It was nice to catch up with our interstate friends at the Nunyara Retreat. Four members of the Adelaide Society were day visitors and as our membership has declined in recent years it gave us confidence and the feeling of connectedness a boost.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who suffered loss from the recent bushfires. Smoke was evident at Nunyara from fires in Adelaide hills and Kangaroo Island. It is estimated that 30,000 koalas perished on Kangaroo Island and many more native animals perished in the eastern states.

The stock market crash will affect the value of our Church assets as we have been trying to increase our assets in recent years by buying shares. Just have to ride it out and wait for the panic to subside over the Coronavirus, and also not panic over climate change as the Lord assures us not to worry over such things, he is in charge.

Randall Rabone

AUCKLAND

We have a church contact in NZ who has taken the initiative to set up a New Church online chat room. Below is the passage he wrote, which will give you an idea of the thinking behind it: I just have a submission for the next newsletter, a Discord chat server whose goal is to gather New Church people from around the world into a single discussion group. This is in response to a perceived gap in the New Church: the difficulty of finding active forums and chat rooms, which almost certainly impedes the spread of New Church doctrines and practices, let alone membership rolls, in the Internet age. People are thirsty, and they want actual conversation with patient people; not everyone is willing to get their instruction from wading through the Writings directly, as I have been. This is all voluntary and experimental, but I’ve witnessed how well this chat software works for other Christian servers: https://discord.gg/AVACWbQ Regards, Trent

This chat room has already got a good number of members and plenty of lively discussions.

News of people: Two of our senior members, Doreen Akrigg and Ray Streeter have had some health issues, with Doreen having a fall, and Ray undergoing knee surgery. Best wishes to them both for speedy recoveries.

Also, David Millar and Richard Keyworth are working to extend Logopraxis to New Zealand.                                                                 

Lis Keal

PERTH

The year of 2020 began with services at the beginning of February and on the third Sunday. Sarah Walker facilitated the first one with participants bringing along a reading to share. Trevor took the next one with the theme of ‘Getting things into focus’ This was well received with one worshipper saying how she enjoyed sermons for reflection enabling people to explore our spiritual growth with others.

Both of the Logopraxis groups facilitated by Sarah are up and running meeting monthly for a face to face activity. The ladies are in the process of planning a social together in the form of a meal and then a wander along the street ‘window shopping’ mainly in second-hand and gift shops.

Phillip Walker, son of David and Ros, who became engaged to Alexandria (Lexy) Bishop in June 2019 is to be married in March 2021.                              

Joy Moffat

SYDNEY, ROSEVILLE

The summer just finished is one that will be long remembered in Sydney. Even though the fires didn’t hit Sydney itself, it was smoke, smoke and more smoke. What does smoke correspond to? Must admit, I’m a bit hazy about that (no pun intended). Anyway, it has cleared now and it’s left us with a new appreciation of clean clear air.

On the church front, regular services and activities have resumed after our usual January hiatus. We’ve just had our usual AGM and Harvest Sundays, and earlier in the summer the Christmas activities followed the normal pattern. Although, without a Sunday school anymore, we had our minister Howard substitute a live Nativity Tableaux production with a ‘Legeaux’, a large-screen presentation charmingly telling the story with Lego figures. Howard’s and Debra’s whole family were with them at the time; their oldest, daughter Chelsea, was visiting from America with her boyfriend. In the last few years, it’s been rare for the Thompsons (5 in total) to have been altogether in one place. Howard’s ministries here and before this in Colchester, England, have meant their young family has for some time been very much split up between the UK, America and now Australia.

Now in his second year of ministry here, he has been working on an online outreach project designed to get people thinking about New Church ideas, and also hopefully prompting them to come along to the church. Although we can’t claim any success so far regarding this second goal, we are aware that it takes time for advertising of this kind to work. So, it is a matter of waiting and hoping.                                  

Wayne Kasmar

NEW CHURCH IN VICTORIA

Christmas It was a delight to have the children present at the Family Service on 1st December. Alexis Jarvis organised a pageant, wrote the script and made the costumes and props. Appreciative smiles were elicited from all those watching.

Milestones Two members reached nonagenarian status during December and January: congratulations were offered to Norma Whelan and Matthew Arnold on achieving such a significant milestone. Regrettably, Norma has not been in the best of health recently, suffering from vertigo, making it very difficult for her to get out and about and drive. Specialists are looking into the causes.

Fecundity For the second report in a row, it is a pleasure to report a birth: Cai & Vidura Jayaratne have been blessed with a girl, Hannah Vida, born on Australia Day Eve. Both mother and Hannah are doing very well as is the very proud father.

Spiritual Leadership The NCIV is pleased to announce the arrival of a beneficial virus into our midst, the David-20. Hopefully, it will enable the spread of our teachings throughout the wider community. David-20 and his partner Pam-20, arrived to take up residence in Melbourne as planned at the end of January, having survived the recent severe hailstorm in Canberra which wrote off their car.

A special Service of Induction for Rev. (“call me David”) Moffat as the Spiritual Leader of the New Church in Victoria, was held on Sunday 2nd February. The Service was conducted by Rev. John Teed in a beautifully unintimidating manner. Refreshments were served postService, organised by Alexis Jarvis.

David conducted his first Service Of Worship on Sunday, Feb 16 without incident and to an excellent attendance. David also led the first Swedenborg Association Friday night meeting of the year on 28th February. His presentation provoked animated interest from the attendees.

New Building Confirmation from the local council of our status as a place of Public Assembly is still being awaited. Discussions continue with our builder and the NCIV Board on the design of the new premises.

On the turn Autumn-ally,                           

Helmut Lopaczuk Secretary, NCIV

The SA History month has been very worthwhile, even though at times perhaps a little slow. Around the Adelaide CBD there have been about 200 functions going on. For us, the most interesting, has been a Granddaughter of Rev. J T Deacon, Dalece, who was most delighted to see where her Grandfather had preached and “worked” in the earlier city Hanson St. Church, particularly the chairs either side of the Altar and the Altar itself. Her Grandfather’s trade was that of a carpenter craftsman and it is very possible he made those chairs as he was well known for crafting chairs for prominent friends and families in Adelaide at that time. Dalece’s family were close friends with the “Irelands” another known New Church family.

A retired gentleman visited and over tea and biscuits, was telling us of when – being a planner in the Surveyors Dept. in SA – he so often had to work with George Goyder’s plans when applications came in. This gentleman was well versed in Goyder’s work and mentioned that his handwriting was not good at all and trying to decipher it often gave him headaches. He also told of us some interesting plans that were originally planned for Port Road for transporting goods from ships to the city, until trains came into being. Incidentally, Jacob Pitman designed and built the first railway bridge across the Torrens River – of which we have a print from the State Library.

Another excited visitor, an elderly lady, is a direct descendant of the Renwick and Chauncey sister families. Her happiness at seeing prints of the famous artist Chauncey sisters was lovely to witness. The two families apparently travelled out on the same ship in the 1800’s to Adelaide.

Most visitors asked for photocopies of some items, which we always did for them to take away. Three visitors have given us their email addresses for further contact and our interesting month of May has now concluded with happy memories.

BRISBANE SOCIETY REPORT

Early in May we welcomed back from England Alex Duff for a short visit to see family. Alex is the daughter of Anna and Eddie and a Granddaughter of Rev Bruce and Mrs. Lyn Williams.

Several of our Members are currently away on holidays. Anna Duff is in Canada visiting her other Daughter Georgie and Bev Sheppard is visiting her daughter Jane in England until mid-August. Brian and Gaye Heldon are in West Australia.

During the past month Margaret Lawler, Mother of our Secretary Darren, passed into the Spiritual world after battling illness for some time. Margaret was a frequent visitor to Church and our sincere condolences are offered to Darren and family.

Members who recently required hospitalisation were the Rev. Ian Arnold, Mr Doug Nash and Dr. Bill Wilkie, a new regular visitor to Church who required heart surgery. All are well on the road to recovery.

Our Easter Sunday Service was well attended with over 30 people in attendance. The New Church Day service will be held on June 16th followed by our traditional lunch. We extend New Church Day greetings to all our Sister Societies.

Diane Thompson

Postscript: The members and friends of the Brisbane Society warmly congratulate Ken and Diane Thompson who on April 19th (Good Friday), celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Rev John Teed, then the Minister and who conducted their marriage Service, was also the officiating Minister 25 years later on August 6th at the marriage of their daughter, Kristina to Matthew Smith also in the Rosalie Church.

Rev. Ian Arnold

REPORT FROM THE NEW CHURCH IN VICTORIA

The Feeding Of The [5,000 – 4,970]
After a perilous journey across the fiscal waters of Lake Real Estate, the SS NCIV finally docked at the ANZ wharf on 20th May 2019. Translating from the Aramaic: the church property in Mount Waverley has finally been sold! The vessel was originally meant to dock on 20th March 2019, but was delayed by the turbulent winds emanating from the shores of Last-Minute-Negotiation.

The cargo has been safely invested allowing the search for new premises to begin apace. The New Church in Victoria now moves into a new era of its life.

David & Pam Moffat
The cargo mentioned above has also made its impact in this paragraph. It allows the devil (hiding in the details) to be identified and managed, permitting the finalising of contractual matters with Rev. David & Pam Moffat, prior to their moving to Melbourne early next year, when David will take up the role of spiritual leader for Victoria.

David’s association with the Melbourne Society began in 1986 when his father, Rev Trevor Moffat, brought his family from Paisley in Scotland to take up ministry in Mount Waverley. David was seventeen years old. He became one of the regular organists, alongside Mrs Margaret Parker and David’s mother Joy. Melbourne University lists him as an alumnus with a Bachelor of Music.

David has expressed his enthusiasm to develop something fresh and new in the face of the decay of old forms of religion (as presaged by our teachings) and seeks to engage with creative, new approaches to ministry and what it means to be called, “church”.

Roslyn Taylor
Australian born, American holder of dual passports Roslyn Taylor, was officially welcomed among us following the Sunday service on 19th May which Roslyn conducted. She has come to Victoria for a month with a minimal American accent and a willingness to conduct Services, bible studies and weekend seminars. For all these things we are grateful. In addition, she is on-the-Eve (compared to the incorrect on- the-Adam) of being ordained and is also quite social, as the non-Photo Shopped image below attests.

Klaus Drevermann
Member and Director Klaus suffered a stroke in mid-May but is recovering very well. After nearly three weeks, his speech has returned to virtually normal and physically it is hard to discern any abnormalities. He is being encouraged to do light work and his wife Elke is assisting with activities to restore some areas of his memory.

Helmut Lopaczuk, Secretary, NCIV

SYDNEY SOCIETY REPORT

Currently our minister, Rev. Howard Thompson, and his family are spending time back in the USA. Howard, Debra and their son Lance are there attending the high school graduation of older son Ben who will be shortly starting a gap year here in Sydney.

Not so well has been our former minister Julian Duckworth. On the eve of an extended visit to homeland UK, a flare-up of Julian’s ongoing health issues meant it had to be cancelled. Instead, he and Ruth have had to temporarily quit their Port Macquarie retirement home for an extended stay here in Sydney with their daughter, Hannah, so he can receive the complex medical attention he needs. Despite all this he stays remarkably philosophical about it all.

With our most recent AGM came the retirement of our treasurer Graham St. Quintin after 22 years during which he did a mighty job. We are fortunate to have Joel Duckworth, Ruth and Julian’s son, taking over the reins from Graham. Joel is also applying his professional ideas and skills in IT and public relations to work with Howard in setting up an online presence for the society in an attempt to grow the church – something that Howard stated was going to be a definite aim in this new pastorate of his. Hopefully we will be having something positive to report in the future about this.

The General Church has held their ministers’ meeting for the Western Pacific area in the last week or so here in Sydney. We were delighted to meet some of them including Bishop Peter Buss at a brief get together at the Swedenborg Centre. A few days later at the Hurstville church we were all together at their Sunday service with a luncheon afterwards. It was a very enjoyable time had by all.

Wayne Kasmar

REPORT FROM THE NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND

Since the last report in the Summer 2018/2019 New Age, we have completed putting together a NZ-based website to promote the teachings and provide links to other related sites. You can find it at: https://www.newlight.nz
We are in the process of exploring options for advertising and promoting the website. Any suggestions for added content are always welcome.

It was nice to see some faces in Church that had been absent for some time. Shirley Hussey was a welcome attendee, widow of our beloved Frank Hussey, now in the spiritual world.

Also Regina Jaugietis now well into her nineties came to the service accompanied by her carer, Anna and her three children. We hope to see more of them all.

Randall used a sermon downloaded from The New Church College website and we thank David Millar for having these available.

The neighbours alongside our Church have asked if they can have a swimming pool delivered by crane over the fence from Church grounds; Ken hopes our lawn will not be too damaged.

The AGM is scheduled for September 23rd following the service.

Randall Rabone

BRISBANE

Our family services on the first Sunday of each month are continually well supported with the Reverend Brunne, over the last few months introducing and highlighting the inner meaning of the Adventures in the Apocalypse, being the seven deadly traps referring to in the inner meaning of the Seven Churches in Asia as we read in the early chapters of the Book of Revelation.

Over the past months two of our more mature members, Mrs Muriel Barrett and Mr John Sandow have had falls and both have back braces fitted. Another of our congregation Mr Doug Nash recently underwent a serious operation and from all reports had a successful outcome. We wish all three a speedy recovery.

Jordan Brunne, the eldest daughter of Darren and Renee left us in mid-August to attend college in Bryn Athyn where she initially enrolled in an Arts degree.

Recent visitors to Church are Cor, Sally and daughter Holly Visser-Marchant from Canberra who are in Queensland for a month house-sitting a property in the Gold Coast hinterland. Our Secretary, Gaye Heldon, spent around three weeks in the U.K. visiting family. Ruth Evans also had a quick visit to the U.K. late July.

Alexis, daughter of Paul and Ruth Evans is heading to Japan shortly with her Schools Orchestra, where she will be playing at various venues throughout Japan. Alex is a most accomplished cellist.

Brisbane New Church will hold its Annual General Meeting on the 21st October.

Diane Thompson

PERTH

Our New Church Day celebrations this year consisted of our usual church service and a celebratory lunch.
During the service Rev. Trevor Moffat gave a children’s talk with aid of a diorama of the Holy City, which he prepared for the occasion. His presentation captured the interest of children and adults alike.

After the service we all enjoyed a shared lunch. The service and the lunch were held in our usual venue, an Environmental Education centre, which we hire on regular basis. It is set in natural bushland and it is very inspiring and wholly appropriate for services of worship. Trevor had baked a cake for the occasion and had largely undertaken the organization for the day. Thank you Trevor.

Although we are meeting in a lovely venue, there is the occasional hiccup. Last week we arrived early for the service and found the environmental group already there, complete with animals and food, even though the booking was ours. We hastily relocated to the home of one of our members. It worked out just fine!

Trevor and Joy have been away in the north of the State since just after New Church Day. During the first month or so they were working as volunteer rangers at Millstream Lake near the Fortescue River in Millsteam Chichester National Park in the Pilbara area. After that they will be moving to a cattle station where Joy will be supervising the children’s education and Trevor will be co-opted as a handyman/rouseabout/watch-this-space. They will be returning to us in October. While at Millstream we heard that they had been canoeing on the lake. Life is tough!!
Brandon Pisani has just celebrated his eighteenth birthday. Congratulations, Brandon. He is in his final year at school and is also working part time in a real estate office.

Brandon’s mother, Fleur, is in the final stages of chemotherapy treatment – not a pleasant experience. The overall outlook is good and she is looking forward to resuming her life as it was. She is always in our prayers.

Services for our group continue to be held on the first and third Sundays of the month, with the first service being conducted in a generally traditional way. For the present time the third Sunday service will be a workshop format facilitated by Sarah Walker who is undergoing studies under the guidance of the NCIA College.

The Aurora group have been joining us for services and they of course are very welcome.

We hope all of our friends are well and pray that our continent gets a reprieve from the big dry very soon.

David Walker

SYDNEY

Well, the moment finally arrived when the Thompsons, Rev Howard, Debra and Lance arrived in Sydney on August 15th. Pretty tired after their long journey and from packing up their personal effects several weeks before, to be shipped here, arriving later in September. They have been staying in a delightful serviced apartment in Chatswood before moving into the manse and settling in there.
It is a lovely thing too that the Thompsons arrived soon after the Swedenborg Centre moved into the two front rooms of the building.

The Induction service was on Sunday September 2nd, led throughout by Rev David Moffat, the President of the New Church in Australia. A good number of people came for this occasion and the service went very well. The Sydney Society representative, Graham Hall, presented Howard for ministry of the church and promised our support and respect. Howard, with Debra and Lance nearby, was inducted, blessed, hugged and applauded.

A happy barbecue lunch followed, giving hopefully everybody present the opportunity to have at least a few minutes chat with the Thompsons.

David Moffat spoke with the children about the way he dresses when he cycles around Canberra and linked this with the way we need to be prepared properly when we get involved in living our lives.
David’s address started with a question: “Are you a pipe or a bucket?” He showed us in several ways – biblically, doctrinally, life-relatedly and really that the Lord wants us to be a pipe through which things can flow from the Lord through us and shared with the people around us.

Julian Duckworth

VICTORIA

In true Christian tradition, a resurrection has taken place at the church in Melbourne. Brought back from the dead by Mary Alden during her and Glenn’s stay with us earlier in the year, Alexis Jarvis has continued to roll back the stony door of silence leading to the hall, and filled it with the sound of chirpy children. Yes, the Sunday School has been resurrected on the first Sunday of the month. The children listen to Bible stories and undertake various associated activities which they afterwards proudly show to the adults present. ‘Moses in the bulrushes’ and the ‘Calling of Samuel’ were the focus for these months.

Rev. David Millar visited us from Adelaide over the first weekend in August. There was an open meeting on the Saturday afternoon when David ran a session on Logopraxis which stimulated much interest amongst those present. In the evening, David met with most of the Church Board members over dinner, enabling a wide-ranging discussion on church related topics and issues.

David also led our worship on the Sunday morning with 31 present including 7 children. David chose the Eli and Samuel story as the basis for his address on The Emerging New Church, without knowing that Alexis had chosen the same story for the children, a choice she made earlier in the year. Chance, coincidence or cosmic alignment? Hmm…

It was with considerable sadness that we heard the news of Adam Okienko’s passing into the spiritual world in late July after a long battle with cancer. Adam became a member of The New Church in Victoria in March 2006, although it is not known when and how he first came across Swedenborg’s writings and The New Church. In years gone by, Adam would on occasion, bring his two grandchildren with him to church so that they could participate in the Sunday School.

With our demographic firmly entrenching itself into the seasoned, senior citizen category, some of our members are coping with the bodily maintenance issues that go with the territory. However, we won’t dwell and in the sage counsel provided by those eminent philosophers Monty, Python and Co. “Always look on the bright side of life”, a philosophy followed by those that still manage to come to church, despite physical difficulties; always an uplifting sight to behold.

Helmut Lopaczuk

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

Services resumed in January and we used new technology for the first time.The Church has acquired an Apple TV and we accessed YYouTubeto watch a sermon by Rev.Todd Beiswenger, this worked well and we will use this resource from time to time.

Roslyn Taylor visited us from the USA during February and as she is studying with The New Church College it was an opportunity for her to give a talk and participate in our service on Feb 25th.?Roslyn stayed in our Church hall while she was here and did the rounds of visiting friends and family, having strong ties to the area. We hope that the C.O.M. will agree to allow females to be ordained in our Church soon, there seems to be procrastination on this issue. Roslyn would make an excellent Minister.

Randall Rabone

BRISBANE

Our Sunday Services resumed on February 4th after the Christmas – New Year break with the Family Service incorporating the Holy Supper. At this Service, we welcomed David Probert and his partner Paula who have recently moved from the Sydney Society to settle in Brisbane.

Prior to Christmas, a  regular attendee at our Services Mr Grant DeZilwa passed into the spiritual World after a long illness. Grants partner Katrina Haskaris who was recently baptized by the Rev. Brunne has moved back to Melbourne to be closer to family.

March Family Service will be highlighted by the baptisms of Liam and Olivia Lewis. Their Mother, Corrine was in the Religious Education Class at the Primary school run by the late Rev. Les Sheppard.

Early January the Church camp was held on the Sunshine Coast with over 70 people in attendance.

Diane Thompson

PERTH

Now that the new year is well underway, it seems a while ago that we held our Christmas Service followed by a long table luncheon. Trevor lead us in a very worshipful and uplifting service focussing on the true meaning of the Christmas story. Our two lovely children, Finn and Audrey Ralls, received attendance book awards during the service. The luncheon table looked lovely with all white cloths and crockery and decorated with red poinsettias. The meal itself, carefully prepared by the ladies, was thoroughly enjoyed by all present. Below is a photo of the happy participants.

As a lead-up event for the Christmas season several friends and families attended a carol singing event, where the Nativity was thoughtfully read interspersed with Carols. This was held at the village where Trevor and Joy Moffat now live. Trevor and Joy were in the choir for the evening, accompanied by the Salvation Army band. The evening was a lovely lead into Christmas. Several folk also went along to the City of Perth Nativity held in Supreme Court Gardens in the city. This was a wonderful evening with a beautifully portrayed rendition of the Nativity.

Our Logopraxis (face to face group) has begun in earnest with 8 of us meeting at the home of Sarah Ralls. Everyone seems to be benefitting immensely from this practice.?We are all looking forward now to a retreat in the Perth hills over the weekend of March 15-17. This will be led by the Rev Darren Brunne from Brisbane on the theme of “The armour of God”.

Until next time we wish all readers a wonderful time as 2018 moves along.

SYDNEY

Our services started up again in late January and the Angel Service on the first Saturday in February. Our fortnightly Bible study did too and this year we changed from years and years of working with a chapter or passage to looking at Bible examples of topics like ‘gates’, ‘clouds’ and ‘birds’.

Stella Green moved up to Tea Gardens on the Central Coast and she and her cousin’s daughter Merry joined us for her last Sunday in Sydney.

We had a happy Harvest Thanksgiving on March 11th with a smaller display than in many previous years but still looked good around the altar. That went to Chatswood Salvation Army who said that there are more and more needy families and many of them ask for fresh food rather than tins and packets.

A good number of us stayed on for the simple Harvest Lunch after church.

Ben Tranter, who has been coming to the New Church in Roseville and Hurstville for several years was welcomed into membership at our Annual Meeting in February and more spiritually in part of the service on Sunday, March 25th.

Ruth Duckworth went to England in February, had a special time with her mother and her siblings and also met up with Rev Howard and Debra Thompson which was very enjoyable and very useful.

VICTORIA

The first Sunday in December saw a delightful number of members and friends gather at the Church in Mt. Waverley to be part of the first service of worship conducted by Rev. Glenn Alden, five days after he and his wife Mary arrived from the USA, to begin their visit to Victoria. The service was followed by a welcome meal, catered by Alexis Jarvis, providing those present with an opportunity to informally chat with Glenn & Mary. It was great to see members of the Filipino families join us for the day and also Rev. John & Mary Teed travelling from Woodend to join the celebrations.

The spirit of Christmas was heightened by the presence of children at the Christmas Eve and Christmas morning services. The Christmas Eve morning service was in part directed towards the younger generation. Mary related the Christmas story to the children present in words and pictures, giving them angels she had made for hanging on their Christmas trees. Also present at the Christmas Eve service was Rev. David Moffat, President of the New Church in Australia who was down from Canberra visiting family in Melbourne.

The bounty provided by Reverend Glenn and Mary Alden has been plentiful. Their time with us will have extended from November to April 1, with an April 4 departure from these shores to the USA. Like the beavers of their homeland, they have been extremely industrious, for which we are most grateful. Glenn has conducted Services of Worship in Melbourne and Ballarat and spoken at our monthly meetings on Friday nights. Services held on the first Sunday of the month have focused on the family and it was wonderful to have more children present for the February family service.

Glenn and Mary have also led spirituality group sessions, which will have extended to nine weekly meetings by the time they leave. Glenn has been conducting The Joy Of Spiritual Growth sessions, including such intriguing titles as Letting Go of Criticism, Taming the Wild Elephant, Dealing with Lying. Mary has conducted the Rise Above It sessions, a wonderfully different and eminently practical look at working with the Ten Commandments in your daily life. They have also provided advice and guidance on the future of the church. A farewell luncheon for them will take place at the church on April 1 after Glenn’s final Service of Worship.

Not content with leaving it at that, Glenn and Mary have creatively instituted a Dinners For Six At The Alden’s program, wherein four guests are invited to have dinner with Glenn and Mary at their home, with time for discussion on what their beliefs have meant to them and a range of other topics. All reports as of this date, have indicated that the atmosphere and high quality of discussion was equally matched by the quality of the culinary offerings provided by our gregarious guests from the north.

Rose Robinson has had knee replacement surgery and her rehabilitation is going well. She will soon be well enough to leave her crutches in a cupboard and join us for Services.

On a sad note, we have recently been advised that Ian Stell, a loyal member of the Church over many years and Church Secretary for a considerable period, passed into the higher life last October after several years in a home. Ian left a small bequest to the Church which is greatly appreciated.

To conclude on a formal note (B flat, for those interested, the most formal of notes), the Annual General Meeting will take place on Sunday, April 15.

Helmut Lopaczuk

Our Church has now been finally repaired and restored to its original glory and was back in use for the service on 26th November. This re-opening was a special occasion as we were blessed with a visit from Rev. David Moffat who conducted the service with a sermon on “Judgement” and also performed a baptism: the great granddaughter and great grandson of June and Ken Johnson, Zoey and Jaxon’s father Daniel is New Church baptised by Rev. John Teed. Also Zoey and Jaxon are the 6th generation New church baptised in the family starting early/mid 1800s in the U.K.
The Reverends Richard Keyworth, John Teed and now David Moffat have performed baptisms for the same family in this country.
A shared luncheon was enjoyed before Rev. Moffat left for a meeting with Rev. Millar.
A carol service will be held on December 10th with a BBQ afterwards.
Adelaide sends love and goodwill to all the societies and their members.

Randall Rabone

BRISBANE

The A.G.M. in October saw both our Secretary and Treasurer stand down from their respective positions due to family, personal and work commitments. Fortunately, Brian and Gaye Heldon, both of whom previously held the Treasurer and Secretary positions, offered to again fill these important roles with the Society.

The meeting received and enthusiastically accepted an application from Mrs Vivien Lawler (Darren Lawler’s wife) to become a member of the Church. It is anticipated her formal induction will be held during the family Christmas Service.

Shortly after the A.G.M. our newly-appointed Secretary, Gaye, underwent an operation for hip surgery. From reports the surgery was successful and Gaye is recuperating and well on the road to recovery.
Christmas Eve we will conduct our carol service and we anticipate having Alison Chambers, our previous organist playing at this service.

The annual Church camp at Alexandra Headlands on the Sunshine Coast is fast approaching with final preparations nearing completion. We all anticipate the weather will live up to Queensland’s reputation at this time of year. Hot and Humid!!! Bring your 50plus suntan lotion.

To all our friends and sister Societies we wish you a holy, joyful, safe, peaceful and happy Festive Season and may 2018 meet your wishes and expectations.

Diane Thompson

PERTH

Our main focus and activity during the past months has been a very successful and enjoyable retreat. We met together at the Swan Valley Recreation Camp in the Swan Valley just out of Perth on the weekend of November 10-12. The weekend began with a presentation by Trevor and Joy on their three months in the north, with photographs showing the beautiful Millstream national park in the Pilbara. Following on showing life on the outback station of Koordarrie. Here Trevor fulfilled a very useful role of cook during the Station muster, cooking for up the 15 each evening.He became a dab hand at scones, sausage rolls and pasties to fill a hungry crew.
Joy spent a lovely three weeks in the schoolroom assisting the children with their lessons through School of the Air. All this lead into the theme for the weekend being usefulness. We went along having read several passages from the writings on being useful and the joy that brings to others but also to ourselves.
Saturday morning saw the theme being developed further with useful discussion.
Our two lovely children, Finn and Audrey Ralls enjoyed a session with their grandparents. Being quite hot some of us enjoyed a swim in the pool in the afternoon.
On Saturday evening Trevor lead us in further discussion followed by a meditative time together. As we were obliged to leave the site by 10 am Sunday most of us met at a lovely crafty cafe in the Swan Valley where indulgences in scanned, cake and coffees completed a lovely time together.
Our minds now turn towards the coming Christmas season. Collections are being made to make a donation to Saint Barnabas to assist the homeless.
A Christmas family service on December 17 will be followed by a Christmas lunch contributed to by the ladies of the group.
Trevor and Joy are feeling so very thankful for the medical profession and the health system in general when following a routine mammogram Joy was recalled and needed to have a lumpectomy. She has recovered well and looking forward to the future with confidence.
We take this opportunity to wish all readers a very happy Christmas.May the wonderful story of the Lord’s birth into the world be a source of inspiration to you all.

MELBOURNE

We are delighted to have Rev Glenn Alden and his wife Mary with us now, and they are, very readily and quickly, leading our church activities. We are all looking forward to their leadership and guidance over the next few months.
Glenn wrote just before they arrived, “Mary and I are looking forward to our fourth Christmas in Australia! What a blessing those Christmases have been. Though we were apart from our own biological families, and from many of the traditional things that make up Christmas in the Northern hemisphere, we were embraced by new families, families who enthusiastically embraced us and wished to share Christmas as they have celebrated it in the Southern Hemisphere.”
Our news of people: The past six months have been particularly difficult for Adam Okienko with periods in hospital where he has been receiving treatment for cancer, including chemotherapy. This has led to periods of feeling quite debilitated and tired. Currently the specialists are assessing whether or not further treatment is required at this time. Adam is feeling stronger in himself and we send him best wishes for an ongoing improvement to his condition; please keep Adam in your prayers.
We have been sorry to hear that Edna Sharp has not been well recently either. We trust that Edna will soon be on the mend and back to full health. Best wishes also go to Edna and husband Gary at this time.

Helmut Lopaczuk

AUCKLAND

At our AGM the church formally thanked three members for their service to the church.
John Mellor has stood down as President of the Church Committee after three years in the role. Although no longer a committee member John has said that he is looking forward to continuing to fellowship here at Ellerslie. We know that we can look forward to his thoughts about the Writings and his keen interest in analysing societal shifts.
Doreen Akrigg has moved into her new home and has passed on her myriad responsibilities that she has faithfully carried out for many, many years. Doreen has quietly and reliably oiled the cogs in the church. No doubt we will soon be very aware of just how many strings she has gathered together when something comes undone.
We also thanked The Rev. John Sutton. John has been retired for some time and along with Rev. Richard Keyworth (also retired) in the absence of a new minister, they have both continued taking a service once a month. At the AGM, John said he was stepping down from regularly taking the first service of the month. However, John has generously said that he would still be available for Festive services or if needed. John has also offered to coordinate our service on the first Sunday, and will use a ‘streamed’ sermon. John feels it is important to still have someone welcoming people to the service, leading in prayer, and giving a children’s talk. We are grateful for this input as it will mean that a streamed service, which could somewhat disembodied, will connect us in “real time’. John often involves the congregation in his sermons. Everyone contributes, including the children who share their thinking and are enlisted in handing out song sheets, pens, paper and other items that enable participation. Watching children tentatively leaving their parent’s lap to participate is always special.
We are very blessed at Ellerslie. We have two “retired” ministers who love to nourish. It is important however that as a congregation we do not take their generosity for granted by continuing to rely on them to shoulder responsibilities in the church that other members could meet. The introduction of a “streamed service” will enable us to think differently about the shape of things to come. We are taking first steps. We will share our journey with you.

Susan Heeps

We in Adelaide have been at a disadvantage in holding services since an out of control vehicle driven by an unlicensed driver crashed into the side of the Church building causing a wall to collapse and causing considerable damage.

The Church is out of bounds for health and safety reasons and we have been holding a reduced number of services in the adjoining hall. Hopefully, repairs will be completed before the end of the year. A surprising drop-in visit to Adelaide on their way home to Canberra from Perth were Jeremy and Jasper Visser-Marchant. June and Ken Johnson met the lads and gave them a quick sight-seeing tour between flights.

Thanks to David Millar for his article regarding same sex marriage; it was good to contemplate our Church’s perspective at a time that we are being bombarded with the views of populist pressure groups. The silent majority is being ignored but one is consoled in the knowledge that our teachings will eventually take hold and fill the vacuum.

Randall Rabone

BRISBANE AND SOUTH-EAST QUEENSLAND

June 18th the Brisbane Society began their New beginnings with the official opening of our new Church premises together with the celebration of New Church Day. Over sixty members and guests were in attendance and witnessed the installation of the WORD to its permanent place on the Altar by the Revs Brunne and Arnold.

Our special guests for our celebration and official opening was the Rev David Moffat, President of the N.C.I.A. David was accompanied by his Wife Pam. His New Church Day Sermon on SERVANTHOOD was interesting and thought provoking.

Following the service all enjoyed lunch including the cutting of special New Church Day cake. On August 4th Neville Barrett, one of our oldest Members, passed into the Spiritual World after battling a long illness. He was 91 years young. In earlier days Neville, for many years, was Sunday School Superintendent as well as an active Committee Member. His funeral service was held on the Gold Coast where he lived with his wife Muriel with the Rev. Brunne officiating.

Two of our members have recently been hospitalized and we are happy to report both have recovered well. Bev Sheppard is currently in England visiting her daughter Jane after stopping in the United States to attend a wedding.

On October 15th we will hold our annual general meeting.

Diane Thompson

PERTH

Our New Church Day celebration was a very happy time with a special service lead by Reverend Moffat. This was followed by a “long table luncheon”, the table being set with an all-white theme (tablecloths and crockery)  and red poinsettias as floral decorations. (See picture)

Our services on each third Sunday of the month are taking the form of an alternative style service and hopefully lead by a lay person. July’s service focussed on ‘Trees’ being our understanding and the leaves corresponding to perceptions. Participants were asked to choose a verse from the Word, write it on a leaf, and then tie it onto a branch. We then shared how we felt we could use these words in our daily lives. The service was led by Joy Moffat. In August Sarah Walker facilitated the Service focusing on Psalm 1. Prior to the service Sarah lead our monthly Logopraxis meeting. We are finding all the Logopraxis work quite challenging in terms of the tasks we undertake. However, we are at the same time experiencing great benefit in our daily lives. How fortunate are we that Sarah has stepped up to lead this group, as she has a very gentle and wise approach to our responses and our life’s journeys. Four ladies met for a very happy monthly get together at our favourite cafe on the beach in Trigg. We braved very strong winds to watch huge waves crashing on the shore, before being forced to run for shelter from a very heavy downpour.

We are enjoying some sunshine in Perth after a very chilly and wet time, during which two of our members have been quite ill with flu type symptoms and a very debilitating cough. David and Ros Walker are off on a car journey during September. They plan to visit places in South Australia and Northern Territory.

Trevor and Joy Moffat are away for two months in the outback. They are spending August at Millstream National Park as camp hosts, followed by September on Koordarie, a cattle station north of Carnarvon. Here Joy will take over the schoolroom to assist 3 children with their School of the Air lessons. Trevor will be cook for station staff during the busy time of mustering.

SYDNEY

Our services and midweek meetings carry on, with appreciation and also varying numbers. The New Church Day service looked, hopefully usefully, at how we can talk meaningfully and helpfully (and perhaps invitingly) to people who ask about the New Church and its beliefs and activities. We had a special morning tea afterwards.

The Angel Service had another Winter Solstice dinner after the service on June 24th, enjoying warming food of all kinds and an outside fire in the fire pit. There were 23 of us there.

One of our six overhead lights in the church came tumbling down one Sunday, not during the service but that afternoon, landing neatly between two rows of chairs but cracking. This has been replaced and we bought a second just in case.

Three of our members have had time in hospital, two with surgery, and they are now back home and doing well.

Work is beginning on the manse and its needs, with a lot of listing and planning. This and the fairly arduous work of steering the visa process takes a good amount of the time and attention of the committee. Graham Hanna and Elizabeth Kemmis are just back from a three-month car drive with friends over the west and north of Australia.

Our fortnightly Bible tutorial (very interactive) has recently finished Elijah and Elisha going since February. So it felt right to come to the Gospels and we are starting looking at some special features in Mark’s gospel.

VICTORIA

At the Annual Meeting it was agreed to go with the plan to sell the Melbourne church property and move ahead into new future directions.

Rev Glenn Alden and his wife Mary, well-known to many people in the New Church in Australia, have agreed to be here in Victoria for several months from November this year until after Easter in 2018. They are very experienced and have taken in many kinds of church activity and programs. Eva Teed, one of our beloved and devoted members, recently celebrated her 90th birthday and a good number of family and friends joined her for the occasion.

A Bible Study group has started meeting fortnightly from August and will run through September and October.

Karl Robinson and Helmut Lopaczuk

ADELAIDE

Some members of the Adelaide Church attended a reunion of the Holden, Darwin, Day and Ireland families on April 2nd. Dianne Roberts, gt/gt granddaughter of William Holden was the coordinator. Jacob Pitman and William Holden arrived here in 1838 and started the first New Church in the southern hemisphere.

Roslyn Taylor enjoyed some time here in April and caught up with family and friends. Roslyn was a help for June who was recovering from surgery which thankfully was successful.

A memorial service for Michelle Wade, daughter of Heather Wade took place on 18th May. The eulogy was given by Heather herself with other readings by June. A special prayer was said for two little ones left without a mother.

Ken Johnson has a badly broken collar bone after a fall and Liz Welling also is recovering from a very bad fall. Looking forward to our New Church Day celebration on Sunday 18th for 19th.

Randall Rabone

BRISBANE

The Brisbane Society are right in the middle of arranging their move to their new premises in Dutton Park. Using their new premises already, they will be dedicating the Word during their service for New Church Day on Sunday June 18th. We wish them every blessing and success in their move and their future. The words and pictures here come from their newsletter “Breaking Bread” and are used at their request.

NEW CHURCH DAY
Our New Church Day Celebrations fall on June 18t.h this year. During this service, our Brisbane copy of the Word will be installed and thus along with our new chairs this will be our official opening day. Invite your friends and family to come and celebrate these special events with us. There is also a strong possibility that the national president for the New Church in Australia, David Moffatt, will be present to celebrate the opening of our new spiritual centre. If so, he will be sharing the new church day message with us.

On Thursday, the 13^th of April, 2017, we took possession of our new spiritual home located at 1/24 Railway Terrace, Dutton Park. Our new community centre is so well situated for our community and the long-term goal of making Brisbane people aware of the revelation from Heaven given to Emanuel Swedenborg. We have a train station across the road, which would often be used by University students as they pass our building on their way to the University of Queensland. The PA hospital is also across the road and directly in sight of the Centre.

One week later, Thursday the 20^th, our container arrived with all our belongings that had been in storage for two years. After everything had been moved, we placed our attention on installing the Baptismal font. This proved to be a mammoth undertaking as the marble bowl that sits on top of the pedestal is estimated to weigh between 300 to 350 kg. When we did eventually get the entire font back together, we were so excited and relieved that we took the photograph above and sent it out to friends and members.

PERTH

Since our last report the ladies enjoyed a very happy weekend in a very comfortable house (Airbnb) at the seaside town of Rockingham south of Perth. Ably lead by Sarah Walker we engaged in a mini Logopraxis exercise using a section of Heaven and Hell.  This was a very useful introduction to this method of studying the Writings and we have now gone on to hold monthly meetings based on the readings from David Millar using the Arcana. This again is facilitated by Sarah. We are indebted to Sarah for her insights and leadership, and the time she puts into the sessions. Our weekend consisted also of several walks along the seafront, meals at cafes in the area and time to explore the area while enjoying each other’s company.

The ladies have also begun meeting on a regular basis for lunch on the second Tuesday of each month.  We enjoy meeting together sharing a meal and chatting about our families and issues we encounter. Even when there are only two or three ladies available it is proving to be a useful activity, one which we hope to continue.

Plans are in hand now for our New Church Day celebrations. We will hold a service at the earlier time of 10 am, followed by a long table meal. This will be catered for by the ladies and held at our new meeting place (an environmental centre) in North Beach.

Ros and David Walker do a lovely job taking their grandchildren, Finn and Audrey Ralls for Sunday School lessons each. service day. The children are always so happy to be there, and their smiling faces and happy noises are refreshing for us.

We hold our monthly service and lunch each first Sunday of the month, taken by Reverend Trevor Moffat. Beginning in May we plan to hold an alternate service on each third Sunday, and we look forward to various members conducting these services. The first held on the third Sunday in May will be a healing service. We look forward to this new venture.

It was a pleasure to have the President of the New Church in Australasia at our Easter Day service. David and wife Pam were visiting Western Australia for a well-earned holiday and to spend time with family and friends. So although David was on holiday several people took the chance to speak with him on church matters.

Our good wishes go to all our friends and readers for happy and meaningful celebrations for June 19. May the Lord be with you and bless you as you celebrate His establishment of a New Church in the heavens and on earth.

 Joy Moffat

SYDNEY

Our tremendous news is that we have received the acceptance from Rev Howard Thompson to be our next Minister here in Sydney from around the middle of 2018. He will come with his wife Debra and their son Lance. Here is the information that was sent out to members and friends and some others –

The Committee of the Sydney Society of the New Church is delighted to announce that Rev. Howard Thompson has accepted an invitation to become our Minister when Rev Julian Duckworth retires toward the middle of 2018.

Howard is an American, and trained at the New Church Academy in Bryn Athyn following an early career in the commercial world. He is currently the Minister of the General Church Society in Colchester, UK.

Howard, his wife Debra and their youngest son Lance visited Sydney at Easter, participated in many of our activities and saw a good deal of Sydney.  Debra and Lance will accompany Howard when he takes up his role here.  Lance will be attending high school.  Their older children Ben and Chelsea will remain in America.

Julian and Ruth have been a church team in Sydney for 26 years, with Ruth formally appointed as Church Officer in recent times.  We are happy that Debra, who has a background in arts administration, has accepted that position.

Sydney is an ever-growing city which has an ever-growing need of the teachings of the New Church, and offers great opportunities to the organised church to play its part in answering that need.  We are thankful that Howard and Debra will be continuing Julian and Ruth’s service here.

]]> https://thenewage.net.au/society-news-10/ Wed, 15 Mar 2017 03:01:53 +0000 http://thenewage.net.au/?p=798 ADELAIDE

The AGM of the Adelaide Christian New Church will be held on March 12 th following the Service and a light luncheon.

Ian Brock is a member of the Goolwa RSL and most importantly a war veteran from World War 2. Ian commemorated Remembrance Day on Nov.11 th at Goolwa. Another interesting facet to Ian’s life was his thrill of racing historic motor vehicles all around Australia and even in the UK.

Randall Rabone has been appointed President of Victor Harbour Social Dancing Association, who enjoy ballroom dancing twice weekly.

Our thoughts and prayers are with June Johnson who finds herself in urgent need of surgery to remove the left kidney. It has come about suddenly and we wish her a positive outcome.

Randall Rabone

BRISBANE

Exciting News!! After some 18 months of searching, the Brisbane Society have purchased a building for our new church premises. The location is Railway Terrace, Dutton Park which is approximately 5km from the C.B.D. And directly over the road from the railway station.

We expect to officially become owners on April 13 th so we will be able to celebrate New Church Day in the new premises.

Several of our members have been, or are currently overseas. The Evans family in mid-January went skiing and sight-seeing in Japan, Bev Sheppard is currently back in the United Kingdom for 2 months helping her daughter Jayne who broke her arm falling off a horse and is in the process of moving house.

Alex Duff, daughter of Anna and Eddie and granddaughter of Mrs Lyn Williams has moved to the United Kingdom for about 2 years, working and travelling throughout the continent.

Another temporary departee from Brisbane, Josiah Brunne is studying at A.N.U. in Canberra and was accompanied there by his Mum and Dad, Rev. Darren and Renee in February where Darren took the Canberra service. In his absence Rev. Ian Arnold took the service in Brisbane.

Diane Thompson

SYDNEY

We had the AGM at the end of February and welcomed Caroline Neave who will join our committee this year.

We have been pleased to have Ben Tranter, who loves reading Swedenborg, with us at several church services and classes recently.

Two of our members have been in hospital and rehab recently, including some time in the same place and so were able to visit each other. We wish them well in their recovery.

Our regular Bible tutorial has been looking at the stories of Elijah and down the track, Elisha, enjoying the spirit of these busy prophets.

In April, for twelve days from the 3 rd to the 15 th we will have a visit to Sydney from Rev Howard Thompson along with his wife Debra and their youngest son Lance. Howard is currently the minister at the Colchester Society in England and he has shown his interest in coming to Sydney after our minister, Julian, retires in May 2018.

We will be celebrating the Harvest very soon which is given over to Mission Australia the same day, who are always impressed and thankful. And we shall be looking forward to the Easter week and wish everyone a meaningful time and a sense of the Lord’s resurrection and renewal in our lives.

PERTH

It would seem that all ten of the people from Perth who attended the Stanwell Tops Camp on January had a thoroughly great time. There have been comments like, “A fabulous and inspiring time.” “Very well organised and run camp.” and “A great venue.” People appreciated the dedication of all the ministers attending and their valuable contributions to the talks throughout the camp. Also appreciated was the fact that it was not necessary to make a choice between two classes for the adults. So well done to all concerned and there will certainly be folk from Perth looking to come to the next camp.

Our new venue for services at the Henderson Environmental Centre near Trigg is working out really well. It is easy to get to for most of our people, is a lovely light and airy building and we have sole use of it for the three hours each Sunday we are there.

Sarah Walker has kindly offered to run a Logo Praxis Group here in Perth, following on from the visit last year from David Millar where he Introduced us to the concept. Seven or eight of us have taken up the challenge and are working through the readings. Thank you to Sarah for taking this on amidst her very busy life.

At the time of writing the ladies are planning and looking forward to a weekend away in Safety Bay just South of Perth. We plan to have some quality time together, some discussions relevant to our lives and how we can apply the Teachings. I am sure also, plenty of eating. Hopefully the weather will allow some swimming or at least lovely walks along the beach. Thanks again to Sarah for doing the organising of this for us.

Ros and David Walker have certainly got the cruising bug, setting off in February on a short cruise, Fremantle to Fremantle. This they really enjoyed apart from a very noisy cabin a little too close to the ship’s propellers. Over Easter, they along with Helen Cozens will do a tour of the North Island of New Zealand. Meantime, Joy and Trevor Moffat had an enjoyable weekend in Boyup Brook, south of Perth, where they volunteered at the Country Musical Festival. This then allowed them entry to the four days of great country music and bush poetry.

We wish all readers a very enjoyable and meaningful Easter time focussing on the Resurrection of the Lord.

Joy Moffat

A mobile Church service was held at the home of Randall and Pauline on 20th November, a shared meal was enjoyed after the service conducted by June Johnson.

Our Angel meditation will resume after Christmas. Adelaide Bible study is held in the Church hall on Thursday afternoons at 12.30 pm.

Computer awareness classes are held on Thursday mornings from 10.30 to 12.00.

Recently we have had the pleasure of live music at our Sunday services courtesy of Karl Villani. Karl plays his guitar and sings his own compositions.

A family reunion will be held on April 2nd 2017 in Adelaide for descendants and friends of Holden, Darwin, Day, Ireland and other early New Church members including Pitmans.

Two of our members David and Yvonne Bell have recently relocated to Cairns.

Randall Rabone

PERTH

Since our last report the Perth Group of New Church folk has been busy. The Beelu National Park at Mundaring, in the Perth Hills, was a fitting environment for the opening full day retreat, which Rev David Millar had travelled from Adelaide to conduct. The previous evening (Friday) was a social gathering at the home of Ros and David Walker, which took the form a meal followed by a welcome and get to know you evening.

During the weekend David introduced us to the practise of Logopraxis. Rev Trevor Moffat took the children for lessons on “Moses leading in the Wilderness”. The youngsters were proud to show off their expression of how the people were healed from serpents’ venom by a bronze serpent on a pole Sunday morning saw us meeting in the Henderson Environmental Centre at North Beach. We were meeting here to test the facilities with a view to using the centre on a regular basis as the hall we currently meet in, is about to be sold and we need to move.

David led us through a service of meditation, based on Psalm 4 with appropriate prayers and insightful sermon. During the afternoon we adjourned to the home of Sarah, Julian, Finn and Audrey Ralls for a final session followed by fish and chips for tea.

Brandon Pisani was unable to attend the final session due to the need to prepare for a school excursion that took him on a four day trek along the cape to cape walking trail in the deep South West of W.A. By all reports Brandon thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of this activity. Grandma, Lyn Rocke’, has told those interested that the experiences Brandon had on the trek have broadened his view of life.

Breaking with tradition we held our Christmas celebration on December 3 rd , (Saturday) in the evening. Everyone attending was able to join in the sphere and meaning of Christmas. Audrey and Finn Ralls were especially excited as they received attendance awards for their participation in our Sunday School.

The evening concluded with a sit down Christmas meal. Once again the ladies excelled in their preparation, presentation, and willingness to provide a great spread of food.

A group of some ten members are looking forward to joining in the National Camp at Stanwell Tops, NSW., and spending time after the camp exploring the sites of Sydney.

Rev Trevor and Joy Moffat are looking forward to being in the UK for Christmas with their daughters, Danielle and Suzanne, along with their families. Another reason for travelling to the UK is to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary with long time friends in Scotland.

Seasons Greeting to members and friends of the New Church throughout Australia and New Zealand from us in Perth.

Joy Moffat

MELBOURNE

Our Services continue on 1st and 3rd Sundays with a discussion group when there is a 5th Sunday. In October this was led by Karl Robinson who tackled the interesting subject of “Thumbs and Big Toes”. We had our first Christmas them Service on 4th December led by Rev John Teed and incorporating the Holy Supper. We are very grateful to John for his continuing service to our Society.

Our Lessons and Carols Service will be on 18 th December and there will be a Service at 9.30 am on Christmas Day. There will be only one Service in January, on Sunday 8th .

Those interstate who know Eva Teed will be sorry to hear that several weeks ago she fell and broke her left hip and two bones in her left arm. After a period in hospital and subsequent rehabilitation she is doing well and is ready to go home. She hopes to be at Church on Christmas Day.

We wish all those members in our sister Societies the joy and blessings of Christmas and a fulfilling 2017.

Alexis Jarvis

BRISBANE AND SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND

Services continue with our Family Service and Holy Communion on the first Sunday and the worship service on each third Sunday of the month. The Reverend Brunne also conducts a Sacred Circle group on the second Sunday.

Decembers third Sunday Service will be celebrated with the children performing a Nativity play during the service, which will be followed by our Christmas lunch. After this service the Brisbane Society will be in recess until the first Sunday in February 2017, with our Minister having time off as well as attending the Summer Camp with most of his family.

Over the past few services we have welcomed Mr Chris Atkinson who is a regular attendee of the Northside reading circle.

We wish all our sister societies a very merry and meaningful Christmas and a safe and happy 2017.

Diane Thompson