News sheet for Sunday, 23 May, 2021

THIS WEEK IN OUR CONGREGATIONSSunday, 23 May

Portarlington9.00am Lay Team: Porter

Drysdale9.00am Rev Temukisa10.45am Rev Temukisa

St Leonards5.00pm Congregation

Wednesday, 26 May9.30am Drysdale mainly music1.30pm Drysdale UCAF

Thursday, 27 May9.30am Portarlington Choir Practice10.30am Drysdale Coffee & Chat

Café Zoo7.30pm Portarlington Church Council Meeting

Sunday, 30 May

Portarlington10.15am Rev Linley Liersch

Linked CongregationsCombined Service at Portarlington

Drysdale No Service

St Leonards No Service

LECTIONARY READINGS

23 May Acts 2: 1-21 or Ezekiel 37: 1-14Pentecost Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b

Romans 8: 22-27 or Acts 2: 1-21John 15: 26-27, 16: 4b - 15

30 uMay Isaiah 6: 1-8Trinity Sunday Psalm 29

Romans 8: 12-17John 3: 1-17

Theme Ideas from Abingdon Worship AnnualTongues of Fire, Sighs too Deep for Words, Rush of Wind— this week’s scripture readings contain some of the Bible’s greatest hits about the Holy Spirit. This is a day to celebrate Spirit with abandon, drawing on the rich imagery of advocacy, power, and presence. (Throughout scripture the expressions of Spirit are masculine, feminine, and gender-neutral. Try not to limit your expressions of Spirit with pronouns.)

Knock us off our seats, O Lord, with the wind of your Holy Spirit. Don’t let us just sit back and rest as though nothing im-portant was happening. Remind us that you have come to bless and prepare us for your service. Now is the time of pro-clamation and celebration! Now is the birth of your church, not as an exercise in futility, but as a dynamic group of people who know you and love you as you know and love each of us. Flame up our hearts! Make us so joyful that we find it difficult to sit back and watch. We want to be part of your healing love and mercy. We want to be people who bear the word that your love for us is eternal; that Jesus Christ, our Saviour, proclaimed and taught that love in all that he did and said, modelling for us a new way to live. Pick us up and propel us forward into your world. Help us to remember that you have given to us what we need to be your disciples. We just need

to say a resounding "Yes!" to you. Thank you for all the wondrous patience and blessings you pour into our lives each and every day, as we offer our lives back to you in joy and hope. AMEN.

Uniting Church logo and Pentecost

Thus, in the Uniting Church logo, the Holy Spirit is represented as a dove. Notably, the colour of its wings is red, a colour normally linked with the Holy Spirit; the shape of the wings is representative of the flames of fire (as in Acts 2:1-11 where the Holy Spirit descends as flames of fire upon the apostles).

Paragraph taken from Crosslight, 3 May, 2015By Rev Dr Randall Prior and Rev Dr D’Arcy Wood

PORTARLINGTON / ST LEONARDS

ALL CONGREGATIONS

Combined Linked Service at PortarlingtonMinister: Office, Drysdale Church Centre: UNITING Op Shop:Rev. Temukisa Amituana'i-Vaeluaga High Street DRYSDALE Village Walk DRYSDALE

Email: temukisa.av@gmail.com drysdaleuc@yahoo.com.au Monday to Friday (11 am-2 pm)Phone: 0400 664 991 (Mobile) 0490 452 325 (Office) 03 5251 3640Web: http://drysdale.unitingchurch.org.au

Coming up on May 30 at 10.15am is a combined linked ser-vice for all congregations at St Andrews, Portarlington.

Rev Linley Liersch, Mission Development Strategist and Min-ister, Presbytery of Port Phillip West, will be leading the wor-ship.

There is no service at Drysdale on this Sunday.We are resuming our collec ons for various items at St Andrew’s. PORTARLINGTON FOOD ASSISTANCE PRO-GRAM You are encouraged to bring your non-per-ishable items of food for the Port food assis-tance program that is currently opera ng in our hall each Wednesday a ernoon. Please place yourdona ons in the marked woven box in the church Narthex. BATTERIES AND INKJET CARTRIDGES etc are accepted for recycling QUEENSCLIFF RURAL AUSTRALIANS FOR REFUGEES (QRAR) operate a food bank at The Welcome Place at Wesley Geelong and re-ally do need dona ons of many items to as -sist folk who are seeking asylum. Items needed are: boxes of ssues, soap, handwash, deodor -ant, sanitary pads not tampons, toothpaste, toilet paper, laundry powder, dishwashing detergent, toilet/ bathroom cleaner, cleaning cloths dishwasher sponges. Please place your dona ons in the marked woven box in the church Narthex. In the coming weeks we will also be upda ng you on what is needed by our friends at GEELONG MUMS J Porter. St Andrew’s Jus ce & Mission Min -istry TeamSt Andrew’s Collection BoxesWe are resuming our collections for the following items:

* Portarlington Food Assistance ProgramYou are encouraged to bring your non-perishable items of food for the Portarlington food assistance program that is currently operating in our hall each Wednesday afternoon. Please place your donations in the marked woven box in the church Narthex.

* Batteries and Inkjet Cartridges etc are accepted for recycling.

* Queenscliff Rural Australians for Refugees (QRAR) operates a food bank at The Welcome Place at Wesley Geelong and really do need donations of many items to assist folk who are seeking asylum.

Items needed are:

boxes of tissues, soap, handwash, deodorant, sanitary pads not tampons, toothpaste, toilet paper, laundry powder, dishwashing detergent, toilet/ bathroom cleaner, cleaning cloths, dishwasher sponges.

Please place your donations in the marked woven box in the church Narthex.

In the coming weeks we will also be updating you on what is needed by our friends at Geelong Mums.

Joy Porter, St Andrew’s Justice & Mission Ministry Team.

DRYSDALE

Merged worship time at Drysdale

Sunday 6 June, is the start of our merged services at 10.30am.

It will also be a communion service, with communion being celebrated on the first Sunday of each month.

Rev Temukisa is intending to lead most of these services.

ALL CONGREGATIONS

Combined Linked Service at Portarlington

Coming up on 30 May at 10.15am is a combined linked service for all congregations at St Andrews, Portarlington.

Rev Linley Liersch, Mission Development Strategist and Minister, Presbytery of Port Phillip West, will be leading the worship.

There is no service at Drysdale on this Sunday.

Combined Pentecost Worship Service

When: Today, 23 May, 3.00pm Where: Western Heights Uniting Church,

31 Douglass St, Herne Hill Who: All the Uniting Churches in the region. What: Great music, inspirational speakers, quiet

meditation allowing the Spirit to speak to us, fun activities for all ages, Mission Expo.

Why: We love to gather as one people of God, as the body of Christ in this region. We want to worship our amazing, creative God, three in one.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions we would like people to register for this worship service. You can register through this link https://www.trybooking.-com/BRFDA For Drysdale members: If you need help to register or trans-port to attend please contact Wayne Myers.

For Portarlington members: for help with registering please contact Joy Porter.

Snippets from Synod E-news Update

COVID-19 changesFrom 28 May places of worship in Victoria under 400m² can have up to 200 people per space without any density limit, but they must have COVID-19 marshals and only be using the free Victorian Government QR service.

Reconciliation WeekReconciliation Week 2021 begins with National Sorry Day on 26 May and concludes on 3 June, with the 29th anniversary of the High Court decision recognising native title in Australia. This year’s theme is “More than a Word – Reconciliation takes Action”.

Corona TsunamiUniting World, and partner the Church of North India, are on the frontline as India continues to deal with a COVID-19 catastrophe. Both are leading the response to the second lockdown by helping to feed people and spreading critical health information to slow the spread of the virus. “The ‘Corona tsunami’, if one could say that, has left all of us paral-ysed,” Bishop Khimla, of the Diocese of Durgapur, says.

remains unsafe for Rohingya people to return home. In December 2020 the Bangladesh government began transferring Rohingyas to the artificial is-land of Bhasan Char. This islandis isolated, vulnerable to cyclones and prone to flooding. Many refugees have said that this transfer is against their will. They have had their freedom re-stricted and mobile phones confiscated. The UN High Commission has not been able to make any assessment of the suitability of the island as a location for refugees and opposed the transfer. A high proportion of Rohingya refugees are suffering from mental health problems, like depression and PTSD – unsurprising given what they have been through and their anxiety for the future.Yet, there appears to be no provision to treat these problems