Happy days!
Dear church family,
There’s something wonderfully sustaining about hope. Having something to look forward to is one of the best ways to fortify yourself against the troubles of today. One thing I have been imagining and looking forward to immensely is the first Sunday we’ll be able to gather together again as a church – what a celebration it will be! I’m thinking we should invite the whole of Cranbourne and Tooradin to the party.
There’s another hope that every Christian shares that can sustain us through these times as well – it is our hope in God Himself, and the sure and certain hope of life with Him. Revelation chapter 7 speaks of the day when “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” – all the church in every age and place – finally gathers, perfected and glorified, in worship of God. What a celebration it will be! Happy days indeed.
Sunday Worship
I hope you’ve been able to participate in our not-quite-so-heavenly-though-nonetheless-good worship together online. While we aren’t able to gather in person on site we will continue to come together through our website. This week you’ll notice a few more faces you know and love from our various services. You can always find our services by going to our website (www.cranbourneanglican.org.au) or by clicking this link. We’re identifying those who aren’t online but can access content on a usb and developing a system where we drop off usb sticks with the worship service in their letter boxes. Already we have a few people signed up for this.
Morning Tea!
This Sunday we’re also going to experiment with a virtual morning tea at 11am. If you have a laptop or iPad or smart phone with a camera, you can join in and see and talk with all your church friends online! We’ll start at 11am on Sunday – all you have to do is click this link (on Sunday at 11 – not now!) and hopefully you’ll be taken to it (in the unlikely event it asks you for it, you may need to give these details: Meeting ID: 965 963 807 Password: 031452). As with all the things we’re trying, it’s a bit experimental and we’ll see how it goes, but I think it will be fun! Log in and try it out.
Pastoral Care
The St John’s Ministry Advisory Committee met this week and we dreamed and schemed about how we can continue to support you pastorally, especially when so many are feeling isolated and anxious. We decided to organise the church into smaller ‘communities of care’, each with a community leader whose main role is to just be in touch with and pray for those assigned to their community and make sure you have all the support you need at this time. We’re refining the role and approaching potential leaders over the next few days. I will also continue to call people and check in on how you’re going, so don’t be surprised if you get a call from me or someone else from St John’s or Christ Church as part of this. Of course, keep calling one another and being in touch between yourselves as well! It’s important we stay connected in these times.
Growing as Disciples!
One of the things we are wanting to do is make sure we continue to connect with each other and grow as disciples of Jesus. We’re going to set up some online bible study groups where we meet once a week through video conferencing (this is much easier than you think!) to look at a bible passage and pray for one another. If you would like to join a bible study, please just reply to this email and nominate three times during the week that would work best for you and we’ll see if we can get a group up and running. I anticipate they would last about 1 hour.
Finances
I’ve been tremendously encouraged by the number of people who have already switched over to online giving. Obviously our inability to meet physically has a significant impact on our offerings, and we have also lost all our income from hire of the halls and meeting rooms during the week. This is a significant hurdle for us in the months ahead. The wardens will be writing to you in the next few days with more information on the work we’ve been doing as a Parish Council as we’ve met this week, and how you can help if you’re in a position to do so.
Emails
We were part way through upgrading our database when this hit and our email lists are not as complete as they could be. If you know anyone who is not getting these emails, please let me know and I’ll add them.
Call me!
Finally, I’m so conscious that for all of us this is an uncomfortable time, and at different times all of us can feel overwhelmed. If you find you would like someone to talk to or if you feel like it would be good to be prayed for, please do call me (0406 342 028). There may be some times when I can’t answer (like when putting small children to bed or on yet another video conference call!) but if so I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. As a church we want you to be supported and blessed.
May God bless and keep you,
Sam Bleby
Vicar | Parish of Cranbourne
St John’s Cranbourne | Christ Church Tooradin
m: 0406 342 028
www.cranbourneanglican.org.au