1. The most recent Synod eNews is here.
2. The most recent Presbytery newsletter (July 2) is here.
3. Justice and International Mission Unit News
4. This Sunday we pick up again our series on the Ten Commandments — Exodus 20.14 ‘you shall not commit adultery’ — supplemented by Mark 8.34-38, Hosea 4.1-3,7-10, Ephesians 5.21,28-33 and Psalm 51.

Other News

Upcoming Taize in Melb prayer:
Friday 26th July @ 6:30 pm. 

We will be setting up at ACU Chapel from 6 pm. It’s on the ground floor of the Daniel Mannix Building, 115 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy. Come and enjoy an evening of prayer, reflection and music. 

After the prayer we’ll venture down Brunswick street for a bite to eat. Hope to see you there! All welcome! 

Advance Dates

• August 18 – Sunday Conversation – Lentara on the Asylum Seekers Project

1. Our second quarter study groups are now underway — not too late to join! details are here; note that the Tuesday group has been shifted to 730pm. 
2. THIS Sunday June 23 Craig will begin a series of sermons in Sunday worship on the book of the prophet Hosea. See here for a bit more information; the  video links on that page give a quick overview of the context and themes of the book.
3. NEXT Sunday June 30 there will be a congregaional update meeting on progress with the MtE buildings project, from 1130am for about 30 minutes or so. The meeting will be informal (no decisions to be made).
4. The latest news from the Synod’s JIM Unit (June)
5. You might be interested in some historic (early 80s, late 70s?) photos around Nth Melbourne, including a number of the Curzon St property.
6. The focus text for this Sunday June 23 will be Hosea 1.1-10, with particular interest in 1.1; Psalm 85 complement this, with Luke 6.26-39 as the set gospel for the day.

Old News

1. If you have an interest in donating to Hotham Mission’s work before the end of the financial year, follow the prompts here
2. Hotham Mission is running another fund- and awareness-raising BBQ at Bunnings in Brunswick on June 22 (Saturday). Volunteers are sought — especially for the busy 11am-2pm time slots! Contact Joey if you can help! 

Advance Dates

• June 30 – Update after morning tea on buildings project progress
• August 18 – Sunday Conversation – Lentara on the Asylum Seekers Project

1. Our second quarter study groups are now underway — not too late to join! details are here; note that the Tuesday group has been shifted to 730pm. 
2. Sunday June 23 Craig will begin a series of sermons in Sunday worship on the book of the prophet Hosea. See here for a bit more information.
3. If you have an interest in donating to support Hotham Mission’s work before the end of the financial year, follow the prompts here
4. Hotham Mission is running another fund- and awareness-raising BBQ at Bunnings in Brunswick on June 22 (Saturday). Volunteers are sought — especially for the busy 11am-2pm time slots! Contact Joey if you can help! 
5. The most recent Synod eNews (June 6) is here.
6. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday June 16, see the commentary links here. 

 

1.  

1. Our second quarter study groups commence this week; details are here; if you have not already, please let Craig know if you are planning to come…. NOTE, however, that the Tuesday night sessions will now not begin until next Tuesday, June 11.
2. The most recent Presbytery News (May 31) is here.
3. Later in June Craig will begin a series of sermons in Sunday worship on the book of the prophet Hosea. See here for a bit more information
4. Check the lists in church for details of the ‘Dinners for Eight’ coming up in June and July.
5. The Justice unit at the Uniting Church  : Refugee Week and Healing for the Climate Movement
6. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday June 9, see the commentary links here. 

Old News

1. Advance Dates
   1. June 22 (Saturday) Hotham Mission Bunnings BBQ – volunteers sought! 

1. Our second quarter study groups commence next week; details are here; if you have not already, please let Craig know if you are planning to come….
2. A communication from the President of the UCA Assembly, in response to recent commentary in the ABC news about the reaction of some congregations to the Assembly’s 2019 resolution about same-sex marriage
3. This Sunday June 2 Bruce Barber’s series on the Ten Commandments continues: ‘You shall not kill.’

Old News

1. Advance Dates
   1. June 22 (Saturday) Hotham Mission Bunnings BBQ – volunteers sought! 

1. The latest Synod eNews (May 10) is here.
2. May Social Justice Events Nationwide from the Synod Justice Unit.
3. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday May 19, see the commentary links here. 

Old News

1. Advance Dates
   1. Speaker from Lentara on the Asylum Seekers Project POSTPONED to a date TBC
   2. June 22 (Saturday) Hotham Mission Bunnings BBQ – volunteers sought! 

Our study groups return in 2025, with online read-and-discuss groups meeting each quarter for 4-8 weeks.

FIRST QUARTER

• Our first quarter studies will be our Lenten Studies for 2025. Details and registrations are now open

SECOND QUARTER

• Our second quarter book will be Miroslav Volf’s A Public Faith, How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good; details will be finalised and registration become available around Easter

THIRD QUARTER – TBA

FOURTH QUARTER – TBA

You might also be interested in our Quarterly Conversations on the Quarterly Essay

PREVIOUS STUDY GROUPS:

The following is a mostly complete list of study group materials we’ve used over the last decade or so…

2014

Lent: Bruce Barber — four presentations on “Beginning at the beginning, or Why is it like this?

May-July: William Cavanaugh, Theopolitical imagination

November: William Cavanaugh, Being consumed

2015

Lent: Reformation Questions for the contemporary church

2^nd Quarter: Rowan Williams, Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel [Not the easiest read]

2016

Lent: Called to Holiness in Australia

August: Rowan Williams, Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer

2017

Lent: Bruce Barber, The Lord’s Prayer

2018

Paula Gooder: on The Joy of the Gospel

August 2015: Northrop Frye, The Great Code

2019

Lent: Rowan Williams The Spirit in the desert – audio of lectures

2020

Lent: Rowan Williams The sign and the sacrifice

April-Dec Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures (Christine Hayes, Yale)

2021

Lent: Three studies on Mark’s Gospel (at St Mary’s)

Oct-?Feb 2022: Introduction to the New Testament (Dale Martin, Yale)

2022

Lent: Called to Community (video resource)

May-June 2022: Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as resistance

July-Aug: Miroslav Volf, Free of charge: giving and forgiving in a culture stripped of grace.

Oct-Nov: Rowan Williams, Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life. 

2023

Lent: Rowan Williams, Meeting God in Paul

July-Aug: David Ford, The shape of living

Oct-Nov:  Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand, When church stops working: a future for your congregation beyond more money, programs and innovation.

2024

Lent: Samuel Wells, A cross in the heart of God

Aug-Sept:  Wright and Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies

Oct-Nov: Angles on world Christianity

2025

Lent: Rowan Williams, Christ on trial

May-June: Miroslav Volf A public faith

Other occasional studies have included

 Stanley Hauerwas, After Christendom: How the church is to behave if freedom, justice and a Christian nation are bad ideas.

1. This Sunday our congregational AGM follows morning tea, including the reception of annual reports, financial statements and the election of elders. Please plan to stay for the meeting if you can!
2. This Sunday May 12, we return a monthly treatment of the Ten Commandment from Bruce Barber; for more information, here. This week, ‘honour your father and mother’!
3. The Hotham Mission web site has had a complete makeover. It’s still a work in progress, but have a look here…
4. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday April 28 17, see the commentary links here. 

Old News

1. Advance Dates
   1. May 12 — Congregational AGM 
   2. Speaker from Lentara on the Asylum Seekers Project POSTPONED to a date TBC
   3. June 22 (Saturday) Hotham Mission Bunnings BBQ – volunteers sought! 

1. On Sunday May 5 there will be a conversation following morning tea on the theme of ‘Music and the Liturgy’ — beginning to explore the place and role of music in our worship.

2. Some works have commenced in the church, including upgrading of the fluorescent lighting and repair of exit signs, installing some hanging points to the walls for seasonally coloured ‘drops’, cleaning, and adjustment of speaker locations. The moveable scaffolding stand for this work will still be in place on Sunday, occupying the children’s table and play-pen area. please take care around it.

3. On Sunday May 12, we’ll return a monthly treatment of the Ten Commandment from Bruce Barber; for more information, here.
4. News from the Social Justice Unit of the Synod.
5. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday April 28 17, see the commentary links here. 

Old News

1. Advance Dates
   
   1. May 12 — Congregational AGM 
   2. Speaker from Lentara on the Asylum Seekers Project POSTPONED to a date TBC