Letter from Father Ian
Greetings Friends,
I hope you have enjoyed and recovered from the Christmas/New Year festivities! Already, we are almost into February.
Our annual parish AGM is coming up on the 26th February. We will be having our normal 8.30am Service {I will be commissioning all our Lay Assistants during the Service} We will have time for morning tea, then the AGM at 10.00am. There will be more information in the pew sheet and on line as we get closer to the day. I hope you will, along with the Parish Council reflect on all that we have been able to do over the last year and think about our future direction.
I will try to cover all what we have been up to, but if you have any questions or concerns please contact me.
The Christmas Services were outstanding, thank you to all who made it happen. The Lessons and Carols were very special and the Choir enjoyed it so much they will be back for next year! We were lucky with the weather, it was not too hot! For next year we will try having Wine and Cheese from 7.00 to 7.30pm, the Service from 7.30 to 8.30. The Service at Ironpot was a great credit to the community there. And they have decided to continue Services during this year every second month on the first Sunday from February. Wooroolin will continue on the third Sunday each month.
There are number in our Parish family who would like to spend a bit more time on Sundays reflecting on the Scriptures and in discussion. So there will be a get together in the Gilday Centre on the second and fourth Sundays at 10.00am after morning tea. All are welcome to attend and contribute.
We will be continuing the Meditation time at 10.00am on Wednesdays. The Wednesday Holy Eucharist will be moving from 11.00am to 10.30 am to allow time for a cuppa and fellowship after. It will also be held in the Gilday Centre to take advantage of the air-conditioning and facilities.
As you may remember back in October we had a couple of videos made and used them for advertising of our Christmas Services at the Cinema and on social media. At Parish Council, we reflected on their effectiveness. We did have quite a few phone calls enquiring about the Services, and we did have a number of visitors. We felt that the Cinema was not as effective as we hoped. We will still use the videos during this year on social media as they are so well made.
We did have a Parish discussion about the pews and I was pleased that so many felt safe enough to share their thoughts. We have had an offer to store our excess pews in a safe secure location, so we will be doing that for the time being. No pews will be sold.
This is in a way part of our direction for this year, The Council reflected that we did so much last year, this year will be an opportunity to consolidate and gather information on the steps we will need to make in the years ahead. As part of this planning we will be looking to do much more visiting and a number of parishioners have volunteered to be part of our Pastoral Care ministry. I hope also to encourage family members to make more use of Zoom and our website and social media. I am only to happy to assist in setting up your phone, tablet, laptop or computer.
The Giving Tree was a great success allowing us to give $635 to CTC to help young families with back to school expenses.
We have been considering having a Parish trip to the Solomon Islands later in this year, quite a number of parishioners have indicated their excitement at the idea. As I have been exploring the possibilities to do this, quite a number of challenges are before us. Issues like transportation, accommodation and health are just a few. It will need a handful of us to go over later this year to survey the situation and to have a clear idea of the programme that is realistic. The Bishop is really supportive and suggested we make use of the time to build relationships with the Diocese and Parishes before we go.
The roof at St Michaels is still not finished. Most importantly it has been repointed very well. We have not paid out on any of the work and will not be doing so until it is finished. Every time I contact the Contractor – he is coming next week!
Over the last month we have been updating our Parish Roll and transferring it to the Ucare programme which will assist us with a more effective Pastoral Care Ministry.
Shaun presented the financial statements for last year, and they are well on their way to being audited. When taking into account the amount we spent on overdue maintenance and the generosity of the giving, even though we ended the year in the red. It was most encouraging. The full audited accounts will be available for the AGM, but they are always available at any time if you would like to look them over. It is most important that all our finances are accessible, clear and transparent. If you would like to see the Balance sheet and profit and loss please contact any of the Wardens or myself.
One of the issues we face in Kingaroy is transport. There have been a number of events that I would have liked to promote but have been unable to do so for lack of transport. There are no buses to hire in town, those that are come with a driver and a price tag. So often I would like to take a bus load to Ironpot or Wooroolin or a theatre party, a picnic. We have a beautiful Parish Car. So after much discussion with Parish Council, we are exploring, keeping the car and buying a cheaper/older 12 seater bus and trailer that we can use for these events. It can be stored at the Rectory on the new concrete side path. The Bishop is supportive and has some contact about a bus that may be available shortly. When we have the full details it will come back to the Parish and the Council for us to decide.
The Bishops visit to the Parish will be on the 12th November.
You may notice that there has been some gardening work done around St Michaels. Again thank you to all involved.
The toilet cisterns were in a bad way, so four new ones were purchased from Bunnings and I was able to install them last week. They are smaller than the old ones so a little bit of painting is needed.
A parishioner has a vision for a ministry of library/video/DVD exchange. We hope to have it up and running in the hall shortly.
On a personal note, I thank all for your support to myself and Robyne. As many of you are aware we have had a great sadness in recent times with the cot death of our great grandchild. we will be sharing our final farewells with family next Tuesday in Gladstone. As you can imagine it is a most traumatic time for the young mum and dad. I reflected over the too many babies and families I have had the privilege of sharing their journey of sadness. Many parishioners have shared with me their own sadness. To try and give some voice to the place a young mum finds herself, I looked for a way that might bring some comfort and confidence. I drew on a number of sources, particularly from mums who have been down this path, and put together this piece. You may find this helpful, if you find yourself in this sad place
I am a Mother
Mother………..A beautiful word.
What better word could you use to best describe giving birth to,
And nursing a tiny helpless human being?
A gift of life to treasure…..
But we were taught that once you give a gift to someone, you should never take it back.
What went wrong?
Mine was taken away from me!
Does that mean I wasn’t worthy to be a mother?
That somehow, I had failed?
That I did not appreciate this gift?
The gift was too precious to be given forever.
It was really, like all children only on loan to us.
Even in my sorrow, I feel so special, for I have reached the Ultimate.
From the Joy of Birth……to the sorrow of death.
I now belong to a special group who truly know this journey of Motherhood.
Would I have not accepted the gift, if I had known the terrible loss I now feel in it being taken away.
NO!........I would still hold out my hands and accept such a precious gift. For to love and cherish, even for a short time.
Is worth every tear.
Father Ian
