a good morning because they're still here drinking tea and coffee."

Colin Buchanan joked with sydneyanglicans.net that he had put "minutes" of preparation into the Big Day In.

Mr Buchanan has been working on DVD which will be available to give away to children around Easter.

He says it was inspired by a John Piper sermon titled "I'm Sending You To Open Their Eyes'.

"It builds the story of the gospel through and credits that story, not with Christians, but as a message from God in his word," Buchanan said. "And then it poses the question: do you know Jesus? Are you serving him?"

Doug Philpott " St Mark's West Wollongong

We started out planning to use the webcast for the Big Day In, but at the last moment discovered that we had access to the ACC from a repeater mounted on a hill just north of Wollongong.
After some creative wiring in and between the rectory and the church building, we managed to get a watchable TV signal. It was just as well because we were monitoring the webcast during the broadcast and noticed it hanging a number of times.
We had a good (better than normal) crowd at our 10am service, and many commented on the power of the Archbishop's message to us.  We had a little follow-on and distributed 10 copies of The Essential Jesus to everyone who attended.  We managed to record the broadcast and use it again at our Night Church.
There were a few wrinkles that are worth mentioning.  You may already know about them, but here goes…........
It was a widescreen broadcast.  Consequently the image on our screen was smaller (compressed) in order to fit the widescreen on the projection screen.
I am sure that at some stage the picture appeared to be a stretched 4x3, thus giving people a "fat" look.
Such broadcasts must always remember that many church buildings (especially ours) have significant ambient light issues.  Picture contrast is crucial to effective viewing.
There were some issues with recital graphics.  They were too small (and made even smaller by the effects of widescreen).  Some of the transitions from screen to screen were troublesome, making it hard to properly participate.  The words for the "congregational" song In Christ Alone were missing altogether.
Subtitle graphics (i.e. people's names and titles) need to have a consistent contrast.  Many utilised fading from left to right for effect, but it meant we could only read half of most of them.
Otherwise it was a great event, and we are all looking forward to praying, connecting and expecting our great God to do great things.

The Rev Geoff Deutscher, St Martin's Ulladulla
 
The three congregations of Ulladulla parish, (two from St Martin’s and one from Sts Peter & Paul) gathered together for the launch of the Big Day In.

Coffee, tea and raisin toast were served before the service as folk gathered together at the only service in the parish for the day.

We wanted people from all our services together to share in this exciting event. For us, the timing is perfect as 2009 is also our 150th Anniversary.

We had upgraded out internet speed and assistant Jake De Salis did a superb job getting all the technical issues just right for the day.

We were expecting the words of the hymn and final prayer to appear on the screen, but unfortunately they didn’t, but that certainly didn’t hinder our sense of unity and expectation for the year ahead.

I outlined to the congregation events and activities for the coming year including free pancakes on the lawn of St Martin’s on Shrove Tuesday, neighbourhood door knocks, a stand at the Milton Show and a walk of the length of the parish (90kms) which I will lead later in the year.

We’re off to a flyer. Praise the Lord!

The Rev Barry George, St Stephen's, Normanhurst
Congratulations to all who worked hard and long to produce this Diocesan-wide webcast.
Congratulations to Archbishop Jensen for a brilliant message calling Christians across the Diocese to action for Connect09.

As I have chatted with family and friends who participated at diffent venues, I believe the webcast had a number of shortcomings that could be improved upon next time around.

* It was a great event but lacked the professionalism that is needed to commend the gospel to unbelievers.
* Words on the screen for the Confession and the Creed were too small for congregations to read and participate in meaningfully.
* The slides were not changed quickly enough to keep up with the congregation’s reading pace.
* The clergyman who pronounced the Absolution did so as if it were a piece of well rehearsed poetry, prayed without expression and devoid of meaning.
* Congregations were unable to join in the songs because there were no words on the screen.
* Christians were unable to join in the Prayer of Commitment " again the words were not produced on the screen.

Surely the gospel of Jesus Christ demands that our standards of professionalism at least equal, if not exceed those of the secular world in which we live.
I don’t wish to be negative, but Natasha Percy’s article on your website is so glossy and positive I thought somebody has to be honest enough to say “wait a moment, the emperor has no clothes”.
Lea Carswell, Merrylands Anglican Church

Merrylands in Sydney's western region enjoyed a Big Night Out and then the Big Day In.
The evening before the Big Day In, more than 100 members of our church's four congregations enjoyed the Big Night Out, assembling at the nearby Holroyd Civic Centre for an excellent meal, the encouragement of guests Vince and Brenda Williamson, exhortations from our sister Vikki Napier, who has just started a diploma at Moore College and a brief reminder from our minister, Nathan Killick, that the reason we want to connect is because of the lostness of the world around us and the glory of God. Everyone had a fabulous evening, not least because of the silent but effective airconditioning.
The next morning, the combined Big Day In service was conducted in that same room. Originally planned for the un-airconditioned church, with overflow in the un-airconditioned hall, Parish Council decided that, in the event of such extreme heat, a change of venue was the best plan. (Attempts to hire portable airconditioners were not successful and underlined the cost-effectiveness of hiring the local function room.)
Some had already met at the church hall for a speedy and filling Pancake Breakfast. Whatever the case, many were amazed to find the majority of people on time or early for the morning's program. A first for Merrylands Anglican Church and an interesting precedent for next Sunday!
The only negative was that, instead of watching the event on the Australian Christian Channel, the new venue meant the use of internet streaming, which dropped out several times during the service. Resident technophile, David Finch, found the quickest ways to solve those glitches, and very little was lost on the crowd of God's people from 8am, 10am, 1pm and 6pm congregations: all ages, all colours, from many countries, who relish the freedom to worship together in Merrylands.
Children were free to leave the room for colouring and paper crafts in an adjacent area. Older kids made paper chains bearing the names of friends they are praying to connect with this year. Sounds like a good activity for us all. Let's festoon our churches with prayer chains. And then let's get out there and talk to those people, plus any others God brings onto our path.
Everyone enjoyed morning tea afterwards in the spacious foyer. Chatter about the Big Day In was resoundingly positive. Nathan, supported by Parish Council, has been encouraging and guiding us towards this day for some time. There was great anticipation, especially from a church that is already very mindful of its need to connect, in real and lasting ways, with the rich tableau of nations that God has brought to our area. Why else is Australia so multi-cultural? Why else has God arranged it so?