Category Archives: Announcements

Collect of Jonah

A Service to Celebrate and Commemorate the Life of  John Allan Tomamichel,”Mallee Jack”, will be held in the Grain Shed, King St, Swan Hill on MONDAY (Jan. 5, 2015) commencing at 10.30 a. m.

At the conclusion of the Service the cortege will proceed to the Ultima Cemetery.

After the graveside service there, a light lunch will be service in the Ultima Hall.

Please continue to pray for Chriss and all the family.

Wednesday evening 11 of us met to pray for the year ahead, and we brought clocks and candles and egg timers and all things to do with time and we ended up with a marvellous array on the altar as we contemplated the last year and looked forward to 2015.

Our liturgy included this prayer by Rev. Christine Battjes.

Our reading was Ecclesiastes 3.1-13 and we each chose a word from the reading that fitted in with our New Year resolution.

I was thinking of choosing ‘dancing’, but it was already taken so I chose ‘throwing away’. I thought this ‘being busy mindset’ would be a very good one to throw away. Especially considering the last couple of verses from the Ecclesiastes reading; so often left off when it is used in a funeral service.

What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.

And so we did all go off to eat and drink and take pleasure in our toil after that; off to Niko Niko for a lovely Japanease-Korean New Year’s Eve meal.

The Jazz Mass last Sunday was a wonderful experience, with a full house singing, clapping and pretty much dancing to the ‘Christ Church Pilgrims” trad jazz rendition of well- known gospel songs, concluding the evergreen “Saints Go Marching in “. The  “Pilgrims “ seven musicians had come together from all different places for the National Jazz Convention in Swan Hill.

Rev’d David Bond from Barham preached the sermon on the history and place of music in the church, which over centuries has been patron of great musicians composing and performing works to inspire and uplift people in the same way that architects create inspirational places of worship.

He has been presenting an annual Jazz Mass in Barham for 16 years , and the people were excited at the prospect of this happening in Swan Hill. We hope it can go on our calendar annually for Sunday morning worship or one of the 5.00 pm Sunday Café Church services, which are becoming a popular extra service each month.

David Bond then joined Bill the trombonist singing a moving duet “Precious Lord Take My Hand”.