April 16 2017 Easter Greetings Welcome to St John s today, on this most important day of the Christian calendar. In the Greek Orthodox tradition, you give and receive a special greeting on Easter Day. It goes like this: Christos Aneisti! Aleithos Aneisti! Which means Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! If you would like to share your details with us, we would love to keep in touch with you. We hope that you enjoy your time with us today. At 6pm we have the Celebration of the Resurrection, a series of Bible readings, poems and songs (both traditional and modern) rejoicing in Christ s resurrection. It s probably a bit late for Easter this year, but we have been reminded about buying Fair Trade or ethically certified chocolate products at this time of year. Chocolate (along with coffee) is one of the dirtiest industries in the world. By this we mean that many people in those industries are labour slaves. We can have an impact by the products we buy. So check out ethically certified chocolate and coffee, and buy those products instead,
Rough Edges Volunteer Info Nights If you would like to volunteer at Rough Edges, come along to a (compulsory!) Information Night to find out what s involved: Thursday April 20 At 7.30pm in the upstairs lounge of the hall. Contact Penny at roughedges@stjohnsanglican.org.au for more information. Funding For HammondCare Car Park Earlier this year we got the fantastic news that the DA for the Hammond- Care project, on the car wash site, was approved. Part of that project is the construction of a basement car park, with about 20 car spaces, for the benefit of the church and its congregation. To make this happen, St John s needs to make a financial contribution to the building. A request is to be made to the meeting of the Finance subcommittee of Standing Committee on 20 April 2017 to pass a resolution to authorise the distribution of $1.5 million from the $1.7 million (approximately) held on trust by the ACPT for the parish of Darlinghurst pursuant to the Darlinghurst Trust Ordinance 2015 (the 2015 Ordinance) to enable substantially all trust funds (Capital and Income) to be applied towards the cost of construction of a basement car park within the HammondCare development comprising at least 19 car parking spaces, for the exclusive use of the parish. Any objections to the proposed application of funds should be forwarded to the Secretary of the Finance Committee, Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney, PO Box Q190, QVB POST OFFICE NSW 1230 at any time before the expiration of 3 weeks from the date of this notice (16 April 2017).
Your Favourite Hymn A group of people met recently to talk about some changes to the 11am service. And one of the requests was about singing some of our favourite hymns. So is there a favourite hymn of yours that we don t often (or ever!) sing? This week there are some communication cards in the bulletin, so fill in one of these and put it in the offertory. And we ll aim to sing it real soon! Psalm 118:17-29 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. LORD, save us! LORD, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Updating the Website We are making a couple of additions to our website. One is a History page (which will sit under the Resources tab). Do you have any old photos of St John s? Ed would like to borrow them and copy them and give them back, to add to the site. And tonight we are making a new video to go on the front page, which will focus on What I Love About St John s. Michael our videographer will be filming during the service and also interviewing some people after church. Bible Reading: Luke 24:1-12 24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again. 8 Then they remembered his words. 9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
World News: Egypt: 49 People Killed in Palm Sunday Church Attacks At least 49 people were killed in suicide attacks on two Coptic churches on Palm Sunday. 27 people died when a bomb exploded inside St George s Coptic church in Tanta in the Nile Delta region and a further 22 were killed when a suicide bomber detonated his bomb outside St Mark s Cathedral in Alexandria. Both attacks have been claimed by Islamic State militants. The Egyptian government declared a three day period of national mourning and President Al-Sisi announced a three-month state of emergency allowing authorities to make arrests without warrants and search people s homes. He warned that the war against the jihadists would be long and painful. First Attack The first attack took place at St George s Coptic church in Tanta (90km north of Cairo) when the bomber managed to slip past security measures, including a metal detector, at one of the side doors and blew himself up near the altar as the church choir sang. At least 27 people were killed and 78 others injured, officials said. Most of the victims were children, their parents and deacons lay Christians who help with the service who were sitting in the first three rows of the church. Hours later, victims relatives stood silently outside the city morgue, waiting to identify and collect the remains of their loved ones. Fr Daniel Maher, a priest who had been leading the Mass, was still wearing his bloodstained white vestments. The priest said he had not been harmed in the attack, but he lost his son, Bishoy, who was to get married later this year. Members of the Coptic community expressed anger at the lack of security, saying that despite warnings of an attack, police had not stepped up efforts to protect them. A senior police official said that a bomb was discovered and disabled near the Tanta church about a week ago. That should have been an alarm or a warning that this place is targeted, said 38- year-old Amira Maher. Especially Palm Sunday, a day when many people gather, more than any other time in the year I don t know how this happened. Second Attack The second attack occurred just over two hours later at St Mark s Cathedral in the coastal city of Alexandria, where a suicide bomber tried to enter the cathedral as the congregation were leaving at the end of the service. CCTV footage, which was later shown on a private Egyptian television channel, showed a man wearing a bulky jacket being directed into a metal detector at the church gates, where he paused to be searched by a police officer. A moment later, a giant blast rang out. At least 22 people were killed, including four police officers who were guarding the cathedral, and an additional 48 were wounded, according to the Egyptian Health Ministry. There was extra security around the building as the leader of the Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros, had been leading the service. The police officers who died have been hailed as heroes for preventing the attacker
from gaining entry to the cathedral. Three of the police officers were female (the first ever female police victims of terrorism in Egypt). Pope Tawadros was not injured in the blast. He later issued a statement saying that these sinful acts will not harm the unity and cohesion of the Egyptian people. In their statement claiming responsibility for the attacks, Islamic State stated: Crusaders and their apostate allies should know the bill between us and them is very big and they will pay it with rivers of blood from their children, God willing. Wait for us, for we will wait for you. Grand Sheikh Ahmed el-tayeb, head of Egypt s Al-Azhar University and Mosque the leading centre of learning in Sunni Islam called the attacks a despicable terrorist bombing that targeted the lives of innocents. Professor Mohamad Elmasry, an Egyptian-born Canadian Muslim leader, told Al Jazeera that Egyptian governments have often responded to violence and instability by resorting to the country s emergency law. However, it rarely works and will do little to address the structural gaps in Egyptian security. These attacks highlight some of the animus that exists toward Christians in Egypt. It is true that violent attacks on churches will find no popular support in Egyptian society. But it is also true that there exists a broad socio-political bigotry against Christians. The church attacks were widely condemned across the Middle East as the governments of Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar each issued strong statements. The attacks were also condemned by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas who described them as a crime that targeted houses of worship, and killed and injured scores of innocent civilians we wish for Egypt and its people full security and stability. Late on Sunday evening, people in Tanta packed the streets leading to St George s church to pay their respects while relatives inside lay across the coffins and wept. The families of the victims of the bombing at St Mark s Cathedral in Alexandria gathered on Monday at the Monastery of Saint Mina under heavy security with hundreds of people crowded outside. Coffins of 17 of the victims were lined up on the tiled square outside the monastery ahead of the funeral. Police checked cars as they entered the grounds, and dozens of tanks lined parts of the road from Cairo. The Christian advocacy group, Middle East Concern said that Christians in Egypt request prayer: 1. for God s comfort for those who lost loved ones and for full recovery of the injured 2. for comfort and encouragement for the wider Christian community and for God s protection over his church in Egypt and over other targets of these kinds of attacks 3. that the perpetrators of these violent attacks and the instigators behind them will be found and brought to justice. (Anadolu Agency, Al-Jazeera, BBC, Daily Mail, New York Times, Press Association, Reuters, World Watch Monitor)
Supporting St John s Support the ministry here by setting up a Direct Deposit with your bank to: St John s Anglican Church BSB 032-032 Account Number 811-496 Weekly Offertories Budget 2017 Actual Surplus (Deficit) 9th Apr 17 $1,680 $2,797 $1,117 9th Apr 17 YTD $25,200 $25,117 ($83) Rosters 11.00 Service 16th April 23rd April Celebrant Ed Vaughan Ed Vaughan Deacon Bill Knight Ed Vaughan Communion Assistant Jenny Coleby Joanna Knight Joanna Knight Speaker Ed Vaughan Ed Vaughan Reader One Joanna Knight Clare Crompton Prayers Bill Knight Ed Vaughan Welcomers Jenny Coleby Ian Coleby Joanna Knight Morning Tea Joanna Knight Renie Roberts Our Sunday services 11am Communion - A classic Anglican service 6pm - Contemporary Worship And coming soon The New 9.30am Service!!! Getting in touch St John s Darlinghurst 120 Darlinghurst Rd., Darlinghurst NSW 2010 PO Box 465 Kings Cross 1340 Parish Office Tel: 9360 6844 Email: admin@stjohnsanglican.org.au www.stjohnsanglican.org.au We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet. Clare Crompton Katharine Parsons To use the Hearing Loop, sit in the pews on the right hand side of the aisle (as you face towards the front) in the area in front of the sound desk.