The Justice and International Mission Cluster’s 2021 Social Justice Calendar is now available. It includes significant dates, such as NAIDOC Week, Refugee Week and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Find it here:
Pilgrim news
Pilgrim Theological College said farewell to 11 students at a valedictory service hosted via Zoom last week.
While these students are at the tail-end of their studies, you may be interested in beginning your own. Pilgrim also have shorter courses which are a great next step for deepening your faith learning and discipleship.
Enrolment for 2021 is now open and the timetable is available here.
Pilgrim also welcomes Monica Melanchthon into the role of Academic Dean for the next two years.
More information:
Time for remembering
The annual Time for Remembering ceremony invites people to come together to commemorate loved ones lost and injured on our roads, give thanks for those who survived, and pay tribute to all who work tirelessly to reduce the road toll.
This year the 20th annual ceremony will be held via Zoom on November 15 from 12pm-1.30pm.
Register here:
https://events.humanitix.com/time-for-remembering
NAIDOC week reflection
Leprena Centre Manager Alison Overeem has written a poetic reflection for NAIDOC Week, which starts on Sunday. This year, the theme is Always Was, Always Will Be in recognition that First Nations people have occupied and cared for Australia for more than 65,000 years. Alison asks that we learn the history of First Peoples and hear and honour their stories. “It’s in knowing this connection to Land, through this lens of discernment the true lessons are learned. Honour the land and the stories sitting within Country wherever you may be. May our Churches and agencies discern, for it is in Nature’s classroom that we truly learn.”
Farewell to a St Luke’s icon
Today we farewelled an iconic Moreton Bay Fig tree that has stood on the corner of the St Luke’s property for many years. The decision to take it down has been really hard – St Luke’s has a proud history of caring for our environment.
In the last 12 months several branches have fallen during windy conditions, and the roots are making it increasingly difficult for City of Greater Geelong to keep the footpath safe for the increasing numbers going past. We sought advice from an arborist, landscape architect, and consulted with the City of Greater Geelong – all agreed with the final decision. To quote our landscape architect who admired the tree “unfortunately it is the wrong tree in the wrong place.”
As our carpark needs resurfacing to fix a number of hazards that have developed, we have taken the opportunity to redesign the whole corner with assistance from a local landscape architect to:
- Introduce a native rain garden on the verge to help manage the water run off from the car park
- Plan a range of new native trees and shrubs around the edges of the carpark to offer shade, animal habitat, and not impede traffic visibility at the roundabout
- Incorporate trees into the carpark itself to provide shade and reduce urban heat
You will see lots happening in the coming months, as we work to continue to upgrade our site to be a great resource for our local community and the many users who come from across the region to participate in the many groups who use our buildings.
Peter Wheeler is a Westfield Local Hero – thanks for your support on behalf of Uniting Barwon
Good News
A huge congratulations to Uniting Barwon’s Local Hero Peter Wheeler!
https://www.westfield.com.au/geelong/story/7EbYH4xMp60mDUW1K5dWU1/peter-wheeler
The votes have been counted and Peter is one of the 2020 Westfield Geelong Local Heroes! Thanks to everyone who voted for Peter, Uniting Barwon will receive a $10,000 community grant to support the community programs Peter has set up at the Uniting Barwon Op Shop in Wendover Avenue Norlane.
Peter would like to thank all those who helped to promote the community voting and all those who did vote. Thank you all!
Pastoral letter and Church Council Update
Worship Online Sunday 1st November – All Saints’ Day
Today’s service is jointly presented by St Luke’s Highton and Western Heights Uniting Churches – the westernmost of Geelong’s Uniting Churches, straddling both sides of the Barwon River.
Today we encourage you to celebrate All Saints’ Day by remembering and honouring those who have gone before us, giving thanks for their love and leadership.
Thanks to Paul, Mike, Karen, Alison, Jan and everyone who helped prepare today’s service for sharing your gifts to help connect us all to God through worship and prayer.
Younger ones might enjoy this short summary of what All Saints day means to us as Christians:
Blessings go with you into this week!
Coping with Progressive Illness – Dr David Brumley
As part of our congregational pastoral care ministry, St Luke’s is presenting a Zoom seminar with Dr David Brumley, who will be leading a physical, social, emotional and spiritual (not religious) conversation about progressive illness, including:
- How to get your head around a diagnosis
- Managing symptoms and fears around dying
- Planning what one can in the face of uncertainty
This conversation is scheduled on Zoom on Thursday the 5th of November at 7pm.
Please contact the St Luke’s office to RSVP and receive the zoom link: info@stlukesuca.org.au
A flyer for the event can be downloaded here for printing or emailing:
Dr David Brumley is a palliative care care specialist doctor. He spent most of his working life in Ballarat, initially in General Practice.
He was one of a team who developed a home care service called Ballarat Hospice Care, and later an inpatient palliative care ward called Gandarra.
He was the first Medical Director of the Grampians Regional Palliative Care Team, with the responsibility to travel in the Grampians Region (Bacchus Marsh to the Border) to support GPs and nurses, and also to provide palliative care support to the hospitals in that region.
He and his wife Linda moved to Queenscliff 6 years ago, and he has continued to work for Bellarine Community Health and to consult at St John of God Hospital and Epworth. Other than work he finds great enjoyment in vegetable gardening, paddling his kayak, reading and music.
Update from Uniting Agewell
Good afternoon St Lukes Congregation,
We hope each of you are keeping well and safe during these trying times.
We are reaching out to the Uniting Church Congregations to offer respite for any congregation member that may benefit from a rest; two weeks or more can be offered at a cost of $52.25p/d when a My Aged Care approval is in place. A list of our residences are attached with photos on page 2.
Uniting Agewell Vacancy Report
We understand the apprehension around residential aged care at present, so we have included the link to our website that provides transparent and up to date information on any COVID related cases throughout our facilities at any given time, with all historic data from March 2020 onwards being available to view:
https://www.unitingagewell.org/covid19/for-residents-clients-families-and-visitors
COVID-19 Residence Guidelines:
- We continue to take permanent and respite admissions across our facilities
- All admissions require a COVID-19 test with a negative result all within 72hrs of an admission
- Room viewings can be booked by contacting the associated admissions team member
Update Visitor Access Arrangements Victoria 21Oct20 (002)
Kind regards,
Kiri Johnston
Regional Admissions Coordinator – South/East
Uniting AgeWell
