At 'The Cong'

When I had my pair of spiritual experiences I was a part of Armadale Congregational Church (affectionately known as ‘The Cong’). I later found out that Rocco, the senior pastor at the time, had been praying for people at the church to have experiences of the Spirit. At a point he mentioned that I was ‘the first’. About a decade later I realised that he said this because these experiences of the Spirit were the first answer to his prayers.

While Rocco had a Pentecostal background, the Cong was a fairly conservative church. When he was applying for the position he had been told that people wanted to learn more about the Spirit. Not only did he pray that people in the church would experience the Spirit, but he also asked for God to bring people who were familiar with the Spirit. One such person was Nick. Rocco felt that Nick coming to the Cong was an answer to prayer.

“A Measuring Stick”

Sun 2 Feb 2013

When I was at The Cong, a bunch of young people often met at a particular house after the Sunday evening service. This gathering was called Immerse. In the earlier days we would talk about the sermon, but as the years went on it became more of an informal gathering where people would just hang out. One time Nick came along, and as I was being prayed for, he had what seemed to be a word from God for me. While my main memory is the idea that I’m ‘a measuring stick’, at some point I wrote the following in a journal:

• I’m like a set of scales that tests things.
• I’m like a level.
• He asked if I’m a seeker of truth, I said yes.
• He said I’m a measurer of truth.
• I will know when things are not right.
• When I find the truth I will be immovable in it.

“Great in the Lord”

Another person at The Cong who was familiar with the Spirit was Margery. I seem to recall an awareness that she would often have words from God for different people.

One time at the morning service, she came up to me and said ‘You will be great in the Lord.’ I said it was interesting that she would say that to me, because my Mum had said something along those lines to me before. Margery replied that she was telling me so that I could know it wasn’t just something that my Mum had said (if you know what I mean).