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Black Stump is back

4:51pm Thursday, 15th September 2011

By Joshua Maule

The Black Stump Christian festival will wake from hibernation when the first chords ring out of Appin south west of Sydney in a fortnight.

Organisers expect upwards of 3500 people will attend the music and arts gathering being held on the long weekend at Cataract Scout Park. The festival was cancelled last year due to financial constraints.

"It's not going to be a bumper year, but everything's on track, and it's comparable to other years," says Chris West, event manager.

West says the purpose of the festival which has been running since 1985, is to create a "temporary community".

Musical performances, art shows, social action workshops, bible talks and conversations make up the guts of the four days.

Around 75 percent of attendees are from churches including Baptist, Uniting and Churches of Christ. The remainder are from Anglican, Pentecostal and Catholic denominations. Some are not connected to churches at all.

West says while there are a range of viewpoints in the crowd, he hopes Black Stump is a good platform for discussing points of difference.

"We're doing a series on indigenous poverty," he says, "and we're doing a series on boat people and looking at what might be Jesus' reaction to that and how we might respond in a compassionate way."

He says these will be presented in a panel format. "We're not trying to say: this is the line. We're trying to say: here we are. We've got a range of opinions. Let's talk about them."

West calls Black Stump a "journey". Three rallies - Saturday and Sunday nights, as well as the Monday morning, during which everything else pauses - are moments for reflection and challenge.

Sunday night will feature a message from Mike Pilavachi from Soul Survivor Watford. Afterwards there will be a chance for people to commit to Christ and be followed up by the group that brought them.

"It would be fair to say that we are missionally focussed."

West who originally played in bands at Black Stump says, "I've always just loved the experience of it".