Rev. Kathy Barrett-Lennard 96542045, 0427542045 Rev. Leon Stickland 96201201

Karen Box, Administrator 96711152 wdanglican@westnet.com.au PO Box 148, Wongan Hills 6603

A Prayer for Christmas Day

Community Christmas Carols, Sunday 18th, Park. Carol Service, St Luke’s Church, Wednesday 21st, 10am. Children’s Christmas Service, Thursday 15th, 9am. Evening Service 6pm, Holy Trinity Church, Ballidu. Children’s Christmas Service, Sunday 18th, 9am. Christmas Eve Service, St Peter’s, Saturday 24th, 8pm.

December

Dalwallinu

Wongan

Hills

Ballidu

Give us, O God, such love and wonder that, with shepherds and pilgrims unknown, we may come to adore the holy Child, the promised King, and with our gifts worship him, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Anglican Parish of

Wongan Hills - Dalwallinu

On a hill far away….

He died,

That I might live

1 Thessalonians 5:10

Rev Kathy’s Christmas Reflection...

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Dear Friends This will be my last Christmas message to you as, I’m sure most of you are aware, our farm has been sold and we will be leaving to live in Perth in early March. It will be a time of great change for Hugh and I, a time of challenge and a time to set a different course for our lives. While there will be many new experiences, I think we will also want the comfort of re-connecting with some of our old friends who we’ve barely seen for years, but who mean a lot to us.

Christmas is a time of re-connecting with family, friends and community, as we gather to end the year with cheer, but also as we gather in church to re-connect to the wondrous story of Christ’s birth, and all that it means to us. In the Christmas story, we recognize God’s yearning for connection with all of humanity. In it we see God reaching out to us not as a powerful dictator demanding our love and obedience, but in the form of a weak and

helpless human, with nothing to offer but himself. Jesus’ life was much like our own, except that it was lived in a radical way, loving all people, healing and teaching, standing against injustice until finally his life was taken from him.

When we speak to God of our pain, we know that God understands, when we share our hopes for a better world, we know God understands, when we stumble and fall, we know God is there to guide us back to the right path because Jesus has been there and has experienced all the ups and downs of life.

I hope to see you at one of our Christmas services, that you may join with me in singing praise and thanksgiving to our God who offers us the greatest gift -union with him through Jesus the Christ.

May the grace and peace of God be with you this Christmas and always. With love and blessings, Kathy.

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St Peter’s MU - Finding Joy Everyday

“Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that

ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”

Kay Warren.

‘Finding Joy Everyday is the 2016 theme for the WA branches of MU and St Peter’s MU has been exploring the idea this year. The concept that we don’t need to have huge and spectacular events to be the people of God is one that resonates with rural people especially.

Our moments of joy over the last year include: Regular meetings: We continue to meet regular ly for prayer , devotions, planning and fellowship. Fund raising: Our annual raffle and cake stall to raise money for YouthCare was held and over $1400 was raised. We are always amazed and grateful for the support of the community and of our own members and church family.

Special activities: the team from GFS came to Wongan Hills in July for holiday activities with children. We had around 20 children attend and the GFS team were fantastic as ever. Our May meeting was a special church service and morning tea to farewell and bless Margery Stevens, as she and Tim

move to Bunbury. Margery has been a member of MU for many years and a great treasurer as well – we will miss her greatly. MU hosted a morning tea for the residents of Ninan House which was well received on a beautiful morning.

Other activities this year include making joy bags for the residents of Lovegrove Lodge, bookmarks for the “Pray for Your Street” project and planning for the annual MU Country Festival in 2017, which will be held in the new Mocardy Centre.

Heather Stickland, President.

St Peter’s Anglican Church

This week we are

praying for Rogers and Ellis

Streets.

If you have a prayer request, or would like to speak to someone, you are welcome to

call: Karen 96711152 or

Rev Kathy 96542045

Happy Kids Club Enthusiasts!

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Christmas celebrations started early for the ladies at Ballidu and Dalwallinu, when we met at the Pithara Book Nook

cafe at the end of October. We were warmly welcomed by Caroline and enjoyed the fellowship of the morning and a delicious morning tea.

In December we have the last Ballidu Primary School Christmas service at the Holy Trinity on Thursday the 15th at 9am. The school will be closing and it is a time when we can give thanks for the wonderful education and care our children have received at our little school. We will be blessing the 6 children as they continue the next part of their learning journey at Wongan. The children will also be performing

a nativity play as part of the school concert on Monday the 12th December. Our Christmas service with Rev. Kathy will be held on Wednesday 21st December at 6.30pm followed by a supper at the church. Everyone is welcome to attend.

We pray for all those who are unwell and we think especially of Lesley Lines, who is currently in Dalwallinu Hospital. We pray for those who have lost loved ones recently and we think of the Hasson family, the Whyte family, the Mincherton family, the Teasdale family and the Latham family. We extend our sympathy to them all and may it help to know that we care.

I would like to wish everyone a joyous festive season and happy and safe holidays wherever you may go. May the joy of Christmas remain with you throughout 2017. God bless each and everyone of you.

Kath Cousins

The Future of the World in the Hands of a Girl “She struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child, but he’d been entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. "You mustn’t be afraid, Mary," he said. And as he said it, he only hoped she wouldn’t notice that beneath the great, golden wings he himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of creation hung now on the answer of a girl.”

Frederick Buechner

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Thank you to those who have pledged grain this season with our grain drive or gave cash to our

Parish. We really do appreciate your generosity. BSB: 706001 Acc Number: 30006998 ABN: 245 1079 3061

Parish Finances

Hugh and Kathy Barrett-Lennard are selling their farm and moving to Perth. As such, Rev Kathy will finish as our Priest-In-Charge in the first week of March, 2017. In her generosity, Rev Kathy will continue to take monthly services at Holy Trinity in Ballidu and St Luke’s in Dalwallinu. Our Parish will be celebrating 15yrs of her ministry in our Parish at a special Church Service at St Peter’s in Wongan Hills on Sunday 26th February, 2017. Everyone is welcome to join us in saying thank you!

It has been a difficult year for the Anglican Church as our very kind and compassionate Archbishop Roger Herft steps aside in recognition of the hurt and pain some members of the church have caused, as highlighted in the Royal Commission. In acknowledge-ment of the damage done, the Anglican Church has taken many measures to as best as possible, to ensure that this tragedy never occurs again. All people involved in the church in any leadership capacity (including bible

readers!) undertake annual Church Safe training and complete the required Police Clearances and Working with Children Checks. There is a much higher level of accountability and recording and the website has clear paths to follow to report and address abuse. We pray for victims and we pray for love - that in our small way in our part of the world, we continue to live out the values that Jesus demonstrated to us all.

Mocardy Centre News The building has been going for some months now, and it won’t be long before the builders have finished and the Parish can begin moving in to this beautiful building. A big thank you to Robert Sewell who has worked tirelessly on this project as well as the many other local businesses who have offered support.

Photo taken from the church garden.

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Some of the Lovegrove Lodge

Luncheon Helpers: Karen Box, Rev Kathy,

Jenny Duyster, Vicki Buscumb, Julie Sewell,

Jan Sewell and Pam Boekeman

Death and Love

Christmas tells us that God loved us enough to come to us. He inhabited a human body, lived a life like our own with challenges and joys, and died a painful death. He came to let us know that there was no part of life he wouldn’t face. He came to let us know that he would walk with us (through the valley of the shadow of death) no matter how hard our road, or how dark our night. Each of our centres has faced the loss of loved ones this year, and the lingering loss from past years saddens our hearts as we look towards Christmas. We pray for our dear friends in their grief, that God’s presence and the love of our community will sustain them and give them hope. We especially pray for the families of Blanche Sadler, Mavis Sadler, Beryl Stewart, John Peterson, Pat Browning, Janet Di Bello, Dawn Campbell, John Burns, Robin Manning, Ted Hasson, Robert Keamy, Frank Narrier, David Bedbrook and Reg Latham.

If you want to give your loved ones a great Christmas present this year, give them the gift of Christian Hope. On page after page of the New Testament we find it: the Good News that God will win, that nothing can defeat Him; that ultimately God and goodness will have

the victory and that when we put our hope in Him, nothing, not even death, can separate us from His care and His love. Once each year, Christmas comes along to renew our hope and to remind us that the darkness of this world cannot overcome the light of the world.

Those words, that idea stung me. I felt as if Christ himself stood before me and turned on the light in my darkness. It made me squint. I had been Christian for twenty-five years, and I finally understood that my salvation was not about me working hard enough to make God love me. That sounds simple as I see the words on paper, but if you have been in that punishing place where nothing you do will ever be enough, you understand. My eyes began to water, as they do when struck by a blinding light, and I wept for joy.

Sometimes I have to work hard to remind myself of things I know to be true, but whatever happened to me that day really took. I have never felt from that day until this, seventeen years later, that there is anything I can do to make God love me more or love me less. I revel in that truth more than I know how to put words to.

How does that truth resonate with you? Where do you stand in regard to God’s absolute unconditional love for you?

Do you feel as if God approves more on some days than others? If you imagine a room full of well-known Christians and you slip in at the back, do you think Christ would want to spend as much time with you as he might with, say, Billy Graham or Beth Moore?

God’s love is a hard thing to fully grasp, as it will never be found anywhere else but in His heart, but there is nothing in this life that I am more convinced of. Right now, with everything you like about yourself and all the dark places you hide, you are absolutely loved by God.

From “When Woman Trust God”

It’s Never Been About You

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St Peter’s Anglican Ladies St Peter’s Anglican Ladies continues to

make a positive contribution to our

church, our community and to each other.

The ladies enjoyed preparing and cooking

for our raffles and cakestalls which are

always successful.

The donation of $2000 towards the

stained glass windows was a way for

Anglican Ladies to help enhance St Peter’s into the future.

It is wonderful to be generous to others outside our community and this

year were able to donate money to Parkerville Childrens Home with

$500 going towards their Christmas Celebrations and another $500 to the

farmers who were affected by the tragic fires at Yarloop at the

beginning of the year. Preparation of a meal at Lovegrove Lodge in the

middle of the year, showed our love and care for the older members of

our community. Thanks to Jan and Julie

Sewell for overseeing this meal. Our

‘end-of-year’ celebration was held at

Carrah Farms with a wildflower walk and a

high tea, enjoyed by all who could attend.

It is with gratefulness that Anglican Ladies

pay for the church hall to be cleaned on a

regular basis. Thank you to Alet for going

above and beyond in her care of the hall.

We catered for the Learning with Mum is

Fun Day. Offering healthy and delicious

food for all the mums and small children who attended this event.

We are planning to run a Meals on a

Shoestring program for mums in the

community who would benefit from

increasing their lifeskills, including their

cooking ability. We look forward to

running this program from the new

Mocardy Centre. Karen Box, President.

Anglican

Ladies

Recipe Books

$20. Let

Karen know

if you’d like

one (9671 1152).

Rev Kathy, Jan Sewell, Alet Ludik and Pam Boekeman at Learning with Mum is Fun

Vicki Buscumb, Trish Wilkes, Aileen Matthews and Joshua Box.

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Our services at the hospital continue with members of the Uniting Church and hospital patients who wish to participate, we are grateful to Rev. Kathy for her loving care (she never forgets a birthday). We are grateful that Rev. Kathy will continue to visit next year. We look forward to our Christmas Service at St. Luke’s on Dec. 21st at 10am. The Church has only been used once during the year for a funeral service. Thank you to Barbara Wilson who cares for the garden and Mary Hayes who regularly waters and rakes to keep the Church looking cared for.

Our hospital visiting continues on a weekly basis and we also support the Miling Church services. The Ballidu ladies again had a coffee morning at the Pithara Tavern Book

Nook, which was well attended and we thank Kath Cousins for arranging this pleasant get together. A special thank you to Karen for our monthly Pew Slips and Parish Post keeping us well informed with the Parish news which is greatly appreciated. With best wishes to all for a happy Christmas. Gwen Hyde

A Christmas Prayer Loving Father, help us remember the birth of Jesus, That we may share in the song of the angels, The gladness of the shepherds, And worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christams evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

(A Christmas Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson)

by Franciscan teacher Richard Rohr

Most of us have grown up with a capitalist worldview, which makes a virtue and goal out of accumulation, consumption, and collecting. Normally we cannot see this as an unsustainable and unhappy trap because all of our rooms are decorated with this same colour. It is the only obvious story line that our children see. "I produce therefore I am" and "I consume therefore I am" might be our answer to Descartes' "I think therefore I am." They are all terribly mistaken.

This foundational way of seeing has blinded us, so that we now tend to falsely assume more is better. The course we are on assures us of a predictable future of strained individualism, severe competition as the resources dwindle for a growing population, and surely perpetual war. Our culture ingrains in us the belief that there isn't enough to go around. This determines much if not most of our politics. There seems to be never enough for health care, for education, for the arts, for basic infrastructure. The only budget that is never questioned is for war and armaments and military gadgets.

Anything you need more and more of is not working--as the people in addiction recovery love to say. That's exactly why we always need more of it. The fact that we need more and more, and better and better--of almost everything except love--tells us that we are in a finally unworkable situation. But there is an alternative worldview, one that has been deemed necessary and important by most spiritual masters. It isn't a win/lose worldview where only a few win and most lose. It's a win/win worldview, which alone makes community, justice, and peace possible.

E. F. Schumacher said years ago, "Small is beautiful," and many other wise people have come to know that less stuff invariably leaves room for more soul. In fact, possessions and soul seem to operate in inverse proportion to one another. Only through simplicity can we find deep contentment instead of perpetually striving and living unsatisfied. Simple living is the foundational social justice teaching of Jesus, St Francis, Gandhi, and all mystics, prophets, and seers since the beginning of time.

Jesus asks us to let go, to recognize that there is enough to go around and meet everyone's need but not everyone's greed. A worldview of enoughness will predictably emerge in a person as they move to the level of being instead of thinking that more of anything or more frenetic doing can fill up our basic restlessness. Jesus did not just tolerate or endure such simplicity, he actually loved it and called it poverty--a word which we often view as a bad thing. Jesus found his freedom there. This is hard for most of us to even comprehend. Jesus knew that just climbing ladders to nowhere would never make us happy nor create peace and justice on this earth. Too many have to stay at the bottom of the ladder so I can be at the top. It is a zero sum victory. I suspect simplicity and a worldview of enoughness will forever be an alternative orthodoxy, if not downright heretical, in most of the "developing" world.

“Enoughness” Instead of Never Enough

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Happy 10th Birthday! what an achievement! Our Church

has been serving families with young children through fun music sessions each week.

Families have had an opportunity to spend special one on one time with their precious children, and enjoy other adult company. Throughout these years, we have sought to profile and applaud the role of parenting, and in particular what it takes to be a mum. We see the role of parents as extremely important and necessary in the creation of a positive society.

This is a wonderful time to reflect on and give thanks for: All the families, current and past, who have helped

to make magical memories. Current and past team members who have been an

integral part of our group and have spent countless hours planning sessions, welcoming our families, learning songs and rhymes in order to lead, reading stories, baking, making and the like to bring gifts of appreciation to our mums and dads – gifts that say “You’re important. You’re valued.”

The wonderful partnership with our Mother’s Union group who have been there walking beside us since we started in August 2006.

The love, support and self-belief from Kathy, Leon, Parish Council and our Church family that we could do this – working together to create community within our community.

All the changes from the buildings we have used to the updated technology advances – overhead projector to computer, and now our very own Facebook page (thanks to Cherene) which is used for reminders and special messages.

The commitment made by Liz and now Sharon to work the computer.

The special relationship between Karen and Trish, who share the joy of God through this beautiful program, knowing we can make a real difference and allowing

God to speak into the lives of both adults and children.

Our business is not to make ourselves but to make the absolute best of what God made.

Natalie, Georgie, Freya, Arlo and George with the lycra

I’m a Little Teapot

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