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P E T E R S H A M
A (Sometimes) Quarterly Newsletter
Inside this issue Moore for Mike Why is Mike going to Moore College from 2012 and what will it look like for All Saints? Page 3
Volume III, Issue No 10: December 2011
GROWING LITTLE CHRISTIANS
Blast from the past! Who was Sergeant-Pilot Robert Ricketts and why is he on an All Saints stained glass window? Page 2 The New Testament says very little about growing little ones in their faith.
Attention Visual Learners! Find it hard to read the Bible regularly? Like some visuals with your Bible reading? Check out what Jim LePage did! Page 4
Children are mentioned twice in the 'household table' (Eph 6:1, Col 3:20). Jesus himself encouraged the little ones to be brought to him 'for the kingdom belongs to such as these.' (Mk 10:14), and God reveals his plans to children (Mt 11:25). Further, they are witnesses to the miracles (Mt 14:21, 15:38). More surprising however is that the NT speaks of adults as children: 'children of God' (Mt 5:9, 45, Rm 8:14, Gal 3:26 etc...) and we are asked to become like children (Mt 18:3) depending on God as a child depends totally on their parents. I take it then that children grow in the faith much the same way as adults do - or perhaps we could say adults grow in their faith much the same way as children do. The question then becomes what are we dong to help kids grow in their faith? First, I want to impress upon us that this is the responsibility of each and every one of us. It is not simply the responsibility of the church, Kids church leaders, or even the
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parent to see that their kids are given every opportunity to grow in faith. If the church is the body of Christ (1 Cor 12) then the whole body must be concerned for the rest of it. This means all adults must, by virtue of being part of the church, be interested in growing little ones in their faith. (The opposite is also true of course, but it is less likely that kids will grasp this.) For this reason, the 10am service is very much designed to be a multi generational service. So, quite deliberately and quite biblically, our children join us in church for more than a few minutes as people arrive. The challenge then is to take an interest in the little ones, even if they are not your own! Next, we have tried very much to give the children a chance to see their adults 'at worship'. They see them sing the praises of God, they observe them reading God's Word, and adults and children pray together. Children will not only have the Bible taught to them in Kids church (Sunday school) but also in church. Continued page 2... 1
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GROWING LITTLE CHRISTIANS Church then loses any sense of being a place where they wait for kid's church to start and becomes a place of learning about God and a response of prayer. Do talk to your children or other people's children about these times together. Ask them what they thought of the kid's talk? Encourage and thank them for the kid's prayer (which by the way would be better thought of as a time of church wide prayer led by the children.) Talk to them about the continuous Bible reading especially on those weeks where the passage is more quirky or violent. The kid's offertory is also a chance for us to grow our kids in their faith. The idea is not to collect money for our sponsor child. It is not a revenue raising effort by the church, as the Parish Council is very happy to underwrite any short fall in the money collected for the monthly sponsor child payments. The objective is to teach compassionate concern and care from the youngest age, so that when they grow up they will be both habitually compassionate and generous with their wealth. For this reason, teach your kids to give from their own pocket money, or if that is not your pattern at home then to do a specific job that is for the sponsor child. Finally, can we make more use of our time together as a church at morning tea? There are some adults who deliberately try to speak with the youth aged members, but is there anyone seeking to chat or play with the children? The christian loves their brother and sister, loving them and wanting to see them grow and thrive in faith. This includes the little ones, and so we have an obligation to each and everyone of them. Hopefully I have sparked some thoughts in this area, I refer you to an excellent article available on our church website on How to make the most of our children's and youth ministries. Antony Barraclough
on the things I learnt and saw over there.
“I’ve grown and learnt more this year then I have in any other year of my life.” This year, I took a year off to do a gap year program called Year 13. The program involves setting apart the first year after high school for growing in maturity, in knowledge of the bible, and in your relationship with Christ. Every Wednesday night I would head down to Youthworks College at Loftus (near Sutherland) where I would do some lectures and other stuff with a group of people my age, all with focus of maturing in your faith and getting you ready for life outside of school. In the middle of the year I also went on a short-term mission trip to Fiji, which was really great! It was really encouraging and challenging to see what life and church looked like in another country, and I feel I left with a better understanding of the group, of God, and even of myself. I’m still learning and growing from reflecting
The community at Year 13 is fantastic. It has a really positive and welcoming feel to it, and it's cool getting to know 30 or so other people in the same phase of life as you, and who share the same faith as you. With help from the older and wiser lecturers, the community at Year 13 is a fantastic place to make friends and learn about life and God. All in all I feel through the study, Fiji, and through working at Church I’ve grown and learnt more this year then I have in any other year of my life. At the start of the year I felt very childish and not dissimilar to someone who was still in school, but now I truly feel like an adult, and ready to move into study and the workforce. Year 13 has helped me grow and mature into an adult and helped ground me further in my faith. This year has been such an amazing year. From talking to Year 13 graduates and lecturers you get an idea of just how good the year is going to be - but you can’t quite prepare yourself for just how incredible its actually going to be! I would highly recommend Year 13 to any school leavers, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, and in my opinion there’s no better way to spend your first year out of school! Daniel Higgins
Blast from the Past...
Sergeant-Pilot Robert Ricketts Memorial Window In the Porch The window on the right of the south porch is in memory of Sergeant-Pilot Robert Ricketts, who was killed while a Spitfire pilot in World War 2. The window designed and made by Mr. A. C. Handel 1945.1 The Chronicle July 1946 – Robert Ricketts Memorial Window: On Whitsunday, June 9th, a beautiful memorial window in the southern porch of our church was unveiled and dedicated in memory of Sgt.-Pilot Robert Joseph Prior Ricketts. Bob Ricketts was one of our Sunday School boys, a fine type of Australian youth, who enlisted in the R.A.A.F. at the age of 18, and was killed in a flight over Scotland on 10th June 1943, two months before his twentieth birthday. The window is the gift of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. 2
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Ricketts, who are at present in England, and who were represented at the dedication by their younger son, Fred, and some of their relatives. It was appropriate that their gift should be dedicated on the Sunday which was observed as a Day of Thanksgiving for Victory. The subject is an air man in full flying kit, and the inscription, which will help us to remember those who gave their all, is a part of Laurence Binyon’s well known verse: “They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, not the years condemn; At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We will remember them.” 1All
Noel Cragg Saints’ Church Petersham 1870 to 1970 allsaintspetersham.org.au
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Moore for Mike From 2012 Mike will be doing full time study in the Bachelor of Theology at Moore College. Here are some of the details: Why full time study? There are several reasons: Firstly, because I want to stretched and grown in my understanding of God and his word so that I can be a more effective minister of the gospel. Secondly, up until June 2010 I had been doing part time study at Youthworks College in the Advanced Diploma course, but having since run out of part time study options it seems the best option is to study full time and really make the most of getting into theological study without being distracted by the busyness of ministry. What course? After being given credit fort the subjects I’ve completed through Youthworks College, I’ve been accepted into the 2nd year of the BTh. It’s a 3 year course in total, which means I only need to do 2 years of full time study to complete it. I’ve not applied as a candidate for ordination, though I’m open to being convinced of ordination and even doing the 4th year at Moore, but I will sort that out as I go. I particularly didn’t apply to be a candidate for ordination because that might’ve raised complications with staying at All Saints, if they asked me to go somewhere else while at college for instance… What’s the cost? In terms of finances, the fees for all required units in 2012 is $15500.00 but should be entirely covered by the government’s Fee Help scheme. With the generous support of All Saints and assistance from Aus-study and Family Tax Benefit, all other living costs should be very affordable. In terms of cost to ministry, the things that will be most affected are the day to day tasks during the week. Ie: • SRE at Stanmore PS on Mondays • SRE at Dulwich High once a term • Leading an adult’s weekly Bible study group • Admin duties (eg. Term programs for Salt, mailouts, organizing camps/ events, the Chronicle) • Leading at Club wow allsaintspetersham.org.au
My hope is that Daniel Higgins will be able to pick up the areas of my ministry that are not able to be filled by volunteers during the week. Daniel is applying to study at Youthworks College in 2012 which means he’ll need a part time ministry placement for 2-4 days a week over the next 2 years. Throughout this year as Daniel has done the Year 13 program he has been a great assistance to me in the daily running of things (SRE, programming etc) and I’ve deliberately sort to train him in those tasks that I will be unable to do while studying full time at Moore. Daniel has proven himself to be more than capable, faithful, and a great learner. Particularly Daniel is well schooled in the theology and philosophy of youth ministry that informs our practice here, and this is crucial for completing the admin tasks well. Although anyone who can type more than 2 words a minute can put together a term program or do a mailout, only people with a good theology and philosophy of youth ministry can create the right content and organize a program to reflect that theology and philosophy – this is of utmost importance to my mind. My intention is not that Daniel will replace me as the minister of Salt, or fulfill every duty I currently do (it has taken me 7 years to grow into the role I now have!), but that he would find his own feet under the guidance of Bazz and myself and particularly fill in the day to day gaps that are created when I study full time in 2012. I expect that there are a great many ministries and opportunities for service & training that we will find Daniel useful in. It certainly may be that Daniel himself will one day be the person to replace me at Salt, but that’s a discussion for another time! ☺ What will stay the same? I will remain the primary minister for Salt with the continued priority to pastor, grow, & train the Salt leaders, and foster the vision and ministry strategies of Salt. • These things will stay the same: • Doing weekly Bible teaching at Salt • Leading a Salt weekly Bible study group • Attending Salt camps • Leading the Salt leaders • Dulwich High weekly prayer breakfast (although I need to see what my week looks like at college) Find us online:
• Attending All Saints • Involved in All Saints church services (ie. leading, prayers, music etc) • Preaching • Pastoral care How will Salt function? I’ve been planning this with the Salt leaders since I started seriously considering full time study back in April this year, and I’m confident that the Salt leadership team is well capable of managing the systems we already have in place to make Salt happen week to week. Considering what has already been said about Daniel, the plan is to delegate the systems amongst the leaders, ie. the organizing of Kyck camp, organizing SOC, the organizing of Weekly Bible Study Groups, the term programming, term mailouts, and social events. The mechanisms of Salt are already well tuned to run when I’m away. What happens after college? I want to emphasise that I am keen to stay at All Saints! I love the people here. I love Bazz. I love the area. I love the many and exciting opportunities for ministry. I have no plans to go else where. I have no dreams of fostering a ministry “career” by climbing ladders or positions. I am content with where God has brought me (and I like being able to pass the buck up the chain to Bazz :), and yet, I am also keenly aware that going to college will develop new relationships that create opportunities for other ministry, and so it remains a very real prospect my life may take new directions that I neither currently desire or can anticipate (even writing that sentence makes me a little emotional…), but it’s worth saying. If there are any more questions about the details or how particular things will be affected than please just ask me, Bazz, or a member of Parish Council. Prayer points? • Getting my NT greek back to academic level before February 2012. • That I’d make full use of these years to be immersed in college & study. • That Salt will continue to thrive. • Give thanks for the opportunity for further training & study. Mike Dicker
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K e e p a lo o k o u t f or t he se t h ing s .. .
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Attention Visual Learners!
Outreach Poster - December 2011
Withe the “Occupy” movement springing up all over the Western World from “Occupy Wall Street” to “Occupy Sydney” and now spawning the anti-consumerism “Occupy Christmas” catch cry, this is a timely poster! Christians have been trying to “Occupy Christmas” for decades now. It’s good to see society catching on! Find out more: www.thatposter.org
Carols in the Park
Ever find it hard to read the Bible? Jim LePage is an ordinary Christian guy from the U.S. who was finding it hard to keep a regular Bible reading pattern, so he decided to combine his love for design and his desire to read the Bible, and create the “Word” design series! Jim describes the series on his website: “Basically, Word was a series where I created original designs for each book of the Bible. Before each design, I spent time researching the book, finding out the themes, historical context, weirdest stories, etc. I also scanned through parts of the book looking for a passage or story that could translate into a cool design. Each design isn’t meant to completely represent the book, rather it is merely based on a passage from the book. From January 2010 to November 2011 I posted a total of 91 Word Designs.” If you’re a visual learner or you just like cool Bible themed designs then check out www.jimlepage.com/word-designs/
Christmas season is drawing closer (decorations are starting to appear in shopping centres everywhere!) and that means that the All Saints & Petersham Evening Church Carols in the Park are coming up too! So set aside Saturday December 18th to be down in Maundrell Park (across the road from All Saints) starting from 6:00pm. WHO ARE THE CHURCH STAFF?
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Senior Minister Administrator Antony (Bazz) Sally Barraclough Hutchinson 0413 933 838 0402 918 123
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………...……. Student Ministers ……………… David Sarah Anton Blowes Oakey Marquez 0425 262 060 9569 4735 0414 960 304
Year 13 Daniel Higgins 0434 290 245
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Youth Minister Michael Dicker 0400 308 112
If you have id eas for the ne xt issue of The Chronicle or feedback on issue, email th this e editor, we’d lo ve your feedback and comments! michael@allsain tspetersham.org .au
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