No 7 – February 2011
Crows Nest Uniting Church
Cnr Shirley Road & Nicholson Street, Crows Nest
crowsnestuniting.org.au
From Michael’s desk—The Year of 2011
Already we are near the end of February in a new year and Christmas has long receded into memory. Phyll and I enjoyed a great holiday in Tasmania, following Christmas, and I hoped that time might march slowly for a little while, so I could savour the holiday and stay close to it, even though I know that time doesn’t work that way!
The time we are in at the moment, and it too will quickly move on, is a time of reflection, preparation and planning for the year ahead. At the last Church Council meeting, on 15.2, we reviewed the year past and looked to the year ahead (you can read more about that elsewhere in this newsletter). It was a great experience to list all that we have done, achieved and valued from 2010. It is all too easy to overlook such recollections and achievements, which is ironic because they are a source of strength and inspiration when we look ahead.
As I look ahead to 2011, one thing that is clear is that being a faith community that relates with people of other faiths is a key aspect of who we are. Curiously, we sort of fell into this... When I first initiated inter-faith relations in 2009, here at Crows Nest, I did not know that it would be so welcomed and sought after. It was an experiment and experiments work sometimes, and not at other times.
I am currently talking with a Jewish community (the one that some of us visited last year for a Sabbath service) to organise a special joint service later in the year, followed by an interfaith picnic down at Berry Island. In a recent conversation with members of the Social Committee, it was also suggested that we might soon look towards a gathering of Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Jewish friends. A great idea!
I increasingly see faith in our postmodern world as an experiment… Experiments only reveal something when they are enacted. It’s a necessary risk. We are guaranteed far less then we were in the past. Not only has the place and nature of church in society changed, but the construction and articulation of faith has changed. Whereas there was one religious path, now there are many. That means that the way faith was understood now has to engage a new and different world.
While there are losses involved in this, there is also much more ‘room to move’, to question and to explore. It is true that we will have to live with more anxiety, and our ability to hold that anxiety well will be a major determinant in the success of our explorations. It is also the case that the opportunities for imaginative ways ahead have increased.
Join me again on this journey in the year of 2011…
Treasury
and Property Update – Bessie Dumbleton
We are now receiving rent from the new leases we have over our Holterman Street properties. The original manse and the Holterman St hall are both leased by Phoenix House for their work with
young people. The Holterman Street Church building which has served as the Performing Arts Centre (PAC) for many years is now being leased to The Lighthouse Church. It is lovely to see such a beautiful building back in use as a place of worship. The leases will bring in $6,400 per month, plus amounts charged for car parking spaces used by the tenants. In recent years the PAC and Holterman Hall have only had rental income from casual hirers. Having long term, full-time tenants makes our cash flow more stable and easier to predict. In early February, the Shirley Road Preschool generously paid their rental for the 2011 year in advance. Given that they are paying such a large sum ($21,307) in advance their rental for the current year was not increased.
Just when it seemed that the management of our properties would take a little less time, we have received notice from our long term tenant of the Waverton Cottage that he will be vacating in a month. This means we will now have to find a new tenant and also, while the property is vacant, we will undertake any updating and/or repairs that may be needed.
Other properties such as the hall above our Church and the hall at Waverton continue to bring in rent from casual hirers conducting meetings, the elections and groups such as pilates, the guitar society and the Little Panda Club. Many thanks to our Administrator, Joyce Lum, who takes bookings for our properties (which can sometimes take some juggling), ensures rents are up to date and ensures that our properties are clean, safe and well-maintained. Joyce also tries to find new hirers to increase our rents whenever possible.
The importance of our properties to our Church cannot be overstated. Income from our properties not only pays for the upkeep of the properties but also makes up the shortfall between the cost of our Church activities and the income from our Church activities, largely the offerings taken at the Sunday services. For the current financial year I have estimated that the shortfall between offerings and the cost of the Church activities will be approximately $47,000. It is expected that the net income from our properties will make up this shortfall. If anyone would like more details of the income or expenses of the Church and properties, they are welcome to contact me at any time and I will explain this issue more fully. Our properties are a legacy of the hard work of past congregations and we should appreciate the resources they give us for our worship today.
The Church Council recently appointed a sub-committee, chaired by our minister, to look at planned giving in our congregation. The last time we had a planned giving program was in 2005. The Council decided it is appropriate to raise this matter. They will look at how best to address it in the congregation, and will keep the congregation informed.
Family Outreach—Sally Yabsley-Bell
Happy New Year from the Family Outreach Worker!
We had a great year last year, with lots of new growth in our outreach.
Our relationship with the local community nurses is growing. Now they feel safe calling me, to help out families in need and for mothers needing someone to talk to. I feel that this will be a very rewarding relationship to continue this year and to grow where possible.
We ran our first holiday club in September and made some great connections with Preschool families. This resulted in good numbers at the Christmas craft afternoon and better connection between me and Preschool kids. Now, I can’t walk to my office without at least 2 kids running over to say ‘Hi’ and to tell me some news. The holiday club would be a great thing to keep running this year. It not only helped the families that came, but also raised money for the church.
Our family service had lots of fun outings last year, from games afternoons to going out for dinner and a great end of year picnic. We got to know lots about each other that we hadn't had time for before. I look forward to growing the relationships we have started. I will be putting out an events list with dates soon.
One of my plans for this year is to get a youth group running on a Friday for kids in years 3 to 6. We have a really great group of kids at our church and I'm looking for ways to support them during the week, as well as on Sundays. I have great memories of my youth group when growing up, and I hope we can build something the kids will value just as much, if not more.
If you have any ideas for how you think the church could better “outreach” to the community around us I would love to meet up with you and talk about them. So I look forward to your continuing offers for volunteering and getting to know you all better this year.
Kids Alive—Deb Lee
Another
busy year at Kids Alive has just flown by. We still have a steady stream
of, on average 10 - 12 children each week. One of our older children has now become an informal
"helper" when we have a large crowd (thank you, Joseph). I hope
to encourage our older group members to participate in small "leader"
tasks through this year, as well as joining in during the services (any
ideas of how we might do this would be welcome). We have already enjoyed
the musical talents of Ellen on the flute, and look forward to more!
I am hoping that we can use more of a roster system for Kids Alive this year. I would love to hear from anyone interested in taking a session (guide notes and other resources are available). You don't have to have children in the group; they are a very welcoming bunch!
The children did a great job on "Celebrating the Generations" Sunday. They helped to bake and serve morning tea, as well as making their debut performance in two short plays with that veteran of the stage, Alison Sandow (thank you, Alison!) . We also spent some time this past year learning about other religions and cultures, while the congregation has been sharing fellowship with visitors from other faiths.
We look forward to exploring many themes from the Bible in coming months and ideas from the children too, thinking about how these can be reflected in our everyday lives in practical ways.
Thanks again to Doug for his regular help and others who support us in other ways, the children really appreciate it when people from our church community take an interest in what they are doing.
Kids out the back—Lin Gourlay
At
the end of last year, we said farewell to Joy Hardge after 24 years on the
staff at the preschool. Joy has
retired to Scotts Head to enjoy the beach. We also said good-bye to Denise Antella, one of Joy’s staff
members. Denise was employed for
20 years.
Now we welcome Alexandra Huntington, our new 2-day Director. Alexandra comes to us well-qualified and recommended from the UnitingCare Preschool at Forestville. Tenley Betts, our 3-day Director will work closely with Alexandra. We also welcome Dora Li who takes Denise’s position as a childcare worker in the 2-day group.
The Management Committee has been quite busy over the Christmas break managing the negotiation and eventual successful lodgement of an Enterprise Agreement with staff. This came about due to new awards for staff that were not as generous as the old awards. We wanted to maintain our staff pay and entitlements, hence an Enterprise Agreement. We are still awaiting a decision from UnitingCare Children’s Services on when they will take over the Preschool’s management.
Getting
to know Bruce Roy—our church web designer
I have been a
member of Shirley Road church since 1982, though from 1996-2003, I was involved
in ministry elsewhere in Sydney. Shirley Road has always been my Sydney home
church. I come from Cairns, went to boarding school in Charters Towers for
three years before six years of training for the ministry at the University of
Queensland and the Presbyterian Theological Hall. As a student I had
"student home missionary" appointments around Brisbane - a way of
funding theological training before scholarships were invented!
I was ordained
into Maranoa parish, based in Roma (5 hours west of Brisbane). My three
children were all born there. I moved to Maryborough North for a brief period
before being asked to go into full-time military chaplaincy. This took me to Townsville,
Viet Nam, Puckapunyal (Vic), Kapooka (near Wagga Wagga), Brisbane (two
postings) before coming to Sydney (three postings - the third of which was for
seven years at Training Command then located at Georges Heights).
When I retired
from full time Army chaplaincy, I was appointed part-time Principal Chaplain
for Protestant Denominations. This
left the way open for me to take on part-time Intentional Interim Ministries at
Coxs Road North Ryde, Neutral Bay and Turramurra, and provide
"supply" at Randwick-Maroubra and St Ives for short periods.
I was also
involved in training of Intentional Interim Ministers and was on the Synod
Selection Panel (for applicants for candidature in ministry). Currently I am
convener of the Synod's Committee for Discipline, but thankfully have hot had
anything to do since I took over that role!
I married Bev
Cameron in Shirley Road's Sunday morning worship on 17 December 1989 - when the
call to worship for that 3rd Sunday in Advent was "Strengthen the weak
hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
'Be strong, do not fear!'"
Bev is also a
minister. Between us we have five children and 13 grandchildren.
My passions
include visiting family in Cairns, Brisbane and Ballarat, and maintaining and
researching the family trees of my mother and father. This latter led me into
tinkering with web page design. I also lunch regularly with friends, preferring
such small encounters to bigger parties and crowds! You may have noticed.
I celebrated my
recent 70th with my eldest and his family at Arrawarra Headland, north of Coffs
Harbour. A surprise element of the celebrations (apart from prawns by the kilo)
was a chopper flight - actually three, since my son has six children and three
flights were required for the full company of 10.
Useful information
Church office: Administrator:
Joyce Lum — ph: 9439 6033
email: crnestuc@bigpond.net.au, Office
hours: Tues & Fri, 9.30– 2.00
Minister: Rev Michael Barnes — ph: 9439 5851
email: mbarnes1@primusonline.com.au
Family Outreach Worker: Sally Yabsley Bell,
ph: mob 0402 572 060
email: sally@broomball.com.au