Read 1 Timothy 1.12-17, The Message I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus. Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever. Paul is thankful because he considers himself 'Public Sinner Number One' and yet God has shown him great kindness by first saving him and then sending him as God's helper and representative to God's people. Why are you thankful today? How can you show your thankfulness to someone you know and love? How can you show thankfulness to God? Here are a few suggestions ... Primary Age Kids Make a card, write a letter or draw a picture for someone you love to say thanks Do something helpful at home (without being asked) that will show members of your family that you love them Watch the video below and write down on a piece of paper one or two important things that you've learned from the video: You may also like to play the Gratitude Game below or use this picture to remember what's important but gratitude: Secondary Age Kids Thank God that school goes back tomorrow and that we can SEE other people. Is there something you can do for someone at school to show that you are thankful for them? Think about some of the people who might be doing it particularly tough at this time. Is there something we can do to encourage them Try starting a Gratitude Journal. It's hard to be positive at the moment when so many things around us are not as they could be. Set time aside each day to make a list of what you are thankful for. Start with the tiniest details, and write down even just one thing. On days when you’re feeling empty – or just wanting an excuse to smile – go back and read some of your list. Ann Voskamp says it best: “When I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me.” Write a prayer of thanks to God today. Try to be as specific as possible. Check out these tips for writing a great prayer. Want to learn more about Paul's first letter to Timothy, check out the Bible project video here:

Australia’s first peoples, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, represent the oldest living continuing culture in the world. And yet, tragically, racial tensions, inequalities and systematic injustice are realities we have lived with for too long. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate is 17 times the national average, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people account for almost 30% of those in prison and there have been far too many deaths in custody. The Anglican community of St Catharine’s Caulfield South stand against racism in any form, anywhere. We believe that black lives matter. We pray that the attention surrounding deaths in custody will lead to systemic change, both in America, here in Australia and around the world. We stand with Christians around the world condemning violence and persecution. Attending the #BlackLivesMatter rally in Melbourne on Saturday 6 June posed an ethical dilemma for many Melburnians yesterday, not least of which some members of our Church community. I sympathise with the complexity of this decision in a Covid-19 environment. However we remain committed to the health and safety of all of our members which includes complying with the current Covid-19 restrictions. While the issue of reconciliation and an end to injustice for Indigenous Australians is one that we are rightly passionate about and comitted to, there is also the duty of care for ourselves, our families and communities in relation to Covid-19. I have today communicated with the members of our Church community who attended the rally, or who have come into contact with anyone who attended the rally, they have agreed to comply with one of the following options : Received a negative Covid-19 test result, or Voluntarily quarantine themselves for 14 consecutive days. This advice is consistent with the Chief Medical Officer and the State and Federal governments. If anyone has any concerns in relation to issue, please contact the Lead Pastor directly on 0406 400 338. Adam Cetrangolo Lead Pastor

Date: The 2018 St Catharine's Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday 18 November 2018 at 11 am in the Parish Hall. Format: On this day we will have our regular 9.30 am service followed by our Big Breakfast in the Hall. Then we will stay on in the hall for our meeting which will incorporate a message, time of worship, prayer and communion as well as all the formalities of the Annual Meeting. Typically the Annual Meeting receives formal reports from the Treasurer, Churchwardens and Lead Pastor as well as other reports as appropriate. At St Cath's, these additional reports tend to take the form of testimonies of the good work that God has done in the past year. The Electoral Roll Every Anglican Church in Melbourne has an Electoral Roll which is reviewed prior to the Annual Meeting. It is desirable that the Electoral Roll reflect the real regular attendees of the Church. If you are new in the past year or unsure whether you are on the Electoral Roll. Check out the list that has been left in the Church or email Adam and ask. If you are not yet on the Electoral Roll. Please fill out a quick application form here. Being on the Electoral Roll allows you to vote at the Annual Meeting as well as be nominated for formal governance positions. Governance Positions Vacant The vacant positions are as follows: 2 x Members of Parish Council 2 x Churchwardens 2 x Incumbency Committee Members Click on the links to view a position description for each position. The Parish Council is currently comprised of 3 Parish Council members, 3 Churchwardens and the Lead Pastor. Currently these positions are held by the following people: Pam Lannin (pcm), Carlee Hutton (pcm), Noel Thurlow (pcm & Treasurer), Rod Smyth (Churchwarden) and Al Aikman (Churchwarden). Recently Anna Weir resigned, she was also a Churchwarden. More information about these leaders here. A Treasurer is appointed by the Churchwardens at the first Parish Council Meeting. These rolls are two-thirds nominated and one-third appointed. Which means Adam appoints one Churchwarden one Parish Councillor. The Incumbency Committee is a group that meets as needed to appoint a new Lead Pastor or when his/her license is renewed. Currently the membership of this committee is Martin Trainor, Gaie Bracken and Al Aikman. Two positions are nominated (see above) and one Churchwarden is appointed to this committee at the first Parish Council meeting. Action Points: 1. Determine whether you're on the Electoral Roll 2. Consider nominating for a position 3. Save the date for the Annual Meeting: 18 November 2018 at 11 am 4. Let Adam know if you have any questions or you think something should be included on the agenda.

I fell in love with Pemba almost instantly. Highlights included living in a tiny hut in the red dirt with eight other women, feeding 6400 children to celebrate children's day (this was as confronting as it was joyous), the riotous celebration of dance and song that is church in Pemba, riding in the backs of trucks and spending my afternoons in the "baby house" learning Portuguese and Makua from the children. I absolutely loved getting to know the Mozambican Bible School students, who leave their families for two months a year and travel days to reach Pemba with essentially just the clothes on their backs to be trained as pastors. We were one cohort, with a few differing classes, which made having to leave unbearably heartbreaking. As I am sure you know, the government decided not to renew our visas - having 250 students from 31 different nations around during a streak of terrorist attacks was not their jam. However, we all felt so totally safe. God is so good, and the base was so covered by intercession, and chose joy and love over fear :) And so the Harvest students have been moved over to Nelspruit, South Africa. I've gone from bucket showers using a 1L water bottle, to cold showers and a dorm room of 70 women! Glory! We have the same sort of structure as in Mozambique - class from Monday to Thursday, with outreaches and practical missions over the weekend. It is intense, fast-paced and I love it - the highs and the lows. Anyway, learning heaps. It is such a replenishing time of receiving and drawing close to Jesus! Feel free to share any of this stuff with the church. My love to all, Charlotte

A good vision asks these questions: 1. Where are we? 2. Where are we going? 3. How will we get there? and 4. How much will it cost? In this blog we will answer the final question while also reflecting on biblical stewardship. Currently our giving is tracking really well! We are $17k ahead of our forecast position (figures and charts below). Here is a snapshot of our Income (blue is actual, green is budget): You can view a more detailed P&L and Balance Sheet here. Two Stewardship Goals: 1. Reduce our dependence on property income 2. Begin using the Upper Hall for ministry Statistically Churches that give generously and do not rely on property income grow numerically. The reason for this is when Churches have a steady stream of income they become complacent. Remember that giving is a discipleship issue. If there's a perceived non requirement to give then we sit back and not contribute in the way we are supposed to. This leads to sleepy churches. Our vision is to be anything but that which is why these two goals are so important. A brief analysis of our Church We are each invited to think about how the Lord calls us to give sacrificially and generously. The bible speaks of a tithe (10%). We encourage members of St Catharine's to consider prayerfully how much they should give. The tithe should be our guide. Sometimes God might direct us to give something less than that for a season and at other times, God might direct us to give more. For more principles of tithing, read this blog. There are about 40 adults at our Church Taking into account the fact that we have some fixed incomes, part-timers, some people who are on minimum wage and others on higher salaries. An average income might be $60k. A tithe is $6k $6k x 40 people - $240k God has already provided everything we need. Five reasons people do not give generously I give elsewhere God will provide through other people, my gifts don't really count I don't trust the church to steward my money wisely I will tithe when I can afford it I'm afraid to How much will it cost? In our 2019 budget we would aim to do the following: Reduce our dependence on rental income by 5% = $3.5k To meet our new staff expenses = $4.5k Begin investing in a new Vicarage Fund = $5k Complete some much needed Capital works = $5k Increase our Mission Giving = $2k Our Annual Budget needs to increase by 10% in 2019 And would need to continue to increase by about 10% each year. Members are invited each year to review their giving and we are prayerful and expectant that the Lord will continue to add to the number of saints at St Catharine's. If the presentation below does not display, please click here.

I grew up as a Christian and heard many many talks about money and the need to give generously. However I was in my late teens before I heard a talk where the Pastor actually explained in detail where the money was going and what it was for. One aspect of Stewardship is giving, another aspect is being faithful to money being used well in the biblical sense. In the Anglican Church this responsibility is that of the Churchwardens (you can check out our wardens here), with the support of a Treasurer (Noel Thurlow) and in our case, a Bookkeeper. However as a community it is something we all should be aware of and it would be remiss of me as the spiritual leader to not give you a snap shot about how our finances work from time to time. Of course, stewardship and giving is also a discipleship issue. In the bible we find the prevalence of these words: Believed = 272 times Pray = 371 times Love = 714 times Give = 2162 times The notion of giving and discipleship is one of the most prominent themes in the bible and yet so often we (Pastors) fear speaking about it because it can be such a sensitive issue. The flip-side is that some churches give a "giving talk" every Sunday and we choose not to do that at St Cath's because we don't wish to suggest that this is the only discipleship issue that we need to address. Over the course of a year or a season, we want to address as many discipleship issues as possible. Sometimes people who have come into an Anglican Church who have been part of other (perhaps independent ) churches believe that the Anglican Church of Australia or the Melbourne Anglican Diocese are kind of like a big 'mum or dad' ready to bail us out or provide seed-funding for Churches that are struggling. This is simply not the case. The video below comically illustrates this tension in the Church of England in the UK: The Church of England in the UK and the Roman Catholic Church in Australia both have a system where contributions from church giving are made to the diocese (HQ) and then clergy / pastors are paid from the centre. However in the Anglican Church of Australia local congregations have to support themselves. While there are sometimes grants or supports available from the centre, it is the responsibility of the local Church (Churchwardens) to determine how funds will be spent, where they will come from and to ensure that there are sufficient funds for the pastoral staff to be paid. Additionally we pay a contribution (assessment) to the centre so that they can continue to provide services to the church, i.e. governance, insurance, payroll, the pastoral support of bishops, etc. If the local congregation does not have the resources, the Churchwardens (in conversation with the local Bishop) sometimes need to consider reducing the hours of the pastoral staff and in more drastic circumstances consider discontinuing operation as a Church. In Melbourne a minimum budget for Church viability is considered to be $120k annually. While St Cath's have found themselves in this position in the past, this is far from the case today. Finances are tracking very well. The brief presentation below gives an outline of our income streams and our expenses as budgeted at the beginning of the financial year (1 October 2017). In our next post I will share more extensively about our current position as well as what the bible says about stewardship and giving. Click here if the presentation does not appear below.

On Sunday 17 June, I gave the first of three brief presentations on Vision, Mission and Stewardship. Our Church strategic plan was launched in June 2017. I shared about a book that he had been reading which described vision as a map. Whether we use an 'old school Melways' or SatNav or Google Maps, the reality is that when going to a new destination we need a map to show us where we are, where we're going and how we will get there. In turn a good strategic plan asks these questions: 1. Where are we? 2. Where are we going? 3. How will we get there? 4. How much does it cost? Where are we? In the 6 and a half years that Heather and I (collectively) have been at St Catharine's we have seen tremendous growth. In the last two years alone our average attendance on Sundays has doubled and that does not even account for the very regular people who attend our meals, community groups and other events. Therefore where we are is at a crossroads from what is typically known as 'Family Size Church' (up to 40 or so people) to 'Pastoral Size Church' (40-200 people). Like a family in a family-sized Church, the Pastor is like the parent who attends to most of the needs of the community. He or she can do so because the network of relationships is reasonably straightforward. The Pastor is typically the only staff member and the workload is manageable. Once a Church grow to the next size and is in a state of growth), the nature of the Pastor's role needs to evolve. It will be a hindrance to growth if the Pastor tries to be everyone's 'parent', instead he or she now needs to be considering various forms of team ministry to respond to the growing need and so a church requires some sort of a system of smaller groups with their own leaders if it is to meet the growing need. Where are we going? Our Strategic Plan made the following statement (separate from it's measurable goals): In June 2017 we launched our five year strategic plan. 13 goals deriving from our four values. Where will God take us over these five years? By His grace, we hope to have: - Solid Foundations, - Godly Leaders, - Good Stewards, and - 200+ People strong In affect, by the end of the five years, we would like to be at the next major Church transition size. How will we get there? You can read for yourself the Strategic Plan Document before or the visual snapshot provided. However this is the core work that I have been engaged in this year: PRAYER Throughout the Church each month, Leadership Groups, Staff and Community Groups are meeting together to be praying about the direction the Holy Spirit wishes to move our Church in. Ultimately this is Jesus' Church that all of us have the privilege of serving in. We want to be attentive to the His direction and His leading. LEADERSHIP Leadership has been a major focus for me as the leader of the community and much work has been done in the first part of this year to sow into leadership. In the area of staffing we have employed a Worship Pastor, Jo, and have recently received a grant to also employ a Children's Pastor. I will take my time in appointing this role because I believe it to be so central and would anticipate it growing and developing in the coming years. There has also been an increase in volunteer involvement predominantly in our kids ministry. However I am now exploring ways that we could staff some of our administration with volunteers who could benefit from some work experience. Check out our positions vacant page for details. Our two Leadership Huddles have been a particular highlight. As I identify new leaders within the Church, I invite them to be involved in a Leadership Huddle. This is a place where we eat together, pray an worship together, theologically reflect on issues pertinent to our leadership and look at vision together. Our original huddle took a long break during the vision process but has recently commenced meeting again (5 people) and our new huddle meets fortnightly in my home and comprises many of our younger / newer leaders (12 people). Considering that a major issue raised during our vision casting process was a gap in leadership, this is a very exciting outcome. Last year we launched a new Internship Program that saw Anna and Jonno Weir begin as Interns to the YMS ministry. I am about to appoint a new Intern to the Kid's Menu ministry later this month. COMMUNITY GROUPS I mentioned earlier that in larger Churches you need smaller groups where people can pray together, read the bible together, care for one another and have the intimacy of community in a smaller context. At the beginning of this year our Community Groups where in a state of flux (which is an expected trend) and so some work was done to invite more leaders and get this back on track. Nic Wong responded to this call to become the leader of the Meals Community Group as well as the Saturday Night Meals Coordinator. Theo, Ella and Charlotte have also become Community Group leaders in addition to Anna and Jonno. There are now four groups meeting regularly, you can find out more here. MINISTRIES The St Cath's community has some great ministries that it is involved in not least of which is the Kid's Menu, YMS, Concerts & Worship, Meals and more. Ensuring that all of these have capable leadership and are firing well has been an important work also this year. Jeff and Noel are working on a new concerts series with one booked in October and another one to be announced soon in August (God-willing) and Kid's Menu will hopefully have a new appointment soon too. STRUCTURES We area a Church that has property and as such there is the constant need to transform our almost 100 year-old facilities into safe, contemporary, functional space for ministries to work effectively. Much of this falls to me to dream about and then, with the wardens, budget for and so forth. Much has happened and much still needs to happen. But this is an important area that needs constant attention. Watch this space. How much will it cost? This is a question that we will look at in more detail over the next two Sundays. The simple answer is that we need to keep making budget and to be bold (as well as wise stewards) in setting that budget in the first place. This year we are about $12k ahead in our live giving which is AWESOME! However some of our anticipated income streams have not delivered as expected and so we still have some challenges. You can read our Strategic Plan with all of the goals here or watch the brief snapshot below. Click here if the presentation does not display below.

We issue this pastoral statement to assist members of our community, as we participate in the same sex marriage postal survey. We firstly acknowledge and apologise for the damage caused to individuals and the wider community, by homophobic teaching and behaviours in the life of the church. We are committed to fostering a culture that talks openly about and accepts same sex attraction, without shaming or stereotyping people who identify as being same-sex attracted or gender liminal. We offer our assurance for all who are same sex attracted that they and their families and loved ones are loved, valued and fully welcome in our church, as they are and for who they are. We believe that all people are of equal value, with equal capacity to love, as they have been made in the image of God. We acknowledge that Biblical faithfulness for us in our cultural setting is complex, costly and challenging. Most contemporary media portrays same sex marriage as a matter of equality, and presents alternative views as being discriminatory and antiquated. As a church we uphold the formularies of the Anglican Church of Australia, which are based on the Bible’s teaching on marriage as being between a man and a woman. As it says in Genesis 2.24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. The introduction to the Anglican Marriage Service classically states it this way. Scripture teaches that marriage is a life long partnership uniting a woman and a man in heart, mind and body. In the joy of their union, husband and wife enrich and respond to each other, growing in tenderness and understanding. Through marriage a new family is formed, where children may be born and grow in secure and loving care. – APBA Order 2 ‘Faithfulness in Service’ is the guiding document of the Anglican Church of Australia in matters of life and conduct, especially for those who are licensed or authorized to minister. It states the formal position of the Anglican Church as ‘faithfulness in marriage and celibacy in singleness.’ We acknowledge that in upholding biblical teaching on marriage, we are promoting a way of life that is both costly and countercultural. We acknowledge and appreciate that this is an issue of significant pastoral tension for many in our community, as they respond to members of their own families, work colleagues and friends. We commend all efforts to give active reflection to holistic pastoral responses that are compassionate and positive in supporting same sex attracted people, and their families and friends. We want to increasingly be a community that offers loving friendships for all people, not just married people. We encourage all marriages and families to both welcome and include single people in their lives, and we seek to embody this as a community. We acknowledge and repent of an overemphasis and even idolatry of the family unit, of marriage and of parenthood, and affirm both the value of married and single life within the Body of Christ. We recognise that not all in our church community hold the same views on this matter and urge all of us to interact in a respectful and open manner. Whilst we, as a church, uphold a traditional view of marriage, we respect that some members of our community hold a different view. As Christians living in a democracy, we want to uphold our right, along with all citizens to express our point of view and we urge all members to participate in this postal survey. We encourage members to engage with friends, colleagues and family respectfully and with grace, modelling an open-minded and respectful engagement with this process. We urge the Federal Government to release any proposed legislation as soon as possible so that we can be as informed as possible prior to participating in the survey. We urge any future legislation to uphold religious freedom and to enshrine appropriate protections for religious practitioners. Adam Cetrangolo Lead Pastor Adapted from a statement by Bishop Stephen Hale to the St Hilary’s Network with permission.