News & Articles (Page 4)

Just when you thought there weren’t going to be any more ‘Wow’ moments in our new Church and Community home, along came ‘Team Spratling’ . . . Hugh and Margaret . . . to add a whole ‘rain forest’ to the ‘Upper Room’ in the form of forty-five lovely indoor plants which have filled all the holes, designed to hold greenery, which are part of the office filing furniture. Hugh and Margaret are much-loved members of the Church community and…

I woke to the sound of falling rain on the tent. Quickly dressed, I unzipped the tent door. The clay pan we had camped on, wet and slippery, the rain steady.  A sand dune emerged in the early morning light, the sky black, foreboding.    Suddenly, I realised those travelling with us were beginning to leave our camp site. I looked around.  Tents, stretchers, camping gear were being loaded into vehicles in the predawn. It was June 1999. We were…

How did you first get started in your musical career ?I was very fortunate to go to Melbourne Boys High School and had many amazing experiences, opportunities and wonderful teacherswho mentored my passion for music and singing. I then began my career as a professional singer in 1980 singing with the Victorian State Opera Chorusand went on to tour with the very first production of ‘Pirates of Penzance’ at the end of 1983 for 18 months, where I eventually landed…

How exciting it is to be here, in celebration of this wonderful and powerful community public artwork. I wish to acknowledge and thank the funders of this project, the Uniting Church Asset Strategy Program, the Manningham City Council Community Grants Program and the Kirk Robson Theology and Arts Memorial Fund. I especially thank Peter and Natalie Robson for being here today it is an honour to host you and we hope we have honoured Kirk’s memory through this project. There…

See the highlights in photos around the opening of the Community Mural

Around 60 people including friends and family and ex- members of The Grove and members of wider MUC gathered on 26 June to celebrate the 166 years of worship at The Grove and to mark the closure of worship at this site. The service was led by Rev Swee Ann Koh with an inspiring reflection given by Rev Fred Webber.

Today we commenced looking at A Meal with Jesus (by Tim Chester) – part 1 in a 6 week study. In worship and the study following the service (which included a fantastic lunch) we looked at setting the table, grace and what is looks like to be invitational. Click here to read the reflection prepared by Rev Swee Ann Koh

The Mural team is excited to report that, following our consultation workshops with Katherine Gailer our artist, she has submitted her concept drawings for the four murals. Representatives from most of the groups, as well as the Mural team were present when she presented her drawings. We were all delighted with Katherine’s dramatic, colourful – sometimes confronting and emotional drawings. A few tweaks were suggested and incorporated by Katherine. Now it’s up to the painting! Follow the progress of the…

A special lunch was held to celebrate Megan’s contribution to our Ministry Team in her position as Seniors Ministry Coordinator over many years. The lunch is to say “thank you”, not “farewell”, as no doubt Megan will continue to be amongst us as her friendly, caring self and so will continue to contribute to our church in non-official ways. Megan, your influence on our faith and faithfulness will not leave with your departure.

As the idea of such passion week celebrations spread to other areas, various local rites and customs were incorporated into the Maundy Thursday celebration. Doubtless the best-known of these customs is foot washing, an old monastic exercise inspired by Christ’s example in the upper room and associated with the “new commandment” of love recorded in John 14 (hence the familiar name Maundy Thursday, “maundy” being an English corruption, via French, of the Latin  mandatum: “commandment”).

“But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:5,6) By the time you read these words from me, Easter is round the corner (Sunday, 17 April 2022). I asked myself, “What can I say to you before we celebrate Easter?” It’s been said that this world is a…

The world is horrified and sickened at the atrocities unfolding in the Ukraine. Every day the tragedy of stories and media visuals confront us, as millions of Ukrainians, mostly women and children leave their homeland and trudge through bitter ice and snow to seek refuge in foreign countries. Pushing prams, clinging to bags of meagre possessions they walk and often perish for want of food, water and warm clothing or simply of exhaustion. In besieged Ukrainian cities death is everywhere.…

Over the past week there have been a series of Mural workshops lead by the amazing Katherine Gailer – the community artist who has been engaged to complete the mural in the processional driveway. Four workshops were held – looking at Asylum Seekers, Social Justice & Equity, Sustainability & the environment, and intergenerational. Katherine will take all the bits and pieces from all the workshops and create 4 murals to depict each theme. For the intergenerational workshop the task was…

We’ve had a fabulous 10 week 1st term but it’s now the end of term 1 and there will be 2 weeks holiday from Playgroup. From 2 playgroups at the start of the year we now have 3 Playgroups and 2 Babies Playgroups.   We have had fun on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this term exploring all the colours of the rainbow with a special fun session the last week of term with the parachute and bubbles and lots of fun rainbow…

Manningham Uniting Church is preparing to launch a new ministry in the form of a Friendship Group for neurodiverse young people aged 12-16, called Catching Your Breath.  The phrase catch your breath commonly refers to the act of slowing down to enable you to breath normally after a period of intense physical exertion.  Likewise, we live in a fast-paced world, bombarded by stimulation and mental challenges that can leave us emotionally breathless, especially for those who live with anxiety and…