St Luke s Uniting Church Highton 174 Barrabool Road, Highton Ph. 5244 2997 Email: stlukes_highton@iinet.net.au Web: www.hightonstlukes.unitingchurch.org au May 7, 2017 This news sheet is available on the website each Saturday evening
LECTIONARY READINGS: MAY 14, 2017 Acts 7: 55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14. LAST WEEK S STATISTICS OFFERING: ACTUAL: $1574 Y.T.D. $28902 BUDGET: $1711 Y.T.D. $30795 THIS WEEK S DIARY: Mon May 8 7.00 pm Geelong Chorale JNC 7.30 pm Mission Outreach Ministry Team Tue 9 9.30 am Men s Shed 5.00 pm Weight Watchers 7.30 pm Theatre of the Damned Wed 10 1.00 pm Chew, Chat & Threads 6.30 pm Welsh Ladies Choir 7.30 pm Seekers Thurs 11 9.30 am Men s Shed 10.30 am Let s Make Music 2.00 pm Midweek Worship J. Murray 4.00 pm Choir Practice 4.30 pm Junior Choir 7.00 pm Youth Choir 7.30 pm Theatre of the Damned Fri 12 9.30 am Trekkies 10.30 am Let s Make Music 2.00 pm Cottage by the Sea 5.30 pm Messy Church Sat 13 1.00 pm Youth Choir Sun 14 9.30 am Worship J. Murray Church Office Hours: Wed - 10am to 12noon, Thurs 10am to 12noon, Fri 10am to 12noon SHARING THE JOURNEY: During May, Max Robertson will conduct this section of worship. He can be contacted on 5241 6269 or personally before the service. HELP REQUIRED TO FILL ROSTERS. Many people who are on the cleaning and morning tea rosters have indicated that they are unable to continue or will be away over the next few months. We require extra people to come onto these rosters to spread the load. If you are interested in helping please see Ian Pooley or Pam Seller for more details.
PRAYER REQUESTS AND PRAYER CORNER. At St. Luke s prayer is considered an important and valued part of our worshiping community. The Pastoral Connections ministry team offer several opportunities for you to share in this ministry. 1. You can become a member of the Prayer Link. Submitted prayers are forwarded to those willing to commit time to pray for the joys and concerns of the congregation members and their family and friends. These prayers are shared only after permission has been given by the person requesting the prayer and are always kept confidential. 2. You can fill in a prayer request form. These are found in the container on the back of each pew and can be placed in the offering bowl or handed to Jean Williams or Pam Seller following worship. Urgent requests can be emailed to Jean on bijl.williams@gmail.com at any time during the week. 3. Prayer candles These are available at the front of the worship space. Candles represent prayers offered privately for people or situations we care about. 4. Visit the Prayer Corner. The Prayer corner is in the North-West corner of the sanctuary. This is a quiet place for reflection and private prayer. If you would like someone to pray with you see the worship leader, Jean Williams or Pam Seller. WE ARE CALLED TO UPHOLD EACH OTHER IN PRAYER. PRAYING BOTH INDIVUALLY AND TOGETHER.
PRAYER REQUESTS FOR THIS WEEK Pray for our JNC team of John, Ian, Ken and Robyn and Presbytery representatives as they meet to formalise the selection of a new minister for St. Luke s. Praise for those who have been leading worship at St. Luke s during the ministerial vacancy. Pray for St. Luke s Church Council and Ministry Teams. Pray for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one Pray for those who have serious health issues or are facing surgery. May they know God s peace, comfort and strength. Pray for all those in pain that they may find relief. Pray for those who are becoming frail and need extra care. Pray for the next Messy Church for the preparations, helpers and for a good attendance. Pray for those suffering because of the famine in East Africa, and for all those working to alleviate the suffering. Pray for UnitingCare in Geelong the Committee, staff, volunteers, and especially those who come seeking help. Pray for Mansooreh and Saeed Mashhadi and their son Irik for them to find the support they need in Sunshine. Pray for world leaders that they may be able to negotiate peaceful outcomes where there are tensions. NOTE: These are some of the suggested areas where prayer is much needed and appreciated. They are guidelines for your own private prayer. Names of members of the congregation who are sick or have special needs are not mentioned for privacy reasons, unless the person has given permission for their name to be printed. The Prayer Link is available for those wishing to submit confidential prayer requests (see article headed prayer Requests and Prayer Corner.)
DUTY ROSTERS PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU FOLLOW THE ROSTER WHICH HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO ALL THOSE LISTED FOR DUTY. MAY 14, 2017 CLEANING M. & M. BAUM USHERS D. & D. BATH N. & N. MCMILLAN FLOWERS J. WHITE KID S CHURCH MORNING TEA C. & J. FINDLAY CAR DRIVING J. HICKS SOUND K. MCAVANEY POWERPOINT J. DAW CONNECTIONS L. ROBERTSON READER B. TATTERSALL WELCOMER J. MACROBBIE ORGAN EASTER BISCUIT BAKE. The Pastoral Connections Ministry Team initiative to join with other church and school groups to provide home-made biscuits for all prisoners in the Geelong region resulted in 21 containers of biscuits from St. Luke s a very good response. There are 1,300 inmates of prisons in the Geelong region, and 13,000 biscuits were needed. The biscuits were packed in packs of 10, and distributed personally by Prison Fellowship. Included with each pack was an Easter card explaining the true meaning of Easter, bringing new life, hope and encouragement through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A big thank-you to all those who baked the biscuits. Prison Fellowship also have asked that their thanks be passed on to those who have supported the Biscuit Bake. I would like to thank the St. Luke s Church family for their love, thoughts and prayers expressed during Steve s illness and subsequent passing. Special thank you to those who attended his Thanksgiving Service. In appreciation, Christine Forrest
St Luke s Environment Action Group News Earth Day Saturday 22 April 2017 St Luke s Environment Action Group plus Highton Rotary plus Curlewis, Clifton Springs Coastcare carried out a litter survey at The Dell, Clifton Springs. The findings were then sent to the Port Phillip Eco Centre to be entered onto their data base. These surveys are taken around the bay to determine where the rubbish is coming from and action taken accordingly. Why is this being done? We have a number of beautiful creatures living in Port Phillip Bay and our rubbish is affecting them, often fatally. The fish eat the litter, the plastic either kills them or stays in their tissue and then we eat it, affecting ourselves as well. Statistics show we will have more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050 if we continue as we are. There are many rafts of litter floating in the sea one of which washed up on Australian shores 1 metre in length, weighing 60kg - held together by semi-melted plastic. The Good News We found less rubbish this day at The Dell than when we did the last survey, thanks to regular monitoring and rubbish removals. St. Luke s Environment Action Group Next meeting 29 th May 2017 At 7.30 in the Fellowship Room
Roslyn Room Today s Powerpoint during Sharing The Journey reminded us of the work of our Mission Outreach Ministry Team when we viewed photos taken from within the Roslyn Room. Where is the Roslyn Room? The Roslyn Room can be found at the side/rear of the Chapel. The Roslyn Room is used to store a large variety of household goods given to St Luke s for the purpose of distributing amongst needy people. Mostly to Refugee and Asylum Seeker families, and on other occasions we support clients from GeelongUnitingCare. As we are quickly moving into our cold winter months, there is always an urgent need for single and double bed blankets and doonas. Can you spare a blanket from your linen press? If you would like to have a tour of the Roslyn Room, Rae Anderson is always glad to walk you through it. LADIES EVENING FELLOWSHIP: Come along and join us for lunch at "Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre", 410 Torquay Rd, Grovedale on Thursday 18th May at 12-30pm. Those wishing to car-pool, meet at St Luke's carpark at 12noon. All welcome.
Mother s Day 14 May 2017 (Next Sunday) For the next two Sundays at our usual Trading Table, Mother s Day will be our focus. This is a time when we especialy think about our Mothers and all Mothers on our planet. Perhaps we could call this table a Thinking Table. Take your time to visit our Mother s Day Thinking Table. You may even be pleased to buy a gift for someone special in your life. Mother's Day is a celebration honouring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.. Rae Anderson