Author Archives: CraigT

MtE Update – April 21 2022

News

  1. On the Sundays after Easter, we will spend some time with the book of Revelation. Some details of the series of sermons can be found here; there will be a short “Intro to the book of Revelation” following worship this Sunday Sunday April 24.
  2. Our next study series – “Sabbath as Resistance” – begins in a few weeks (online) – info and registration is here!
  3. The most recent news from the Synod (April 21)
  4. The most recent news from the UCA Assembly (April 20)
  5. This Sunday April 24, Robert Gribben will be preaching (Craig will be liturgist).

Worship

  1. Our COVID policy for worship continues to be as follows, to be reviewed again by the church council in May:
  2. Attendance at gathered services is presently limited to those who demonstrate that they have had two COVID-19 vaccination shots, or that they are exempt from being vaccinated. It will be necessary to provide proof of your vaccination, either prior to the service or on the day at the door, but this only needs to be shown once for recording; please see here for more information. If you presently are unable to attend under these conditions the live-stream is still available from the home page, or please contact Craig or your elder.
  3. Mindful of the health-vulnerability of some members of our congregation and the uncertain state of play with respect to the pandemic, the church council has decided that we will continue to wear masks in worship throughout March, except for those who need to remove them when leading the worship, and for morning tea, or who have an exemption from wearing a mask. We have now returned to reception of Holy Communion in both kinds – small communion glasses only.

Advance Notice

  1. May 1: Congregational AGM

Sabbath as Resistance – Study Groups May-June 2022

Our second-quarter study groups in 2022 will look at Walter Brueggemann’s “Sabbath as resistance”.

Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now by Walter Brueggemann

Brueggemans takes cues from various Old Testament themes and applies them to the ethics of life in the contemporary “now” culture.

This text is available in paper and electronic form (Amazon, Koorong [e-book is in epub format], Book Depository, and elsewhere).

The study groups will meet online for 60-75 minutes on:

  • Wednesday nights, 7.45pm
  • Friday afternoons, 1.30pm

You’re welcome to switch between groups if one week you can’t make your preferred session.

To allow for some time for you to get your copies (if going paperback!), the groups will start in Wednesday May 11 and Friday May 13, and run for 6 weeks – a chapter per week.

It will help if you register below, to received the Zoom meeting link (which is the same as for previous study groups).

REGISTRATION: Sabbath as Resistance

REGISTRATION: Sabbath as Resistance

Please indicate which group you plan to attend (you can switch between groups week by week)

Please enter your name
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I will be coming to the following online group

MtE Update – April 14 2022

News

Easter Services:

  • Maundy Thursday: 7.30pm Tenebrae service
  • Good Friday: 10.00am (with a guest preacher, Matt Julius)
  • Easter Saturday: 8.00pm Easter vigil with Eucharist
  • Easter Day: 10.00am Eucharist
  1. News from the Justice and International Mission Cluster (April 6 and April 11)
  2. A pre-election candidate’s forum has been arranged by members of MtE and other city UCA congregations for April 21: DETAILS.
  3. On the Sundays after Easter, we will spend some time with the book of Revelation. Some details of the series of sermon can be found here; there will be a short “Intro to the book of Revelation” following worsihp on Sunday April 24.
  4. Latest eLM “events” news from the Synod (April 13)
  5. The most recent news from the UCA Assembly (April 13)

Worship

  1. Our COVID policy for worship continues to be as follows, to be reviewed again by the church council in May:
  2. Attendance at gathered services is presently limited to those who demonstrate that they have had two COVID-19 vaccination shots, or that they are exempt from being vaccinated. It will be necessary to provide proof of your vaccination, either prior to the service or on the day at the door, but this only needs to be shown once for recording; please see here for more information. If you presently are unable to attend under these conditions the live-stream is still available from the home page, or please contact Craig or your elder.
  3. Mindful of the health-vulnerability of some members of our congregation and the uncertain state of play with respect to the pandemic, the church council has decided that we will continue to wear masks in worship throughout March, except for those who need to remove them when leading the worship, and for morning tea, or who have an exemption from wearing a mask. We have now returned to reception of Holy Communion in both kinds – small communion glasses only.

Advance Notice

  1. May 1: Congregational AGM

Revelation – Sermons May-June 2022

Over the course of a couple of months we will take a zig-zagging tour through the book of Revelation, which features among this year’s Easter-season readings in the Revised Common Lectionary. We’ll take the lead from the RCL to look into Revelation but will explore it by a different route.

Getting ready for the series

Some easily accessible online resources

If you would like to do more in-depth reading around the themes of the book, one of the following would give a good introduction.

Standard commentaries include:

  • ‘Revelation’ by M Eugene Boring (1989) is an accessible commentary in the popular Interpretation series
  • Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza’s Revelation: vision of a just world is similarly readable, without too much scholarly technical apparatus to distract readers
  • Unveiling empire: reading Revelation then and now is a thematic reading which gives considerable attention to modern and ancient contexts of reception of the book, as well as commentary on central texts

More thematic treatments include:

  • An older, ‘sermonic’ but very readable treatment of Revelation is that of D T Niles, As seeing the invisible (1962)
  • Jacques Ellul’s ‘Apocalypse: the book of Revelation’n (1977) is not your standard commentary but Ellul is always stimulating!
  • Richard Bauckham’s The theology of the book of Revelation deals with the book thematically rather than verse by verse

MtE Update – April 7 2022

News

  1. Lent and Easter at MtE
  2. News from the Justice and International Mission Cluster (April 6)
  3. A pre-election candidate’s forum has been arranged by members of MtE and other city UCA congregations for April 21. DETAILS.
  4. If you have an interest in attending the VicTas Synod meeting this year (July), please speak to Craig.
  5. The most recent news from the UCA Assembly (Apr 6)
  6. This Sunday April 10, Palm/Passion Sunday, our service will be constructed around a reading of the passion according to St Luke, and be led by Peter Blackwood.

Worship

  1. Our COVID policy for worship continues to be as follows, to be reviewed again by the church council in April:
  2. Attendance at gathered services is presently limited to those who demonstrate that they have had two COVID-19 vaccination shots, or that they are exempt from being vaccinated. It will be necessary to provide proof of your vaccination, either prior to the service or on the day at the door, but this only needs to be shown once for recording; please see here for more information. If you presently are unable to attend under these conditions the live-stream is still available from the home page, or please contact Craig or your elder.
  3. Mindful of the health-vulnerability of some members of our congregation and the uncertain state of play with respect to the pandemic, the church council has decided that we will continue to wear masks in worship throughout March, except for those who need to remove them when leading the worship, and for morning tea, or who have an exemption from wearing a mask. We have now returned to reception of Holy Communion in both kinds – small communion glasses only.

Advance Notice

  1. May 1: Congregational AGM

Pre-election Candidates’ Forum: April 21 2022

Pre-election Candidates’ Forum

Federal Seat of Melbourne

7.30pm Thursday, April 21.

Church of All Nations
180 Palmerston St, Carlton

A public forum providing the opportunity to meet hear from candidates for the federal seat of Melbourne

All welcome!!

Moderator for the evening will be Dr Mark Zirnsack

This forum has been organised by a justice coalition of inner-city Uniting Church members from Wesley Uniting Church (Lonsdale Street), St Michael’s Uniting Church (Collins Street), the Congregation of Mark the Evangelist (Uniting Church, North Melbourne), Church of all Nations (Uniting Church, Carlton) and Richmond Uniting Church.

More information

A flyer for the event can be found here.
Ray Gormann :: minister@cancarlton.org.au
Craig Thompson :: minister@marktheevangelist.unitingchurch.org.au

MtE Update – April 1 2022

News

  1. This Sunday April 3 we’ll have a hymn-learning session following after worship/morning tea.
  2. Daylight savings ends this Sunday!
  3. Lent and Easter at MtE
  4. The most recent news from the UCA Assembly (Mar 30)
  5. This Sunday April, our focus text will be the set gospel, John 12.1-8. See here for more information on this and other readings set for the day.

Worship

  1. Our COVID policy for worship continues to be as follows, to be reviewed again by the church council in April:
  2. Attendance at gathered services is presently limited to those who demonstrate that they have had two COVID-19 vaccination shots, or that they are exempt from being vaccinated. It will be necessary to provide proof of your vaccination, either prior to the service or on the day at the door, but this only needs to be shown once for recording; please see here for more information. If you presently are unable to attend under these conditions the live-stream is still available from the home page, or please contact Craig or your elder.
  3. Mindful of the health-vulnerability of some members of our congregation and the uncertain state of play with respect to the pandemic, the church council has decided that we will continue to wear masks in worship throughout March, except for those who need to remove them when leading the worship, and for morning tea, or who have an exemption from wearing a mask. We have now returned to reception of Holy Communion in both kinds – small communion glasses only.

Advance Notice

  1. April 10: The Passion of the Christ according to St Luke
  2. May 1: Congregational AGM

MtE Update – March 25 2022

News

  1. Lent and Easter at MtE
  2. Next Sunday April 3 we’ll return to our neglected practice of hymn-learning sessions, with one following after worship/morning tea.
  3. News from the Justice and International Mission Cluster (Mar 17)
  4. The most recent Synod eNews (Mar 24)
  5. The most recent news from the UCA Assembly (Mar 23)
  6. While Craig intended to experiment with a “dialogical” sermon over the period of Lent, the challenges of the acoustics in the building, hearing each other with masks on and his absence for two weeks have caused him to repent of this intention and to return to a “normal” model of hearing the word (preaching) for the time being. Perhaps we can return to explore different modes sometime not too far away! This Sunday March 27, our focus text will be the set gospel (the parable of the prodigal son (and his grumpy brother). So familiar is this story that we’ll not linger too much on its usual reading but press it in another direction (you might, however, like to re-visist what he said last time Craig preached on this!); further background commentary on the texts is here.

Worship

  1. Our COVID policy for worship continues to be as follows, to be reviewed again by the church council in April:
  2. Attendance at gathered services is presently limited to those who demonstrate that they have had two COVID-19 vaccination shots, or that they are exempt from being vaccinated. It will be necessary to provide proof of your vaccination, either prior to the service or on the day at the door, but this only needs to be shown once for recording; please see here for more information. If you presently are unable to attend under these conditions the live-stream is still available from the home page, or please contact Craig or your elder.
  3. Mindful of the health-vulnerability of some members of our congregation and the uncertain state of play with respect to the pandemic, the church council has decided that we will continue to wear masks in worship throughout March, except for those who need to remove them when leading the worship, and for morning tea, or who have an exemption from wearing a mask. We have now returned to reception of Holy Communion in both kinds – small communion glasses only.

Advance Notice

  1. April 10: The Passion of the Christ according to St Luke
  2. May 1: Congregational AGM

MtE Update – March 17 2022

News

  1. The planned March 20 conversation about worship is postponed, to return again soon!
  2. Contributions for the Autumn edition of Mark the Word are now invited. A particular focus of this issue will be reflections on our recent futures workshop. Please get your contriubutions to Rosemary by next Monday, March 21!
  3. Lent and Easter at MtE
  4. A three-week Lenten Studies series will commence face-to-face from Wednesday March 16 and online from Friday March 18. Details are here! Please register if you’re interested in attending — helps with communicating last-minute COVID-effected changes!!
  5. News from the Justice and International Mission Cluster (Mar 10)
  6. The most recent news from the UCA Assembly (March 16)
  7. This Sunday March 20, our worship service will be led by Robert Gribben. Backround for the set texts for Sunday can be found here, althought the gospel for the day will be changed to Matthew 6.7-18.

Worship

  1. Our COVID policy for worship continues to be as follows, to be reviewed again by the church council in April:
  2. Attendance at gathered services is presently limited to those who demonstrate that they have had two COVID-19 vaccination shots, or that they are exempt from being vaccinated. It will be necessary to provide proof of your vaccination, either prior to the service or on the day at the door, but this only needs to be shown once for recording; please see here for more information. If you presently are unable to attend under these conditions the live-stream is still available from the home page, or please contact Craig or your elder.
  3. Mindful of the health-vulnerability of some members of our congregation and the uncertain state of play with respect to the pandemic, the church council has decided that we will continue to wear masks in worship throughout March, except for those who need to remove them when leading the worship, and for morning tea, or who have an exemption from wearing a mask. We have now returned to reception of Holy Communion in both kinds – small communion glasses only.

Advance Notice

  1. April 3: Hymn-learning session following morning tea
  2. April 10: The Passion of the Christ according to St Luke
  3. Lent and Easter at MtE
  4. May 1: Congregational AGM

MtE Update – March 11 2022

News

  1. Lent and Easter at MtE
  2. Contributions for the Autumn edition of Mark the Word are now invited. A particular focus of this issue will be reflections on our recent futures workshop. Please get your contriubutions to Rosemary by March 21!
  3. Next week, March 20, we will have a conversation about worship following morning tea – more details in the pew sheets! (This was previously – mistakenly! – advertised as a Bible-readers workshop, which will be offered later in the year).
  4. Uniting Church East Coast Flooding Emergency Appeal
  5. A three-week Lenten Studies series will commence face-to-face from next Wednesday March 16 and online from Friday March 18. Details are here!
  6. The most recent Synod eNews (Mar 10)
  7. The most recent news from the UCA Assembly (March 9)
  8. This Sunday March 13, our worship service will be led by Peter Blackwood. Backround for the set texts for Sunday can be found here.

Worship

  1. Our COVID policy for worship continues to be as follows, to be reviewed again by the church council in April:
  2. Attendance at gathered services is presently limited to those who demonstrate that they have had two COVID-19 vaccination shots, or that they are exempt from being vaccinated. It will be necessary to provide proof of your vaccination, either prior to the service or on the day at the door, but this only needs to be shown once for recording; please see here for more information. If you presently are unable to attend under these conditions the live-stream is still available from the home page, or please contact Craig or your elder.
  3. Mindful of the health-vulnerability of some members of our congregation and the uncertain state of play with respect to the pandemic, the church council has decided that we will continue to wear masks in worship throughout March, except for those who need to remove them when leading the worship, and for morning tea, or who have an exemption from wearing a mask. We have now returned to reception of Holy Communion in both kinds – small communion glasses only.

Advance Notice

  1. April 10: The Passion of the Christ according to St Luke
  2. May 1: Congregational AGM
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