MtE Update – March 13 2019

  1. Our Lenten Study commences THIS WEEK – TONIGHT/Wednesday (March 13,20,27 and April 3). The Wednesday group meets at 630pm for a light meal, with the study commencing at 700pm. We are meeting this year at St Mary’s Anglican Church (in the hall). There will also be a FRIDAY morning series at Hawthorn beginning this Friday, 930am (March 15, 22, 29 and April 5). An intro to the series and more details of location, etc. can be found here; hard copies will available at the study group.
  2. THANKS everyone who helped out on Saturday with the Bunnings BBQ fundraiser. Special thanks to those who volunteered their time, particularly Ping and Ian who spent several hours cutting up onions and cooking the BBQ. The day was a success and we were kept very busy throughout, selling many hundreds of sausages. Not only was the day a great way to raise much needed funds, it was also a chance to have a chat with the local community. With many people asking “what is Hotham Mission”? It was a chance to explain to people the current programs, spread the word and encourage ongoing support. Thanks to all those involved we managed to raise over $625 with nearly all food/equipment donated. AND, see below… 
  3. Hotham Mission is setting up a stall at the Kensington Community Festival Sunday, 31st March 2019, at Kensington’s J J Holland Park, the stall operating from about 10am – 4pm, with Art and craft activities from the booth and taking the opportunity to promote the work of Hotham Mission. Hotham Mission has also donated some educational books to be provided as prizes. If anyone from the congregation would like to attend, to say hello or to help out during the day that would be great! The Hotham Mission community development coordinator (Joey) can be contacted on 0499 331 554 or at programs@hothammission.org.au to discuss.
  4. If you’re still not ‘across’ the communion setting (music) we’re using for Lent, the melody line is available here (an error in the music now being corrected) and you can listen to the music here (this should download to your machine and then you can click the file to play it. The first few notes are intro to each section).  
  5. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday March 17, see the commentary links here (with particular reference to the psalm and the gospel reading; our Ecclesiastes text for this Sunday will be Eccles 8.14-17). 

Old News

  1. Details of our Lenten and Easter services are now available here.
  2. For most of the Sundays and special services in Lent, we will be working through parts of the book of Ecclesiastes, using ‘the Teacher’s’ understanding of ‘life under the sun’ as a way of interpreting Jesus’ path to the cross. More information about this can be found here, but in the mean time you might find it helpful to take the time to read Ecclesiastes once or twice before we begin together with it.
  3.  A Good Friday performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion