Author Archives: CraigT

Study Groups 2021 – Lenten Studies

Three studies on
the Gospel according to Mark

7.30pm, Wednesdays March 10, 17 and 24
[and online Fridays March 12, 19 and 26 at 1.30pm]


We are again offering an ecumenical study for Lent, in association with St Mary’s Anglican Church, North Melbourne. We hope that other local (and distant!) congregations will join us bodily or online!

The studies will be presented by Rev Assoc Prof Sean Winter, (March 10) teacher in New Testament at Pilgrim Theological College, and Revd Professor Dorothy Lee (March 17 and 24), a member of the St Mary’s congregation and a teacher in New Testament and Trinity College, Melbourne.

The ‘live’ (gathered, not streamed) version of these studies will be 7.30pm, Wednesdays March 10, 17 and 24 at the St Mary’s church, 430 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne.

A session will also be offered on Fridays March 12, 19 and 26 at 1.30pm, using the recording of the Wednesday session. You will need to register below to receive the link for the Zoom session; the audio and handouts will be added below as they become available.

For information about the impact of any unforeseen COVID-19 constraints on the studies, please check the MtE website before attendance: www.marktheevangelist.unitingchurch.org.

A flyer for these studies is available here.

Preparing for the Lenten studies

You might like to do some advanced or parallel preparation for these studies with some extra resources. The best preparation will be to read the Gospel through!

Beyond this, Dale Martin’s Yale useful lecture on the Gospel of Mark can be found here (lecture transcript). The Bible Project’s summary of Mark’s Gospel is also a useful (and brief!) overview of Mark, if from a different theological perspective from Martin’s (and what you might hear in our own studies!) If you’d like to hear a polished reading of Mark’s Gospel, try David Suchet’s reading of Mark on YouTube.

Study audio and handouts

Some have had trouble hearing the whole of the audio (cutting out quite short). The files have been moved to a different server (Google Drive, from March 24). If this problem persists for you, try downloading the audio (usually via a mouse right-click on the link) to your computer and playing the downloaded file.

  • Study 1 Audio (Sean Winter, March 10/12) — the lecture finishes at about 42.14; after this are Sean’s responses to several questions (the questions have been deleted as they are inaudible). The handout referred to in the lecture is here.
  • Study 2 Audio (Dorothy Lee, March 17/19) – The lecture finishes at about 32.40, followed by questions. The recording is a little muddy. Some effort has been made to make it more audible but the audibility decreases towards the end of the questions session. The handout for the lecture is here; supplementary reading (for anyone interested) has also been provided by Prof Lee, here.
  • Study 3 Audio (Dorothy Lee, March 24/26) – See above comment if the audio cuts out early for you; the uploaded file is just short of 57 minutes. The lecture finishes at about 37.50; some of the questions are a little muffled but Prof Lee’s answers are clear! The handout for the lecture is here.

Registration

Please register below if you are planning to attend; this is less critical for the Wednesday sessions (assuming they can be held as gathered meetings in the church) but the Zoom link for the Friday sessions will only be sent to registered email addresses.

Please select a valid form.

Other study groups coming up at MtE

Study Groups 2021 – An Introduction to the New Testament

After Easter in 2021 we will be following up on last year’s study – An Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures – with a similar resource surveying the content, history and interpretation of the New Testament.

The study materials are available from the MtE website, and you are most welcome to use them independently if you can’t join one of our groups.

The discussion groups will likely gather via Zoom on Wednesday evenings and Friday afternoons. If you would like to receive details of this study when they are finalised, subscribe to the ‘MtE Reading Group’ list in the box below/right.

MtE Update – January 21 2021

  1. First update for 2021 – and just a short one!
  2. The most recent Presbytery News is here (Jan 4).
  3. This Sunday January 24 we will have a short ‘hymn-learning’ session to complete the second of the MtE communion settings by learning the till-now ‘missing’ Gloria for the setting! This will be shortly after the conclusion of the service.
  4. This coming Sunday January 24 we will hear some of the set readings for the day, Epiphany 3B, The details of the readings and some commentary are available here; our focus will be on the 1 Corinthians reading.

Worship

  1. Worship update Worship is now a gathered service in the church buildings. The services are also being live-streamed, with the links to this stream accessible from the congregational home page. We have sufficient space to accommodate those members of the congregation who would like to attend the service. VISITORS (from outside the usual membership) who would like to attend should register their interest and can be admitted only up to the maximum number allowed in the building. Visitors should register their interest prior to the service by contacting the minister via his email address on the contact page. We ask for your understanding should we not be able to admit you on the day.

MtE Update – December 24 2020

  1. Welcome to the last MtE update for the year!
  2. CHRISTMAS DAY – 9.30. Please come a little earlier if you can; this helps us move families together to fit more people in under the C-19 seating requirements (see further below on worship on-site and streamed). Services from Sunday December 27 onwards will be at 10.00.
  3. Christmas services information
  4. The Hotham Mission Christmas appeal is now open; for more information, see here.
  5. Christmas Day readings are from the Christmas I set; the readings for Sunday December 27 are details of the readings are available here;

Worship

  1. Worship update Worship is now a gathered service in the church buildings. The services are also being live-streamed, with the links to this stream accessible from the congregational home page. We have sufficient space to accommodate those members of the congregation who would like to attend the service. VISITORS (from outside the usual membership) who would like to attend should register their interest and can be admitted only up to the maximum number allowed in the building. Visitors should register their interest prior to the service by contacting the minister via his email address on the contact page. We ask for your understanding should we not be able to admit you on the day.

Christmas 2020 at Mark the Evangelist

Christmas 2015 Reflection ImageYou’re most welcome to join us at our Christmas celebrations this year!

Sunday December 20 (Advent 4, morning worship): a service of Advent carols and readings with Eucharist, 10am.

Christmas Eve (afternoon and evening): (we have no Christmas Eve services at Mark the Evangelist, but commend the Christmas Eve service at St Mary’s Anglican Church: 11.30pm Christmas Eve Midnight Mass).

Christmas Day: Worship with Eucharist, 9.30am

Normal services will continue, 10am, on December 27 and throughout January.

ALL SERVICES at MtE are presently being live-streamed from the designated start time, and are available later as a recording: details from streaming link on the Home Page

MtE Update – December 11 2020

  1. The Hotham Mission Christmas appeal is now open; for more information, see here.
  2. This Sunday December 13 we move into the season of Advent; details of the readings are available here; we will pick up themes from Isaiah 61 and Psalm 126.

Worship

  1. Worship update Worship is now a gathered service in the church buildings. The services are also being live-streamed, with the links to this stream accessible from the congregational home page. We have sufficient space to accommodate those members of the congregation who would like to attend the service. VISITORS (from outside the usual membership) who would like to attend should register their interest and can be admitted only up to the maximum number allowed in the building. Visitors should register their interest prior to the service by contacting the minister via his email address on the contact page. We ask for your understanding should we not be able to admit you on the day.

MtE Update – December 6 2020

  1. There will be a Congregational meeting on this Sunday December 6 to consider the 2021 budget and mission and ministry focuses for next year.
  2. The most recent Synod eNews (Dec 3)
  3. A first conversation about a proposed justice and peace group spanning inner-city UCA congregations will be held on Monday Dec 7 at 7.30pm via Zoom. If you would like the meeting details (Zoom link) or more information, please contact Craig.
  4. The Hotham Mission Christmas appeal is now open; for more information, see here.
  5. Worship update Worship this Sunday December 6 will be a gathered service in the church buildings. The service will also be live-streamed, with the links to this stream accessible from the congregational home page. We have sufficient space to accommodate those members of the congregation who would like to attend the service. VISITORS (from outside the usual membership) who would like to attend should register their interest and can be admitted only up to the maximum number allowed in the building. Visitors should register their interest prior to the service by contacting the minister via his email address on the contact page. We ask for your understanding should we not be able to admit you on the day.
  6. This Sunday December 6 we move into the season of Advent; details of the readings are available here; our focus text will be Isaiah 40.

Illuminating Liturgy – The Passion according to St Mark – A Service Order

For a number of years the Congregation of Mark the Evangelist has heard the passion narrative of the gospel for that lectionary year on Passion (Palm) Sunday as a preparation for Holy Week. A version of that order — for Mark’s Gospel in Year B – is shared here in the hope that it might be useful to others .

The text of the passion narrative is punctuated with prayers, psalms and hymns, with a few suggestions for dramatic actions which might help to reduce the ‘wordiness’ of such a long reading in church. The order also includes the Eucharist. More explanation of the service and how to prepare it are given in the downloadable document. Used ‘as is’ – including Holy Communion – the service would run for 60-65 minutes, depending on your music choices.

Please feel free to download this resource (in MS Word .docx format) and adapt it as appropriate to your local context. We’d love to hear whether it has been useful to you!

These services are occasionally updated/corrected, so check that you have the latest file version (the date is in the file name)

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