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CHRISTIAN POETRY :
A PROPHETIC VOICE IN THE COMMUNITY
Jean Sietzema-Dickson and Janette Fernando
The voice of one calling:
‘In the desert prepare
the way for the Lord
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God…’ Isaiah 40:3
Throughout the Bible God’s prophets have called His
people to repentance and to a new vision of His justice. It was not
usually the priests who exercised this function, but individuals of all
sorts of occupations, even herdsmen like Amos (our modern equivalent
might be the garbage collector). The thing that characterised all these
people was their ability to hear the voice of God.
Today there are preachers who do just that, but for the non-Christian
some of the most potent voices are those of poets who, in no uncertain
way point out the injustices of our society. Recent articles in The Age
and Reader’s Digest have affirmed the value of poetry in our lives.
It was due to their appreciation of poetry as an aid to understanding
ourselves, being a means of ministry and as a prophetic voice, that in
1992 Janette Fernando and Jean Sietzema-Dickson acted as midwives at the
birth of Poetica Christi Press. Still comparatively tiny and staffed
entirely by part-time volunteers, Poetica Christi Press has published
nine books, two sets of greeting cards and bookmarks, two tapes and one
CD. In a very volatile publishing world it has gained some small
recognition in the poetry world and in the churches.
Poetica Christi Press was set up as a non profit-making publishing
house. Its aim is to publish good Australian poetry with a Christian
ethos, accessible to poets and non-poets, to challenge, encourage and
minister to them. Valuing poetry themselves and finding it a neglected
form of expression, Janette and Jean set out to build up an appreciation
and awareness of poetry by and for other Christians, believing it to be
a precious gift for use in the church and beyond. As psalms and much of
the prophetic writing of the Old Testament was poetry, today poetry
should still have a place in the community – to tell our stories, to
challenge and shock us into new ways of understanding.
To achieve this, Jean has encouraged members of The Wordsmiths (a
Christian poetry group which meets monthly at her home in Melbourne) to
read their work in public wherever they could find an audience, as some
members of the RCWA will remember from the Conventions! Some Wordsmiths,
including Christian Reformed Church members Janny Brouwer, Coby Hill and
Janette Fernando, have read not only at established secular poetry
groups, on the radio and in private homes (try some poetry at your next
party!) but also in libraries and churches. It is encouraging to see
some of our churches using appropriate poems occasionally as part of the
service.
This year has seen the production of two new books, both of which should
be of interest to Trowel and Sword readers. “Sing to the King” by Jean
Sietzema-Dickson is the fruit of many years of listening to Reformed
preaching and meditating on the Scriptures. It is also available as a
CD. “Life Dance” by Marj Kosky is one believing woman’s response to the
limitations imposed by Parkinson’s Disease. Any of these would make a
great Christmas gift.
Poetica Christi Press is a small organisation with a big vision and a
shortage of man/woman power. There are only so many hours in each day
and too many seem to get taken up in administration. Please pray that
God will raise up people who have the gifts to help us achieve our aim
of giving Him glory through our writing.
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