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22 March 2020 Lent 4 Church News The Uniting Church in Australia
Transcript of Church News · continues to receive your giving, financial and personal, so that we can be the...
22 March 2020
Lent 4
Church News
The Uniting Church in Australia
MINISTRY TEAM:
Minister of the Word / Team Leader: Rev Cameron McAdam
P: 9787 1683 M: 0425 774 780
Playgroup Coordinator: Barbara Mort
P: 9787 1683
Youth Engagement Coordinator: Tim Gordon
P: 0401 875 505
Pastoral Support: Shona Potts
P: 0424 787 204
Communication & Administration: Sally Mullins
P: 9787 1683
OUR VISION AND MISSION
Following Jesus and walking together, the Village Church
aspires to live God’s unconditional love. We live Christian faith with integrity
and meaning and, with a servant heart, we offer a place of welcome, care,
inclusion and healing.
MISSION:
We will live out our vision by:
• Following Jesus who lived with integrity, honesty and justice.
• Building community both within and beyond the church.
• Nurturing a questioning and living spirituality.
• Fostering an inclusive and welcoming spirit.
You can find us at:
fb.com/villagechurchmteliza @villagechurchmteliza
www.mtelizaunitingchurch.org.au
ORDER OF SERVICE
Christ before me—The Blind man
Sunday 22 March 2020
MUSIC
EXTENDED WELCOME
LENTEN PRAYERS
MUSIC Christ before me
CHURCH NEWS
READING John 9: 1-11
REFLECTION How will we respond?
MUSIC The Lord’s my Shepherd
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
BLESSING
MUSIC Shalom to you now
Today
March 22 10:00am Morning Service led by Rev Cam McAdam
including live streaming on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/villagechurchmteliza
Monday
March 23
Tuesday
March 24
Wednesday
March 25
Thursday
March 26
Friday Last day of Term 1
March 27
Saturday
March 28
Sunday
March 29 10:00am Morning Service led by Rev Cam McAdam via
Live streaming of service on Facebook
www.facebook.com/villagechurchmteliza
WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK?
IMPORTANT NOTICE
All face-to-face gatherings have been suspended at the
Village Church until further notice effective from 11am Sunday
22 March. This decision was made by Church Council to not
only ensure our members are safe, but also to reduce the
spread of the COVID-19 virus. Effective from Sunday 29 March,
we will only gather for Sunday services online.
OUR VILLAGE CHURCH -‘THE WEEK THAT WAS…’
Update from the Friendship group...
We enjoyed the exhibition of quilts our quilters Margot and Sue showed last
Tuesday. We loved the wonderful variety of colours and the build up of the
d e s i g n s a n d
themes.
The quilts were
many different
sizes, with the most
impressive one a
cover for a king size
bed.
We shared a lovely
day before we
closed until the
world is well again.
Ronda Jenkins
IMPORTANT
NOTE:
Friendship group
meetings have
been cancelled
until further
notice.
This week...with Cam
Well, what a week, and you will have likely by now seen my letter to our whole
church community and the decisions we have made to keep our church and
community safe. It is not only best practice to take these steps, but in line with
our vision to provide abundant care.
I want to offer my thanks to the Church Council and Ministry Team for the way
they have worked through this with diligence, grace and compassion, and for
the work that is unfolding in helping us [not stop] but transform into this new
and temporary way of being church.
Rosters
We have put together an interim roster as you’ll see near the back pages of
Church News. This will likely change in coming weeks and we’d love to know
whether you’d like to take part.
Offering
We are fortunate that a large proportion of people give to the Village Church
electronically. We are aware that many people will be faced with economic
hardship across this time. However, we need to ensure the Village Church
continues to receive your giving, financial and personal, so that we can be
the church and meet our various costs. If you give through envelope or open
plate, please consider a direct transfer offering over this time. Details are
available on our website.
Photo
We want to share photos over this time, so please take a ‘Selfie Sunday’ and
send it to us so we can publish it and see each other. Better still – publish a
photo on social media of ‘Doing church at home’ and tag the church or
team member.
Directory and Contact
We are doing lots of work pastorally to ensure everyone is OK and will be
looking to group people into pastoral groups over the next week. We will work
to keep everyone connected. You can get a latest directory or check your
details are correct through phoning or emailing the church office.
We will be working on some creative ways to keep us all connected and in
community – perhaps you have an idea or might volunteer to oversee
something??
Finally, please call or email across this time. We want to speak with
you, hear from you and how you’re going. I cannot be more sincere
in encouraging you to stay connected with each other and with us.
COVID-19: A Message from Cam (March 20) Dear Friends,
It will be no surprise I’m sure, that on Wednesday night the Church Council decided,
effective 11am Sunday 22 March, Sunday Church and all face-to-face gatherings will
be suspended until further notice. This extends to all church related groups, including
Playgroup. As staying connected as a community remains a high priority, the Council
approved the move to online church services and community activities, as
appropriate.
The Church Council’s decision to suspend all face-to-face gatherings was made not
only because we want to ensure all our members are safe, but because it is clear that
ceasing all non-essential activities is the best way to reduce the spread of the COVID-
19 virus, and therefore keeping the wider community safe as well. This decision is
taken on advice from the wider church and is in line with just about every other
mainline denomination.
This Sunday we will have church at the usual time of 10am. The service will also be live
streamed on our Village Church Facebook page. It will be a shorter, reflective service
that gathers our church community together. This Sunday you have the option to be
present in church, where we will respect social distancing requirements, or you can
watch the service online. Please ensure, that if you are in anyway vulnerable that you
stay at home. Our understanding is that you do NOT need to be a member of Face-
book to access the stream. Simply go to this website address www.facebook.com/
villagechurchmteliza and scroll down to where the service is streaming (you can also
Google “Village Church Mt Eliza Facebook”). From Sunday 29 March, church will only
gather online. A small number of people in the church will present the service with me,
including a musician, a bible reader and someone to record the service on Facebook.
Everyone else will be invited to connect into the service via the live stream on Face-
book. This is unchartered waters for us and overtime we will work to improve our live
stream and the online resources we send each week. We may need a little grace as
we navigate this new way of doing church – so please bear with us and give it a go.
We’d love for you to join with us online.
On other important matters, this week we have begun work to ensure all our members
are adequately cared for across this time. We have spoken with people we thought
might be vulnerable, and we are working to group all our church members into
pastoral groups. Please, if you need some assistance or would like to talk, call a
member of the ministry team or someone you know in the church/playgroup
community. Let’s look after each other, and yes, we have spare toilet paper!
Whilst we are suspending face-to-face church activities, the church is still running. Our
ministry team will be working hard to connect and support our community, although to
protect our team, we would ask that you do NOT drop into the office without
contacting us by phone or email first. As these are unprecedented times we are
navigating, we would appreciate you checking on us from time to time, including us in
your prayers, and working with us, to ensure everyone in the church remains
connected to our community.
So, things will be a bit different for a while, but we are still the church, we are seeking
to live our vision of following Jesus and walking together; of welcome, care, inclusion
and healing. Take care across this time.
Church Council meeting via ZOOM
This week Church Council met via Zoom web conferencing to conduct the
church council meeting,
welcoming new members
and importantly, to discuss
how best to respond to
COVID-19.
Despite some initial
reticence, the meeting
ran really well and is an
example of how we can
creatively communicate
during these challenging
times.
The Village Church
Outcome from Annual General Meeting
Sunday 15 March 2020
The Village Church Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held after the
service last Sunday 15 March 2020.
We are delighted to confirm that the following people were successfully
elected into key congregational roles:
Successful congregational representatives to Church Council:
• Andrew Stork
• Campbell Opie
• Mark Driver
• Mohan Jacob
• Sue Mills
Successful congregational representative to Presbytery:
• Shona Potts
Lent Series Home groups: Christ before us...
With formal services moving online after today’s service, Lent Home groups
remain a good way of staying connected in small numbers and taking a
deeper look at the topics covered through our Lenten Series. There are a
number of Lent Home Groups up and running. Groups details are as follows:
• Tuesdays 1pm at Shona’s house
• Wednesdays 7:30pm at Johanna’s house
• Thursdays 7:30pm at Cam’s house
• Friday 7pm at Kaye and John’s house
It’s not too late to join a group, so if you’re interested in participating, please
let Cam or Shona know or alternatively, speak directly with one of the hosts.
Could you Spare a Square
Update
Following the launch of our initiative ‘Could
you spare a square?’, we have been
overwhelmed by the generosity of our com-
munity! THANKYOU!! This has meant we have
been able to provide toilet paper, tissues,
soap and hand sanitiser to those in need in
our community, including some people who
were running desperately low.
We will continue to deliver to those in need,
but if you are running very low (on toilet paper in particular), please contact
the church office as we can help you out.
We are here for you, so please ask!
March 29:
Service Leader: Cam McAdam
Bible Reader: Luisa Fosita
Music: Margaret Brown
Facebook filming: Tim Gordon & Alison House
March 22:
Service Leader: Cam McAdam
Bible Reader: Andy McGorlick
Music: Chris Opie
Sounds desk: Andy McGorlick
Facebook filming: Tim Gordon/ Steph Hill
Interim Roster availability
With our move to online services from Sunday 29 March, we have proposed
supporting rosters for key roles required. If you are not available or
unwell, please let the church office know. If you are also available
and comfortable to fill one of these interim roles, please let the
church office know.
Interim Church Roster 2020
Roles to support online service format
April 10th: GOOD FRIDAY
Service Leader: Cam McAdam
Bible Reader: TBC
Music: Elaine Johnston
Facebook filming: Tim Gordon & TBC
April 5: PALM SUNDAY
Service Leader: Cam McAdam
Bible Reader: Sally Mullins
Music: Chris Opie
Facebook filming: Tim Gordon & TBC
April 12th: EASTER SUNDAY
Service Leader: Cam McAdam
Bible Reader: Cam Opie
Music: Chris Opie
Facebook filming: Tim Gordon & TBC
