Author Archives: Jan Harper

Our annual weekend fair May 27th & 28th from 10am to 4pm will be full of stalls, displays and demonstrations.

The Parish Stall will offer homemade cakes, preserves, handwork etc. from parishioners. There will be craft for sale and patchwork supplies, olden-days wares, cards, jewellery, photography baby hand knits, pre loved paintings and lots more!

Displays of very old car emblems, blacksmith and shearing tools and Newton Williams amazing woodwork will be alongside demonstrations of spinning, card making and some of the above crafts.

The Foyer Café will be open all day so come along, bring your friends and enjoy a good time.

During Saturday, there will be a jumping castle, face painting and portrait sketching.

Sunday 2pm is a concert with a variety of musical items, including presentation of Music Scholarships to students.

Mallee Artists will be exhibiting paintings in the church to be judged on the theme, from Psalm 1 ^“Happy are those whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water”

Heather Vander Reest, Dale Barclay and Keith Nicholas with one of the new statues near the old pumping station on the Murray River at Nyah.

A small group of clergy from the Diocesan Clergy Conference held this year in Swan Hill visited the Nyah West Op and Men’s Shed as part of their afternoon of getting to know the Swan Hill area.  Op Shop co-ordinator Sylvia and volunteer Marg Crilly showed the clergy around and compared notes with Kieth Nicholas who co-ordinates the Irymple Anglican Op Shop.  From Left to right: Rev’d Heather Vander Reest, Rev’d Keith Nicholas, Rev’d Sandra Field, Sylvia Bail, Rev’d Dale Barclay and Marg Crilly.

After a sumptuous afternoon tea and some op shop purchases they progressed to the Nyah River camping area and over the bridge into NSW before heading back to Swan Hill.

On Good Friday the Grain Shed Church of Christ congregation hosted the  ecumenical (inter-church) service. About 300 Christians representing most of the denominations in Swan Hill attended.  Prayers & Reflections were led by several local ministers.  Cornerstone students performed a wonderful skit that we unfortunately didn’t video but you can see it here performed by another group.

The service was followed by a walk in the beautiful sunshine to remember the “Way of the Cross”,  pausing for the relevant readings and singing ‘Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ as we left each station. Our final station was back at the Church where Fr Matthew Thomas the new Catholic priest said grace before hot cross buns.  This is our second year Ecumenical Worship Service and our third year of the “Way of the Cross” walk.

At 3.00pm in the afternoon, although not advertised, several Anglicans returned to their church to observe the traditional time of reflection on the death of Jesus. The church, stripped of decoration  the night before, revealed a bare wooden altar with just a rough, empty wooden cross leaning against it, only a crown of thorns at the head.

On Easter Day the church was  filled with flowers, joyful singing, and beautiful sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows  on the east and north walls. Many visitors joined the regular congregation celebrating  the Resurrection and happily stayed for hot cross buns at morning tea.

May the expectation of Palm Sunday, the service of Maundy Thursday, the sorrow of Good Friday, the patient waiting of Holy Saturday and the joy of Easter Day be ours this week and always.

On Maundy Thursday  our foyer was beautifully set for a commemoration of the Last Supper.

Long tables decorated with vine leaves and grapes held the plates of roasted lamb (cooked to perfection), unleavened bread and ‘bitter herbs’ in salad, followed by a special almond cake and fruit.

Preparing for the Eucharist, the ceremony of washing the feet took place, then commencing with our Rector Jan, all communicated their next neighbour with pita bread and wine, a very moving experience.

Moving through the memorial garden into the church in silence, those present quietly removed all the decorations from the alter and sanctuary into the vestry while Psalm 22  and Matthew, Chapter 26 beginning at v. 36, in the garden of Gethsemane, were being read.  As the reading ended the final candles and lights were extinguished and we departed in silence.

This year the ladies of our congregation celebrated Mothering Sunday with a breakfast cooked by Rev’d Denis, John, Les, and Douglas.  Our sumptuous breakfast included  cereal toast and pancakes, with yogurt and berries and other toppings.

Charlotte gave a talk on her recent school trip to China where she stayed for 6 weeks.   Her trip included many marvelous cultural experiences, in schools and communities in Southern China.  She included many photos in her talk, as well as some short videos of dancing, karaoke and water sports.

In our worship service Rev’d Denis blessed our traditional Simnel cake cooked by Moira and we all had our share with enough left over for the Nyah West congregation.

During the service Charlotte and her brother Declan made a card for the mother’s of the Parish thanking them for their contribution.

It was a wonderfully refreshing Sunday, nourishing us ready to return to our Lenten Studies and disciplines the next day.