1. Following worship THIS Sunday April 7 there will be a congregational conversation about the re-drafted ‘Vision and Mission’ statement of Hotham Mission, which is being re-visited in preparation for the development of the next year plan for the Mission. The draft will be available for you to consider before the Sunday of the meeting.
2. This Sunday April 7 there is a fun-run near the church which will affect access on some roads; see here for details. It’s also the end of daylight saving, so you’ll have more time to find your way!
3. For those interested in the recent change of name for UCA Funds Management, a letter from the Synod…
4. Uniting Church accepted into National Redress Scheme [From the VicTas UCA Moderator]:
   Dear friends, I am delighted to be able to advise that the Uniting Church in Australia has been officially recognised as an active participant in the National Redress Scheme for people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse. The Federal Minister for Families and Social Services, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, notified the UCA on Friday that the Church has met the requirements to begin participation. As you are aware, we have been committed to becoming active members of the Scheme since it was announced last year so this is truly welcome news. I would like to endorse the comments made by National President of the Assembly Dr Deidre Palmer after we were notified of our successful application. “First and most importantly I want to acknowledge those who have been waiting for this decision, which follows months of work and cooperation with Uniting Church bodies across the country, the Department of Social Services and other State and Federal government agencies” Dr Palmer said. “I would also like repeat once more the sincere apology I and past Uniting Church Presidents have made to people who were abused in our care as children. I am truly sorry that we didn’t protect and care for you in accordance with our Christian values.” You can find out more about the Scheme and how to access it at the UCA Redress website http://ucaredress.org.au/ or the federal government’s official site www.nationalredress.gov.au. You can also use the freecall line 1800 737 377.  Grace and peace, Sharon Hollis, Moderator
5. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday April 7, see the commentary links here (with particular reference to the psalm and the gospel reading; our Ecclesiastes text for this Sunday will be Eccles 5.1-20).

Old News

1. Advance Dates
   1. April 28 — MtE Day Luncheon after worship
   2. May 12 — Congregational AGM and ‘music’ discussion
   3. May 19 — Speaker from Lentara on the Asylum Seekers Project
2.  A Good Friday performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion
3. Details of our Lenten and Easter services are here.

1. Following worship this Sunday (31st) there will be another of our hymn-learning sessions, from around 11.30 and finishing before 12 noon.
2. Following worship on Sunday April 7 there will be a congregational conversation about the re-drafted ‘Vision and Mission’ statement of Hotham Mission, which is being re-visited in preparation for the development of the next year plan for the Mission. The draft will be available for you to consider before the Sunday of the meeting.
3. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday March 31, see the commentary links here (with particular reference to the psalm and the gospel reading; our Ecclesiastes text for this Sunday will be Eccles 2.1-11). 
4. Advance Dates
   1. April 28 — MtE Day Luncheon after worship
   2. May 12 — Congregational AGM and ‘music’ discussion
   3. May 19 — Speaker from Lentara on the Asylum Seekers Project

Old News

1. Our Lenten Studies continue, Wednesday (March 13,20,27 and April 3). The Wednesday group meets at 630pm for a light meal, with the study commencing at 700pm. We are meeting this year at St Mary’s Anglican Church (in the hall). There will also be a FRIDAY morning series at Hawthorn beginning this Friday, 930am (March 15, 22, 29 and April 5). An intro to the series and more details of location, etc. can be found here; hard copies will available at the study group.
2. Hotham Mission is setting up a stall at the Kensington Community Festival Sunday, 31^st March 2019, at Kensington’s J J Holland Park, the stall operating from about 10am – 4pm, with Art and craft activities from the booth and taking the opportunity to promote the work of Hotham Mission. Hotham Mission has also donated some educational books to be provided as prizes. If anyone from the congregation would like to attend, to say hello or to help out during the day that would be great! The Hotham Mission community development coordinator (Joey) can be contacted on 0499 331 554 or at programs@hothammission.org.au to discuss.  
3.  A Good Friday performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion
4. Details of our Lenten and Easter services are now available here.

The latest Synod eNews is here.

The latest Presbytery eNews is here.

Hotham Mission is setting up a stall at the Kensington Community Festival Sunday, 31^st March 2019, at Kensington’s J J Holland Park, the stall operating from about 10am – 4pm, with Art and craft activities from the booth and taking the opportunity to promote the work of Hotham Mission. Hotham Mission has also donated some educational books to be provided as prizes. If anyone from the congregation would like to attend, to say hello or to help out during the day that would be great! The Hotham Mission community development coordinator (Joey) can be contacted on 0499 331 554 or at programs@hothammission.org.au to discuss.  

If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday March 24, see the commentary links here (with particular reference to the psalm and the gospel reading; our Ecclesiastes text for this Sunday will be Eccles 11.7-12.7). 

Advance Dates

1. March 31 — Hymn learning after worship
2. April 7 — Hotham Mission Vision and Mission statements
3. April 28 — MtE Day Luncheon after worship
4. May 19 — Speaker from Lentara on the Asylum Seekers Project

Other things potentially of interest 

Old News

1. Our Lenten Studies continue, Wednesday (March 13,20,27 and April 3). The Wednesday group meets at 630pm for a light meal, with the study commencing at 700pm. We are meeting this year at St Mary’s Anglican Church (in the hall). There will also be a FRIDAY morning series at Hawthorn beginning this Friday, 930am (March 15, 22, 29 and April 5). An intro to the series and more details of location, etc. can be found here; hard copies will available at the study group.
2.  A Good Friday performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion
3. Details of our Lenten and Easter services are now available here.
4. If you’re still not ‘across’ the communion setting (music) we’re using for Lent, the melody line is available here (an error in the music now being corrected) and you can listen to the music here (this should download to your machine and then you can click the file to play it. The first few notes are intro to each section).
5. For most of the Sundays and special services in Lent, we will be working through parts of the book of Ecclesiastes, using ‘the Teacher’s’ understanding of ‘life under the sun’ as a way of interpreting Jesus’ path to the cross. More information about this can be found here, but in the mean time you might find it helpful to take the time to read Ecclesiastes once or twice before we begin together with it.

Old News

1. Details of our Lenten and Easter services are now available here.
2. For most of the Sundays and special services in Lent, we will be working through parts of the book of Ecclesiastes, using ‘the Teacher’s’ understanding of ‘life under the sun’ as a way of interpreting Jesus’ path to the cross. More information about this can be found here, but in the mean time you might find it helpful to take the time to read Ecclesiastes once or twice before we begin together with it.
3.  A Good Friday performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion

1. Our Lenten Study commences THIS WEEK – TONIGHT/Wednesday (March 13,20,27 and April 3). The Wednesday group meets at 630pm for a light meal, with the study commencing at 700pm. We are meeting this year at St Mary’s Anglican Church (in the hall). There will also be a FRIDAY morning series at Hawthorn beginning this Friday, 930am (March 15, 22, 29 and April 5). An intro to the series and more details of location, etc. can be found here; hard copies will available at the study group.
2. THANKS everyone who helped out on Saturday with the Bunnings BBQ fundraiser. Special thanks to those who volunteered their time, particularly Ping and Ian who spent several hours cutting up onions and cooking the BBQ. The day was a success and we were kept very busy throughout, selling many hundreds of sausages. Not only was the day a great way to raise much needed funds, it was also a chance to have a chat with the local community. With many people asking “what is Hotham Mission”? It was a chance to explain to people the current programs, spread the word and encourage ongoing support. Thanks to all those involved we managed to raise over $625 with nearly all food/equipment donated. AND, see below… 
3. Hotham Mission is setting up a stall at the Kensington Community Festival Sunday, 31^st March 2019, at Kensington’s J J Holland Park, the stall operating from about 10am – 4pm, with Art and craft activities from the booth and taking the opportunity to promote the work of Hotham Mission. Hotham Mission has also donated some educational books to be provided as prizes. If anyone from the congregation would like to attend, to say hello or to help out during the day that would be great! The Hotham Mission community development coordinator (Joey) can be contacted on 0499 331 554 or at programs@hothammission.org.au to discuss.
4. If you’re still not ‘across’ the communion setting (music) we’re using for Lent, the melody line is available here (an error in the music now being corrected) and you can listen to the music here (this should download to your machine and then you can click the file to play it. The first few notes are intro to each section).  
5. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday March 17, see the commentary links here (with particular reference to the psalm and the gospel reading; our Ecclesiastes text for this Sunday will be Eccles 8.14-17). 

Old News

1. Details of our Lenten and Easter services are now available here.
2. For most of the Sundays and special services in Lent, we will be working through parts of the book of Ecclesiastes, using ‘the Teacher’s’ understanding of ‘life under the sun’ as a way of interpreting Jesus’ path to the cross. More information about this can be found here, but in the mean time you might find it helpful to take the time to read Ecclesiastes once or twice before we begin together with it.
3.  A Good Friday performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion

1. Our ASH WEDNESDAY service is TOMORROW Wednesday March 6. The service will be preceded by a light meal from 6pm (gold coin donation), with the service itself commencing at 6.45pm. Our Ecclesiastes reflections will be taken up again in the Ash Wednesday service (the happy sentiments of Eccles 9.4-10!) 
2. A number of us gathered last Sunday to learn a new communion setting, which we’ll use through Lent. If you’d like to see and here it, the melody line is available here and you can listen to the music here (this should download to your machine and then you can click the file to play it. The first few notes are intro to each section). Ash Wednesday will be the first time we use this setting.
3. The latest Presbytery eNews (Feb 28) is here.
4. Hotham Mission will be running a BBQ fundraiser at Brunswick Bunnings (in the carpark behind the store) on Saturday 09/03/19, between about 8:30am – 4:30pm. IF you are interested and able to assist for however long on the day, please let HM’s community development coorindator, Joey, know (11-2pm is the busiest, but help at any time would be great!): joey.rebakis@hothammission.org.au 
5. Our Lenten Study commences next Wednesday (Wednesday nights, March 13,20,27 and April 3). An intro to the series can be found here, and hard copies are available in the church. There will also be a Friday morning series at Hawthorn in the same weeks (March 15, 22, 29 and April 5).
6. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts for this Sunday March 10, see the commentary links here. Robert Gribben will be our preacher and liturgist this Sunday.

Other things potentially of interest 

1.  A Good Friday performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion

Old News

1. Details of our Lenten and Easter services are now available here.
2. For most of the Sundays and special services in Lent, we will be working through parts of the book of Ecclesiastes, using ‘the Teacher’s’ understanding of ‘life under the sun’ as a way of interpreting Jesus’ path to the cross. More information about this can be found here, but in the mean time you might find it helpful to take the time to read Ecclesiastes once or twice before we begin together with it.

1. We will have another of our hymn-learning sessions after worship THIS SUNDAY March 3. First among the pieces to be learned is a new communion setting we’ll be using during Lent
2. We are investigating hearing assistance options in the church; a ‘hearing loop’ under the building is impractical  but there are other options, including systems which assist those with and without hearing aids. If this would interest you, please let Craig know.
3. Our ASH WEDNESDAY service is Wednesday March 6. This year the service will be preceded by a light meal from 6pm (gold coin donation), with the service itself commencing at 6.45pm. Our Ecclesiastes reflections, commenced last Sunday, will be taken up again in the Ash Wednesday service. 
4. News from the Justice and International Mission Unit (JIM) of the Synod
5. Hotham Mission will be running a BBQ fundraiser at Brunswick Bunnings (in the carpark behind the store) on Saturday 09/03/19, between about 8:30am – 4:30pm. IF you are interested and able to assist for however long on the day, please let HM’s community development coorindator, Joey, know (11-2pm is the busiest, but help at any time would be great!): joey.rebakis@hothammission.org.au 
6. Our Lenten Study series will run for four weeks after Ash Wednesday (Wednesday nights, March 13,20,27 and April 3). An intro to the series can be found here, and hard copies are available in the church. There will also be a Friday morning series at Hawthorn in the same weeks (March 15, 22, 29 and April 5).
7. If you are interested in participating in an ONLINE (video conference) version of the Lenten studies, early evenings for four weeks on Tuesdays from March 12, please let Craig know. We need ‘quorum’ of 3 or 4…
8. We will return to Ecclesiastes on Ash Wednesday. This coming Sunday is Transfiguration. If you would like to do some background reading on the texts, see the commentary links here. 

Other things potentially of interest 

1.  A Good Friday performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion

Old News

1. Details of our Lenten and Easter services are now available here.
2. Beginning this Sunday February 24, and for most of the Sundays and special services in Lent, we will be working through parts of the book of Ecclesiastes, using ‘the Teacher’s’ understanding of ‘life under the sun’ as a way of interpreting Jesus’ path to the cross. More information about this can be found here, but in the mean time you might find it helpful to take the time to read Ecclesiastes once or twice before we begin together with it.

1. Beginning this Sunday February 24, and for most of the Sundays and special services in Lent, we will be working through parts of the book of Ecclesiastes, using ‘the Teacher’s’ understanding of ‘life under the sun’ as a way of interpreting Jesus’ path to the cross. More information about this can be found here, but in the mean time you might find it helpful to take the time to read Ecclesiastes once or twice before we begin together with it.
2. Hotham Mission will be running a BBQ fundraiser at Brunswick Bunnings (in the carpark behind the store) on Saturday March 9, between about 8:30am – 4:30pm. If you are interested and able to assist for however long on the day, please let HM’s community development coordindator, Joey, know: joey.rebakis@hothammission.org.au.
   (11am-2pm is the busiest, but help at any time would be great!)
3. The most recent Synod eNews (Feb 14) is here.
4. The most recent update from Justice and International Mission Unit is here.
5. We will have another of our hymn-learning sessions after worship on Sunday March 3.
6. Our Lenten Study series will run for four weeks after Ash Wednesday (Wednesday nights, March 13,20,27 and April 3). An intro to the series can be found here. There will also be a Friday morning series at Hawthorn in the same weeks (March 15, 22, 29 and April 5).
7. Our focus on Ecclesiastes begins this Sunday, with Eccles 1.1-18 being our lead text. Each Sunday we will also hear the psalm and gospel set for the day; for those interested in doing some preparation prior to hearing those two readings for this coming Sunday February 24, see the commentary links here. 

Other things potentially of interest 

1.  A Good Friday performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion

Old News

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

1. Advance notice: Lent is still a while away, but the Lenten Study series will run for four weeks after Ash Wednesday (Wednesday nights, March 13,20,27 and April 3). An intro to the series can be found here. There will also be a Friday morning series at Hawthorn in the same weeks (March 15, 22, 29 and April 5).
2. Beginning on Sunday February 24, and for most of the Sundays and special services in Lent, we will be working through parts of the book of Ecclesiastes in Lent, using ‘the Teacher’s’ understanding of ‘life under the sun’ as a way of interpreting Jesus’ path to the cross. More information about this can be found here, but in the mean time you might find it helpful to take the time to read Ecclesiastes once or twice before we begin together with it.
3. Details of our Lenten and Easter services are now available here.
4. We will have another of our hymn-learning sessions after worship on Sunday March 3.
5. For those interested in doing some preparation to hearing the readings for this coming Sunday February 17, see the commentary links here. Matt Julius will be with us again as guest preacher.

 

Lent and Easter at MtE will feature a series of reflections on the teaching of Ecclesiastes and how this challenging scriptural teacher might inform our understanding of who we are, who Jesus is, and what he achieved in his path to the cross. For more details on the Ecclesiastes theme, see here.

Details of our Lenten studies this year are here.

Sunday services are typically at 10am; the ‘special’ Lent and Easter services are as follows.

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday March 6, 6.00pm for a light meal, 6.45 for the service

Palm-Passion Sunday

Sunday April 14, 10.00am, a service based around a reading of the Passion of Christ according to St Luke

Maundy Thursday

Thursday April 18, 7.30pm

Good Friday

Friday April 19, 10.00am

Easter Vigil

Saturday April 20, 8.00pm

Easter Day

Sunday April 21, 10.00am

1. Advance notice: Lent is still a while away, but the Lenten Study series will run for four weeks after Ash Wednesday (Wednesday nights, March 13,20,27 and April 3). An intro to the series can be found here. There will also be a Friday morning series at Hawthorn in the same weeks (March 15, 22, 29 and April 5).
2. Beginning on Sunday February 24, and for most of the Sundays and special services in Lent, we will be working through parts of the book of Ecclesiastes in Lent, using ‘the Teacher’s’ understanding of ‘life under the sun’ as a way of interpreting Jesus’ path to the cross. More information about this can be found here, but in the mean time you might find it helpful to take the time to read Ecclesiastes once or twice before we begin together with it.
3. For those interested in doing some preparation to hearing the readings for this coming Sunday February 10, see the commentary links here.

Other things potentially of interest 

1. A public forum on the future of Australian refugee policy at the Immigration Museum