St John’s Anglican Church Toorak

Welcome to The Anglican parish of St John the Evangelist 86 Clendon Rd Toorak VIC 3142 PH 98261765

Vicar Archdeacon Dr 30 September 2012 Bradly S Billings

our mission statement Eighteenth

What we have seen and Sunday heard we announce to you also, so that you will join us in the fellowship that after Pentecost we have with the Father and with his son Jesus 8am Holy Communion Christ. A Prayer Book for Australia 1995 1 John 1.3 10am Sung Eucharist A Prayer Book for Australia 1995

www.saintjohnstoorak.org

NOTICES

Diamond Jubilee High Tea Back to Church Sunday Get your outfits ready for this Sunday 7th October - our guest glamorous and elegant will be Athol Guy of The occasion. Dust off your tiara, Seekers. (10am service only) diamonds and pearls for our Back to Church Sunday is an lavish Diamond Jubilee High opportunity for each and Tea. Champagne, Door Prizes every one of us to invite a and Raffle, plus a wonderful family member, a friend, a musical program. Saturday 13 neighbour, or a colleague, to October at 3pm in the Buxton come “back to church.” It Hall. Tickets $50. This is an gives us all, together, a further event not to be missed. opportunity to welcome Bookings now being taken by visitors and guests. Invitation Sally in the office (9826 1765) cards will be available soon. or email In the meantime, please [email protected] consider using the Back to Payments must be received by Church Sunday prayer Monday 8 October. (below) and see the information sheet in today’s Royal Memorabilia required pew slip for more details.

We are planning a display at the We thank you Lord that you upcoming Diamond Jubilee created us and loved us more High Tea of Royal memorabilia than we can ever know. celebrating the Queen's reign. If Without you our lives would you have any items that you be lost, but through Jesus you think would be suitable and are have given us all things richly willing to lend them to us for to enjoy this occasion please call Karen – the forgiveness of our sins m 0401 517 893 or Brad on and the gift of life eternal. m 0421 638 950. We pray that we and our church family will be bold in

inviting our friends to Back to Church Sunday.

We also pray that all who come CMS Link Missionaries to church on that day, will be On Sunday 21st October (8am warmly welcomed and blessed and 10am services) we with a desire to know you welcome link missionaries more. May this Back to Church Andrew and Helen, with Sunday be a day of celebration Jacqueline and Alyssa, for of your love for all people, their first parish visit in three through Jesus Christ our Lord. years. Andrew and Helen will Amen speak about their ministry over the past three years at the Organ recital point of the sermon on this David Brown (former day.

Director of Music at St John’s) is giving an organ recital at St th Confirmation Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday 7 Bishop Paul will lead a October at 5.15pm before the service of Confirmation at 6pm evensong. 5pm on Sunday 11th

Sunday October 14th November at St John's, for a The vicar will be absent on small group of girls from St Sunday 14th October due to Catherine's School. archdeaconry commitments. Expressions of interest from Assistant Priest Hilary will lead others considering the morning services that day. Confirmation may be directed to the Vicar. Brad and Karen will be guests of the parish of St John's Bentleigh for their patronal festival.

WORSHIP Director of Music - Professor Mel Waters

This Sunday: 30 Sept Next Sunday: 7 Oct Eighteenth Sunday after Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (green) Pentecost (green) 8.00am - Holy Communion 8.00am - Holy Communion

A Prayer Book for Australia, p.119 A Prayer Book for Australia, p.101

Hymns: 152; 499; Gather 404 Hymns: 111; 93; 569 Esther 7.1-6, 9-10, 9.20-22 Job 1.1, 2.1-10 (C Papageorge ) (T Craddock) Ps 26 Ps 124 Hebrews 1.1-4, 2.5-12 (B Mouritz) James 5.12-20 (C Papageorge) Mark 10.2-16 Mark 9.38-50 Celebrant: Bradly Billings Celebrant: Bradly Billings Preacher: Bradly Billings Preacher: Bradly Billings Intercessor: Ted Mouritz Intercessor: clergy

10.00am – Sung Eucharist & 10.00am – Sung Eucharist & Baptism Baptism - Back to Church

A Prayer Book for Australia, p.51 Sunday. Hymns: 152; 430; 499; Gather 404 Printed order of service Esther 7.1-6, 9-10, 9.20-22 (H Nye) Hymns: 111; 93; 134; 569 Ps 124 Ezekiel 34.11-16 ( M Lincoln) James 5.12-20 (M Moore) Ps 26 Mark 9.38-50 Luke 15.1-7 Anthem: How lovely are the Anthem: Amazing Grace (Trad) messengers (Mendelssohn) Motet: For the beauty of the earth (Rutter) Motet: De torrente (Handel)

Celebrant: Bradly Billings Celebrant: Bradly Billings Preacher: Bradly Billings Preacher: Bradly Billings Intercessor: Keith Beecher Intercessor: clergy

5pm Evening Prayer 5pm The annual blessing of the Pets and Animals (Messy Church 4-6pm). No evening prayer today. PRAYER NOTES World & Nation: For those who lead us in the We pray for Anglican Christians Anglican Church: working for peace in so many The Most Revd Philip Freier, troubled parts of the world. Archbishop of Melbourne The Church in Wales (Abp Barry The Right Revd Paul White, Bishop of Morgan); Mission Agencies of the the Southern Region.

Anglican Church of Australia; For our CMS Link Christ Church Grammar School Missionaries: (Guy Mason, Principal); St John’s Andrew; Helen; Jacqueline and Alyssa. Diamond Creek & St Katherine’s, St Helena & St Michael’s For the sick and all in need: Yarrambat (Di Nicolios, John Sophie; Beverley Smith; Capper). Matthew; Phillip Treloar; Hazel Lord; John Saunders; Susan; Duncan Ansell; Those celebrating birthdays: Jenny Williams; David; Ann Brewer; Jane Anderson (Mon); Claire Pat; Alan. Beecher (Wed); Patricia Turnbull (Sat). For those in nursing homes and those who are house bound: Those being married: Nan Milner; Randall Watt; Kent Winzer & Lisa Larkin; Ivan Betty Blomfield; Lorna Mirfield; Lam & Dorothy Leung; Dorothy Hughes; Marge Smith. Nick Bradfield & Zdravka Markus. Give thanks for those whose Those being baptised: Anniversary of death is this week:. Lucinda Haig. Geoff Gellie; Bobby Polk, Dale For our link parish: Teasdale; Joyce McMullen; Bethany Christ Church, Tallangatta, and Moulding; Gwendoline Pithie; John for their vicar, Revd Canon Thomson; Sir Frederick Wiltshire; Malcolm Halford. Rosemary Ironside; Andrew

For schools in the community Lockwood; Paddy Carter; Harley Geelong Grammar School Toorak Enniss; Eve Ffrench; Graham Campus (Glamorgan), Head of Jennings; Alexander Gillespie; Campus Garry Pierson; St Margaret Heath; Amy Holt; Robert Catherine's School, Principal Law-Smith; Marjorie Leviny; Diana Sylvia Walton AO; CRE program Macindoe; Doris Scott; Jackson and teachers at Toorak Primary Symons; Ian Woodroffe; David Young; School. Mary Cranbourne; Marjorie Keech; Jane Robertson; George Fowle; Enid The Toorak Ecumenical Gardiner; Shirley Hawthorn; Gordon Movement: Keech; Will Mcdougall; Ben Palmer; Pray for our partner churches: Jean-Paul Steiner; Vivienne Walshe. St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church, Toorak Uniting Church, Flowers by the Book are in loving The Swedish Church. memory of Ian Woodroffe. PASTORAL LETTER September 30th

In life, in death, O Lord Abide with me!

So wrote the Scottish Anglican, Henry Francis Lyte. His now famous hymn, almost always sung today to the haunting tune Eventide’ (composed by Henry Monk), was completed just weeks prior to Lyte’s death in 1847 of tuberculosis in the south of France. He is said to have recited the newly composed hymn during his last, emotional, sermon, in the Devonshire church where he was vicar. Lyte’s hymn is unquestionably a prayer to God, invoking (pleading) for the abiding presence of the Almighty in the midst of the trials of life, and as he neared the end of his own life. The words, and their real life context, make this a common funeral hymn, although genuine English football (soccer) fans (like your vicar) know that it is also sung by the crowd just prior to the kick off of the FA Cup Final each year. In our own nation, this hymn is frequently sung on Anzac Day, as part of a service of remembrance.

I was reminded of Lyte’s wonderful hymn over the course of the past week as we welcomed through Holy Baptism no less than nine people in a single weekend (including two adult mothers, baptized with their respective children during the course of the 10am service last weekend). There were also weddings at St John’s on both the Saturday and Sunday of last weekend, as is quite normal at this time of year. In the midst of these celebrations, I was preparing two funerals, both for Monday, both involving the unexpected death’s of two much loved people, one in her fifties and one in his sixties. When a quiet moment finally arrived at on Monday I sat at my desk at home, reflecting prayerfully on the events of the past three days, with a glass of French red wine, and a collection of hymns by a Welsh men’s choir playing in the background. I couldn't help but pause and let the words of Henry Lyte’s hymn wash over me, and seep into my soul. In particular, the majestic last verse.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. Like all of the baptized, I expect, I often take for granted the fundamentals of our Christian faith, which is the belief and the knowledge (through faith), that someone is there – in life, in death. We are not alone and never alone, in all of the joys and sorrows of life, and everything in between. There is nothing quite like a beginning or an ending to sharpen one’s focus on this. I’m thinking of the joy of a new birth – a literal one, such as the birth of a child, so often associated with baptism which in our tradition normally involves very young children; but also the new birth of faith symbolised by every baptism of any person of any age. A marriage too, is of course, a new beginning for the couple concerned and their families, and a time of great joy and celebration. Every birth, every baptism, every marriage, is (should be, must be) accompanied by celebration, and by joy. The child born, or baptized, or the couple being married, loom large in our thinking at that time – we celebrate with them, we are happy for them, we fuss over them, buy gifts for them, and wish them well in the journey that lies ahead. At the other side of every begin- ning is, of course, an ending. When a life ends, that person looms very large for those who knew and loved him or her. We celebrate their life, and give thanks for them, and that we knew and loved them – but our celebration and our thanksgiving is, rightly, tinged with sorrow and with sadness. As a priest of the church, and as vicar of a busy parish like St John’s, I sit with people most days who may be celebrating a birth, planning a marriage, or preparing to farewell a loved one. What a wonderful privilege it is, to communicate to people from all walks of life and at all stages of the journey of faith - through the provision of our sacred space, with its prayer-filled walls, and through the beauty of the ancient liturgy of the church, the music that accompanies it, and all that we do on these occasions - the fundamental reality of our faith that we all take for granted day by day. God is with you. In joy, and in sorrow. In life, and in death. And, because God is there, the Christian church is there for you too – in your need, in your joys, in our sorrows. The hymn writer, and priest, Henry Lyte, knew this, in a powerful and personal way. Even in the midst of his illness, and nearing death, his famous prayer, still sung widely today, was -

In life, in death, O Lord Abide with me!

The vicar Forthcoming events notice

Sunday 7th October: Back to Church Sunday at 8am and 10am, with guest Athol Guy of at 10am and parish barbecue afterwards

Sunday 7th October: Messy Church from 4pm, with the Blessing of the Pets and Animals at 5pm

Sunday 13th October: Diamond Jubilee High Tea at 3pm, Buxton Hall.

Sunday 4th November: Parish barbecue after the 10am service, Messy Church at 4pm

Sunday 11th November: Service of Remembrance with RSL (10am)

Sunday 18th November: Annual Meeting of the Parish, following the 10am service

Sunday 25th November: Feast Day of Christ the King

Sunday 2nd December: Parish barbecue after the 10am service, Messy Church at 4pm 7pm Ecumenical Advent Service at St Peter's. Our vicar, Brad, will preach.

The Garden of Remembrance in full bloom The Garden of Remembrance at St John's looks beautiful, in full, early Spring bloom. Thanks and appreciation goes to Trevor Craddock, the garden's champion over many years, and those who have helped him maintain it. This photo was posted to the St John's Facebook page last week and received the highest number of likes (30) of any photos posted so far!

This week at St John’s Saint John’s Anglican Church, Toorak

86 Clendon Road Sunday 30 September Toorak 3142 Baptism of Lucinda Haig during the Telephone : 9826 1765 10am service. Fax: 9826 4395 Noon - Wedding of Kent Winzer & Email: Lisa Larkin. [email protected] 2.00pm - Wedding of Ivan Lam &

Dorothy Leung. Vicar Thursday 4 October Archdeacon Dr Bradly S Billings 11.00am - Holy Communion PH (mobile) 0421 638950 Email: [email protected]

Saturday 6 October Associate Priest 3.00pm - Wedding of Nick Revd Hilary Roath Bradfield & Zdravka Markus. [email protected]

Director of Music & Organist Professor Mel Waters [email protected]

Marriage Ministry Co-ordinator Ms Gay Djumas [email protected]

Administration Mrs Sally Robertson

Prayer Chain Co-ordinator Mrs Annette Wilson 9822 8968

St John’s on-line Website: www.saintjohnstoorak.org