Category: September/October 2021

around the grounds:

Regional RoundUp Sept/Oct 2021

Wynyard

• CHAT N CHOOSE Many ladies are pleased to be meeting again with their friends after a long break due to COVID. Wednesday Get Together is now on the 1st and 3rd Week of the month for fun and fellowship.
• JUST GIRLS. SPRING REVIVAL. The ladies’ ministry organised an enjoyable afternoon with people asked to wear an item from their favourite Op Shop. Irene Godman spoke on Healing, Trauma and PTSD, a biblical way of ministering healing those suffering from the effects of trauma .  Ailleen also spoke of her work, and the beginnings of Grow Gather Give, an outreach and support providing food to those who need it. This is run from our ChurchHhall, ROC, on Monday and Friday mornings.
• OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD. 226 shoe boxes where packed from our church and Chat n Choose this year.
• Sarah raised $644.30 for the Cancer Council through the sale of daffodils.

Penguin

News from Penguin: we are small in number, in good heart and varied health.

• This month we began a preaching series on Isaiah 1-39. We have joined the solar age with a substantial array on the roof, and have a new container for the ministry Library Aid International to fill and send to Africa for distribution. This will be the tenth (and likely the last) container to go.

Latrobe

• Chat n Choose continues at the Latrobe Baptist Hall every Wednesday from 10am to 12pm. Ladies bring along their knitting/crochet/hardanger work or any other craft to join with up to 50 others and enjoy chatting together. Morning Tea is served at 10.30am, Cost is just $2.
• The Woodturning Group meets in the Men’s Shed. Latrobe Men’s Shed continues every Friday from 9am to 12pm with a BBQ at 12. We are always looking for community projects and new members to join in. A toolbox meeting guarantees a great time of great fellowship, with morning tea at 10am.
• Latrobe Community Playgroup continues every Friday morning from 10am. All mothers/carers are welcome to bring their little ones up to age 4 and join with up to 20 others for a fun time of activities. A story time and singing finishes each morning around 11.30am.

Sassafras

SPRING SERVICE

• This Spring seems to have arrived so quickly! Again, the Sunday School greatly blessed us with a presentation. Even more impressive were the volume and beauty of the flower arrangements. It is a reminder of the grace and kindness of the Lord so obvious for all to see in this blessed Island.
  The various talents of the children were all on display this year often to the wonder of the Congregation. (Doting parents and teachers opening and closing their lips in tune with the script the kids spoke).
  One talent which came to prominence last year was in poetry, and again this year we heard from Rochele Long.

Spring is here and the flowers are vibrant
And the birds chirp happily singing God’s great song
The lambs have grown up so much like the plants that grow too 
God planned all this and we should thank Him. 
Spring sunshine beams, the days lengthen
Swallows spiral up to heaven, the Larks sing praise to their Creator 
Lambs gambol in the spring grass 
Hidden bulbs and seeds burst from the soil to worship their Creator 
New life comes from our God let us praise and worship Him.

Rochele Long, Sassafras

North

Gateway Launceston

• We want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all the artists and Churches who supported and helped with our Mystery Art Sale Fundraiser for the children of Haiti.

Newstead

• Newstead Baptist Church are pleased to be welcoming Dan Hutchison as Pastor beginning in January 2022. Dan and his wife Maria and 3 children will be moving north from Hobart where Dan is currently working at Citywide.
• We are looking forward to Dan’s ministry with us and would value prayer for a smooth transition for the whole family into life in Launceston including a suitable family home and schools for the girls.
• We are holding our Annual Celebration meeting on Sunday and give thanks to God for a good year as a fellowship, for the many people who have come to preach throughout the year and the many ways that God has blessed us.
• Our Seniors Drop-in Centre has being going well with new people from the community joining. Praise God for this opportunity to share his word over a game and a cuppa.

Perth

• Many from around Tasmania would have known Wyn Gurr in her ministry over many years. Wyn passed away in September following a long battle with her health. She has gone to join her husband Allan in glory.
• We are thankful and blessed by the four people who recently came into Membership.
• Our Wednesday night ‘Better Men’s’ group is starting to attract a number of men with needs and a willingness to share.
• The craft group continues to attract new ladies.
• We hosted a very successful Community afternoon tea for the wise and elderly of the town which attracted a full Hall. We pray that we will see many of them again
• The relationship with the school enabled us to sponsor two children to attend camp as their parents we not able to pay for them to go. This will provide us contact with those two families.
• This year a Children’s picnic and family BBQ will precede our Carol Service – the whole town will be invited.
• As the only Christian Church left in Perth, we take our responsibility to be Christ’s representatives in the growing town seriously. Please pray that what we do will be God’s will and will bear fruit.

Riverlands Longford

• On 29th August, Riverlands made space in our Sunday service to acknowledge and appreciate the commitment and contribution of two special couples. Steve and Ann Cloudsdale and Meg and Alan Roberts have served in various ministry roles and activities at Riverlands over many years.
  It was a special moment as we prayed for each couple and released them from ministry responsibilities as they enter a time of sabbatical for rest and refreshment. As they continue to journey with their Riverlands family, they will be waiting on the Lord for his wisdom and guidance for this next chapter in their lives.

South

Citywide

• During September, several of us visited State and Federal Politicians following the Converge Justice Training Day in August. They presented their cases for Domestic Violence, Global Poverty and Refugees and Asylum Seekers.
• One of us is involved in the local Climate Change Action Group. They facilitated an excellent Climate Change Expo for the public at Citywide premises. There were various speakers and booths demonstrating how they can recycle responsibly as well as other informative information. 
• Church Camp: The first weekend in October saw us all heading to Poatina for our first church camp in many years.  Poatina is an incredible site for such a gathering with various accommodation options, good food, and many interesting local activities.  Our theme for the weekend was Living in Community and the staff at Poatina shared their experiences. 
  Our mix of congregations, including the Nepalese, were blessed and we have achieved a further development in our joining together.  Everyone is already talking about our next camp next year!

• During October we hosted a team of 6 from the YWAM Discipleship Training School in Perth WA.  What a blessing they are!  They for involved in Citywide groups, the wider body of churches in Hobart, and our local community by door-knocking and street evangelism.
• We now produce a weekly podcast, each Wednesday, which involves a panel of four people discussing, and personally sharing about, the challenges from the previous Sunday’s sermon. Find it on our YouTube channel or as an audio on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.  Our current series is on ‘Next Steps’ and what it means to follow Jesus. 
• Sunday 10th October was our Shoe Box Sunday. Our congregations packed 150 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child during the service! This is an activity people engage with eagerly and we pray heart-felt prayers for each box.

Hobart

• At Hobart we recently held a great Movie Night including games, a scavenger hunt and pizza!
• We have already had several weddings in our refurbished spaces, with more booked in.
• The Mustard Seed coffee shop, on Elizabeth Street, will soon open, creating more opportunities to connect with our neighbours, and Elizabeth College students next door.
• Our youth are raising funds to provide income for one teacher to teach youth in a Karen refugee camp in Thailand.