Vicar's News - 3 July 2022

Fr Ian
Jul 2, 2022
3 min read

Meister des Ehninger Altars

Ehningen Altarpiece, 1476

One of the best remembered characters of the New Testament, 'Doubting Thomas' was also the first to acclaim Jesus as "My God and King". St Thomas is an important figure - not only in confirming that a disciple of Christ can have doubts without fear of loss of faith, but because his response to Christ's reappearance, led Jesus to say: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe". This gives hope to those of us who live in the subsequent centuries and who believe because of what we have read and heard, even though we did not participate in the earthly life journey of Christ.

According to Eusebius' record, the Apostles Thomas and Bartholomew were assigned to Parthia and India. According to traditional accounts of the Saint Thomas Christians of India, the Apostle Thomas landed in Muziris (Cranganore) on the Kerala coast in AD 52 and was martyred in Mylapore, near central Chennai (Madras) in AD 72. He is regarded as the patron saint of India among its Christian adherents, and the Feast of Saint Thomas on July 3 is celebrated as Indian Christians' Day. The name Thomas remains quite popular among Christians in India.

Choral Evensong

Choral Evensong with the Lay Clerks of St Andrew’s Choir

Join us Sunday 10 July at 6 pm

Relax with beautiful choral music by Christopher Tye and Vaughn Williams

Join in singing

Rejoice, the Lord is King

The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended

Enjoy organ music composed by Georg Böhm

"So Far" - Concert & Poetry

Sunday 24 July @ 2.30pm

Book here

Building Works

Commencement of building works for the new Brighton Grammar building on our tennis court site will begin in October. Preliminary works include the relocation of the power line to the church from St Andrew's Street, and the simultaneous replacement of the Church's electrical power board which dates from 1963. This antique board has prevented us from investigating replacement heating in the church, among other electrical improvements.

During construction, which will take up to 2.5 years, the builders will have the use of the large Parish Hall for their offices and staff amenities, under a commercial arrangement negotiated by the Churchwardens with Brighton Grammar. 'Mainly Music' will move into the Pioneer Chapel and the nave of the church during this period and the Mainly Music equipment will be conveniently stored in a new storage facility to be erected nearby.

As there will be no direct access from St Andrews Street until the new building is completed, the rubbish bins will be relocated to a new facility between the Op Shop and the Cafe, so they can be accessed by the collection contractors. The builders will provide their own toilet facilities and will not be sharing ours.

The Parish will retain use the small hall, kitchen and choir room adjacent to the church itself, and there will be access to the 'chair room' by BGS for large events in the church.

Rosters

This weekend

Next weekend

Organ Restoration Fundraising

Thank you to all who have donated recently to the Music Foundation, including families of those whose funerals have taken place here recently, those who donated prior to 30 June, and to the late Tony Avery who has left a bequest to the Foundation.

Open the doors

Well, its actually about closing the doors - I seek your assistance in putting together a volunteer roster of people who can come in the last afternoon and close up the church.

Now that restrictions on visitors has been lifted, we could return to having the church open during the day. While the clergy can open the door each morning, we need a roster of people to close up between 4-6pm. There is a cheat sheet to assist about what to check as the person goes around the inside of the church a locks up, exiting from the Lady Chapel entrance.

If you are interested, please let Angela Alomes know on 03 9592 1240 or office@standrewsbrighton.org.au. Once we have the 7 days covered, we will 'Open the doors'.

Casual assistance needed

From time to time in this new COVID era, (when people are ill or isolating) we need some assistance with services during the week. The church is used frequently and the configuration of seating in the church and Pioneer Chapel varies from day to day.

When we have a funeral we need some assistance in opening up (including the toilets) and setting up for the event, locking up after refreshments are concluded. It does not include technical issues such as the operation of the audio-visual equipment.

This may suit those at University or retired people who can form a roster so that Angela can call on an available helper. There would be a gratuity paid for the assistance. If you are interested, please let Angela Alomes know on 03 9592 1240 or office@standrewsbrighton.org.au.