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:
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.
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.
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:
This video service has been created through the shared leadership of the Western Heights and St Luke’s Uniting Church Congregations.
And this video is the last in a series of videos delving into the themes of Tom Wright’s book, “God and the Pandemic: A Christian reflection on the coronavirus and its aftermath.”
Bruce Waldron, supply minister for the Western Heights Congregation, will be helping us to put together some of the key Biblical insights that we have highlighted over the last five weeks with a particular focus on how following the way of Jesus gives particular shape to the response we offer in a world impacted by the coronavirus.
A fitting song to carry the message about being part of the healing on this week comes from the Watoto Children’s Choir – We will Go:
And if you like the dance there is even a tutorial on how to do it here:
And if you’re looking for a little more worship this week, you might like to pop over to the Presbytery Focus Service this week led by Rev. Jeanne Beale:
COVID 19 restrictions have meant that our Crosslight Magazine is not being printed at the moment, however you can download a pdf version to read online or print for yourself here:
Uniting staff (left to right) Jeremy and Paul unload a delivery of goods for bushfire-affected communities in Gippsland.
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the Spring edition of Congregation Connect.
In this edition, you can read about our recent submission to the Victorian Government’s Inquiry into Homelessness, a property sharing opportunity between Uniting Vic.Tas and Shepparton Uniting Church and the fantastic national response to our making masks initiative.
It also talks about the Coffee Cup Challenge which officially launched on 1st October however It is still not too late to get involved. All funds raised from the Coffee Cup Challenge will support people experiencing crisis, vulnerability and disadvantage.
I have also attached a copy of our Spring Supporter Newsletter, which features stories of hope in the face of crisis. On page 5, there are examples of just some of the ways our dedicated teams have kept our support going during these challenging times. You can also read about the difference your giving has made this past winter and discover new ways to get involved.
Uniting Christmas cards are now available to order with 4 new additions to the range. Each design has been thoughtfully selected by members of the Uniting Church to reflect the joy and hope of Christmas and all proceeds will support people in crisis.
As current restrictions have made it too difficult for many of you to complete orders for your members by consignment this year, I have attached a copy of the Christmas Card poster and a PDF order form for you to pass on to your members. Please note we have made the order form fillable for anyone wanting to complete and email it back to us without printing. Alternatively, they can pre-fill the details prior to printing for mailing it back to us if they prefer this to manually writing their details.
Cards can be also be ordered by calling our Supporter Services on 1800 668 426 or visiting our Christmas Card site.
If you need paper copies of the newsletters, poster or order form to distribute to your members, please call us on 1800 668 426 or email fundraising@unitingvictas.org.au.
Each week in our prayer time and sharing time, we share the concerns and joys on our hearts at that time. A group of people at St Luke’s have a special call to the ministry of prayer and these are the ways they are upholding the congregation and our community to God in prayer this week. You might like to join these prayers too in a quiet moment.
Praise and Thanksgiving.
Praise God for each new day and the dramatic changes we see in nature during Spring time, when the birds are nesting, the gardens are lovely, the weather reveals its diversity and beauty.
2) As we recognise Mental Health week, we say thank you for those people who work in this area, may they be strong as they support those who are struggling at this challenging time.
3) Praise and thanks for all people who care for and support our elderly, single parents, homeless, unemployed, business owners who are losing hope, those who have lost a loved one and the sick, that they will be granted patience and a caring heart for all they serve.
4) Thanksgiving for the return to school of students and teachers, that the joy of reunion will be a blessing and encouragement for all. Pray for the energy required to readjust to school life five days a week.
5) Give thanks for celebrations of new life, special birthdays and positive COVID 19 results in the state.
General Prayers.
1) Pray for all students doing VCE as they return to school for these two weeks. Give them the time and clarity to review work done at home and to ask those questions that they may now have. Pray that they will be virus free before and during exam time.
2) Continue to prayer for all of those we know of who are unwell, having treatment or are recovering from operations or lost a loved one. May they know God’s peace and strength for the journey ahead.
3) Pray for families who are caring from a distance at the moment. Those in lockdown in Melbourne who have families living interstate or in other cities in Victoria. Pray for single parents who don’t have family support and those for whom English is a second language.
4) Prayer for peace in the world. For those citizens living in war-torn countries. That as they approach winter and the suffering that brings, they will find relief from the stress and worry they endure. Pray especially for the children and older people who have no escape.
5) Pray that talks involving many Middle Middle-East countries will bring stability and peace to the area, and for those where the virus has surged again
6) Pray for the USA during their up-coming elections. Guide people toward a peaceful response post-election.
7) Pray for the upcoming Church Council meeting and elections. That those approached will pray-fully consider serving God in this capacity.
Welcome to this Sunday’s worship time, presented today by Lloyd Walker, Sue Anderson, Barry Tattersall, Jenny Patchett and Val MacKenzie!
As we continue to explore Tom Wright’s book – God and the Pandemic, we’ll look at the writings of the New Testament – the early church. Our theme is “Groaning and Serving”
For music listening this morning, Lloyd recommends
The Servant King (By Graham Kendrick
And here’s the latest video from UnitingWorld reminding you about ways you can give gifts that truly change people’s lives this Christmas:
If you enjoyed the music featured in today’s video, take a look at the musicians behind it here:
Not to understand all the challenges of the world – instead trust God with those cares.
To pray without ceasing – groaning with the Spirit when the words are beyond you!
To live our your calling as children/heirs of God, followers of the Servant King Jesus, and engage the world as Jesus did, with love, compassion and words of hope and transformation.
Our next Messy Church Zoom will be 4:30pm Friday 23rd October- put it on the calendar! Our theme will be “Paul and Silas in Prison” which you can read in Acts 16 v25-34 in your Bible. Its an action packed story.
Paul and Silas in prison – image by Sue Bentley https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Some great things are happening during our actual Messy Church Zoom and you need to get a few things together before our fun time.
Before the meeting have ready :
Lego- we are going to build a prison or a jail and we also need some people- Paul, Silas and the jailer and his family
Plus, think about what you could use in your house to create a big noise- the sort of noise that might sound a bit like an earthquake!!
Sounds an exciting story exciting doesn’t it? There is also a Baptism in this bible story which makes it special.
Ask about your Baptismal day, or think about some Baptisms you have seen- what happened? You might have something from that day – a candle maybe or a photo or even the outfit you wore that you can share with the rest of our Messy church family.
Contact the office for the Zoom link if you haven’t already received it in the email.
We miss you, we hope you’re well and safe, and we look forward to seeing you again on October 23rd.
Love from St Luke’s Messy Church Team- Paul, Shaghek, Barbara, Jean, Judy and Robyn
