For technical reasons, the Bulletin is not available in full online this week. But here is an excerpt:
Please note there will be a meeting of Church Council on Sunday 11 May and a Congregational Meeting on 18 May. The Annual Report will be presented at this latter meeting.
Now is also the time to enrol for Ched Myers’ seminar on 9 July, if you haven’t already.
The First Hundred Days
Rev. Dr John Evans
Yes, believe it or not, it is a 100 days since I was inducted as the minister of the Church of All Nations Carlton. It seems fashionable to report on such milestones, so here are some reflections.
To begin with thank you for the welcome and support. The Evanses have settled in well and feel we have become a part of the place – although the eagle eye among you will note we are still driving around in a WA registered car! Some
things can take time.Much has indeed happened in these first 100 days. There have been some great occasions. I have been learning, watching and also at various points making some suggestions and changes. However, I feel the most significant event which we will recall in the future about early 2008 will be the passing of our dear friend Doug Fullerton. Doug held us all together, provided wisdom and encouragement and was always looking to the future as to how we might be the body of Christ here in Carlton. I will not forget the last sermon he ever preached 6 January 2008 – a sort of challenge to myself and to the congregation to be open to God’s leading and seek a new opportunities to serve and be the church!
However, I think there are some practical things we can address now as we look to the future.
First of all, we need a wider range of people to be involved in the life of our congregation. It perhaps sounds dull as dishwater, but we do need additional church councillors, elders and members of our various task groups and committees. We need a wider range of energy and insight as to our life together. The Church Council has endorsed a document which sets out these various roles and tasks – but we simply need more people to be involved. Some have already stepped up – so we thank Katie, Emily and Rhia with the work with the children, Jeff and the Bulletin and the new folk on some of our rosters. We do need however, people particularly interested in our community support work and being involved in the Mission and Outreach Committee, and perhaps willing to serve as elders. You might wish to be on the planning group for Founders’ Day 2009. At our May congregational meeting we hope to address these vacancies and gaps.
Second, I would like to think we have greater opportunity, in addition to our Sunday worship, for prayer, worship, study and fellowship. It has been heartening to see our Wednesday morning communion service steadily grow; we need also to explore possibilities of how we might be able to build on this. The successful Saturday morning breakfast with Michael Northcott showed this time was possible for similar functions.
Third, our relationship with our ever growing and dynamic Carlton community is critical. Our postcards were good, our support for Chaplaincy at Melbourne Uni has been good – but how are we relating to the wider Carlton community needs some further thought.
Fourth, our community service work is inspiring – and we should be very proud of the respect and regard we have earnt through our emergency relief, women’s program and drop in centre. There are however, issues. How do the two congregations - the Monday to Friday people we serve and the Sunday congregation - relate and fit within our overall mission goals.
All of this comes to the obvious need that we need to be clear as to our particular goals and mission. Certainly it was something Doug encouraged us to consider. We need our own 2020 Summit to share our own big ideas and be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
So – so far so good; I look forward to the next 100 or several 100 days.
Grace and peace,
John
