Society Reports

ADELAIDE

The sick list has been busy, Raymond Nicholls has had surgery for removal of his gall bladder and is now on the road to recovery. Meanwhile, June Johnson tripped down a concrete step and received two fractures in one foot. June resumed walking without crutches just in time to attend the Assembly.

Four from Adelaide went to Stanwell Tops, a fantastic location. Samuel pulled out at the last minute and June had to make frantic alterations to the flight ticketing which resulted in Ken Johnson replacing Sam at considerable cost. Although Ken is not a Church member he was needed to help June with the travel. Randall and Pauline attended on way home from visiting family in Nelson Bay.

On a cruise to Cairns just prior to the Assembly Randall was stunned to find himself sitting next to Kevin Attwater at the safety drill.

We will celebrate New Church Day on June 17th and we extend our best wishes to our sister Societies.

Randall Rabone

BRISBANE AND SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND

At our family services Rev. Brunne has commenced a series of Sermons entitled “Adventures of the Apocalypse” basing his sermons on the Book of Revelation. Continuing and well-attended Northside and Southside Reading circles are held monthly with subjects from within the Writings.

A new attendee at our services is Guang Bin Liu. A recently retired Senior Lecturer in Human Physiology at the Southern Cross University of Queensland, Guang is currently translating Heaven and Hell from English into Mandarin. He also has started a Chinese speaking intensive group, meeting weekly to study Heaven and Hell.

Our New Church Day service will be held this year on the 24th June. The service will be followed by our traditional lunch and celebratory cake. At this Service our previous full-time organist, Allison Chambers will be playing for us.

To our sister Societies best wishes for a joyful New Church Day.

Diane Thompson

PERTH

At the time of writing for the last issue of The New Age, we in Perth were anticipating a retreat run by Reverend Darren Brunne. Well, we had this retreat and it was a real treat to have Darren amongst us and to be lead by his boundless energy into the workshop entitled,”The Armour of God” based on Ephesians 6:10-20. We all enjoyed working with Darren through the stages of the workshop from “standing firm and being a watchman” to “the sword of the spirit”.

Our accommodation was in the Perth hills at a lovely centre, which was originally a large family home now converted into a retreat centre. It was very comfortable and being small suited us well. The food, catered for by the proprietors could not be faulted, catering for all dietary needs and tastes.

Being now into June it is time to look forward to our celebration of New Church Day which we will do on Sunday, June 17 with a special service followed by a catered luncheon.

It was with great pleasure that we welcomed 4 adults and seven children from the Aurora group to our service on June 3rd. It made for a very lively and happy morning with so many lovely little children in our midst. We look forward to their presence again in the near future.

Several of our members have been travelling again on a cruise to Japan and New Zealand. It seems they were glad to be home again after contracting bad colds aboard ship.

The ladies are planning a lunch at a cafe on the banks of the Swan River very soon before Trevor and Joy head north again for volunteering in the Pilbara for some three months.

The Rocke’ family have had some difficult health issues lately with both Lyn and Fleur being hospitalised recently for surgery. Both thankfully are now on the road to recovery and we pray that will be fairly speedy.

Our greetings go out to all readers for the coming New Church Day. In the words of the Royal Wedding preacher may you all experience a wonderful feeling of love in your lives as we celebrate the coming down from heaven of the New Jerusalem.

Joy Moffat

SYDNEY – ROSEVILLE

We are now in times of transition and great changes. If you were to come and look through the windows of the manse, you would see it completely empty (for the present) as re-carpeting and painting get underway in preparing the manse for our next minister and his family.

Our Saturday Angel services and Sunday services continue on – as do several other things – but on a slightly-reduced scale, with the last Saturday and Sunday of each month not having a service for the next few months. The second Sunday service of each month is being covered by lay worship-leaders for whom we are extremely grateful.

Julian and Ruth moved up to Port Macquarie on May 24th and they have already been down to Sydney for one weekend and will be doing that each fortnight.

Early in May we had the last of many years of Bible Studies, where this year we have been using various themes. After it we went out for an enjoyable lunch just around the corner.

The Swedenborg Centre continues to hold regular opportunities for people to meet up and talk in a relaxed way, mostly about spiritual ideas and some questions. These have been very much appreciated. Joe Vandermeer has been living in at the manse for the present and has been extremely helpful and active in moving things out and around.

We shall be celebrating New Church Day on Sunday June 17th and we extend friendly wishes to all other New Church societies and groups.

VICTORIA

Just like a great tennis player, Rev. Glenn Alden completed his tour of duty with us in a flurry of Services before he and Mary departed for home on April 3.

His Grand Slam consisted of Harvest Festival on 18 March, sharing centre court with a family of vegetarian delights and other comestibles; a regal Palm Sunday; Good Friday with a combination of readings and contemplative music; Easter Sunday with Holy Supper and appropriate hymns and newer songs, lustily sung.

Following the Easter Service, members and friends gathered in the hall to enjoy a farewell lunch, provided by the Church. There was lots of chatter before the farewell formalities, during which both Glenn and Mary were presented with gifts of appreciation from the Church.

Glenn and Mary had continued their respective spiritual growth series until the very end and they also continued their much-enjoyed Dinner for six at the Alden’s program, which will be fondly remembered.

Saying goodbye to Mary and Glenn was not easy, for they had made such a significant contribution to the life of the Church and provided useful pointers for the way ahead. Their friendly indefatigable energy was inspiring and infectious.

We held our Annual General Meeting on April 15 to review the year ended 31 December 2017 and to appoint directors for the next two years. Those elected were: John Cook, Klaus Drevermann, Alexis Jarvis, Neville Jarvis, Karl Robinson and Marika Sivak. Being elected for two years last year, I will continue as Secretary until the next AGM.

In March, a contract to sell the Mt. Waverley premises was finally effected. Negotiations continue with the purchaser concerning our final vacating of the premises. The Church Board is now actively considering our requirements for the future as a precursor to searching for an alternative location.

Finally, on June 3, the church pews groaned under greater numbers than usual with the joyful baptism of Neville and Alexis Jarvis’ granddaughter Lucy. Rev. David Moffat conducted the aquatic proceedings which included a lovely Greek tradition of having a large, lit candle being led from the altar to the rear of the church. At the conclusion of the ceremony, attendees lit smaller candles from the main one, symbolising taking our light from the light of the Lord. Lucy behaved impeccably throughout the whole proceedings.

Helmut Lopaczuk

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