The 43rd birthday of the Uniting Church in Australia was celebrated on June 21st with a Geelong-wide Zoom worship service. The service was well received on  the full allowance of 100 devices; however, the number would have been considerably more but for an administrative error that prevented the use of the 500-device licence purchased for the occasion.

The Presbytery apologises to those who tried, but who were unable to ‘find a pew’ on the Zoom service.  Some of these people were able to watch the service on Facebook, but those who missed out may watch a recording of the service here::

Just click on the play ‘arrow’.  There is about 12 minutes at the beginning before the start of the service that can be skipped by adjusting the sliding bar to the right of the play/pause button,

The text for a ‘local’ service is also provided at “Minister/View from the Pulpit/Sermons/Season of Pentecost”

To the regular visitors to this site,

apologies from our web hosting service.  

A gremlin in the system hid or destroyed four weeks of content that had been added to this site since May24th, including the worship services from Pentecost (May 31st) to June 14th, plus 20 or so of the songs that had been added to Jesus’ repertoire and any other posts between May 24th and June 21st.

The content is gradually being replaced, but it will take a while, so bear with us.   Many of the links (literally hundreds) between pages were lost as well, so though most have been repaired, you may be unlucky enough to get a “Not Found”  error message.  Eventually, all links will be fixed, but if you discover one, please email your discovery to bobuc2@juno.com

Let’s not lose what we’ve gained during this period of ‘lockdown’.  Having just read in The Guardian a selection of observations by New Zealanders recently freed from some of their restrictions, I get the impression…(click here to read more)

This is a series that explores the music Jesus might have written and sung had he been a modern-day musician.  Songs will be added at least weekly, so come back often.  The first offering is...(click here to read more)

After the annual general meeting followed by lunch in March of this year, about 30 members of the Ocean Grove congregation participated in an asset-mapping exercise. People were asked to list the assets of the church in five categories: physical, economic, associative, institutional and individual… (Click here to read more)

GLORY

In everyday use, glory (from the Latin gloria, “fame, renown”) means brilliant or radiant beauty (the painting was restored to its former glory) or a high honour or distinction gained from notable achievement (he died in glory defending his country). In the Jewish and Christian traditions, glory is used…(click here to read more)

All Sunday worship services are streamed via Zoom, and can be joined at 10am through the link:

https://zoom.us/j/92890231567?pwd=T3k0bFJkUm4zNTc4RDM2MUkwR0Fldz09

Meeting ID: 928 9023 1567

Password: 019055

The worship service for June 28th is now available at “Minister/View From the Pulpit/Sermons”

If you would like a little practice with Zoom before you try worship online, Geoff Naylor is happy to help.  You may contact him by email at drgeoff.naylor@gmail.com

Alternatively, you may email Rev. Bob at bobuc2@juno.com

Recent news reports have declared that the action taken so far to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in Australia has been so effective that the restrictions imposed to limit its spread are being wound back.  Great news!  But the news must be held alongside … (Click here to read more)

While ‘church’ is not functioning as usual in this time of social distancing, expenses still need to be met.  Not having an offering plate to pass in worship means that the church depends on people taking the initiative to contribute in other ways.  The simplest way is by direct debit from your bank accounts to ours.

To give to the Barwon Heads congregation, you will need to download from the U Ethical web site (https://www.uethical.com/forms-and-documents) a “Direct Offering Form” or, alternatively,  contact Doug Whan (dwhan@ozemail.com.au), who will email one to you. The following information goes into question No 3:

• • Bank:  U Ethical
  • Account name:  Barwon Heads Uniting Church
  • Account Number:  109654004

Contributing to the Ocean Grove congregation requires you to contact your bank, either online, by phone or in person, and request a transfer from your account to:

• • Bank:  Commonwealth Bank of Australia
  • BSB Number:  063-834
  • Account Number:  1005-1143
  • Account Name:  Ocean Grove Church Council

You may include your surname and/or your giving envelope number to identify you as the contributor.

Even simpler is to set up an automatic direct debit on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. Just ring the Synod offices on 951-5200 for advice on how to arrange this.

If you prefer the familiar, a cheque may be sent to PO Box 393, Ocean Grove.

Many thanks.