PARISH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Transcription

1 PARISH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 20 MARCH 2016 Refugee Lives Matter proclaim banners at more than 20 Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic and Uniting Churches and the Quaker Meeting House in the Canberra region. And more banners are going up every day. As well as displaying the banners a number of the churches have announced that they will provide sanctuary to refugees. The striking green and black banners remind people of their common humanity and alert them to the forthcoming nationwide Palm Sunday rally for refugees with the Canberra event at 1pm March 20 in Garema Place. There is growing, outspoken support for refugees from the church community across Australia, Dr John Minns spokesperson for Canberra Refugee Action Committee said today. I am especially impressed by the way in which Canberra s faith-based community has stepped up to support people who have fled persecution in their home countries only to confront more persecution in the form of indefinite detention at the hands of the Australian government. As we are finally putting a human face to people the government has tried to keep faceless, churches, health care professionals, unions, educational institutions and other bodies and 1

2 individuals are increasingly demanding justice for these vulnerable people. Reverend Lynda McMinn of All Saints Anglican Church Ainslie which has offered sanctuary to refugees said, People who attend church are not naturally people who break the law, but there is such a travesty of justice happening right now, that the church is finally having a voice to speak up against it. We know these issues are complicated but to address them by locking people up in concentration camps is never a just response. A number of Lutheran churches are hosting banners and Paul Meyer an active lay Lutheran said, Lutheran churches in Canberra heed the call to welcome strangers into our communities. Many Lutherans in Australia are descendants of earlier refugees and we understand the need to welcome others today, as we were welcomed. Kay de Vogel Clerk of the Quakers Canberra Regional Meeting said that Quakers had a long history of supporting the oppressed. We feel called now to offer sanctuary to support vulnerable asylum seekers in Australia who may be re-traumatised by being returned to harsh conditions in Nauru, she said. Dr Raymond Canning, a parishioner from Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Watson, said he was inspired by the passage in Matthew 25 where it is demonstrated that Christians need to show compassion for the poor, in particular the homeless and the refugee. As the text reads, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did 2 not visit me as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me CANBERRA AND REGION CHURCHES & CHURCH CENTRES DISPLAYING REFUGEE LIVES MATTER BANNERS All Saints, Anglican Church 9-15 Cowper Street Ainslie St John s Anglican Church cnr Constitution Ave & Anzac Park West Reid(two banners) also St John s Care St Thomas More s Catholic Church, 30 White Crescent Campbell St Mary in the Valley Anglican Church Calwell (two banners) Canberra Baptist Church, 11 Currie Crescent Kingston(two banners) Society of Friends, Meeting House cnr Condamine & Bent Streets Turner St Phillip s, Anglican Church cnr Macpherson and Moorhouse Streets, O Connor St James Uniting Church 40 Gillies Street Curtin Canberra City Uniting Church 69 Northbourne Avenue Canberra City St Alban s Anglican Church Lyons St Simon s Anglican Church, Kaleen St John the Apostle Catholic Church, Kippax 25 Blackham Street Holt Wesley Uniting Church National Circuit Forrest St Benedict s Catholic Church Jerrabomberra and Sturt Ave Narrabundah Mary Help of Christians Parish, Catholic Church Pearce Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Gowrie Holy Cross Lutheran Church Emu Banka Belconnen Holy Covenant Anglican Church, Cook Immanuel Lutheran Church, 37 Burnie St Lyons

3 Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture 15 King s Avenue and Blackall Street Catholic Care, 57 Hicks Street Red Hill Merici College, Wise St Braddon St Paul s Anglican Church, Narooma St Augustine s Catholic Church, Yass Churches in the process of putting up banners St Peter s Lutheran Church 6 Boolee Street Reid Immanuel Lutheran Church 37 Burnie Street Lyons St Ninian s Uniting Church, Kippax Nations Heart Christian Community, Belconnen Calvary Hospital Bruce All Saints, Anglican Church Bodalla Bungendore Anglican Church Queanbeyan Uniting Church Help stop slave labour by purchasing FAIR TRADE chocolates! Prayer Points: Please pray For all our churches and mission as we approach Holy Week and Easter For the victims of child sexual abuse and the work of the Royal Commission For Refugees and Asylum Seekers and for wisdom to know what best to do as Christians For Bathurst Diocese after the conclusion of the Supreme Court Case. For the churches in our region and in Sydney, Victoria, South and Western Australia who have engaged with Share the Benefit this Lent. CALWELL GROUP CENTRE DRAFT MASTER PLAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT The Calwell Group Centre Draft Master Plan is available for community comment until Sunday 10 April Your comments, together with those from others in the community and other stakeholders will help inform development of the final master plan and ensure the centre becomes an even better place to live, work or visit. The details for the engagement of the Calwell draft master plan and the link to the master plan through the ACT Government website haveyoursay are listed below. 3

4 There are several ways to comment on the draft master plan: Go online to see the draft master plan, register to complete a survey, take part in a discussion forum, or the project team. Come along to the Meet the Planners sessions in the Calwell shopping centre as listed below. Meet the planners: Calwell Shopping Centre: Thursday 17 March, 2pm to 4pm Calwell Shopping Centre: Saturday 19 March, 11.30am to 1.30pm See poster displays: Tuggeranong Library and Calwell shopping centre: Thursday 3 March to Sunday 10 April For more information and to comment: http: //haveyoursay.planning.act.gov.au or Calwell@act.gov.au Call: Access Canberra (and ask for the Calwell master plan team) WEDDING INVITATION Colin Dundon and Jeanette Tunks Extend a warm invitation to all their friends to their wedding at St Mary in the Valley Anglican Church, Cnr. Webber Crs and Were St., Calwell, ACT at 11.00am on Saturday 2 April The service will be followed by morning tea for all our family and friends at St Mary in the Valley and we would value your fellowship at that time. There is no need to RSVP 4 GOOD FRIDAY ECUMENICAL SERVICE 25 Friday 25 March, 11.00am, The MAR Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, 15 Blackall Street, Barton ACT SWEET SORROWS CONCERT 1 APR Friday April 1st, St Barnabas in Charnwood is hosting a concert with The Sweet Sorrows a celtic duo from Ireland. 6:30pm with a gold coin donation at the door. St Barnabas Anglican Church, 10 Charnwood Pl Charnwood ACT. MOTHER S UNION CELEBRATION 5 APR MU Canberra and Goulburn (part of the World Wide Mothers' Union) will celebrate at All Saints Church Ainslie on Tuesday, 5 April, joining the > normal 10am Service, with morning tea to follow. All are welcome especially children DESERT RETREAT FOR BODY AND SOUL APR Sunday after lunch to Friday after breakfast. With Susanna Pain. Come rest, play and reflect in the expansiveness of our magnificent central desert. Beside ancient red rocks, under giant river gum trees, in the sand, and around open fires we will be silent, move, make art, sing and tell stories that connect us with ourselves, each other and the spirit of the land herself. Immerse yourself Information and expressions of interest: $950 all inclusive tuition, materials, food, accommodation, fuel, TLC. 5 nights, 5 days. $100 deposit to secure a place, special rates

5 for locals. Susanna Pain Simply Alive! 29 APR Creative space for busy people - a weekend retreat. Come together with a small group of spiritual companions to rest, play and explore your body's wisdom - through silence, art, poetry, clay, music, movement, and storytelling. Led by Susanna Pain spiritual director, dancer, retreat leader, InterPlay Facilitator, Anglican Priest. Friday 29 April 730pm - 930pm Saturday 30 April 930am - 4pm Sunday 1 May 930am - 2pm Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, 15 Blackall St, Barton. Cost: $180 Early bird rate $130 (pay before 24 March 2016) there may also be limited places for sessional enrolment. To register: susanna.pain@gmail.com mobile: "Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow." Kurt Vonnegut LAY MINISTRY CONVENTION The 2016 Lay Ministry Convention with Mike and Sally Breen is called, Listening to Jesus. Mike and Sally are world class leaders who will teach and train us to live out the life of the Kingdom of God practically every day. Because the Kingdom is so important to all Christians this convention is open to anyone, whether lay or ordained, who is interested in exercising their call in God s world, the marketplace, family or congregational life more effectively. To register online visit the ST MARY IN THE VALLEY EVENTS RECENT UPDATES INCLUDED FOR YOUR DIARY: Holy Week Services March 2016 (7.30pm each day) Easter Services Easter morning breakfast Sunday 27 March 2016 (8.00am) Wedding Colin Dundon and Jeanette Tunks, Saturday 2 April 2016 (11am)

6 School Holidays 9 25 April 2016 Dedication of the Centre for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, Sunday 10 April 2016 (11am) School Holiday Film at Friday Morning Cuppa, 15 April 2016 (10.00am) ANZAC Day Monday 25 April 2016 Fairtrade coffee & chocolate taste testing Saturday 30 April 2016 (10.00am) Cathedral Convention 6-7 May 2016 Ascension service TBA 5 or 8 May 2016 Bishop s Dinner. 13 May 2016 (anniversary of our declaration as a special district is early May). Pentecost services and Parish Welcome Lunch Sunday 15 May 2016 Trinity Sunday 22 May 2016 Clergy Conference May 2016 Breakfast event Saturday 28 May 2016 with speaker Rev d Susanna Pain (8.30am) Queen s Birthday Public Holiday 13 June 2016 Wine and Cheese Night a winter warmer Saturday 18 June 2016 School Holidays 2-17 July 2016 Indigenous family place walk (celebrating NAIDOC Week) Sunday 3 July 2016 (Noon) School Holiday Film at Friday Morning Cuppa, 8 July 2016 (10.00am) Patronal Festival & lunch Sunday 14 August 2016 Clergy Retreat August 2016 High Tea and Vintage Fashion event, Saturday 3 September 2016 (3pm) SYNOD 9-11 September 2016 Breakfast Event with speaker Archdeacon Wayne Brighton, Saturday 17 September 2016 (8.30am) School Holidays 24 September to 9 October 2016 Social Justice Sunday, Connect2Church Sunday and special Parish Welcome Lunch 25 September 2016 Public Holiday 26 September 2016 St Michael s Day Service Thursday 29 September 2016 Public Holiday 3 October 2016 School Holiday Film at Friday Morning Cuppa, 7 October 2016 (10.00am) Church Picnic at Lanyon Homestead Sunday 23 October 2015 (12.30pm) All Saints Sunday and Defence Sunday 6 November 2016 Community Fair, Saturday 12 November 2016 Christ the King Sunday 20 November 2016 Christmas Decorating Friday 25 November 2016 (6.30pm) First Advent Sunday 27 November 2015 Volunteers Thankyou event Sunday 4 December 2016 Sunday Kid s Club presentations Sunday 11 December 2016 Calwell Community Carols Friday 16 December 2016 Parish Centre Anniversary BBQ and Christmas Carols Service Sunday 18 December 2016 ALSO CHECK REGULAR SCHEDULED EVENTS (SEE PEW SHEET) Would you like to book in an event? Please fill out an Event Risk Management Declaration Form (to be found under the health & safety notice board) & it will go to Parish Council for approval 6

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