News & notices - 24 May 2017

Posted in News

Below are the news and notices from congregations, the SA Synod and the wider Uniting Church submitted for the Wednesday 24 May edition of UC e-News.

------------------------------------------ 

A correction to "Thoughts and Prayers for Manchester" in UC e-News for Wednesday 24 May

A statement about the recent Manchester bombing mistakenly called the event an "ISIS attack". While the bombing has been calaimed by ISIS, this claim has yet to be verified. The UC e-News editors sincerely apologise for any confusion or upset this error may have caused. We have fixed the notice below.

As we prepare this edition of UC e-News, the world is reeling at the news of the bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester during which 22 people were killed and 59 others injured. Details about the victims of the attack are beginning to emerge – many of them were teenagers and at least one victim was only eight years old. Uniting Church SA Moderator Rev Sue Ellis reflects on the attacks and calls for prayer:

I can only imagine how excited these young people would have been going to the Ariana Grande concert. For some of these young people, this would have been their first concert – one that was eagerly anticipated in the weeks and months leading up to the date. This makes me think of our own Uniting Church communities, full of young people who are excited by life and all that awaits them. It is so sad to see a hateful act such as this cut short the lives of so many young people, and to cause so many others to be fearful.

Acts like this create hate and make the world a poorer place. As Christians, we share a gospel of love and respect, making the lives of all so much richer. Jesus died so that we might live life to the fullest.

In the aftermath of the Manchester attack, I encourage all Uniting Church members to pray for those directly impacted by the violence and those who feel fearful because of it. I pray that we might continue to share Jesus’ gospel of love and respect, and that all may hear the call to live life fully, richly and peacefully.

 

Launch of the Marion Congress Faith Community

The new Marion Congress Faith Community will be launched at an event on at 2pm on Sunday 11 June at Marion Uniting Church. Mark Kickett will be the guest speaker at the event and special musical guests from the Aboriginal and Pacific Islander Community will also share. The event will include shared food - please feel free to bring a plate to share. For more information, please contact Sean Weetra on 0468 912 599 or Ian Dempster on 0417 217 320.

 

Reconciliation Week - begins this Saturday!

This Saturday will mark the beginning of Reconciliation Week (27 May- 3 June). The event is celebrated nationally, and each year the Uniting Church uses the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the covenant between first and second peoples. Many of our churches will begin to observe Reconciliation Week at their services this Sunday.

Each year during Reconciliation Week, the Uniting Church SA runs the Pilgrimage of Healing, which focuses on a different project within the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (Congress) in South Australia. This year the fundraising effort will go towards supporting young people in the Congress faith community in Oodnadatta.

“Our young people are really involved in the community and want to know more about how to be disciples and leaders,” says Pastor Julia Lennon. The Pilgrimage of Healing provides an opportunity for all in the Uniting Church SA to help support young people in the Oodnadatta faith community get access to training, education and discipleship. Read more about ministry and young people in Oodnadatta in the New Times article here or download a Pilgrimage of Healing poster here.

For more ideas about how your church and community can get involved in Reconciliation Week or Covenanting, please see the resources and information here: http://sa.uca.org.au/covenanting/c-resources/

 

40th anniversary resources

The Queensland Synod of the Uniting Church in Australia has created a number of resources to mark the Church’s 40th anniversary. There are PowerPoint templates, poster templates and a Facebook cover photo available for download here. They have also created banners, balloons, cake toppers and posters for their congregations – and there may be some to spare! If you are interested in any of these items, please contact the Uniting Church SA Communications team via email at Turn on Javascript!

 

Lent Event – thanks and feedback

UnitingWorld extends a huge ‘thank you’ to all who joined the movement of Lent Event this year and/or made generous donations to UnitingWorld. Here’s a personal message of thanks from Rob Floyd, who was the National Director of UnitingWorld until very recently (he has now taken up a position with the Uniting Church Assembly).

UnitingWorld would love to hear feedback about Lent Event through this online survey. It only takes a few minutes and will help UnitingWorld to shape Lent Event in 2018.

 

Special rates for the Uniting Church’s national worship conference

A special group registration rate is available for the 2017 Transforming Worship conference, which will be held at Burnside City Uniting Church from 27-30 July. When five people from one congregation register at full price, the congregation will receive an additional registration free – six for the price of five! This applies to full registrations only and does not include meals. This special offer concludes on Friday 16 June.

For more information, please visit the registration page or email Turn on Javascript!

 

Pastoral Notes

At the start of 2017, a new subscriber list was started for people wishing to receive Pastoral Notes. These emails from the Moderator mainly reflect on the lives and ministry of Uniting Church SA leaders who have recently passed away.

On Monday 22 May, a notice was sent detailing the life and ministry of Rev Maurice Lind who passed away on Wednesday 17 May. His funeral will be held at Hope Valley Uniting Church on Thursday 25 May at 2.30pm. You can read the note online here.

To be added to the Pastoral Note subscriber list, please email Turn on Javascript!

 

Playtime Plus

Playtime Plus is an intergenerational, multicultural playgroup run by Eden Hills Uniting Church. At Playtime Plus, toddlers and carers of all ages mix grey wisdom with play. 

The playgroup meets on Wednesdays during school terms from 1-3 pm. Activities include nature play, music, craft and story telling. 

For more information, please contact Kahlia on 0404 433 271, Liellie on 0437 794 410 or join the Facebook group.

 

Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

The 2017 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will take place from 28 May to 4 June with a focus on “Reconciliation – the Love of Christ Compels Us”. The National Council of Churches in Australia has supplied resources for the week, and they are available online here.

 

Upcoming events

The majority of Uniting Church SA events are listed on the upcoming events list here.

Some of the events coming up this week are Rev Trevor Whitney’s induction service at Resthaven Craigmore, the May gathering of the Urban Mission Network, an introduction to Local Exchange Trading Systems by Uniting Communities at Hope’s Café, education sessions for older people at Resthaven, a concert hosted by Glengowrie Uniting Church, a free mentoring training day through the Adelaide College of Divinity, and Rev Tim Sherwell’s induction service at Eldercare Allambi.

Check out the full list to see other exciting events happening in the coming weeks! Events can be submitted to the list here.

 

------------------------------------------ 

Didn’t read the last “News & notices”? The items below are ones you might want to catch up on.

40 Days of Prayer

All church members are invited to take part in daily devotions in response to a call for 40 days of prayer for the Uniting Church's 40th anniversary. Both Uniting Church SA Moderator Rev Sue Ellis and the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly are offering daily prayers and reflections until the anniversary on Thursday 22 June.

The Moderator's prayers encourage members to contemplate and pray for challenges and opportunities within the Uniting Church SA. Subscribe to receive these here.

The Assembly reflections generally have a national focus. Subscribe to receive these here.

 

SAYCO 2017: save the date

SAYCO (South Australian Youth Camp Out) will be held over the October long weekend in 2017. More information will be provided in UC e-News and through other channels over the coming weeks and months.

 

Marion healthy eating program

Family, Food and Fun is a healthy eating program that will run over six weeks in the Marion Uniting Church hall. The program includes supervised food play for the kids, while carers cook, learn and discuss healthy eating for the family with input from a dietitian. This term's sessions are being held on Wednesday mornings from 9.30-11.30am from 17 May to 21 June. Attend all sessions or just one – the program is very flexible. A gold coin donation is requested per person per session.

For more information or to register, please contact Cecelia on 0416 464 302 or email Turn on Javascript!

 

International Conference on Receptive Ecumenism– early bird registration extended

The fourth International Conference on Receptive Ecumenism is titled “Leaning into the Spirit: discernment, decision-making and reception” and will be held from 6-9 November in Canberra. Rev Vicky Balabanski will be one of the speakers at the event.

Early bird registration for the conference has been extended to Wednesday 31 May.

For more information on the event please click here.

 


More from News

Subscribe to receive News articles by email >


Comments

Comments (3)