Category: Uniting

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Reconciliation in the Park Sunday 30th June

From Jan at Uniting Barwon:

Hello everyone

Reconciliation week 2021 starts on Wednesday this week the 27th May 2021. The largest local reconciliation event in reconciliation week in Geelong is Reconciliation in the Park held in Johnstone Park on the Sunday of Reconciliation week.  This year this will be Sunday 30th May 2021.

As part of Uniting Barwon’s  Reconciliation Action Plan we have established contact with the local community reconciliation group Geelong One Fire Reconciliation Group. Geelong One Fire helped establish Reconciliation in the Park and has supported it each year since its establishment. This year Uniting Barwon is going to assist Geelong One Fire with their support for the event.

Uniting Barwon people will be assisting with;

  • Set up which starts at 7.30am at Johnstone Park and runs until about 9.45am,
  • Various activities during the day, and
  • Pack up which will start between 3 and 3.30pm and run until about 5pm.

Those assisting will be given some time to participate in and enjoy the activities taking place.

If you are interested in assisting in any of the roles please contact Des Younghusband by Thursday 27th May 2021, please also enquire of your families, friends, acquaintances and network members if they might be available to help.

If you are unable to assist please consider coming along to enjoy the activities and again encourage your families, friends, acquaintances and network members also to do this .

20210503 Flier Rec in Park 2021

Attached is a flyer for the event feel free to pass it on to your contacts or request more copies from Des Younghusband.

To register to assist or if you have any queries Des Younghusband’s contact details are:

T 03 4210 1115 M 0417 354 515
E Des.Younghusband@vt.uniting.org
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Uniting’s Winter Appeal is underway – donate online today!

Uniting VicTas is the welfare arm of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania.  They recently held their Annual Meeting online – check out the stories of the work being done over the past year by dedicated staff and volunteers – you might even see some familiar faces amongst the presenters.

You can support the ongoing work of Uniting by donating to the Winter Appeal – follow the link to do this online here:

https://www.unitingvictas.org.au/appeal/

Or you can pick up a donation envelope from our table in the foyer at church.

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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!

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Uniting Spring Congregation Connect and Supporter Newsletter

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.

For more information or to register your congregation to join the Coffee Cup Challenge, please visit https://www.unitingvictas.org.au/coffee-cup-challenge/

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.

Kind Regards,

Dale

Congregation Connect Spring 2020

Spring Supporters Newsletter

 

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Christmas is coming – organise your cards now from the Leprosy Mission, Uniting and Uniting World

Not wanting to emulate the shops, however given the slower delivery rates of letters through Australia Post these days, those of you who still like to send Christmas cards may be interested in the charity cards we have available.

A thankyou from our visiting speakers last year

Leprosy Mission

Val Grills, our Leprosy Mission “champion”, is ordering cards through the mission to sell to our regular church supporters this year.  If you would like to place an order through the church, please send an email to the office and we will let you know what is available once Val’s order has arrived.  You can also support the Leprosy Mission through their online shop here:

Christmas Gifts

They have some beautiful and useful items available which would make great gifts for the people you’re missing.   Our friends at the Leprosy Mission have called to let us know that they are praying for us and to offer their support – some of you may remember the visit of Tim and Amar last year to share the good news of the work they are doing to help people with Leprosy overcome discrimination and have a good quality of life.

Uniting

Uniting Christmas cards are available in packs of 10 for $10 from the office on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Cards can be dropped off to you in the 3216 postcode.

Uniting World

Uniting World is working with our church partners in other countries to try to limit the impacts of COVID-19 as well as other work of poverty mitigation and peace building.  You can support their work through purchasing gift cards which represent things like health care or school packs, or goats and chickens!

If you’d like to place an order, you can check the online “Everything in Common” gift catalogue here:

https://everythingincommon.com.au/

and email the office to place your order and organise payment – or simply shop online!  We do have gift cards left over from last year here at the church.

 

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Worship Online Sunday 11th October 2020 – God and the Pandemic: Learning from Jesus

The altar at St Luke’s, where today’s service was recorded.

Greetings Friends,

In this video we are again delving into some of the themes of Tom Wright’s book, “God and the Pandemic: A Christian reflection on the coronavirus and its aftermath.”

And the theme for this video gets right to the heart of things from a Christian perspective … the place of the man from Nazareth …Jesus … and in particular what we learn through him about God and suffering, God and the Pandemic.

 

For music today, an encouragement to keep hope from Audrey Assad with a beautiful lyric video of “How can I keep from Singing?”

This week is anti-poverty week – and here’s a message from Bronwyn Pike, COE of Uniting VicTas:

And reminder of the beautiful prayer from this week’s service:

Holy God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you bless us in so many ways.

We praise for you the beauty of creation … for the wonder of spring … for bud and flower … for the song of the Magpie.  But most of all, we praise you that you come to us in the person of Jesus, the crucified and risen One.

Compassionate God, we are lost for words when we consider the cross of Christ … the extent of your love made clear on Calvary … we give thanks that through the cross we know you share in the worst that this life can bring.

We celebrate and pray for the witness of Your church throughout the world, in all its colour, diversity and difference.

We hold before you those who have been wounded by life … all who suffer because of hardships, illness, injury, unkindness or abuse. We pray for all who work in caring professions: for the services which seek to sooth and heal the sicknesses of body, mind or spirit.

In these difficult times when we can hardly bring ourselves to watch the news, we pray for our country and the world … particularly remembering before you places of conflict, confusion, oppression, poverty, hunger and thirst.  Help us to be some way a part of the answer to this prayer.

We give thanks for and remember the people who have encouraged us in your way … particularly holding before you those who now share in that great cloud of witnesses .. . the saints in light.

And we offer this prayer in the name of Christ, Amen.

 

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Vote for Peter in the Westfield Local Heroes Awards

Peter Wheeler. Photo: Hadeel Al Badhran

Dear Volunteers and Supporters of Uniting Barwon,

Uniting Barwon Volunteer Peter Wheeler is one of 6 finalists in the Westfield Local Heroes awards with the chance to win a grant of $10,000 for Uniting Barwon Norlane.

Peter needs your vote!

Please forward this link to your network of family, friends, colleagues and neighbours.

To vote for Peter, click on this link:

https://surveys.reputation.com/surveys3/run?tenantKey=7afa4106785&templateId=5e5d972a8cdc3757b64dcb04&locationCode=supportoffice&property-value-heroID=921&property-value-centrecode=geelong&locale=en_US

Volunteer Peter Wheeler has created an Op Shop and community space that offers much more than second-hand clothes and household goods. With his vision and drive, Uniting Barwon’s new Norlane Op Shop is also a safe place for disaffected locals to socialise and seek help. There are comfy sofas where any members of the community can read a book, have a chat, relax and enjoy a cuppa, plus a kids’ corner with toys, books and puzzles. Thanks to Peter’s dynamic and inclusive approach, there has been a surge in volunteers and shoppers as word of mouth spreads. He is proud that the Op Shop has saved several tons of goods from ending up in landfill each month, while helping those in need.

“We have community members who, by volunteering and participating, have gained an improved level of self-worth,” Peter says.

Peter is driving further initiatives, before COVID-19 restrictions, including a community arts program and literacy and numeracy programs, conversational English for new arrivals (in conjunction with Diversitat), Messy Mums group (an evening program for parents and kids), an evening wellness program (some yoga and relaxation), community internet café, a vegie garden supporting provision of free light lunches from our approved kitchen, community engagement events, including community movie nights and regular car boot sales with sausage sizzles.

“Any profit made from the shop goes to our Emergency Relief Program for those in greatest need in our community.”

Voting closes on 14 September.

Thank you for your vote!

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Sunday 30th of August is Share Sunday for Uniting

Dear Friends,

The focus of Share Sunday this year is on Youth Homelessness, with the theme ‘A place to call home.’

Your congregation was sent a pack that shared the story of Bronte and how Uniting supported her through a challenging time in her life.

Unfortunately there have been delivery delays with Australia Post, meaning many of you have not received these resources to use on Sunday.

If any members of your congregation would like to make a donation as part of Share Sunday, we have created an online page where members of your congregation can securely make donations directly to our Share Sunday Appeal – https://www.unitingvictas.org.au/share-sunday/donate/

Many thanks for your ongoing support.

Kind Regards,

Dale