Newsletter

Sunday 29th April, 2012 FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER WELCOME to Holy Innocents—we hope you enjoy this time of prayer as we reflect on Scripture together and celebrate the Eucharist. Breakfast is available in the Hall after the 8 am service and morning tea after the 10 am. All are welcome. Sunday School is getting back into action ….. Collect for Easter III Jesus, Good Shepherd of the sheep, by Whom the lost are sought and guided into the fold: feed us and we shall be satisfied, heal us and we shall be whole, and lead us that we may be with You, where You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Today’s Readings Easter IV read by Mary V Readings: Acts 4:5—12 and 1 John 3: 16—24 GOSPEL John 10: 11—18 Fr Ron’s Notes available at http://www.anglican-belair.blogspot.com/ PRAYERS FOR THE PEOPLE led by Wendy M We pray for those in need: Ron Teague, Peter Little, Jenny Jeffrey, Dorothy Furnival, the Swaby family , Lynda Knight, Dianne Cordes. Ivanka Cosic, Jim (fighting cancer;) Jake and Gail. Hazel Looney, Tommy Ferguson, Judith Manning, Barb Capon, Sid Sweet and Pat Pater HAPPY BIRTHDAY Robbie Bruce, Sid Sweet HAPPY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY Caroline and Sid Sweet, Cynthia & Ian Macintosh YEAR’S MIND— Valmai Barber (2004) Richard McKinley (2010) Catherine Cordes (2006) PREPARATION FOR NEXT SUNDAY - Easter V Readings Acts 8: 26—40 & 1 John 4: 7—21 GOSPEL John 15: 1—8 REGULAR GROUPS AND BOOKINGS PRAYER CIRCLE meets noon on the 2nd Tuesday each month at 36 Penno Parade North BIBLE STUDY 10am Wednesdays at Pressley’s THURSDAY 9.30am Eucharist SINGING GROUP Meets after the 10am service each Sunday. All singers welcome MOTHERS’ UNION - meets third Thursdays each month at 2.00pm Walking Church First Sunday at 5.00pm at Belair National Park gates near railway Station Bridge. HELPLINE Part of being a Christian community is the support offered to each other in times of need. We offer short-term delivery of food where needed, local transport, phone calls, and other types of assistance. Call Stephanie Lloyd 8278 4260 and Lucinda Hale 8278 8814 POWERPOINT ROSTER – Next Sunday Min Araki or Ron Keynes Sunday after Cynthia Macintosh or Don Caddy READER- AND INTERCESSOR ROSTER Next Sunday Reader David C Intercessor Mary V Sunday after Reader Vanessa D Intercessor Hal S-C SANCTUARY ROSTER Next week Flowers Iris Downes Brass Margaret Carruthers Cleaning Susan Lee Mark your diary please ...... (a) Wedding May 5 Private function in Hall May 6 (b) School bookings: May 19 afternoon, May 25 afternoon & evening (c) St John's drama production in hall afternoon and evening of May 31 and June 1 (d) St John's Exams 17-20 July and 29/10-14/11 Flea Market, Saturday 19th May. 9am to lunchtime. There will be stalls for books, cakes, second-hand clothes, white elephant and household gear. as well as Morning Tea and a Barbecue. Please help with stock for these stalls and volunteer your services to Jan Tregenza, Cynthia Macintosh, Yvonne Caddy, Graham Bains. The hall will be available to leave goods during the week. Flyers will shortly be available for distribution and display. The S.A. ABM Auxiliary is presenting a fund-raising film morning on Wednesday 2 May at the Capri Theatre, Goodwood. The film to be shown is 'Midnight in Paris', described as ' beautiful to look at and abundant with charm'. Joan Durdin has five tickets at $9.00 each. Transport can be arranged. Morning tea available at 9.45 a.m. and the film commences 1030 a.m. OTHER NOTES …… Parish Council Meetings will now be held on the first Tuesday of the month starting from May 1st. May is BCA box opening month. Please top up your boxes and leave them in the foyer early in May. If you would like to join the group who support BCA in this way, pick up a 'clean' box from the foyer. (David Hall) NOTE FROM OUR LOCUMS – Fr. Conrad Patterson It’s the Second Coming! or at least it is in the manner of The Terminator (‘I’m baaaaack!!!!) As a minimum I expect an opportunity to fire up the Memorial Barbecue at least once. It is very kind of Warren to invite me to stand in for him while he is on Long Service Leave. Today is just a brief appearance as Helen and I have a long-standing arrangement to be in Sydney next week-end. Helen trained as a Parish Worker at the now defunct St Christopher’s College in Melbourne. This week-end is their Biannual Reunion in Sydney. It’s probably the last time that she will get to one of these as the membership is declining rapidly. We are going the long way round To contact me, you can always try me on the Mobile (041 609 1936). I make no promises as I often forget to have it with me, or the battery is flat and as for text messages, I am beyond redemption. But Helen will always take messages at home on 8351 5850. Conrad RONBLOG — on sheep and shepherds..... After many years in rural and outback ministry, I am often bemused at the sight of urban people longing for the peace of the country. Recent TV programmes underline this movement, and years ago I was party to the sight of people moving north from Adelaide into rural areas where houses were (once-upon-a-time) cheap and affordable. In one of the towns, that exodus of city people, (most of them disadvantaged,) was creating quite a crisis for the locals. Crime rates began to soar, and locals needed to find a way to try and be alongside those folk. Occasionally, that support was appreciated, but mostly it was not, as the newcomers were certain that all others hated them, and wished only to see their backs. Actually the sad reality was that the problems tended to be solved only as the newcomers realised for themselves that their dream of peace and quiet was unreal, and that they needed to put in quite some effort if the experiment was to succeed. In other words, that was the scenario underlining the possibilities and problems of those trying to be shepherds. There is not a lot of difference between sheep and humans! Read that with a smile on my face, but do observe the truth of some of it, You will need to do so if you are to embrace much of the point and purpose of Jesus as Shepherd. It is no easy task being shepherd, for humans or for animals, as it bears the same images and reality of small reward for huge effort, and distinct chance of rejection from the ungrateful public. This imagery of shepherd goes back, Biblically speaking, to David about a thousand years before Christ. Later, prophets like Ezekiel took up the imagery which the Psalms had reflected already. In that rural and pastoral community, the image was familiar and was not overtaken by emotional and unreal expectations. Shepherding is an onerous and very demanding task, which the intervention of fencing and such has reduced to far less demanding proportion. On the other hand, if you dare to ask today’s pastoralist whether looking after sheep is all beer and skittles, I suggest that you stand back a way when the reply comes. See, honestly if you dare, the enormous load and strain Jesus took upon Himself in His ministry, life, death and resurrection. Notice how few people actually responded positively to the message, to the truth of all He had to offer. Not even those among His Twelve could really be counted upon, until after the Resurrection. Put yourself in His shoes and ask yourself if you would continue faithful and true with such opposition from those who should have been most aware of the Faith, and most likely to have delighted to follow. I suspect now you might be getting the picture, and whilst I am not trying to tweak your guilt button, I am asking you to see that this ‘Good Shepherd’ business is not about being cosy and warm and fed and watered, but rather is all about responding with transparent truth to whatever challenge you are facing. Items for the Newsletter need to be sent to Fr. Ron at 8298 7160 or ronpkeynes@internode.on.net by Tuesday afternoon please …….