1. If you have not already seen it, please see the post about the cancellation of gathered public worship after this Sunday.
2. Lenten Studies will continue to their completion, now via the online service ‘Zoom’. Details of how to join in on the online discussions (very easy!) will be available soon. 
3. Our Congregational AGM has been postponed pending a return to normal Sunday worship gatherings.
4. THIS SUNDAY March 22 (Lent 4): we continue with our reading of the ‘servant songs’ from Isaiah, this week looking at Isaiah 50.4-11. See here for more information.
5. As Bunnings has cancelled all its fundraising BBQ’s for now, Hotham Mission’s BBQ is now cancelled too. The Mission did receive a $500 donation from Bunnings in lieu of the BBQ!
6. LATE ADDITION: Pastoral Letter from the VicTas Moderator in response to the present COVID-19 crisis.

20 March 2020

Sisters and brothers in the Congregation of Mark the Evangelist,

last night the Church Council met to consider the meaning of the current COVID-19 crisis for our life together at MtE. Taking into consideration the necessity of containing the virus and the growing anxiety in the community about even those social gatherings which are still permitted, we resolved that the worship service this coming Sunday March 22 will be the last gathered service for at least four weeks, and likely longer. This will include the Holy Week and Easter Services. We believe this to be the most appropriate step with respect to our common worship under these circumstances. The service on March 22 will be as usual, except that the Eucharist will be received only by the celebrant, we will space the chairs out more than usual, and we will not serve morning tea afterwards.

We recognise that this is a dramatic step, although we are mindful that a large number of churches have already or soon will also cease gathered public worship.

We are aware that some MtE members have already decided no longer to attend worship under the present circumstances and that others may also be feeling that they don’t want to attend this coming Sunday. Please act in relation to Sunday’s service in whatever way feels most appropriate to you.

While we will no longer gather for worship, it is our intention to continue to deliver a weekly worship service online. The details around this are yet to be finalised. We hope that at least an audio recording of the service will be available even from this Sunday, although there is a steep learning curve to ascend to perfect this! We will let you know when these online services are available and how to find them on your smartphones or computers.

Most meetings and study groups will no longer take place face to face but via an online platform – ‘Zoom’ – which has already proven efficient and easy to use over the last few days; we will help anyone who needs to use Zoom to get it working. Operations in the church office are still largely normal but we will be shifting to more work being done from home. The Hotham Mission staff are thinking through how to continue to maintain as much as possible the Mission’s programs.

We are in the midst of something new to us all, and quite disorienting. As we are forced to distance ourselves from each other for ‘natural’ reasons, so must we also strive to draw closer to each other in every way we can, for love’s sake.

I encourage you to be carers of each other in word, deed and prayer.

I encourage you to let others know when you are in need, when circumstances mean you can’t help yourself.

Please let me or your elder know if you are free to assist others, should the need arise (some help has already been offered, if you would like to ask for assistance).

The Church Council will, of course, continue to monitor the situation closely and, as we await changes for the better in our circumstances, we will do whatever we can to maintain as much as possible the common life of the congregation towards the ends of faith and hope and love.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Craig

In view of the developing concern to minimise the rate of infection of the COVID-19 virus in the community, the health implications of gathering for worship and certain parts of the liturgy must be considered. As yet we have no reason to cease to convene in a common space for worship but such liturgical actions as the passing of the peace and celebration of the Eucharist must be addressed, not least because many of us number among those more vulnerable to the virus.

While no binding direction has been received from civil or church sources, at MtE the following changes will take place from this Sunday March 15 until it becomes clear that we can safely return to normal practice, or further changes are required:

1. The passing of the peace. This important liturgical act, which typically involves handshakes, hugs and sometimes kissing, will be limited to the spoken exchange between the liturgist/minister and the congregation. That is, the declaration ‘Peace be with you’ will be heard, and the congregation will respond as normal; we will then proceed directly to the recitation of the Creed.
2. The Eucharist. An obvious way to reduce the risk of infection is continuing the practice of the celebrant using a sanitiser before breaking of the bread. For the distribution, the option we will take up at MtE for the time being is ‘communion under one kind’. This method of communing – not always uncontroversial – has the priest/minister take of the cup and the bread but the congregation taking only the bread communion element, although received with the words ‘the body and blood’ of Christ.

A helpful source of information related to the issues involved here, can be found in two documents from the Lutheran Church in Australia: Guidelines on Hygiene in Worship and Guidelines for the Distribution of Holy Communion.

These changes at MtE are ‘imposed’ by the minister for the time being – after conversation with some members and colleagues – on the understanding that, while they’re not yet formally required, they may soon be so, and there will likely be a number of members whose concerns could affect their fullest possible participation in the meantime. There is now opportunity for reflection on the appropriateness of the changes, and any further changes, over the next few weeks.

1. Lenten Studies are now underway. Details of our Lenten Studies for this year are now posted here; NOTE that the Wednesday night studies at MtE will now commence at 6.45, without the prior meal but with a tea/coffee break in the midst…  
2. ‘Illuminating Faith’ is a ministry MtE extends to the wider church; see the web page for some of the recent materials; the recent sermon series on Jonah will eventually be added to this list as a study resource for local groups.
3. The latest Presbytery eNews (March 12) is here.
4. The most recent eNews from the Synod is here (March 6).
5. THIS SUNDAY March 15 (Lent 3): we continue with our reading of the ‘servant songs’ from Isaiah, this week looking at Isaiah 49.1-9. See here for more information.

Old News

1. Details of our Lent and Easter services are now available here.

Advance Dates

1. The MtE congregational AGM will follow morning tea on Sunday March 29; papers will be available from March 15, and nominations for elders and church councillors are due by then!
2. Sunday April 5 – Our morning service will be built around a hearing of the Passion narrative of St Matthew