Easter 2015
St Ives Uniting Church
Cnr Mona Vale Road & Douglas Street
St Ives
LENT and EASTER 2015
As supply minister of St Ives Uniting Church it’s a
pleasure to be writing to you in this most important
season of the Christian year. The booklet forms part of
the Pastoral oversight of our church as you are contacted
by one of our pastoral visitors. We are inviting you to
make a special effort to be a part of our worship times
and to take the time to reflect once again on the life,
death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.
Life for many people in our congregation would appear to
be very busy. There are commitments to work, family
and various groups in whom we have an interest. There
is the commercial side of Easter where we will be
prevailed upon to purchase extra commodities, especially
chocolate Easter eggs. The busyness tends to distract us
from giving time to worship and reflect on the
significance of Christ’s life, death and resurrection, and
how these events of the past currently impact on our life,
our values and our faith in Jesus Christ.
Many of us would be able to recall Easters in the past
that made a significant impact on our lives. Be it through
music, spoken word, drama or the company of fellow
Christians, we remember emotions, challenges and the
sheer thrill of celebrating our faith. The invitation is to
participate with St Ives Uniting Church this year to
celebrate your faith in Jesus Christ.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added
unto you.
Alleluia
Ask and it shall be given unto you,
seek and you shall find,
knock and the door shall
be opened unto you.
Alleluia
We shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that proceeds
from the mouth of the Lord.
Alleluia
Vernon Prowse - supply minister
You are invited to gather round
the table in stillness to share
in the Gospel narrative and the
bread and wine
Maundy Thursday
2nd April at 7.30pm
and to gather at the foot of the Cross
to reflect on the self-giving of God in Christ, then and now
Good Friday
3rd April at 9.30am
WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?
He carried the Cross despising the shame
To the place of the skull, Golgotha by name
And there were two thieves, His friends hopes all lost,
Was man’s greatest error now hung on a Cross.
He held back His power, His glory was veiled
He silenced His tongue as accusations were railed,
He submitted His body to torture & pain
And saw through it all a glorious gain.
Oh what sight could hold him, this King of Kings
What glory awaited that only shame brings?
The one who spoke galaxies, wisdom & life
Laid aside all His power without any strife.
And why would He do it? The question looms large
Accept accusation, absorb every charge.
The smoke finally clears as the veil rips away
And eyes filled with tears, see truth bright as day.
Humbled and willing, I bow to my knee
Jesus! My Saviour, you did it for me.
Cindy Blackmore.
Farewell
to
Rob and Andrea
On January 25th we farewelled Rev Dr Rob and Andrea
McFarlane in a Service of Closure followed by a special
morning tea. This was a time of celebration as their three
years at SIUC was dedicated to serving this congregation
and community in inspiring and meaningful ways. The
Chair of Church Council thanked them both and presented
them with tokens of appreciation.
Rob introduced us to new, innovative programs including
the Uniting Life and Learning series which attracted people
from the wider community. The Landmark Services
brought interesting speakers to our Sunday worship and our
image of other religions was widened by interaction with
people from synagogues and mosques we visited. Rob’s
support and involvement with groups in our church was
much appreciated as he encouraged and helped us to
establish new visions and mission goals for the future.
Andrea contributed much to all ages, especially the young
people and gave us new insights into their needs and
development as followers of Jesus Christ. The Friday Night
Group is also one of her innovations which we hope will
continue.
As they travel to Queensland, Rob in his role as Mission
Education Officer in Moreton River Presbytery, we wish
them health, happiness and God’s blessing as they settle in a
part of our country that is ‘beautiful one day, perfect the
next’.
CHURCH COUNCIL NEWS
On February 12th, the first meeting for 2015 of the Church
Council was held. As this was to be the last meeting of our
Chair, Richard Hansford, it was decided that he would
relinquish the position as of the end of the meeting, in order to
appoint a new Chair. Richard has served the Council faithfully
for over 15 years, and we all have a deep debt of gratitude to him
for his many contributions over those years. Many of these
contributions have been behind the scenes and many have been
gracious and generous.
As there were no other contenders, I was duly appointed to the
position; and I am committed to serve the church to the best of
my ability in the years to come.
I am delighted to announce that our Secretary, Caroline
Turner, has graciously decided to continue in that capacity. I
think it is great news for the Council and the Church that
Caroline will continue to give our Council meetings a structure
that is very necessary.
I can also announce that we have a vital Property Committee
consisting of Stephen White, David Turner, Greg Starr and
Dudley Luttrell. This committee will be headed by Stephen
and will take over the work handled in the past by David
Turner. Thank you David for your years of dedication to this
task, and thank you for continuing to serve on this committee.
In addition to the above we now have a Finance Committee
consisting of Stephen White, Mike Tickell, Cecelie Taylor,
Greg Starr and John Tainsh – again headed by Stephen. Thank
you all for overseeing the important job of our church finances;
and I am particularly pleased that there is an overlap between
the above two committees.
Up to this point we do not have anyone who has agreed to be
Church Treasurer. I would dearly love to hear from someone
who is willing to take on this important position. We cannot
have a church without a treasurer. There are other positions
vacant, which we will seek to fill in the near future. In the
meantime, thank you to all who have offered to help in the
smooth functioning of our church.
Lawrence Peak
February 2015
Appointment of New Minister
A Joint Nominating Committee (JNC) has been formed to go
through the process of identifying a new Minister from the
Ministers available and to recommend an appointment to the
congregation. The committee comprises five members of our
church appointed by the congregation and two representatives
appointed by Presbytery.
The seven person committee is:
Rev Greg McConnell (Chairperson)
Gai Bradford
Dr Rob Mayrick
Stephen White
Rev Ian Weeks
Seng Eng Low
Ross Lorenz
The first step of reviewing and updating the Church profile has
been completed and the Church Council signed off the profile
at its meeting in February. The JNC is expected to have its
first meeting in March and to meet regularly after that until an
appointment is made.
The process of selection does take time and it is unlikely an
appointment will be made before June. In the meantime we
share fellowship with the Rev Vernon Prowse who has
graciously agreed to work half time for as long as he is able. We
thank him and are very grateful.
“Maple syrup? I gave that up for Lent.”
What will you give up for Lent?
Lent is a time for Christians to prepare for Easter and
beyond. It’s a time to renew and deepen our faith through
reflection and prayer, to sacrifice and to put our faith into
action.
In this spirit, Lent Event calls us to give up something
we’d struggle to do without and donating what we save
to Uniting World’s Relief and Development projects.
Small money boxes and special forms are available at the
church or you can donate directly to Lent Event. In this
way we will help some of the world’s most vulnerable
people break the poverty cycle through life changing
community development projects.
Join this growing movement of people and church
communities across Australia and the world looking to
where God is at work, bringing hope and changing lives.
Christian Meditation
Over the two months before he left our congregation
Rev. Rob McFarlane talked to us about ‘busy-ness’: how
things, thinking, planning, organising and matters of that
ilk, were taking over our whole lives, leaving less and less
time for peace and quiet reflection. Rev. Vernon Prowse
has also spoken of it. Young people these days may have
their time consumed by social media and mobiles, but we
have a similar problem, busy-ness.
The Australian Christian Meditation Community is part
of a worldwide organisation, which introduces
congregations to Christian Meditation in the Benedictine
style of the late John Main OSB from Canada, and
Laurence Freeman OSB from the U.K. The community
has about 70 Sydney churches, including about nine
Uniting Churches, as members. A representative of the
community, Rev. Graham Ellis, retired minister of Dee
Why Uniting Church, knows our church well. On a
recent Sunday he explained that the Meditation
Community, having been asked if they could help us
establish a meditation group, had asked him to introduce
us to Christian meditation in six weekly sessions of a bit
over one hour duration each on one day a week.
Although meditation may be new to many of us, it is
very much akin to Contemplative Prayer, a form of quiet
depth prayer and reflection practised in Christian
monasteries over many centuries.
After the initial six weekly sessions it is anticipated that
the meditation group will continue on a weekly basis on a
day and time convenient to the members.
Rob Walker
Rosemarie Say OAM
Rosemarie Say was awarded the medal of the Order of
Australia on Australia Day 2015.
Rosemarie and her family have been members of this
church for over 20 years. She made many sacrifices to
follow her passion of helping people and with family
support she was able to fulfill her dream.
Rosemarie moved into the area of mental health after 21
years as a grief support telephone counsellor. She is
passionate about her work with the mentally ill and
works long hours above and beyond the call of duty,
listening to and helping these people find an inner
strength and peace. Her theology is about building
bridges rather than walls to make this world a better
place with understanding, tolerance and social
responsibility.
Congratulations Rosemarie from fellow worshippers and
friends at St Ives Uniting Church. We will continue to
uphold and encourage you in your chaplaincy and
counselling work particularly in mental health areas.
May the blessings you give and receive be boundless.
The Magic
of
Music
Three Sunday afternoon concerts
at
St Ives Uniting Church
to take you on wings of nostalgia!
2015
May 24
Memorable songs of Dame Vera Lynn,
recreated by Australia’s own
Melanie Parry.
July 12
The vocal richness of Sydney’s acclaimed Welsh Choir
in a stirring program of loved songs.
August 16
Brilliant pianists Simon Tedeschi and Kevin Hunt
in a superb afternoon of jazz on two grand pianos.
Plus a fantastic special event!
October 11
Australia’s favourite tenor
David Hobson
in a program of arias and songs from the musicals.
For more information or bookings phone the church
office on 9144 5795.
HE IS NOT HERE, HE IS RISEN
Easter Day
Sunday 5th April at 9.30am
On the day of the year when Christians see most
clearly that hope overcomes loss, we will
celebrate new beginnings rising out of endings.
As we gather we will each have the opportunity
to place a flower on the cross, together expressing
that in Christ, beauty transcends barrenness.