Weekly Electronic Notices
Service (WENS)
Week beginning 22 Nov 2020-No 91
COVID 19 UPDATES
- Recommencing church services at St D’s.
Sunday 29th is Advent Sunday, the start of the New Year. We will be live streaming our 9.30am service as usual. We can also have a limited number of people attending in person. If you would like to attend this service, please register your interest with Roberta.
We will also be having our Parish Annual Meeting at 11 am on this day. More details under “Parish News”.
Please register your interest with Roberta if you intend on attending any of the Sunday Advent Services as well as the Thursday 11am services. We need to make sure everyone who wants gets a chance to come into church, as numbers will be limited because of physical distancing requirements.
- We urgently need volunteers to cover cleaning sessions during the week. This includes before and after services on Thursdays and Sundays and we need to spread this commitment across a sizeable team. Please have a look at the roster below and see where you can help out if you are able. Many hands make light work. Cath has also drawn up a list of what the cleaning entails. It’s not onerous. Please email Cath Goss on goss@iinet.net.au if you can help or if you need further information.
Cleaning Roster
set-up (at least one hour prior to service)
- Record name on attendance sheet on welcome table
- Wear mask (new government requirement from Thurs 23rd July)
- Sanitise hands (gloves also located in vestry kitchen)
- Wipe the following with isopropanol wipes (Blissma or equivalent):
- Doorknobs/handles/locking bolts at front entry, vestry area entry/exit, priest’s office, vestry kitchen, entry to church from vestry area
- Chairs that are in use
- Lectern (light wipe of front edge only)
- Light switches and cupboard doorknobs in switchboards at both entrances (light wipe only – turnoff off power supply while cleaning, if practical)
- Electrical sound box on wall (light wipe of handles only)
- Taps and other likely touchpoints in kitchen (e.g. kettle)
- Handles of vestry cupboards etc if multiple touching is likely (light wipe only)
- Bathrooms (doors, floors, toilets, sinks and taps, rails)
- Key safe at vestry area entry
- Use a fresh wipe after cleaning a few surfaces (use judgment)
- Complete and sign the cleaning checklist in yellow folder near photocopier
- Dispose of any used wipes, gloves
- Sanitise hands again and lock up when leaving, return key to safe
post-service clean (immediately after sacristy clean-up has finished)
Follow the same process as for Saturday above, with priority of disinfecting
- Doorknobs
- Any sanctuary objects that may have been touched by person other than Roberta
- Kitchen taps
- Key safe
- Light switches
- Bathrooms
and:
- Vacuum centre aisle and sacristy if needed
- Clear away and clean sacristy items and store in vestry (use isopropanol wipes where appropriate)
- Complete and sign cleaning checklist in yellow folder
- Turn off lights and heaters
- Check everyone has left, lock up, return key to safe
- Our Church stays alive through the contact of its people with one another. Let’s please keep in touch with each other through our groups and regularly uphold each other in prayer. We have Zoom groups for prayer, morning tea and book group. The details are all under ‘Parish News’. Thank you for also remembering and checking in on your ‘buddies’.
- If you are struggling with anything, please reach out to someone in the St Dunstan’s community. It’s good to talk to someone who cares for you. ❤️ Alternatively the following link also offers some support services https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/servicesandsupport/counselling-online-and-phone-support-for-mental-illness.
PARISH NEWS
Notice of Annual Meeting
Parish of Camberwell, Church of St Dunstan’s.
The Annual Meeting of the Parish will be held on 29th November 2020 at 11.00am. This meeting will take place via Zoom and also face to face at church. Please register your interest with Roberta if you intend on coming to church for the face to face. Please note that there will be no morning tea via Zoom on this day.
AGENDA
Nominations of candidates for the offices of:
- churchwardens
- members of the Parish Council
- members of Incumbency Committee
shall be given to the Vicar, the Rev’d Roberta Hamilton,
on or before 8.00am on 22nd November 2020.
After prayers, the order of business shall include –
- The reading of this notice;
- The Minutes of the previous annual meeting;
- Reception of the electoral roll of the Parish;
- A report by the Vicar; including numbers of baptisms, persons received into communicant membership, confirmations, marriages, funerals, Sunday services, acts of communion and such other statistics from the registers as Archbishop in Council determines;
- An annual report on the proceedings of the Parish Council
- A report by the churchwardens on the fabric, goods and ornaments of the church, of the Parish and the vicarage and other buildings of the Parish;
(g) The independently examined accounts and financial statements of the parish and any accompanying papers required by the Act;
- The election and appointment of churchwardens and members of the Parish Council;
- The election of an independent examiner;
- The election of 2 lay representatives to the Parish Incumbency Committee;
- Any other matters of parochial or general church interest.
By order of the Parish Council
Signed ….. ………………………………… Vicar
30th Oct 2020
- Please book mark December 20th in your diaries for Roberta’s farewell. More details to follow.
- Our next Open Church will take place on 6 December at 4pm. Weather permitting, we will picnic on church grounds. This will be Roberta’s last OC service and our last one for 2020. Hope to see you all there!
- Please continue to pray for our Incumbency Committee as they undertake this important work of finding a new vicar for our parish. Please also remember Vicar Roberta in your prayers as she approaches her retirement from parish ministry.
- Christmas Services this year will be the 5pm Crib Service on Christmas Eve and the Christmas Morning Service at 9.30am.
- We will be having a Confirmation Service on the 6th December at 9:30 am with Bishop Genieve Blackwell where Freddy and Charlotte Petersen will get confirmed.
- Don’t forget our prayer wall in the church porch. You can use it to post prayer requests or pray for those already on there. Many people in our neighbourhood visit our church grounds and stop to read your prayers. So please feel free to add your prayer the next time you walk or drive past our church. Alternatively, email your prayers to Vicar Roberta and she will put them up on the wall.
- If you would like to join in Morning Prayer via Zoom each Tuesday and Thursday with a small group, please contact Trevor at blakeandtaylor@gmail.com. All are welcome!
- Zoom morning tea is on every week. Please join us for a cuppa and a chat every Sunday at 10.45am after online service. Please contact tania.nallathamby@bigpond.com if you don’t receive the Zoom link and would like to.
- Thank you to all who have contributed to our burgeoning Camcare donation basket. Bless you all! Please continue to support this cause any way you can. Please visit https://camcare.org.au. Thank you to Peter Wright for his help with transporting donations.
- Please continue to pray for each other from our updated Parish Prayer List
SOCIAL JUSTICE
As a member of the Canterbury Council of Churches, we are being invited by St Dominic’s Asylum Seeker Support Program to share our support and aspirations in providing support for people seeking asylum.Some information from them below:
Background
Support for asylum seekers, in various ways, has been a priority across our network, and there have been various forms of cooperation between our various churches over the years. So, as we face ongoing issues and needs in changing times, this topic is one where it could be fruitful for us to share our current situation and current thinking. Moreover, asylum seekers are among those in our community who have a particularly difficult time at the moment. Many are in crowded and insecure housing; many do not qualify for any of the income support benefits; and all are faced with the uncertainties relating to their future in Australia but also their options elsewhere. It is therefore important that we do not lose our focus on support for these near neighbours.
An invitation
St Dominic’s Asylum Seeker Support Program would like to invite people from the various congregations to gather one evening to share information on our current aspirations and endeavours, and thus to inform and inspire each of us to continue to do what we can to support these vulnerable families in our midst.
When 7.30 – 9.00pm, on Tuesday 24 November
What a meeting within the Canterbury Council of Churches to share experience and aspirations in providing support for people seeking asylum
Why the time seems opportune to inform and renew our various commitments to assisting these brothers and sisters in our own city.
Who relevant leaders from the various congregations that comprise the Canterbury Council of Churches – 2 or 3 people from each congregation would be ideal.
RSVP or queries to Denis Fitzgerald (FitzgeraldDenisC@gmail.com, tel 0418 136 372)
Yours in Christ Jesus, who with his family sought asylum in Egypt
Denis Fitzgerald
St Dominic’s Parish
CHILD SAFETY
- A message from our Child Safe Officer Max Farrar:
Following on from recent training and some Diocesan clarifications, our parish Child Safe documents have been updated.
We have a white folder on the welcome table which contains relevant policy and code of conduct documents regarding Child Safe and what to do if we have a necessity to make a report.
Posters have also been placed on the notice board with more to come from Kooyoora (Diocesan professional standards body) eventually.
Please ensure you update your Working with Children check cards when it’s time and advise Maxine Farrar when this has been done. All police checks will need to be renewed next year. Everyone will be contacted with the instructions.
Thank you in anticipation. Even though we’re not business as usual, our compliance requirements are. Luckily we’re on the ball.
Again, thank you.
Maxine Farrar
Child Safety officer.
- The Diocesan Child Safe Policy is available on our website https://stdunstans.org.au/index.php/child-safe-policy/
- Important Numbers:
Child Safe Officer: Ms Maxine Farrar 0408 311 390
Police: 000
Child Protection: 1300 360 391
Kooyoora: 1800 135 246
- As part of our child safety priorities, we are required to make available the Kooyoora Mission Statement in our newsletter.
Kooyoora Ltd is an independent not for profit company that provides professional standards and other services to charities, including charities that are Anglican dioceses, entities, colleges and schools, to enable them more effectively to fulfil their charitable objectives. Their Vision is as follows:
“Our Vision is to enable and manage–
a fair and independent process for complaint handling and screening for par ticipating organisations tailored to their circumstances that –
respects both complainants and respondents
upholds the standards and integrity of the organization, and
promotes the safety of children and adults with whom the organization en gages.
schemes for participating institutions to provide redress through an
independent survivor focused, trauma informed, pastoral and therapeutic process.”
For more information, please visit https://www.kooyoora.org.au/
- Don’t forget to follow our Facebook page St Dunstans Anglican Church Group .https://www.facebook.com/groups/482613181793174/and bookmark our websitewww.stdunstans.org.au. We will be live streaming Sunday services at 9.30am on Facebook and soon after, the Vicar’s message will also be uploaded onto our website.
ANGLICAN COMMUNITY NEWS
“For unto us a child is born” Isaiah 9:6
GIVE MEANINGFUL GIFTS THIS CHRISTMAS
Dear friends,
Christmas in 2020 will be a bit different for most of us. This year has reminded us that our world is fragile, vulnerable, and in need.
Yet for those who hope in the Lord, a child has been born that has altered the course of history into eternity.
I invite you to partner with us in sharing the love, joy, and hope that we have in Jesus Christ by making a meaningful gift from our selection of Christmas gifts.
In all our projects, we work with Christian partners who want to share with their communities the hope that we have in Christ.
Scroll below to find an appropriate gift.
You can donate any amount and use our printable cards to gift it forward to your family and friends. Gifts are tax deductible.
May your Christmas be meaningful and special.
In Christ
Lucy Lim, Executive Director
Papua New Guinea, Various Dioceses
Student Support
Provide book and living allowances for bursary students studying Development and Ministry
$250
Tanzania, Rorya Diocese
Student Meal
Improve nutrition, performance, attendance by providing 1 meal per day for 1 school semester
$10
Ethiopia, Gambella Diocese
Give Shelter
Repair flood damaged huts for people living in a region devastated by yet another natural disaster
$200
Uganda, West Ankole Diocese
Goats for Families
Help clergy families to supplement their basic income and provide for retirement through goat rearing
$85
Myanmar, Hpa-An Diocese
Nursery Plants
Provide nursery plants for a communty plantation to lift a village of Karen refugees out of proverty
$60
DR Congo, Beni Diocese
Food for Refugees
Supply 10 kgs rice & 10 kgs beans to families of displaced victims of violence fleeing from their homes
$30
Nepal, Deanery of Nepal
Food Security
Give 1 month’s worth of food to one vulnerable family, whose income has been stricken by COVID-19
$25
Indonesia, All Saints Jakarta
Hydroponics
Install hydroponics stations for community groups, e.g. for a disability home, whose funding has been affected by COVID-19
$250
Don’t run around trying to get a good gift. Just give a meaningful gift.
Printable Cards
Each card is customised and personalised to your gifts.
Invitation to TCTS Open House
Are you or someone you know considering studying theology? Trinity College is holding a free webinar Thursday 26 November from 12pm – 1pm to talk you through their range of study options available. Get a virtual tour of the campus, meet staff and lecturers, and ask as many questions as you like to find out if studying at Trinity is right for you. Even if you can’t make it live, you can register to access the replay.
What will the webinar include?
Our webinar will feature a variety of information to help you make an informed choice about studying at Trinity College. The webinar will include:
• an overview of the school by our Dean, the Revd Canon Dr Bob Derrenbacker
• a virtual tour of the (beautiful) Trinity College campus and the facilities you’ll have access to
• introductions by our world-renowned faculty
• a short, sample lecture so you can see our style of teaching
You’ll also be able to ask as many questions as you like.
Even if you’re not sure if Trinity College or theological study is for you, this webinar is a great way to get a taste of what we offer to help you choose the right path.
Want to know more about what we offer? Visit our courses page.
Contact Us
100 Royal Parade, P
Dear Rev Hamilton,
‘O Come, O come, Immanuel…’ So goes the Advent hymn and so at this time of year especially our hearts yearn for the coming of the saviour. Immanuel. God with us. Christmas is the time when we both celebrate and anticipate the coming of the reign of God.
What might the reign of God among us mean to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christians? To communities experiencing gender-based violence in Zambia? To poor farmers eking out a living in the arid regions of Eastern Kenya?
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christians it might mean growing leaders with the faith, vision and skills to build up their people, their churches and their communities, through study at either Wontulp-Bi-Buya or Nungalinya colleges.
For Zambian communities, particularly those on the receiving end of gender-based violence, it might mean making people, both men and women – aware that violence is not the way to solve problems, that girls have a right to complete their education, and not be sent off into early marriages, and addressing causes of poverty. These challenges are addressed in ABM’s Integrated Gender Project.
For farmers in Eastern Kenya it might mean gaining skills in water conservation, learning how to work with the land to increase its natural productivity. ABM’s Sustainable Livelihoods Project works with farmers to build appropriate water storage and to farm more sustainably, thus making for larger and more reliable harvests.
Whilst COVID-19 has impacted during 2020 on all these projects, all continue to function, often with creative adaptations to the demands of travel restrictions, personal safety and physical distancing requirements.
This Advent and Christmas, consider what the reign of God might look like for you. Will it be a world where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are led by empowered, visionary leaders? A world where families in Eastern Zambia can look forward to a future free of violence, where all can flourish? A world where Kenyan farmers can plan for their futures, without wondering how they are going to feed their families?
Making a donation to any of these tax-deductible projects may just help to bring the reign of God a little closer to all of us. And, during the time of COVID-19, your generous support of these projects has become more important than ever.
Yours in Mission,
The Rev’d Dr John Deane
Executive Director
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR: STUDIES ON THE READINGS FOR YEAR B
Saturday 28 November 2020 | 9.30am–12.30pm
By Zoom conference
$25 | $20 concession
A day for clergy and lay people to be enriched by the readings from Mark and elsewhere in the Bible for the forthcoming Church Year B.
Led by the Rev’d Dr Bob Derrenbacker and Dr Rachelle Gilmour of the Trinity College Theological School.
For more information and to register go to www.trybooking.com/647150 or email to theologyevents@trinity.edu.au or call 03 9348 7127.