Author Archives: Jan Harper

Bible Study starts 5pm Sunday 24th April.  All welcome. 

The huge banner now hanging in Christ Church Swan Hill, shows how hundreds of Bible stories work as scenes within seven great theme-stories that flow through the whole Bible. The beauty of the 7SoG is that you will see how all the stories fit together. The 7SoG teaches theology the way the Bible teaches it: not via the categories of Systematic Theology, but through networks of stories unfolding, one to the next, patriarchs to the Exodus, Moses to David, Psalmists to Prophets, Exile to Remnant, then finally to Jesus, then to his church, and finally on home!

Do you remember the game, Battleships, in which opponents each place toy ships on their own square plastic grid running from A-J and 1-10 hidden behind a screen? One player calls out a coordinate like ‘B6’, and their opponent looks at the toy ships on their hidden board to discover whether B6 is a ‘Hit’ or a ‘Miss’. The 7SoG works similarly. You can see from the poster that it is a huge rectangular grid. The rows represent the ‘streams’, and the columns represent the ‘eras’. The eras are milestones in biblical history (M1-24), and the seven streams are great story themes that run throughout the entire biblical narrative. (So time runs across the top and seven Bible themes run down the left side.) The artwork at each intersection shows how the individual theme (row) is developed and fulfilled in each biblical era (column). If you think of ‘B6’, you would be saying something like, “At Time B in history, how did God make theme 6 come true?”

The end result is a visual journey through biblical history to find that on every single page of the Bible the Creator, Yahweh God, is gradually restoring a set of rich blessings that were lost in Eden and transforming them into something much greater than anything Adam and Eve could have ever imagined.

Our 7 Streams of Grace Bible Study starts 5 pm Sunday 24^th April, and we will meet each Sunday except for Café Church Sundays.  The session will last an hour and we will adjourn to a different place to eat each after each session for fellowship and continued discussion.  For more information go to: http://www.sevenstreamsofgrace.com/index.html

Another delightful thing that happened at Clergy Conference was a tour led by our Robyn and Bishop Andrew out over the Speewa Punt, and on to the Indigenous Ring Tree near Koraleigh.  Robyn talked about the spread of Ring Trees in the area and how they could be birthing trees, burial sites, ceremonial sites, boundary markers between different areas such as tribal areas or to point the way to another significant site.  After that we went on to Tooleybuc for a coffee on the banks of the Mighty Murray and then back to our Motel.  3 cars of people did this tour.  Another group of 3 cars went to the winery and other people did their own exploring of our area.

Next year Clergy Conference is planned to be back here again, and Bishop Andrew talked about taking a group of interested people out for a tour of the Op Shop, Men’s Shed and Hospitality Centre, and to another ring tree in the Vinifera Forrest.

All this makes me aware that I have only touched the edge of all that is to be explored in this beautiful area of our country.  If you have a favourite place you would like to take me to or point me in the direction of, please do.

Jan Harper

On Saturday 12th March, we have a men’s breakfast at 8am. We have three speakers this time. John Strauss speaking on his Affinity with Refugees, Ross Polglase speaking on how Refugees have benefited Swan Hill through History, and Rahulla speaking on his experience as a refugee in Swan Hill. Come and join us for Breaky!!

Menu: Sausages, eggs, tomatoes, toast.

In the hall foyer, Christ Church Swan Hill 46 Splatt Street, (Corner of Splatt St. and McCallum St)

For more information phone 0439757278.

Last year our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Night was cancelled due to a power outaged that lasted 27 hours. But this year we were back as wonderful as ever with a meal that was more a banquet than a tea. The Hospitality students of the Swan Hill Secondary College under the watchful eye of their teacher Gabe Mudge (and Kylie Gardner) prepared, cooked and served the meal and waited on tables in only their third week of their course. We are especially appreciative of the positive links we have with the Swan Hill College.

What a beautiful display we achieved this year for our Harvest Thanksgiving Service on the 31^st January. The whole parish gathered to worship at Christ Church Swan Hill, and we had a grand assortment of fruit, vegetables, grain, eggs, jams and preserves. The perishables were put on the trading table after the service and donations with a longer shelf life went to St Luke’s Anglicare. At the end of the service the schoolies, children and a teacher, brought their backpacks up for a blessing with this beautiful prayer written by Wendy Claire Barrie,Director of Children, Youth & Family Ministries at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York City.

God of Wisdom,we give you thanks for schools and classrooms and for the teachers and students who fill them each day. We thank you for this new beginning, for new books and new ideas. We thank you for sharpened pencils, pointy crayons, and crisp blank pages waiting to be filled. We thank you for the gift of making mistakes and trying again. Help us to remember that asking the right questions is often as important as giving the right answers. Today we give you thanks for these your children, and we ask you to bless them with curiosity, understanding and respect. May their backpacks be a sign to them that they have everything they need to learn and grow this year in school and in Sunday School. May they be guided by your love. All this we ask in the name of Jesus, who as a child in the temple showed his longing to learn about you, and as an adult taught by story and example your great love for us. Amen.