SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
20th May 2007
Graphics and cartoons appear only in the printed version
LA DERRIERE
A young missionary stood in a packed Central African church for the first time. His French was not excellent. He had not distinguished between "arriere" (previous in time), from which the French derive "la vie en arriere" (one's life history), and "derriere" (behind in place), which also refers to your bottom. The young missionary's personal testimony of moving from darkness to light did not have the expected effect... instead, hundreds of African worshippers were squealing with laughter and falling into the aisles... Lorsque je regarde derriere de moi, qu'est-ce que je peux voir? Je vois ma derriere – une derriere longue et grande. Je vois ma derriere separee en deux parties – l'une partie noire, et l'autre partie blanche. Et entre ces deux parties, qu'est-ce qu'il se trouve? Il se trouve entre les deux parties... une grande abime!
Quick translation into English... When I look behind me, what can I see? I see my bottom... a great big, long bottom. I see my bottom divided into two halves – one black half and one white half. And what can one see between these two halves? A great abyss!
TRAVELLERS’ TALES (8)
Andrew Neaum (2000)
At All Souls’ Invergowrie there is a small study group that meets once a fortnight to discuss a current theological or spiritual book. This is an excellent idea, not too dissimilar from the one that lies behind the many book clubs that you find these days in suburban Australia. I am wondering about doing something similar here at Shepparton. If anyone is interested they should have a word with me.
Sweet liberalism
The book we began to read and discuss while I was at Invergowrie was a most interesting one selected by Ashley before he left for Wodonga. Called “The Meaning of Jesus” it is written by two scholars and is about the bible and how we know Jesus of Nazareth by way of it. Both authors are highly regarded scholars, one though is a traditionalist and relatively conservative and the other is far more liberal. In the book they write alternate chapters on the same theme and comment on each other’s approach. I found the liberal scholar, Marcus Borg, to be most interesting and he gives perhaps the clearest exposition of the liberal approach and its whys and wherefores that I have ever read. The other scholar is Tom Wright who is a good friend of Borg and so the tone of the book is charitable. Tom Wright is a more passionate writer than Borg and is often more convincing, but there is a cool, objectivity about Borg that I found impressive and although a thorough going liberal and a member of the infamous “Jesus Seminar” in the United States, he doesn’t seem quite to have thrown out the baby of belief in an objectively real God with the bathwater of simplistic credulity. I was later to read a very lovely book of a more spiritual nature by him called intriguingly “Discovering Jesus Again for the First Time.” Liberal theologians are not demons.
Consequentialism
The leader of the study group is the Dundee University philosopher parishioner and I found him most impressive, conservative but very sharp and open. He and his wife own neither a TV or a car and he is a fanatical mountaineer, so much so that when standing talking outside the church, or minding his children, he was always fingering the stone walls and then actually climbing them! The family sometimes go to “The Gate” in Dundee. This is a fundamentalist protestant church with loudly amplified music, but although they enjoy it there they came to All Souls because their children found “The Gate” too noisy and he confessed to finding the mindless fundamentalism of the preaching there “uncomfortable”. He is a great admirer and devotee of CS Lewis, as of course am I. In the car on the way home we got on to the subject of moral philosophy and he said that one of his passions was refuting “consequentialism” (the moral theory that actions are right or wrong according to the consequences they produce, rather than any intrinsic features they may have, such as truthfulness or fidelity) and that he had published a book on the subject. The study group meets in the house of a young woman doctor involved in some sort of medical research and with a young child but no apparent husband. Her house is in a little village close to Dundee called Liff which has a Church of Scotland church that in the evening twilight looked very similar to All Souls. Like so many villages around big cities in Britain, Liff is being ruined by housing development.
A lion tamer’s widow
Although being a parish priest is the best of all possible jobs, one of its less satisfactory sides is that you can never ever feel at the end of a week that you have done all that you should have done. There are always people not visited who could do with a visit, books unread that ought to be read, articles and sermons unprepared or inadequately prepared and thousands of other little on-going chores. This is not so with many occupations. How wonderful at the day’s end to be able to lay down your tools, forget your job and get on with your private life and preoccupations without even a twinge of guilt! While in a small parish in Scotland I resolved to do more visiting than ever I have managed to do in Wodonga, and so one of my early tasks was to knock up some visiting cards on the computer and get out and about the village. My first attempt at visiting was fruitless because the occupants of every house I called at were out. My second attempt was more rewarding. For a start I picked up a companion, a little girl called Hannah on a bike, who kept falling off it as she rode along beside me plying me with questions. The first house I visited was her grandfather’s and he was a nice enough looking fellow, but not at all anxious to engage a parson in conversation. As soon as he saw that I was a priest he informed me that he is an atheist, a communist and an agnostic, all in one breath! I assured him that this didn’t worry me and that I was not there to harass him, so we had a short but amiable conversation. The next house was empty not only of people but also of furniture, so presumably its inhabitants had left. Still accompanied by talkative little Hannah and now her sister as well, I pressed on. The two little girls had got to know me at the school assembly I had taken a week or so previously and were delightful companions “teeming with a lot of news”. My next visit was to a lady who kept me talking on the doorstep, something that very rarely happens in Australia, indeed, only once has this happened in the five years I have been in Wodonga. The woman was friendly but wary, her husband is a long distance lorry driver and she informed me that they were Christmas attenders only. My next visit was to the house of someone I had already encountered at a social function at the local Church of Scotland. She is a doughty old lady who’s husband had been a lion tamer. She is without doubt the first lion tamer’s widow I have ever met, and probably the last. I was eventually to take her communion at home and she proved to be a thoroughly delightful and very talkative woman. I then visited a couple who years before had had a real quarrel with the church, but who had a lot of time for Fr Ashley, telling me some wonderful tales of his legendary absent-mindedness. Their quarrel with the church had been all to do with their severely epileptic son being told that he was not allowed to attend Sunday School. If true most reprehensible, but how accurate their version of the incident was I found hard to determine. By the time I finished my visit to them it was gone six o clock in the evening and so because I was conveniently near to the village pub I popped in for a pint of McEwen’s best. Very good too, though at £2 a pint it would need to be.
Squash-box virtuosity
In the University Chapel at lunchtime on Fridays in Dundee there are free concerts. One of the most memorable we attended was a solo performance by a piano accordionist, of all things. He played light classical pieces with astonishing virtuosity, the Dam Busters’ March, the Charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade, and so on. The soloist was a funny and slightly loopy looking young man with cropped hair and a tortoise-like craning neck. I think that he is first and foremost a player of Scottish Country Dance music.
Peter Rabbit
On returning home from this particular concert, because it was such a pleasant and sunny evening, we decided to head for Dunkeld once more because although we had visited it previously, we had been unable really to explore it. The village centre was rebuilt in the 18th century, after the town had been laid waste in some hideous battle or other and it is very lovely. It is centred around a fountain with a short cobbled lane leading off to the Cathedral which is, for the most part, a ruin set in tree and rhododendron graced, lush lawns which slope down to the river Tay, as beautiful a river as you would see anywhere. The old choir section of the Cathedral has been restored for use as a Church of Scotland parish church. My high church prejudices were offended to see a building designed for sacramental worship now used and furnished for thin-gutted and wordy Protestantism! We took a few photos, including one of the stone bridge over the Tay, built in 1807 and a work of art and then walked up the banks of the Tay beneath huge trees of all sorts, with rhododendrons bursting into flower beneath them. There were rabbits everywhere too, descendants of Peter Rabbit, because Beatrix Potter holidayed every year in Dunkeld and got much of her inspiration from the place. The Tay is a river famous for its salmon fishing and eventually we arrived at an expensive looking hotel, filled with well-heeled fishermen. The map that we were following failed us at this point and so we didn’t make it to our destination, which was the “King’s Seat”, but we did see one of early summer’s most glorious sights, great banks of blue bells under oaks and elms with glorious rhododendrons in flower behind them.
Pork pie with a chaffinch
We returned to our car, starving. Dunkeld shows signs of a heavy tourist industry. Reindeer moccasins for sale, for example, and it costs thirty pence to relieve yourself in an appointed place. Because parked on the main street we headed off for somewhere more congenial to eat, stopping eventually at another beauty spot to delight in Melton Mowbray pork pies, tomatoes, bread rolls and yoghurt, sharing our crumbs with a pert chaffinch. To be continued
WELCOME
We welcome as our Guest Preacher today the Revd Dr Scott Cowdell. He is the recently appointed Associate Professor in the Charles Sturt University “Public and Contextual Theology Strategic Research Centre” and Canon Theologian of the Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn. More importantly though he is an altogether decent human being, fine priest and the husband of a lovely wife Lisa, whom we also welcome. He will also be addressing us at the Luncheon in the Hall which begins at 12 noon. If you haven’t booked in, but would like to come have a word with the Rector, we might be able to find enough food to feed you. The cost is $15.
CONGRATULATIONS
Birthdays
Charlotte Brewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20th May
Peter Ackland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22nd May
Kristy, Tyron & Siobhan Bei. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23rd May
Mary Lindsay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23rd May
Betty Bush. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25th May
CONFIRMATION
Confirmation Classes take place on Tuesdays at 4.00pm, starting this Tuesday. They last a hour and are suspended during school holidays. All candidates are required to attend church weekly.
PARISH FAIR
AND GARDEN PARTY COMMITTEE
A meeting is to be held in the Den Room at 4.30pm on Thursday next, 24th May. Stall holders and others associated with last year’s event are requested to attend. New members are invited to join this great event in the life of our parish. St Augustine’s needs your enthusiastic participation.
HALL COMMITTEE
There is to be a meeting of the Hall Committee on Friday 8th June at 5.00pm. We should have some alteration plans and proposal costings to consider by then.
FLAMING PARISHIONERS
Next Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, wear something symbolic of Pentecostal Fire!
CHOIR SCHOLARSHIPS
In the Narthex there are details of Choral Scholarships for young soprano or contralto voices. They are worth $1000 a year and require regular singing in St Augustine’s choir. Such scholarships are easier to award in cities with universities with music depart-ments, but we still hope to find a candidate or two worthy of the honour and desirous of having such an honour to adorn their CV.
GREAT ANNUAL LUNCH
St. Mary’s Anglican Guild with Katandra West Uniting Church Fellowship are holding their splendid annual luncheon on Wednesday 30th May at 12 noon. There will be good company, soup, sandwiches, sweets, and marvellous entertainment as well as a raffle and stall. Entry $9. Barb Tomlinson 58655321
CATECHESIS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Calling all non craft people:-
If you’d like to contribute to the above children’s ministry program we are in need of items such as:- crayons, pencils, cleaning cloths, scissors, hand towels etc etc. There will be a master materials list on the table in the Narthex, please flip through and indicate any items you may be able to assist with. Thanks.
HOSPICE PIES
Pat Griffin is selling fruit pies, the proceeds of which are to go to Hospice. There are three sizes and all of them, as you would expect, are delicious. Please order from Pat 58 311606
ANGLICAN WOMEN OF AUSTRALIA
The Annual Rally takes place on Wed 13th June in Wangaratta starting with Morning Tea
at 10.30am followed by the Eucharist at 11.00am. Lunch is at 12.15 and the Guest Speaker is Dr. Elizabeth Hoban, Director of the Hope Project in Cambodia. Please contact the office if you would like to attend this day as numbers for catering are required. All proceeds to ABM.
EXTRA SPECIAL
On Tuesday 5th June “Simply Soul Soothing” from 12.15pm - 12.40pm will be led by Bela Angyl. He is the only beaten copper sculptor in Australia and the he will explain his magnificent sculpture of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus on the West wall of St. Augustine’s. Lunch to follow costs $5. Please place your name on the list in the Narthex if you can come.
WORLD PEACE
Excerpts from Archbishop Philip’s Blog: “World peace might seem a big prayer, but if peace could start within our own home, then grow into our neighbourhood, suburb and city, slowly it can permeate into larger and larger spaces. The problem of course is our own lack of tolerance and understanding ...... (of annoying neighbours, or of those who ask the church for food and help.....) What hope is world peace, when we struggle to love our neighbour, let alone our enemy.”
LIVING AND AGING WELL EXPO
This week, come along to the “Free” Living Well & Aging Well Expo. Be at Monsignor Bones Hall, Knight Street, on Thursday 24th May 4pm.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
May 30th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . St. Mary’s Katandra Annual Luncheon
June 1st. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Garden meeting
June 2nd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Garden Working Bee
June 2nd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ugandan Martyrs Eucharist & Breakfast
June 8th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arise 255
June 13th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anglican Women Annual Rally/Wangaratta
June 18th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pastoral Care meeting 1.15pm/Library
June 18 -21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clergy Retreat
June 23rd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mens’s Breakfast
July 13th & 14th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Garage Sale/ Evening Guild
Oct 6th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Men’s Breakfast
Oct 13th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wedding
Oct 15 -18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clergy Conference
Nov 10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parish Fair
Dec 1st . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Men’s Breakfast
Dec 8th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding 4pm
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
David Burrow, Betty Bush, Nancy Cooke, Donna Dyson, Mavis Euling, Frank Harder, Jean Hastie, Beryl Long, Carolyn McAlister, Denise McKellar, Lois Myers, Margaret Neaum, Margaret Noble, Jan Riches, Terry Rogers, Carol Shields, Peter & Eva Swindells, Phyl Sizler, John Sizler, Robyn Stone, Lorraine Vogul, Lil Walters, Anne, Buffy , Darren, David, David & Judith, Graham, Heather, Mark, Trevor, Joan & John, Karen, Les, Peggy, Toby, Alexandra & Charles, Joy, Sherena.
Rest in Peace
William Lethlean
Anniversary of death
Evelyn Phillips, Robert Coghlan, Valma Ralph 20th, John McClusky 22nd, Jeffrey Saville, Frank Page, Donald McPherson, Florence Harry 23rd, William Thorn, Patricia Gaylard 24th, Neil Dennis, Arthur Friday 25th, John Downing, Robert Hunter, Andonis Damianopoulos, John Murphy 26th.
Duties for 20th May 2007
Vigil Eucharist at 6pm Sat 19th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 10.30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gail Bryce
Celebrant 8.45 Dookie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gail Bryce
Celebrant 10.45 Katandra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Margaret Neaum, Norm Mitchelmore
Readers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrea Fisher, Ian Bryce
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michelle, Daniel, Ben
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joan, Bethany, Daniel
Intercessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victoria Heenan, Mary Pearson
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Griffin, Heather Fitzgerald
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carole Henderson. Bev Condon
Welcoming 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shirley Dean, Gwen Betson
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Moran, Charlotte Brewer
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bob Galt, Norm Mitchelmore
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Charlotte Brewer, John Pleming
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pat Griffin
Mowing 19th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Norm Mitchelmore, Lawrie Tinning
Welcome Tbl.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.30 Val Rose, 10.30 Ros Dunlop
Duties for 27th May 2007
Celebrant 6.00pm Sat 26th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gail Bryce
Celebrant 10.30/Baptisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 8.45 Dookie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 10.45 Katandra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gail Bryce
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carole Henderson, Pat Griffin
Readers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Courtney Craven, Mary Pearson
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Beth, Alex, Philippa
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny, Zebedee, Joe
Intercessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pat Griffin, Celebrant
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian Bryce, Carole Henderson
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christine Evans, Jenny Pleming
Welcoming 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Beryl Goodfellow, Bev Reither
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Roz Dunlop, Frank Steen
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Merv Cowland, Gwyn Cowland
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alan Akers, Nola Brewer
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gwyn Cowland
Mowig 26th ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adrian Evans, Lionel Waterson, Rick Coates
Welcome Tbl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.30Dorothy Cook, 10.30 Dorothy Cook
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Monday 21st May Rector’s Day Off
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
Tuesday 22nd May
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10.00am Playgroup - The Den
12.15pm Simply Soul Soothing - Lady Chapel
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
4.00pm Confirmation class
Wednesday 23rd May
7.45am Mattins only - Lady Chapel
10.00am Eucharist- St Augustine’s
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Choir Practice for 10.30 Eucharist
6.00pm Wedding Rehearsal
Thursday 24th th May
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10.15am Grutzner House
11.00am Eucharist- Harmony Village
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Choir Practice
4.30pm Parish Fair meeting - Den
7.30pm Bible Study
Friday 25th May
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
10.15am Eucharist - Excelsior
11.00am Eucharist - Ave Maria
3.30pm Synod
7.00pm Arise 255
Saturday 26th May Associate Priest’s Day Off
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist
1.30pm Wedding
6.00pm Vigil Eucharist
Sunday 27th May Pentecost Sunday
8.30am Eucharist - St Augustine’s
10.30am Eucharist - St Augustine’s/Baptisms
8.45am Eucharist - St Luke’s Dookie
10.45am Eucharist - St Mary’s Katandra West
2.30pm Hospice Service - St Augustine’s
5.30pm Evening Prayer
7.30pm Ecumenical Service - Wesley Church