Trinity Sunday…

Have you ever been in a situation where everyone around you has an opinion about something which is very important to you, but you know there can only be one opinion which is right? This is the position the leaders of the church were in when the Council of Nicea was called in 325AD. Constantine, the Roman Emperor, wanted the church leaders to come together to settle the arguments over the nature of the Father and Son which were raging because of the opinion of a bishop named Arius who was quite charismatic and had lots of followers. Arius thought that Jesus was not equal to the Father and that they were not of one substance. In other words, he did not believe that Jesus was fully God. This teaching, along with some other teachings which were going around at the time, was making trouble for the church – and therefore the empire, so Constantine called together the leaders of the church to sort it out. The Council of Nicea was pivotal for the development of clear doctrine and biblical theology in the church. The gathered bishops argued the points of theology over many days, eventually wholly rejecting Arius’ theory as heresy and accepting that biblical truth says that Jesus is one substance with the Father, not created by the Father, but coeternal with the Father, not subject to the Father but coequal with the Father, fully God and fully human. Establishing this as biblical truth led to the writing of the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith for all believers which sought to set out in clear terms the foundations of our faith. The creed needed a little refining to make it easy to say and remember and its final form was established a little later at the Council of Constantinople in 381AD. The Nicene creed is a bridge between eastern and western churches. It is accepted by many orthodox churches as well as all major western denominations. It’s in our prayer books and used regularly for one very important reason – to make sure that we are sure of the centre of our faith and are not prey to heresy. This Sunday we’ll look at the Nicene creed, look at the importance of the statements about Jesus in it, and examine our faith through its lens.

Janice

This Week:

Regular Worship Times

Parish Contact Details

Notices:

Looking for a place to server…

We have opportunities at our Op Shop for volunteers. Training is provided and you will be assisted to obtain your Police Check and Level 1 Training Certificate if you don’t already have them. The Op Shop is at the heart of our ministry to the Dromana community, and we hope to grow this ministry, but we do need helpers to do that. Shifts can be as little as 4 hours once per month. Talk to Vicki Brown if you’d like to know more.

Team leader wanted…

A Team Leader is wanted to coordinate working bees for cleaning the inside of our lovely church every few months. Perhaps you are not up for the cleaning but are happy to lead a team who can, or maybe cleaning is your secret power. Either way, if this is you, please talk to Janice or one of the Wardens – Kevin, Mike or Jan Glass. Thanks.

Janice: Time off…

Janice will be taking leave from Thursday 26th June to Friday 4th July inclusive. There is no locum clergy to cover the Sunday service on 29th June, but our very capable lay leaders will be making sure our services go ahead. Wednesday service on 2nd July will also go ahead as usual. Arrangements have been made for local clergy to be available for any pastoral emergencies. Please contact Kevin Cranwell 0438234457 for any emergencies.

Men’s Breakfast…

The next Men’s Breakfast is Saturday 21st June, 8.30-10.30am. Roy Lindsay is our speaker. Come and listen to his tales of growing up on a farm in Ireland.
$7 for egg & bacon roll, coffee/tea & excellent company! (BYO gluten free bread).

RSVP to Steve Parkinson 0437984679 by Tuesday 17 June please.

For your diary: The next breakfast is August 16th. Graeme King to speak.

This Week’s Prayer Focus

In our country and the world:

• For all suffering loss and grief resulting from the NSW floods.
• For families suffering as a result of violence and home invasions.
• For all affected by the worsening antisemitic attacks around Australia and the world.
• For those facing homelessness, hardship, anguish and despair amid rising costs.
• For all in Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine and Myanmar.
• For all women in Afghanistan now banned from hearing each other’s voices.
• For those affected by natural disasters in around the world.
• For King Charles III, the UK and the Commonwealth.
• For peace and unity in countries around the World.
• For aid agencies such as “Save the Children”, Oxfam, CARE, UNICEF, World Vision.

In our community:

• For teachers and students.
• For doctors, nurses, paramedics, Coast Guard, the CFA & SES.
• For local community outreach groups such as the Dromana Community House and “Food for All”.

In our Diocese and beyond:

• A prayer for the election of a new Archbishop for our diocese:
  Eternal God, shepherd and guide, in your mercy give your Church in this diocese a shepherd after your own heart who will walk in your ways, and with loving care watch over your people. Give us a leader of vision and a teacher of your truth. So may your Church be built up and your name glorified; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
• For Archbishop Geoffrey Smith’s ministry as Primate of Australia.
• For Archbishop Philip Freier’s ministry in the Diocese of Melbourne.
• For the ministry of Bishop Paul Barker in the Jumbunna Region and Archdeacon Rev’d Sam Bleby, in the Frankston Archdeanery.
• In our Deanery, we pray for the parish of St John’s Flinders with St Mark’s Balnarring, their Vicar Rev’d Keiron Jones and Deacon Rev’d Christine Barren.
• For the work of the Church Missionary Society and Wei-Han the Victorian Director.
• For Anna Radkovic our CMS Link Missionary in Watamu, Kenya.
• For Christian churches around the world to be free to worship and be witnesses of the love of God as shown through the coming of His Son.

In our Parish:

• For our leadership and ministry teams.
• For Rev’d Janice O’Gorman.
• For the finances of our Parish.
• For our Parish, its people and those we reach out to every week.
• For the success of the new Family and Children’s Ministry.
• For the Alpha program, the leaders and all who will attend.
• For the 9am at home prayer time for the Parish, Dromana & Mornington Peninsula.
• For our Op Shop staff and all who visit each week.
• For all members of the Parish Council.
• For Hope25. That the Good News of Jesus will be known in the community of Dromana.
• For Lynda & Ian, family of Betty Holter (Joy Clayton’s mother), family of Bill Uhe, Robyn, Ellen, Phillip, Nikki, Jason, Bernadette & family, Noel and family, Rhiannon, Richard, Pat, Lorna & Peter, Keith S, Harry, Jen, Mike, Chloe, Ted, Monica, Jessica, Audrey, Backy, Fred, Robert, Jan, David, Guy.