The Mount

Dear Friends

We have had a very busy time as a parish since the last Mount was published.

EASTER

We have celebrated and experienced the journey that is the Easter story, the foundation of our Christian faith. I hope you were able to take the journey in your bodies, minds and spirits from Passion Sunday, when we read the whole story, through Palm Sunday as we shouted “Hosanna,” to the communion and humility of Maundy Thursday, the drama and dark of Good Friday, and the wonderful joy of Easter itself.

It is the journey of Jesus, but it is the journey also of ourselves. The beauty of the Great Three Days is that each year we can go deeper into the story, gaining insights into what Jesus' crucifixion and rising again mean for us personally. We can also go deeper into our own life experiences as they are touched by the story and cause us to reflect. And we can also be led to the stories of people around the globe who are crucified in many ways by others in the world: we can pause and see the implications of our own behaviour, our shopping habits, our silence, which may implicate us too in the abuse of others.

But through it all, we see that the love of God passes through the pain and agony of the cross, through death, and will never die. It is there through all the pain that life can throw at us. God's love is present in even the most difficult of circumstances, enfolding us, sometimes embodied in others, until new life tentatively rises once more for us.

NEW PARISH COUNCIL

The other major happening for the parish was our Annual Parish Meeting, when you elected people to lead you in the next twelve months. The new Parish Council met for the first time this week. It looked at the recommendations you gave it from the APM and will address these in the next while, as well as implementing the Mission Action Plan.

The roles of Parish Councillors and wardens are broad, encompassing all aspects of church life. Yes, there are the tasks of seeing to the finances and the buildings, but they also are to lead the parish in the following areas according to the Diocesan Parish Administration Act:

In response to Christ's commission “as the Father has sent me, so I send you,” the Parish Council shall, in co-operation with the Incumbent, have the responsibility to initiate, maintain and develop the mission of the Church within and beyond the parish, and in particular:

• To proclaim the good news of the Kingdom;

• To teach, baptise and nurture new believers;

• To respond to human need by loving service;

• To seek to transform the unjust structures of society;

• To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and to sustain and renew the life of the earth.

You have elected a great group of people. They are committed to God's work in this parish. There is representation from across the different centres of the parish, and they come willing to use their differing skills and experience. Together we shall become a great team.

But the Parish Council is not all of the leadership of the parish. Each of you has skills and experience to offer too. In the next few weeks there will be a focus on stewardship and what it means to use what God has given us for the good of God's people in the world, and in this parish. Please bring suggestions, and offer your time, prayers, money and care.

We are the Body of Christ and each member is essential to the whole.

THE BISHOP IS COMING

On Sunday June 13 th Bishop Andrew will be visiting the parish. He will preside over a service of baptism, confirmation and reaffirmation of baptismal vows. There are people in the parish of all ages who will take the opportunity to be baptised, confirmed or to affirm their faith publicly at this service.

I will be helping people prepare for these over a number of sessions. They will be open to people who would like to be baptised or confirmed, but also to those who would like to know a bit more about their faith. We will look at baptism and the Eucharist – our pivotal sacraments – and what is behind the symbolism. These alone are huge and wonderful topics. There will also be an opportunity for people to request topics for discussion.

I plan for the sessions for adults to be held on Monday evenings commencing May 3 rd . If you would like to participate but Mondays do not suit, please let me know.

Fiona

HOLY WEEK TO EASTER – reflections from parishioners.

We observed Holy Week and the arrival of Easter Day this year through traditional services, readings and songs, interspersed with time for reflection and meditation. Within the age old framework were symbols, activities and ways of decorating the church which were new or different; all pointed to the significance of what we were doing, giving pictures, meanings and challenges to take into the weeks leading up to Pentecost and beyond. Several people have written or told The Mount how this special week was for them. We'll refer to them as Voices : from the page, let them speak to us.

Voice 1: One thing that really struck me was, we were in the church and worshipping at all sorts of times of day! Evening and into the night; acting the story in the open on the side of a hill; very early morning, as well as the usual worship sort of times. It was like we were really using the church, really using the days.

Voice 2: Palm Sunday was a day when Maldon's was the only service; people from all the centres of the parish were together, which was an added joy. The atmosphere was of welcome and triumph, palms everywhere and colourful garments scattered. A lovely touch, reminiscent to many, was Brian's account of Bishop David Bowden's very symbolic first visit to Maldon, when he arrived on a donkey, showing the kind of pastor he would indeed be to a diocese racked with the outcomes of huge financial loss.

We processed inside the church and received our palm crosses; those signs in the midst of the triumph, of the passion story we were about to read, the solemn outcome of that flurry of genuine rejoicing. I seemed to be somehow part of the many palm processions of years gone by (I even pictured my small son dressed in white, nearly 40 years ago, distributing the crosses ‘in honour of Christ the King', just as Gabrielle was doing).

But not everything is the same! Much thought and care had gone into preparing the church for the day, and there was really no call for the branches and garment I had brought from home. This was salutary for me and gave me food for thought during the week. Around Holy Week we often think how different the donkey-carried Jesus was from the Messiah his followers had expected; a triumphant fighter in armour on a magnificent horse, cutting down the persecutors of his people. I am still thinking: what sort of followers does this Jesus require? It would be impressive to be a friend of the acclaimed warrior Messiah they expected: seats of honour, fine clothes, public respect, everyone wanting to shake your hand… but what sort of followers does this Jesus want, whose kingdom is ‘not of this world…?

Voice 3: CONFRONTING EASTER

This Easter was my first experience, as an Anglican, of a Maundy Thursday service. Coming as I do out of a more restrained, non-Anglican liturgical tradition, I have to say I found the Maundy Thursday evening service at Holy Trinity challenging, even a little confronting — as indeed it is intended to be. For the events of Holy Week are confronting. As well as profoundly thought-provoking.

That strange Old English word “Maundy” implies a sense of gloominess. The word “Maundy” is generally thought to refer to the word “commandment” (from the Latin mandatum ) in Jesus' command for his disciples to love one another. But for me the Maundy Thursday evening Communion service was far from gloomy or maudlin.

The rituals involved in the Maundy Thursday service - the washing of feet, symbolic of humility and service; the stripping of the altar; leaving the darkened church in silence - all these gave me a profound sense, not of gloom, but rather of deep contemplative silence, a quiet reflection that enabled mindfulness, a welcome pause amidst the busyness of the Easter holiday preparations. Just for this evening there was the opportunity to truly accept the injunction: “Be still my soul”.

Though we may celebrate the Eucharistic meal regularly each Sunday, on Maundy Thursday the Eucharist takes on a deeper relevance when approached in its original context as the last meal Christ shared with his disciples in an upstairs room the night before His betrayal.

The Easter Sunday sunrise service on Mt Tarrengower, “The Service of The Light”, was also a challenging experience for me, for quite another reason: as one who is definitely not a “morning person”, the pre-dawn early rise required the setting of at least two alarm clocks the night before to ensure I made it to the mountain on time!

It was an ecumenical gathering of some twenty-five or so Maldon people who came together in the pre-dawn chilly dark, well rugged against the cold and blustery winds atop Mt Tarrengower. In the shadow of Maldon's well known landmark, the Tower, and warmed by a blazing fire under the watchful eye of “chief fire warden” Karl, we were led by the Reverend Fiona in a moving Easter Eucharist rich in the symbolism of fire and water. After the blessing of the ancient symbol of fire, the Paschal candle for the new church year was marked with the symbolic five nails of the Crucifixion, and then lit from the flames of the fire. A lantern was lit to carry this fire back to the altar of Holy Trinity. The renewal of baptismal vows was made and confirmed with the mark of the cross in water on each forehead.

In the cool dew of the early morning on that mountain, among the gum trees of Mt Tarrengower, beneath Maldon's iconic tower, the Lectionary readings for Easter Day - from the prophet Isaiah with its references to a new order of peace in all God's “holy mountain”, and St Luke's account of the women visiting the garden on the first Easter morn - seemed to resonate with me more strongly than ever before.

As the Eucharist was ending with sung “Alleluias”, acknowledging the Risen Christ, and as the blood-red sun rose in the eastern sky shedding an intense warm light over our sleeping town spread out below us on the lower slopes of Mt Tarrengower, the Reverend Fiona quietly spoke an Easter blessing on the town of Maldon and its people.

To experience Holy Week in these ways is to be confronted with some very profound issues of faith.

Voice 4: Good Friday
To experience the Good Friday service at Holy Trinity after a four year hiatus was for me an intensely spiritual time.

A large wooden cross had been made and we were encouraged to come before this and stand, kneel, reflect and touch that rough wood. The simple service Fiona led, helped those who were there to deepen their understanding of what Jesus did for all humankind.

But much more than that, it spoke directly to each person present, that Jesus did this for ME. That HE allowed himself to be totally separated from his Father in the most horrific suffering known then to man, into total blackness, for my failure.

That He identified with the unloved, hated or reviled, misunderstood, undesirables. He did this willingly. Can I? Do I? Do we, as a church of His beloved people? The answer for me was no, I don't. I can't speak for the rest of us. But I can say with a new determination that I will continue to try, with His help.

Voice 5: Meanwhile in Newstead …

After the moving and impressive Good Friday service in Maldon, I was not sure whether to follow my plan to attend the joint Uniting-Anglican service at the Uniting Church . But I am glad I did. It was important to be there, as the UC congregation joined us on Easter Day at All Saints, and it was good to share both stages of the journey in our town too.

It was a strongly participatory service and the locum leading the service decided that we would read the deeply heart wrenching prophecy of the Suffering Servant - Isaiah chapter 53 – together by alternate verses. It's always a hard chapter for a reader, with its anguish and grief, and I wondered (brain above heart!) how this would work. We started to read in much the same way that we read the psalm Sunday by Sunday, straightforwardly, verse about. Then strangely, a change: you could hear us gradually supplying the pathos and emotion, as we became those people who said ‘We esteemed him not …', ‘It was for our sakes…'; we entered the passage and it spoke to us, through us. I won't forget it.

Then on Easter Day, our UC friends were with us in our congregation, for the renewal of baptismal vows. They would not have been expecting that, but what better ecumenical shared affirmation could there be – and on the day of resurrection!

Voice 6 (a shared voice): Thank you all for a wonderful Easter celebration, culminating in a joyous Easter morning service, where we saw our church full of parishioners, locals and visitors. Everyone gave thanks with great enthusiasm for the Risen Lord. We all shared in the journey towards this service, supported and guided by Fiona, who helps us grow and develop along the way.

The church looked beautiful – thanks to the small army of helpers who brought this about. The music and hymns were uplifting, and we are so fortunate to have Daniel at our wonderful organ. So too was the involvement of the congregation in song and verse, making this service a very special one. The Easter eggs and bookmarks handed out at the end were another thoughtful touch.

Easter and the days leading to it will certainly remain with us, as we continue our journey together.

_______________________________________________________________________

Another one-minute stewardship sermon

We are printing one of these stewardship mini sermons in the pew leaflet each Sunday during the Easter weeks. Here is another about being a cheerful giver – why not keep them and build up a collection to refer to at leisure? Or perhaps discuss with others?

2 Corinthians 9.7

Our Stewardship text for today is “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Giving to God is not like paying a bill or forking out our taxes. With bills and taxes, we are told what to pay. With our offerings, we figure it out for ourselves. Naturally, the bible gives us some strong hints about giving in proportion to our income, a little if we receive a little, much more if we receive much more. But it's not just how much we give, it's how happily we give it.

God loves a cheerful giver. Imagine if God had sent Jesus to save us, while grumbling the whole time about how ungrateful and rebellious those rotten human beings are! No – the angels sang for joy when God gave us Jesus. So we sing, too, while we give, lifting our hearts in happy song to accompany our offering.

Lesley in Chile
Today (March 5th) we heard that Lesley Doy, our link missionary in Santiago, is all right after the earthquake - she got out of her house (with the beloved dog!) in time and also her neighbours. It encouraged her that many neighbours checked that she was OK. CMS does not know whether her house is standing or not; many are in the streets for safety so Lesley would be with them. Aftershocks continue. Please pray with thanks - and that Lesley and parishioners may be safe and find the basic necessities and that all the broken sewerage pipes etc do not bring disease. No more info at this stage: telephone or computer contact is intermittent at best, but I sent a message from us anyway. All the news and plans in her letter we published in last week's Mount - things have indeed changed in the twinkling of an eye... Julia

COME AS YOU ARE! Cursillo diocesan reunion Saturday March 20 th

On March 20 th , Maldon is hosting the diocesan monthly Cursillo Reunion and all parishioners are warmly invited. People from other parishes love coming to Maldon – please join them and help us entertain our guests. We start with lunch at 12 noon (bring something to share) and the chance for a chat. We then have an informal service, with plenty of singing; and it is customary for one of us to have a short talk ready to share. This is followed by a time of sharing in smaller groups and a cup of tea before concluding at 3 p.m.

If you like singing and sharing, meeting people, or perhaps you have wondered what Cursillo is all about, this would be a good time to come along. Hope to see you there!

More information from Julia (5476 2434), the Rector or Lalah (5475 2930)

ABM Lenten Appeal

There have been numerous opportunities lately for us to respond to sudden desperate needs in the world; we had a dinner in November for the work of Act for Peace (National Council of Churches) after the natural disasters in Samoa , the Philippines and Indonesia . Over Christmas we gave to the Christmas Bowl as usual. The Haiti earthquake struck in January and we were able to take retiring collections for that. Many thanks for all these contributions to situations which are so confronting that it is very hard to imagine what it must be like there on the spot.

Now with Easter being early this year, the ABM Lenten Appeal is already on us! We will each make our own judgment as to what and whether we can offer. ABM (the Australian Board of Mission) is the main Australian missionary organisation, and is thus worthy of our attention; it works alongside our immediate Pacific neighbours with the aim that they will eventually be self-supporting. (We can of course give to ABM at any time of the year, by marking an offertory envelope appropriately).

There will be an envelope for each week of Lent. I guess the options are up to us: several small donations, or just one large one - or nothing at all as seems best to us. There are also study materials week by week, which we won't use as a group this year, but I will try to put a display of them together.

There are indeed many demands – it's that kind of world. This appeal and also CMS giving is an opportunity to help the everyday work overseas to go forward – in time of dramatic disasters the ‘nuts and bolts' donations can suffer. Thanks you for anything we can do; I believe we are blessed as we widen our vision of God's people and our place in his world.

Julia Nutting

Mission Sec.

Back to Church Sunday.

We made a start with Back to Church Sunday last year and it was quite encouraging for a new venture. Now the Bishop invites us to hear from the man who started it all! Let's send a group from this parish. Back to Church was started by a layman, so our lay people will surely be heartened by what he has to say. Let Fiona or Karl know by March 9th and we could make a joint booking.

Dear Friends,

I am delighted to write and tell you about a forthcoming wonderful opportunity to attend a Seminar in Bendigo to be conducted by Michael Harvey the founder of BACK TO CHURCH SUNDAY on “Unlocking the Growth”.

I first met Michael on one of my trips to the UK and organized his coming out to last year's National Bishop's Meeting where he persuaded the Australian Bishops to get behind BACK TO CHURCH SUNDAY in Australia.

Michael is a layman and a superb speaker. The seminar is open to anyone, but we need indication of numbers.

Details are :

When: Monday March 15 th

Where: Holy Trinity, South East Bendigo

Time: 10.30am – 12.30pm (Morning Tea from 10am)

Cost: $10.00

RSVP Leah

With every blessing

+Andrew

Lesley Doy's Prayer and Praise – January 2010

Praise God:

For opportunities provided by the Christmas season , to present the gospel .

Beginning with the Christmas Story, through drama, song and Bible reading we were able, to communicate the message that the baby in the manger became, through his life death and resurrection the Saviour of the world.

And that the angel's message to Mary, became the message of eternal life to the world.

Members of our Sunday School and Youth Groups demonstrated how this clear message is often stifled or misunderstood, when we allow the challenges of living and working in a corrupted world, to change our priorities and lead us to independence from the God who created us and has promised never to leave us.

Since this is always an opportunity for us to communicate with parents of the Sunday school Kids and Youth group, who are not in the Church, please pray for the work of God's Spirit in their hearts and minds , that they recall something of the message and meditate on it.

For the graduation ceremony of three final year CEP students . Pray that the

fruit of their formation and studies will be seen as they go out to serve the Lord in different parts of Chile .

We give thanks particularly for assistance of Alejandra here in Renca in both the Sunday school and youth group during her two years in CEP. Her help has been an answer to prayer. Please pray for a replacement for her.

For the next two years she will work with the Anglican Church in Punta Arenas in the far South of Chile .

Praise God for his faithfulness to, and provision for, the church during tight

times. And, that in spite of some plans having to be shelved temporarily due to lack of funds; the Lord has none-the-less used us as instruments to bring people to him through the power of the gospel.

Praise God also that He has continued to provide CMS with the resources, not

only to keep so many missionaries on the field, but also to send out new ones. And so, the extension of the Kingdom continues.

Praise God for: the summer, friends, mission and praying and giving supporters in Australia . And most of all for His grace and the privilege of serving the church in Chile .

Join us in praying for:

Miguel – as he won't be studying full time in CEP this year as we had hoped, he

needs full-time work to support his family whilst continuing to help in the church and study part time . Pray that God will continue preparing him spiritually, biblically and personally to serve Him in the church and the world.

Pray specifically, for the three areas of church work he is involved in:

Evangelism , Drug Addicts , Music.

Pray also for his wife Andrea and the children – Micaela and Samuel.

The pastoral team and church council – for our meetings during the summer to:

Plan, pray, and seek God's priorities in Renca for 2010.

For Silverio and Jacqui as they continue to lead the churches in Renca into the

future. For wisdom in decision making, teaching, counselling , and handling the many and complex problems that are common place in this area.

For family (ie. wives, husbands, children or parents), of members of the

congregation , who are searching, but do not yet know the Lord.

Especially the family of: Fabiola, Glorieta, Claudia, Patti and Edith. All of whom have close family members expressing an interest, but no commitment to Christ.

For the building project (at the Church of the Resurrection) – initiated at the

end of 2005 (the object to build a small annexe to the church – two rooms).

Has always been put to one side, because of other priorities and lack of financial resources. We have made a decision to make it a priority this year. If we are to expand the Sunday school, Youth ministry and community outreach we desperately need more indoor space . Please pray that the whole church will pull together on this – in terms of time, gifts, resources and prayer. Pray for God's intervention in human apathy.

All in all this is a call to prayer for all of us. I thank you for your faithful support over the years and for your willing response to the Lord's leading..

This comes with love thanks and prayer, may we all grow closer to God and to each other as He leads us on this exciting journey that is life in 2010.

Lesley

From Steve and Jenny Sonneman

Dear friends,
We hope you are all well, thankyou for the Christmas cards we received
from many of you, we still have them hanging up around a big beam in
our living room!

Give thanks to God with us for a good January. Rev Kevin Pederson from
Christ Church Ormond stayed with us for a week and we had such a great
time with him, introducing him to our friends and communities here.
Thank God with us for his visit and the impact he had on our church
family and ZBI. (see photo of Kevin with our Bible Study Group)

Steve has started a new ZBI evening class in Islamabad , being held at
our church, St Thomas '. This is a good step forward for ZBI, pray that
the new students will grow in their love of Jesus as they rediscover
Genesis.

Keep praying for our Bible study group, we have another new family
with us, and there is a keenness to serve one another and to do some
kind of project within the wider community, pray that God will direct
our hearts to where he wants us to serve together.

We have a trip to Sindh, our former home, coming up in the first week
of March. Please pray for the ZBI class who are going, to be
challenged to cross cultures within their own country to serve and
share Jesus. Praise God that one family from last year's trip is
planning on moving there to serve full time.

We are moving house in March, please pray for us as we get that house
ready and move from this one. We are all excited about the move, to be
nearer church and friends. We are getting closer to working out what
to do about school for the children when the next school year starts,
in August. Please pray for patience and peace of heart as we wait for
final decisions.
Please continue to pray for peace across this land, and for the Lord
to comfort and save any who are seeking him in this time of uncertainty.

In Christ,
Steve, jenny, Timothy & Elizabeth Sonneman

Haiti Appeal 2010

Thank you for enabling the parish to send a donation to those helping the Haiti earthquake survivors. This letter, from the Bishop of Haiti to Australian bishops, underlines the needs there and asks for your continuing prayers.

Episcopal Diocese of Haiti The Rt Revd Jean Zache Duracin [mailto:epihaiti@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, 11 February 2010 11:54 PM
To: Bishop
Subject: letter

Dear Our Beloved Brother in the Lord

In His Name I greet you.

I am Bishop Jean Zache Duracin from Episcopal Diocese of Haiti . I am writing you on behalf of the Church R.G. CHURCH Parish. It may sound repetition if I may write of what happening here. We thank all who supported us and still supporting us in our current situation. I mostly thank you for your prayers. I am writing you to ask your support on our rebuilding and resettlement. We lost everything we need even to get the place to sleep. I write you our brothers and sisters in the Lord let we share what you have in our rebuilding relief we knew that may be you have made a donation but please consider that we are getting foods, water and medicine or treatment BUT my pastors are still live in the shelter. Your support will help us to settle as we were before a massive earthquake here in Haiti .

Please we are real in needs and we need your help more than you can image. I am asking your assistance concerning our pastor's families. Please help us in any ways as you know that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Its people are used to civil strife, hurricanes and floods, earthquakes are not a normal occurrence, and with the majority of the population living in abject poverty, this earthquake is greatly increasing our suffering. Please consider our needs positively.

Let we Share Christ's Love in Word and deed by Helping broken and abandoned.

Dwell in His presence

The Rt Revd Jean Zache Duracin

Episcopal Diocese of Haiti

Archdeacon South

Port-au-Prince

R.G. Church Parish

B.P. 74 Port-au-Prince

HAITI

Email: epihaitii@hotmail.com