This week I have been busy upgrading the software for our parish’s database (CRM) through which we are able to keep in contact with you by phone, letter or email. I noticed that there are many gaps in our records and this is an administrative matter that now has a high priority.
You receive this mail through our website, but not all those who have subscribed to our website and receive the weekly Vicar’s News are also linked to a name and address in our database. If you haven’t received an earlier email about our proposed re-opening dates, then we do not have your email address connected to your name in our parish database. We would like to put names to each email address to which this email is sent, so I encourage you to download a contact details form here and return it to us by email or post.
This week the Federal and State governments have enticed us with the possibility of churches re-opening for public services. At the same time the Diocese has issued specific requirements that must be followed before these services are permitted. These requirements are too prescriptive for us to offer regular services at this juncture, since the maximum number of people who can attend is limited to 20.
However, it is likely (though not yet announced for the state of Victoria) that this limitation may be increased to 50 later in June. On that basis, the Churchwardens, clergy and the Parish Council have been wrestling with the Diocesan requirements to determine how, in practice, we can comply with these strict conditions and, at the same time, ensure the safety of all our parishioners by not requiring or allowing any individual to take on an obligation which could endanger their own health. This is particularly relevant to many parishes where parishioners are in the vulnerable over-70 age group.
As a consequence, the anticipated recommencement dates and times as follows:
Wednesday 24 June at 11am
Sunday 28 June at 9.30am
Weekly services will then continue at those times and these will be reviewed as the COVID restrictions are further relaxed. These services are open to everyone, irrespective of which service you may have attended in the past. As we re-emerge post-COVID, we must recognise that things will not be the same again and the initial change in service times reflects this. It will be necessary for those wishing to attend to register with the Parish Office so we can ensure that no more than 50 people attend. Further details are contained in an email sent from the parish office. If you have not received that email, I recommend that you check your spam or junk mail folder, and then download the contact details form mentioned above.
Also this week we have launched an appeal for funds under the banner –
A letter from the Churchwardens to parishioners is available here. We are now using up our financial resources at a perilously rapid rate and, to secure our future and to provide for the on-going maintenance of this huge property, we have to seek substantial donations from our parishioners and the community at large. There is a prevailing fantasy that this is a wealthy parish – when in financial reality this is, sadly, not the case. Whilst we recognise that everyone is affected by the current downturn in this COVID environment, we face a future that further cutbacks to staff, services, and the failure of our infrastructure if we do not immediately reverse our financial decline. Please give generously - link here to our appeal webpage.
Of your mercy, please pray for the repose of the soul of Euan Johnstone who died recently and also for Kristine and David who will be married here this week.
牧师寄语
这周我一直忙于更新我们教会的联系人名单(CRM)，通过这种方式，我们可以通过电话、信件或电子邮件与您保持联系。请注意，我们的记录中有许多空白，这是一项我们现在要优先处理的行政事项。
您可以通过我们的网站收到这封邮件，但是并不是所有订阅了我们每周牧师寄语的人都可以在我们的联系人列表中找到他们的名字和地址。 如果您还没有收到关于我们重新开放日期的电子邮件，那就说明我们的教区记录中没有你的电子邮件地址。我想把这些人加在我们的电子邮件列表中，所以我鼓励您在这里 下载一份联系方式表格，并以电子邮件或邮寄的形式返回给我们。
一周以来，联邦政府和州政府一直鼓励我们重新开放教堂以提供公共服务。与此同时，教区也颁布了一些具体的要求，公共服务被允许之前，这些要求必须要遵守。这些要求非常严格，我们无法在这个时候提供常规服务，因为最多只能允许有20人参加。
然而，这一限制可能会在6月晚些时候增加到50个(尽管维多利亚州还没有宣布)。在此基础上，教会执事、神职人员和教会议会一直在与教区的要求斡旋，以确定在实践中我们如何能够遵守这些严格的条件 ,与此同时, 确保我们所有的会众的安全,不需要或允许任何个人有可能可能危及他们的健康，从而确保我们所有教会众的安全。这对许多教会来说尤其重要，因为很多会众都是70岁以上的易感群体。
所以，预期的教会重新开放的日期和时间如下:
6月24日星期三上午11点
6月28日星期日上午9:30
每周的崇拜将在这些时间继续进行，随着COVID限制的进一步放松，将对这些服务进行审查。这些崇拜每个人都可以参加，无论您过去参加的是哪个时间的崇拜。我们处在covid的后期，我们必须认识到，情况将与以前不再相同，我们也有可能随时进行更改。愿意参加崇拜的人士必须向教会办公室登记，以确保出席人数不超过50人。更多的细节在那封教会寄给您的邮件中。如果你还没有收到那封邮件，请检查你的垃圾邮件文件夹，然后下载上面提到的联系方式表格。
本周，我们还发起了一项募集资金的呼吁--
毋庸置疑，，我们的财政资源正以危险的速度耗尽。为了保障我们的未来和维持这庞大的不动产，我们不得不寻求教会会众和整个社区的大量捐款。人们对我们的教会有一些不切实际的认识，认为我们是一个富裕的教会。遗憾的是，从财务状况来讲，事实并非如此。在当前经济的低迷环境下，每个人都受到了影响。然而我们面临的现实是，如果我们不立即扭转我们的财务衰退，我们将面临进一步的裁员以及缺乏财力来维护我们的基础设施。请您慷慨支助-link here to our appeal webpage.
请您为最近去世的Euan Johnstone的灵魂安息祈祷，他的私人葬礼将在圣安德烈教堂举行。我们也为Kristine 和 David祷告，他们将于本周在这里举行一个小型的私人婚礼。