St Michaels is a unique church. We are proud of our independent … · 1 day ago · 2 St Michaels is a unique church. We are proud of our independent spirit; seeking continually

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St Michael’s is a unique church. We are proud of our independent spirit; seeking continually to discover new ways to understand faith and to demonstrate it in our lives, and in the heart of the city.

As part of the Uniting Church in Australia, St Michael’s is committed to involvement in social and national affairs. We hold foundational Christian values of the importance of every human being, the need for integrity in public life and concern for the welfare of the whole human race irrespective of race, creed, gender, sexuality, status or age.

Church Council Chair: Laura Beckett

Treasurer: Ian Cox Secretary: Maree McDonald

Deanery I: Household Dean: Peter Anderson

Deputy Dean: Jack Morgan

Deanery II: Church Services Dean: Graeme Adamson

Deputy Dean: Albert Phillips

Deanery III: Contact and Care Dean: Lyndell O’Brien

Deputy Dean: Joy Arnot

Deanery IV: Programs Dean: Lorraine Woolley

Deputy Dean: Val Gill

Culture of Safety Contact Person (Keeping Children Safe)

Val Gill

Organist & Manager of Music Rhys Boak

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St Michael’s is a vibrant, progressive, inclusive church with a long tradition of nurturing the spiritual well-being of the human person and working for the common good in society.

♥ Our buildings may be closed, but our hearts are open. ♥

During the COVID-19 virus pandemic, we are offering Sunday Gatherings online – Reflections by our minister Rev Dr Margaret Mayman; biblical and contemporary readings from congregation members; beautiful music by organist, Rhys Boak and guest musicians; and prayers for these challenging times.

A video of this service will be available on the website and YouTube on Sunday.

http://www.stmichaels.org.au/ https://www.youtube.com/playlist/SundayatStMichaels

Francis Macnab, former minister of St Michael’s, 21st century

“The Ten Commandments: the most negative document ever written.”

Walter Brueggemann, biblical theologian, The Covenanted Self, 20th century

“Imagine what would happen if the church talked honestly about deabsolutizing all our quarrelsome

addictions of mind and heart that tend to make all sorts of things absolutes that draw our life into

knotted stomachs, clenched fists, and stern speech!”

Dorothy Soelle, feminist liberation theologian, 20th century

“God dreams for us today. Today, at this moment, God has an image and hope for what we are

becoming. We should not let God dream alone.”

Immanuel Kant, Philosopher, 18th century

“Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.”

Calvin Coolidge, US President, 20th

century

“I sometimes wish that people

would put a little more emphasis

upon the observance of the law than

they do upon its enforcement.”

Isadora Duncan, dancer, 20th

century

“We may not all break the Ten

Commandments, but we are

certainly all capable of it. Within us

lurks the breaker of all laws, ready

to spring out at the first real

opportunity.”

Dovesails (Ten Commandments) Arthur Dove

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Welcome to this online gathering. I’m Margaret Mayman, minister at St Michael’s Uniting Church in Melbourne. Wherever you have come from, wherever you are going to; whatever you believe, whatever you do not believe; you are welcome.

We begin our worship, acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have dwelled in this land since time before dreaming.

At St Michael’s we acknowledge the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation, on whose land this church was built.

We acknowledge that land was taken from Indigenous people without their consent, treaty or compensation. We honour the elders of the Wurundjeri people, past, present and emerging, and join with them, in hope for justice and reconciliation.

I invite you to acknowledge the First Peoples, on whose land you live.

A warm welcome to you – to you who are members and friends of St Michael’s, to you who have become part of St Michael’s through joining in online Sunday gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, and especially warm welcome to anyone who is checking us out or joining us for the first time.

Today we recall the ancient for wisdom expressed in the ten commandments, both critiquing and appreciating this understanding of how we should live in relationship with one another and the Sacred – seeing them not as negative rules that confine, but within a framework of commitment to live well as persons, to build the church as a compassionate community of justice-seeking friends.

If you are watching on Sunday morning, you are welcome to join our second Sunday @ St Michael’s Zoom Cuppa at 11:15am (by computer, tablet, or mobile or landline phone). We gather as a whole and then have a 15-minute chat in the breakout rooms with a small group of five or six. Information about joining is in the eNews and on our website under the Online Gatherings tab. The issue where the eNews link was not “live” has now been fixed. Apologies for the frustration that caused some people last week. We are learning as we go!

Having received so many encouraging messages from people participating in these online gatherings, we thought you might like to know a good way of sharing the good news: and that is to ‘like’ the video on YouTube and maybe leave a brief comment. That will help people who are looking for progressive Christian worship online during COVID find us.

With the whole church: we affirm that we are made in God’s image, befriended by Christ, empowered by the Spirit.

With people everywhere: we affirm Divine goodness at the heart of humanity, planted more deeply than all that is wrong.

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With all creation: we celebrate the miracle and wonder of life; the unfolding purposes of the Sacred, forever at work in us and in our world.

Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live, a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive; built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace; here the love of Christ shall end divisions:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true, where all God's children dare to seek to dream God's reign anew. Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God's grace; here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they've known. Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God's face; let us bring an end to fear and danger:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard and loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word. Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace, let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:

All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

Words and Music: Marty Haugen (1950 - )

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Gathering in this sacred time, we pause again to reflect, to feel, and to commit to thoughtful and mindful intention.

We wonder again about the ebb and flow of this living, breathing, expanding universe… and of this community gathered and apart.

We give our attention right now to each other, to new beginnings, to this time, to this season.

We celebrate this new early Spring day, and the new challenges and possibilities it brings. The universe is beginning to bloom again.

May this time spent in sacred silence, empower us to once again to be aware and open to the beauty and the oneness of all people and things.

A time of silent reflection

Remembering Jesus, we pray together -

Ground of all being, Mother of Life, Father of the universe, your name is sacred, beyond speaking. May we know your presence, may your longings be our longings in heart and in action. May there be food for the human family today and for the whole earth community.

Forgive us the falseness of what we have done as we forgive those who are untrue to us. Do not forsake us in our time of conflict but lead us into new beginnings. For the light of life, the vitality of life, and the glory of life are yours now and for ever. Amen.

There is promise, there is possibility, there is peace. May the peace of Divine Presence be with you!

And also with you!

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People are invited to send peaceful thoughts to family, friends, and wider community.

Then God spoke all these words: I am Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of Yahweh your God, for I will not acquit anyone who misuses my name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work. Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour. When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die." Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put fear upon God upon you so that you do not sin."

For the ancient search for wisdom, We give thanks.

Vocalise - Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)

The music of Gabriel Faure is well known and much loved. This vocalise, written originally for voice and piano is heard here today performed with the truly beautiful, haunting and rare sound of the Bass flute, played by world leading expert on low flutes, the New York born Peter Sheridan.

Peter Sheridan (Bass Flute) & Rhys Boak (Piano)

“Three things to remember” by Mary Oliver.

As long as you're dancing, you can break the rules. Sometimes breaking the rules, is just extending the rules. Sometimes there are no rules.

For the Spirit speaking still, We give thanks.

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“Rule bound or freedom bound?”

Our prayers of thanksgiving and solidarity, for compassion, justice and peace.

Holy One, on this day we pray for freedom, the freedom of justice and love, that heals the world. May the signposts on the Way remind of our calling to compassion and empathy. May our choices and actions will be shaped by care for others and tender love for our planet home. May our understanding deepen so that we may be good neighbours, peacemakers, joy bringers and hope bearers. May we be people who willingly get our hands dirty restoring the earth, opening hearts to welcome refugee people, and new migrants, building bridges and breaking down the walls of prejudice and bias. May we sit alongside people who are lonely and reach out to the ones who find it hard to live life well.

In silence, let us pray for the earth and its people, for particular people, places and situations known to us,

where comfort, justice and healing are needed.

In your many names, we pray, Amen

Our life is sustained by the generous giving of many. In gratitude we dedicate the gifts given to support the mission and vision of St Michael’s and the work of the Mingary Counselling Service and we rededicate our lives to the work of compassion and justice.

Each thing we have received, from the Sacred it came. Each good thing for which we hope, from Sacred love it will be given. May these gifts support the needs of others, and the work of the church, and may we live always with deep awareness and good intention. Amen.

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Word of God in human language For this time and in our tongue, Tell anew the ageless story Ever ancient, every young. May our heart receive the message of God's faithful, loving care. May our lives respond in action, living deed and living prayer.

All around the world is hungry for the liberating Word, food for spirit as for body, to be tasted, felt and heard. It is thus the Word encounters at God's own appointed hour, bringing knowledge and perception of true justice, peace, and power.

So God's voice continues speaking in the words we can't deny, sounding out across the ages! Will we answer or defy? As the call becomes still clearer, witness that the Word shall last. May we follow with commitment in the present as the past.

Words: Jane Parker Huber Tune: Austria

As the sun in its shining brings glory As the stars in the night scatter dark As the moon gives us hope in its radiance

So may the light of the Spirit fill our hearts and our minds and our lives, and all creation, this day and for evermore.

Amen.

Allegro from the Concerto in D Major KV 428 Il gardellino – Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Antonio Vivaldi, a contemporary of both J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel earned himself the nickname, The Red Priest, due to the fact he was both a redhead and a Roman Catholic priest. This concerto, Il gardellino, or in English, The Goldfinch celebrates bird song and nature, appropriate for the season of spring.

Peter Sheridan (Flute) & Rhys Boak (Piano)

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People have been asking how they can support the mission and ministry of St Michael’s when they are not able to make their offerings at church on Sunday. There is a ‘Supporting Us’ button on the St Michael’s website. We are very grateful for offerings that have been received from members and from the wider audience of people who are appreciating our online videos. If you would like to contribute, you can make an offering through the website by credit card or use online banking. A downloadable donation form is also available. Thank you. The online banking details are: St Michaels Uniting Church BSB: 083004 A/C: 515113338

“Three things to remember” by Mary Oliver, in A Thousand Mornings.

Lord’s Prayer paraphrase by John Philip Newell, Ground of All Being: The Prayer of Jesus in Color, published by New Beginnings, an imprint of Material Media, 2008.

Gathering words from A Time to Mend, Peter Millar p. 84

“Let us build a house where love may dwell.” Words and Music: Marty Haugen.

“Word of God in human language,” Words: Jane Parker Huber. Tune: Austria.

Hymns are printed and streamed with permission. Church Copyright License (CCL): 261070 and Church Streaming License (CSL): 569311

Peter Sheridan

Innovative and creative flutist, performer and teacher, Peter Sheridan has collaborated with some of the world’s leading composers, commissioning more than sixty works for the modern flutes. A passionate specialist on the low flutes, he has promoted these instruments in concert and master classes, appearing at the National Flute Association and British Flute Society conventions, as well as festivals in Japan, Holland, Canada and Australia. Mr. Sheridan has performed with the Los Angeles Flute Quartet, Hollywood Studio Symphony, Australian National Academy of Music Orchestra, Mannes Camerata, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Australian Pops Orchestra and for the Grand Canyon Chamber Music Festival. He recently had a hyperbass flute created that spans 32 feet and plays down to C0, which is featured on the new recording, “Monologues and Dialogues” (Move Records). Peter has presented interactive workshops, master classes and seminars for composers which explore the unique sounds, sights and possibilities of the modern-day low flutes. These educational tours have brought him around Australia and throughout areas of the United States, both performing and teaching to students and colleagues of all age groups. Mr. Sheridan is lecturer of flute for the Monash University School of Music and director of the University Flute Ensemble. As a Woodwinds Instructor at Donvale Christian College, he directs the flute ensembles and the Senior Concert Band. He holds degrees and certifications from Mannes College, University of Arizona, Goldsmith’s College (London), and completed graduate work at UCLA. Peter has served on the music faculties of La Sierra University, Santa Monica College, and El Camino Colleges in California (USA).

Flute studies have been with Sheridon Stokes, Jean Louis Kashy, Judith Mendenhall, Thomas Nyfenger, Bonnie Lichter, and Clare Hoffmann. His various flutes can be heard on Move, Sarabande, Warner Bros. Latina, Albany, and Innova record labels.

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During this time we are unable to meet together in person, we have put in place a program to assist everyone to continue to feel connected and supported. We have a team of members of Contact and Care and Church Council who are each keeping in touch with a group of people by telephone, to keep the important lines of communication open. If you would like to have someone get in touch with you for a chat during these times, please contact the St Michael’s office and leave your phone number or email address. The members of the Contact and Care Team are also available to talk with, or assist people, who are experiencing difficult times for any reason. If you would like to speak with a member of Contact and Care, please contact the St Michael’s office. All matters remain confidential. Lyndell O’Brien: Dean of Contact and Care Joy Arnot: Deputy Dean

We are a group within the Contact and Care team, here to support you, during this difficult and often concerning time. We extend a commitment to pray for yourself, or someone known to you, who is facing personal challenges. All requests are treated with confidentiality, sensitivity and respect. Kindly ask permission from the person/s concerned, if the prayer is not for yourself. To request prayer, please contact the St. Michael's office (9654 5120) and ask for a message to be forwarded, or speak with Catherine Jones directly. Meanwhile, please join us, as we pray for all the many concerns Covid has created. Also, light a candle and place in a safe window location, at 8.p.m curfew, to unite in prayerful hope with other Christians. Thank you. 'Dear God, these circumstances will change. This situation shall pass.' 'God give us strength. Strength to hold on and strength to let go. Amen' Catherine Jones, Prayer Tree Leader

Our minister, Rev Dr Margaret is available for pastoral care meetings by phone. Please phone the office to arrange a time for Margaret to call.

https://www.facebook.com/stmichaelsmelbourne/

https://www.youtube.com/user/StMichaelsChurch/videos

Podcast www.soundcloud.com/stmichaelsunitingchurch

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In light of the COVID-19 State of Emergency in Victoria, St Michael’s Sunday Gatherings will be offered online for the foreseeable future. Links to videos, orders of service and the latest eNews are on the front page of our website.

Thursdays at 11am- noon (join anytime) Meeting ID: 834 6407 7308. Passcode: 000405

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83464077308?pwd=NnIrWFA4VlN2bEEvcE4vRUhnblpudz09 One tap mobile: +61731853730,,83464077308#,,1#,000405# Australia Telephone audio only: +61 3 7018 2005 Australia (use meeting ID and passcode)

The Mingary Counselling Service is now offering services via Zoom in addition to telephone services (with the counsellors working from home) for new and existing clients. If you require counselling, please contact the office and we will arrange an appointment.

“RSVP to the banquet of life.” Rev Dr Margaret Mayman

Music: Bruno Siketa (Trumpet), Katherine Norman (Soprano) & Rhys Boak (Organ)

Sundays at 11:15am- 11:45am (join anytime) Meeting ID: 922 9211 8658. Passcode: 494938 https://zoom.us/j/92292118658?pwd=YkJLS25JYmVZekxKRG9nRXpTNUZFUT09 One tap mobile: +61731853730,,92292118658#,,,,,,0#,,494938# Australia Telephone audio only: +61 3 7018 2005 Australia (use meeting ID and passcode).