Those rocking up to this month's Winter Magic festival will be compelled to give St Hilda's, Katoomba a second look.
Located on Katoomba's main drag, the church bell tower has been gift-wrapped for the past week in white tarpaulin with a fire-engine red ribbon and a giant gift card attached.
The card reads, "To our community with love", which “shows that this is not just a dead building " this is a live bunch of people out there caring for others,” explains St Hilda’s rector, the Rev Ray Robinson.
“It shows we care about our church because we go to the trouble of decorating it, we care about recognising things like the SES, because they make such a great contribution, we care about what happens in our community because we're doing something for Winter Magic, and we care for them spiritually " we're on about saving souls.”
The local State Emergency Services team installed the artwork on Saturday June 13 as part of ArtStreet for the Katoomba Winter Magic Festival.
Mr Robinson, says he first thought of the idea " inspired by 1970s artist Christo " two years ago and has already attempted the feat once, only to have it fail due to bad weather.
This year however, lighter winds meant the SES managed to complete the full-day exercise successfully, with volunteers abseiling down the tower to secure the wrapping.
"The original concept was to wrap the entire church, but the logistics of that just proved too difficult," Mr Robinson explains.
"Christo in the 70s had no problems with OH&S requirements " these days it's a different world!"
ArtStreet " a two-week display of artworks in Katoomba's shop windows " provided the perfect opportunity to pull Mr Robinson's idea out of the realm of dream and into the world of reality.
So far, he says the display is certainly grabbing the attention of locals, with comments including "Whatever is going on with the church " what have you done?’, ‘You'd think God would protect the church from water damage’ and even ‘I don’t like it’.
“Others just stand and stare,” Mr Robinson smiles. “But that's alright " not everyone has to like the art.”
Two ‘saviours’ combine
Mr Robinson had devised the logistics behind the display with the Blue Mountains controller for the SES Costa Zarkis, who has said “We're very glad to be able to help St Hilda's with their contribution to Winter Magic 2009”.
Mr Robinson says he sees a "synergy' between St Hilda's and the SES, as both aim to satisfy life-changing needs in the Katoomba community and are made up of volunteers who put in long hours.
He hopes the installation will boost the profile of both in its two-week display, especially with a large SES truck and display unit stationed at the front of the church all day on Saturday.
“It's one thing for the church to do something off our own bat, it's another to collaborate with community organisations, so I was very keen as a church to promote the SES,” Mr Robinson says.
“The SES is on about saving lives and we ought to recognise the contribution they make to our community.”
Walking the line
St Hilda's has been experimenting with artistic displays for Winter Magic for years, with past efforts including a dozen pink flamingos.
“I'm very grateful to the people of St Hilda's for putting up with my weird ideas,” Mr Robinson laughs.
But he admits knowing how to participate in the festival without compromising the gospel has been a significant challenge for St Hilda’s over the years.
"The first few years that the Winter Magic festival was run, it really was a strong occultic influence, and a number of churches including St Hilda’s did make clear to the community that we were not promoting or encouraging the occult " that was the status quo when I arrived, although St Hilda's has always done something like give out free tea and coffee."
However he says as the last four years have seen the festival evolve into a more community-focused event, St Hilda’s has become more and more involved in running activities.
“I've tried to walk the line of making a contribution to the festival without being seen to promote anything occultic or witchcraft-related, and I think we've been quite successful in that.”
“We get letters from people saying what the church was doing was the best event, because we don't charge people for stuff " it's all free.”
On Saturday, St Hilda’s gave out showbags and showcased musicians Phil Davidson and Jane Saunders, as well as holding an art exhibition on church grounds.
The church also invited Taronga Zoo to its playgroup during the festival, drawing 100 people keen to see and touch the animals.
Mr Robinson is hoping the coming years will see an even greater presence, and is encouraging teams of people to come and help out during the festival for a beach-mission type experience.
St Swithun's Pymble and St Thomas' North Sydney have already sent people to help in this way.
Any readers interested in helping St Hilda’s reach locals for Winter Magic should visit St Hilda’s website and email Ray Robinson.
