Masks and Social Distancing in Church
The Victorian State Government has announced that masks must be worn indoors. This includes all church services and meetings, including meetings in homes. We assume an exception can be the person leading the service at the time but masks must be worn for congregational singing. We recommend for all services that anyone who has been to any of of the various places identified by the Department of Health and Human Services (via the link HERE) be discouraged from attending.
In Victoria it is currently mandatory to carry a mask with you at all times and to wear it INDOORS or when it is not possible to be socially distanced. We recommend that you leave the space of a ‘seat’ between you and anyone who is not of your household.
Our Physical Services
Sundays @ 9.30am Holy Communion
17 January, 2021 - Liturgy 2 - Scripture Sermon - Rev Jennie Savage
on Psalm 119:105-112 audio podcast HERE.
The Victorian State Government has announced that masks must be worn indoors. This includes all church services and meetings, including meetings in homes. We assume an exception can be the person leading the service at the time but masks must be worn for congregational singing. We recommend for all services that anyone who has been to any of of the various places identified by the Department of Health and Human Services (via the link HERE) be discouraged from attending.
In Victoria it is currently mandatory to carry a mask with you at all times and to wear it INDOORS or when it is not possible to be socially distanced. We recommend that you leave the space of a ‘seat’ between you and anyone who is not of your household.
Our Physical Services
Sundays @ 9.30am Holy Communion
17 January, 2021 - Liturgy 2 - Scripture Sermon - Rev Jennie Savage
on Psalm 119:105-112 audio podcast HERE.
Vicar's Reflection — 'Simple Prayer'
(Our video of a Simple Service of Prayer is available on Our Services page)
Prayer is both easy and hard. We can pray anytime and anywhere, and yet it is not an easy discipline to practise. St Paul wrote:
I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. (Romans 7:18b-19)
Since we were born we have had the gift of awareness. We often ‘know’ what we need: more exercise, healthier food, a time of stillness, a soul friend … Yet perversely we also can practice ignoring what our awareness brings to us. We listen to the wrong voice, perhaps the one that wants to take the shortcuts, the one that gives into anxiety or pressure, or the one that vents anger or frustration in unhealthy or violent ways. In the gospel Jesus talks about confronting such things, suggesting we know when we are doing harm to ourselves or to others.
A friend of mine who was a photographer told me about the time she worked non-stop for many weeks, ignoring her need to have a day off. Although she wasn’t a Christian, she suddenly understood the creation story with the seventh day being one of rest. She gained the insight of the created rhythm that is in all of us.
I commented to a nutritionist how I was craving greens at the time. It became apparent that I had a deficiency in my vitamins and she said there is a doctor inside our body if we would only listen to it.
But even if we pay attention and respond well, there are times we have to go against the grain. St Paul pointed out that we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. (1 Corinthians 4:7). He points to the great resilience that is a gift from God and found within each one of us.
We have all had the experience of not being able to be in control all of the time, sometimes for hardly any time at all! Our bodies get assaulted, by demands without or within, and they have to weather this. Physically, emotionally, there will be times we take a battering. But we can survive, within us is salvation thanks be to God. This is not just stuff in the head, but our very persons, and our very lives. This is hope which calls that God given resilience into active duty.
Now that we have resumed physical services at St James the Less, instead of weekly service video, we will be providing a monthly or seasonal service of prayer video will be made available online. This service contains the basic prayers, a sentence of Scripture (though you could pause at this point and look up the readings of the week which are listed on Our Services page and/or listen to the sermon podcast), and for the prayers a set of sentences with a pause after each for you to add your specific prayers for the world, church and community.
But whatever you do, please pray! We, each other, and the whole world, need the prayer which transforms. This excerpt from a poem on Stillness by Gerard Guiton (1994) says it all:
Stillness provides a space within ourselves
Where we may hold the other in God’
Where humility, forgiveness
And compassion may reign
Reconcile yourself with another
Forgiveness diminishes the power of hell
God be with you,
Jennie
(Our video of a Simple Service of Prayer is available on Our Services page)
Prayer is both easy and hard. We can pray anytime and anywhere, and yet it is not an easy discipline to practise. St Paul wrote:
I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. (Romans 7:18b-19)
Since we were born we have had the gift of awareness. We often ‘know’ what we need: more exercise, healthier food, a time of stillness, a soul friend … Yet perversely we also can practice ignoring what our awareness brings to us. We listen to the wrong voice, perhaps the one that wants to take the shortcuts, the one that gives into anxiety or pressure, or the one that vents anger or frustration in unhealthy or violent ways. In the gospel Jesus talks about confronting such things, suggesting we know when we are doing harm to ourselves or to others.
A friend of mine who was a photographer told me about the time she worked non-stop for many weeks, ignoring her need to have a day off. Although she wasn’t a Christian, she suddenly understood the creation story with the seventh day being one of rest. She gained the insight of the created rhythm that is in all of us.
I commented to a nutritionist how I was craving greens at the time. It became apparent that I had a deficiency in my vitamins and she said there is a doctor inside our body if we would only listen to it.
But even if we pay attention and respond well, there are times we have to go against the grain. St Paul pointed out that we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. (1 Corinthians 4:7). He points to the great resilience that is a gift from God and found within each one of us.
We have all had the experience of not being able to be in control all of the time, sometimes for hardly any time at all! Our bodies get assaulted, by demands without or within, and they have to weather this. Physically, emotionally, there will be times we take a battering. But we can survive, within us is salvation thanks be to God. This is not just stuff in the head, but our very persons, and our very lives. This is hope which calls that God given resilience into active duty.
Now that we have resumed physical services at St James the Less, instead of weekly service video, we will be providing a monthly or seasonal service of prayer video will be made available online. This service contains the basic prayers, a sentence of Scripture (though you could pause at this point and look up the readings of the week which are listed on Our Services page and/or listen to the sermon podcast), and for the prayers a set of sentences with a pause after each for you to add your specific prayers for the world, church and community.
But whatever you do, please pray! We, each other, and the whole world, need the prayer which transforms. This excerpt from a poem on Stillness by Gerard Guiton (1994) says it all:
Stillness provides a space within ourselves
Where we may hold the other in God’
Where humility, forgiveness
And compassion may reign
Reconcile yourself with another
Forgiveness diminishes the power of hell
God be with you,
Jennie
Requirements to Attend Our Services
- There will be one Service on Sunday mornings at 9:30am.
- Be advised that you MUST WEAR A MASK WHILE INDOORS and you will need to register at the door via scanning our QR Code or other means, so please arrive a little earlier than you otherwise would.
- We are a COVID-safe environment.