This is what church bulletin announcements usually say. This or that event is happening – please bring a plate! And this is what we are saying about this coming Sunday (11September). Straight after the service, from 11am, we are having High Tea in the manse garden to celebrate the start of spring together. It looks like the weather will be lovely – no rain and a top of 16 degrees – so please come along and please bring a plate! Read more…
The ‘writing’ she is referring to is the implementation of the February 2021 Special Assembly motions requiring all Baptist churches to affirm on a 5-yearly basis the basic doctrines, objects and core values of the Association, and all ministers to affirm these annually. These motions have caused considerable disquiet – for those who believe they are at variance with our Baptist values of freedom of conscience and the autonomy of the local church; for those who are concerned about what Read more…
I was reminded of another poem preparing last Sunday’s message! Did any of you read The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Aged 37¾ – probably many years ago now? (Not to be confused with The Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend!) My family were very keen on Adrian Plass and read not only The Sacred Diary, but also The Horizontal Epistles of Andromeda Veal and The Theatrical Tapes of Leonard Thynn and other books of Plass’s poetry and other Read more…
Two weeks ago, some of deacons and ministry team visited a range of different community programmes around this region. Our hope was to be inspired by what other churches and organisations are doing; to hear God’s voice speaking to us about our ministry here. Our first stop was the Common Ground site at Dickson. This is a really exciting ACT Government project to build 40 affordable housing units in partnership with Common Ground, an organisation that has developed five principles Read more…
I am very thankful for Steve’s refreshing presentation of the story with the emphasis on ‘there must be another way’ or ‘a better way for right now’. Since Sunday I’ve been thinking about the incredibly valuable contribution both the ‘Marys’ and the ‘Marthas’ bring to church life and relating this to where we are ‘right now’ as we consider the future ministry of the Currie Crescent Community Centre, the tangible expression of our church goals; to explore what it means Read more…
This Sunday, 17 July, Steve is preaching on the story of Mary and Martha and the things that distract us from what really matters. Then on Sunday 24 July (Term 3 – for those of you for whom school terms mark time!) I will be beginning a four week series on the book of Colossians – looking at what we, as the church, need to know about being the church; how we need to grow in our knowledge of who Read more…
As I said then: “As a community of faith….together we are the company of prophets of Canberra Baptist! We are called to care for the disadvantaged, to live out and speak out God’s justice and truth and love, to go through the necessary, but difficult transitions in our lives and our church, to step into new things welcoming each other’s gifts, caring for each other and witnessing to what God is doing amongst us.” How do you feel about this Read more…
May the mind of Christ my Saviour: Devotional for Holy Week “May the mind of Christ my Saviour…” was written by Katie Barclay Wilkinson (1859 to 1928). Very little about her except that she worked with young women in West London, and was connected to the Keswick Convention, a movement to promote deeper devotion to Christ in the Church of England. The hymn first appeared in print in 1913. The hymn was originally written as a daily devotional, and the Read more…
Would you like to hear some good news? Last week in the 2022-23 Federal Budget the government announced an additional 16,500 places for Afghan refugees. You might remember back in January Immigration Minister Alex Hawke announced the government would allocate 15,000 visas over four years for Afghan nationals fleeing the Taliban -10,000 within the existing humanitarian program and 5,000 from the family stream. Groups such as Christians United For Afghanistan protested that this wasn’t enough and was simply taking places away Read more…
“G’day, Everyone! I won’t beat about the bush. After church this Sunday, come to the Open Table Lunch at the manse! We can talk about the three ships – fellowship, partnership and sportsmanship! Go ‘Relay for Life’!” That is my homage to John Clark’s wonderful children’s talk on Sunday – brilliantly executed by Kerstin Wallace and Stephen Gee! It was a wonderful service, so thankyou to John and to John! Captain’s calls don’t have the greatest reputation, but this was Read more…