Author Archives: CraigT
2016-4-14 – The Schleitheim Confession – Melbourne VIC
2016-4-7 – The Infancy Gospel of Thomas – Melbourne VIC
MtE Update – March 4 2016
Friends,
the latest MtE Update!
- Our congregational picnic will be after morning tea on Sunday March 6, again under a shady tree at the Native Gardens section of Royal Park.
- Our next meeting on our MtE Futures project (buildings, mission), will be after worship on Sunday March 20; papers for this meeting will be distributed to you directly by email next week, and be available for pickup at worship on March 13.
- Nominations to the next VicTas Synod meeting (June 4-8 2016) are now open, closing March 9. Nominations are open to confirmed UCA members; Craig has more details if you are interested in nominating someone, or being nominated.
- The Synod’s Major Strategic Review is nearing its end, and is doing the rounds across the synod to give people the opportunity to hear and give feedback on its vision and plans as well as explore its findings and the potential changes for the church. The session to be held in this region is happening next week on Tuesday 8th March from 6:30pm-9:30pm (with a break) at Heathmont UC. It is an important opportunity to understand the directions the Synod may be taking in the future. More information can be found here and you are invited to register to help with catering.
- If you took petition forms regarding one of our asylums seeker’s approach to government senators, please return them this Sunday.
- Our Easter Service times are here.
Other things of potential interest:
- Brunswick UCA is running a study series on the book of Revelation over 3 weeks in March
- You are invited to Taizé prayer this Saturday: 5.30pm Saturday, 5th March at Trinity College Chapel (singing practice starts at 4.45pm); Please stay for dinner afterwards in the Trinity College Dining Hall ($10). You can RSVP to the event on Facebook or just come on the day. The following prayer at Trinity College will be at 5.30pm on 2nd April. Heidi, Email: taize.melbourne@gmail.com; Taizé in Melbourne, Australia
Craig
MtE Update – February 19 2016
Friends,
the latest MtE Update!
- Our after church conversation this Sunday Feb 21 will feature Dr John Flett on the topic of “What it Means at the Congregational Level to Engage in Mission” – will be worth hearing, and important for us as we consider future directions in connection with our building “issues”!
- On Sunday February 28 there will be a “workshop” on the Assembly’s new Code of Conduct for Lay Leaders. This code can be found here. The workshop is intended particularly for those in our congregation who qualify as “lay leaders,” but all are welcome to participate.
- Our Lenten Studies have begun; Wednesday evenings until March 9, Friday mornings in Hawthorn until March 11; more info is available here. Please note that the Wednesday group was incorrectly advertised; the soup/bread is from 6.30pm and the study from 7.00pm (at St Mary’s Anglican).
- The deadline for pieces for the next issue of Mark the Word approaches rapidly! Please get in touch with Suzanne if you have something to contribute.
- Our congregational picnic will be after morning tea on Sunday March 6, again at the Native Gardens section of Royal Park.
- The most recent Presbytery eNewsletter is here.
- The most recent Synod eNewsletter (Feb 12) is here.
- Nominations to the next VicTas Synod meeting (June 4-8 2016) are now open, closing March 9. Nominations are open to confirmed UCA members; Craig has more details if you are interesting in nominating someone, or being nominated.
- Our Easter Service times are here.
Other things of potential interest:
- A series of talks at RMIT on “Philosophies of difference”
- A Unity in Diversity concert (Feb 28)
Craig
2016-3-9 – Philosophies of Difference – Melbourne VIC
Easter at MtE in 2016
Easter is a time of special celebration in the Christian church. At MtE, we come together for a series of services marking particular aspects of the Easter, from Palm Sunday to Easter day itself.
You are very welcome to join us at any – or all! – of these services. The service dates and times for 2016 are:
- Palm Sunday: 20 March, 10.00am
- Maundy Thursday, including the Eucharist and the foot-washing ritual 24 March 7:30pm
- Good Friday: 25 March 10.00am
- Easter Vigil: 26 March from 8.00pm
- Easter Day, including the Eucharist and a re-affirmation of baptism: 27 March 10.00am
The order for the reaffirmation of baptism on Easter Day
Sisters and brothers, in our baptism, we died and were buried with Christ, so that we might rise with him to new life. We were initiated into Christ’s holy church and brought to life through water and the Spirit. God’s mighty acts of salvation for us and for all people are gracious gifts, freely given.
As we reaffirm our baptism, we declare our common allegiance to Christ and seek to be obedient to his will.
And so I ask you now:
Do you turn to Christ?
I turn to Christ.
Do you repent of your sins?
I repent of my sins.
Do you renounce evil
and the false values of this world?
I renounce them.
And now I ask you to confess the faith into which you were baptised, and in which you continue to live and grow:
Do you believe in God, who made you and loves you?
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, your Saviour and Lord?
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, and the continuing work of our salvation?
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
This is the faith of God’s baptised people.
We are not ashamed to confess it
in Christ our Lord.
(Water is poured into the font.)
Come Lord Jesus,
refresh the lives of your faithful people.
(The people are sprinkled with water.)
(During the music those who wish to are invited to come to the font and, using the water, make the sign of the cross on yourself, or your neighbour with the words, I/You belong to Christ.)
LitBit Commentary – Alexander Schmemann on Prayer
We pray in Christ, and he, through his Holy Spirit, prays in us, who are gathered in his name. “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Galatians 4.6). We can add nothing to this prayer, but according to his will, according to his love, we have become members of his body, we are one with him and have participation in his protection and intercession for the world.
Alexander Schmemann, The Eucharist, p.54
Yarra Yarra Presbytery Update February 2016
Presbytery News, February 8 2016
The Major Strategic Review is nearing its end, and is doing the rounds across the synod through February and March giving people the opportunity to hear and give feedback on its vision and plans as well as explore its findings and the potential changes for the church. The session to be held in this region is happening a month from today on Tuesday 8th March from 6:30pm-9:30pm (with a break) at Heathmont UC. I recommend it to you regardless of whether you are planning to nominate to attend the Synod meeting as a member and engage in conversations there. More information can be found here and you are invited to register to help with catering.
Other news:
- Our next whole of council meeting is coming up on Saturday 27th February. Stay tuned for the agenda and reports.
- Transform conference – ‘Transform’ is an initiative of several inner-city Uniting Church congregations:Brunswick Uniting Church, Church of All Nations, the Congregation of Mark the Evangelist and Wesley Uniting Church and seeks to gather young adults who might be alone in their home congregation or have no home congregation but want to explore faith. The next Transform conference will be held on the weekend of 19th-21st February 2016, featuring Rev Prof Bill Loader on the theme ‘The Bible, faith and human sexuality’. More information here
- Clinical Pastoral Education – the next CPE program being offered under the Commission for Mission will commence 4thAugust; applications close 9th June.
- Exclusion and Embrace: Disability, Justice and Spirituality – this multi-faith conference reflects a growing interest in issues of faith and meaning in the lived experience of disability. It is to be held 21-23 August 2016 at the Jasper Hotel, 489 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. For more information see the website
- Women’s Theology Conference – seeks to empower women to effectively share their Christian perspectives on faith, theology, sacred texts, ministry, service, the arts and more through the expression of their academic and professional activities. To be held at Grace College, University of Queensland from 27th June-1st July. More information here
- Mind Body Spirit at North Balwyn – Mr Robert Turner, a solicitor working in the legal unit of the VicTas Synod, will speak on the “The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse”, providing some background to the setting up of the Royal Commission and a few of the more topical issues which have arisen. This will be followed by soup and a short reflective service. Sunday 28th February, 5:30pm-7:30pm at North Balwyn UC, 17-21 Duggan St.
- Lenten Studies at North Balwyn with Rev John Rickard – now retired, John worked for 10 years as the Resource Worker with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress and for 10 years before that as the Executive Director of the Commission for Mission. The theme of this Lenten Study series is ‘Post-Colonial Theology’ and will be held on the following Wednesdays:
Ø ‘The Theology of Colonialism’ – 2nd March, 8-9:30pm
Ø ‘Post Colonialism and the Bible’ – 9th March, 8-9:30pm
Ø ‘The Theology supporting a Post-Colonial approach’ – 16th March, 8-9:30pm
Cost: $10 for all 3 sessions incl. refreshments. North Balwyn Uniting Church, 17-21 Duggan St (Mel. 46 F3). Call 9857 8412 (W-F) or mail@nbuc.org.au.
- Suicide Prevention Forum – a day of information, education and development for mental health professionals and support workers. A flyer is attached.
MtE Update – February 5 2016
Friends,
the latest MtE Update – a busy start to the new year!
- Lent begins next week with our Ash Wednesday service, 6pm on February 10.
- Our Lenten Studies begin the following Wednesday, February 17 (Wednesday evenings or Friday mornings from the 19th); more info is available here. If you’ve an interest in being part of a third (proposing a time not listed) please let me know.
- Following worship this Sunday Feb 7 we’ll have another of our hymn-learning sessions: learning a new communion setting and adding to our hymn repertoire for Lent.
- Our after church conversation on Feb 21 will be Dr John Flett on the topic of “What it Means at the Congregational Level to Engage in Mission” – will be worth hearing, and important for us as we consider future directions in connection with our building “issues”!
- On Sunday February 28 there will be a “workshop” on the Assembly’s new Code of Conduct for Lay Leaders. This code can be found here. The workshop is intended particularly for those in our congregation who qualify as “lay leaders,” but all are welcome to participate.
- “Truly we will remember them” is an ANZAC remembrance service; more details here.
- Our congregational picnic will be after morning tea on Sunday March 6, again at the Native Gardens section of Royal Park.
- The CTM (Parkville) is offering two events on the theme of faith and sexuality, led by Bill Loader: an evening Feb 18 and Feb 19 day event.
- The Anglican Church in Melbourne is running a conference on evangelism in February: Life in Abundance: An Anglican Conference on Mission and Evangelism. The MtE Church Council is willing to subsidise up to $150 for any members of the congregation who would like to attend. Please speak to Craig if you’d like to avail yourself of this offer.
- Taize Melbourne has a service tomorrow tonight, February 6.
- This is a communication from the VicTas’s Social Justice Unit regarding the High Court decision this week on off-shore detention centres.
Craig