Sunday, August 16, 2026
Almighty God,
you have given your only Son
to be for us both a sacrifice for sin
and also an example of godly life:
give us grace that we may always thankfully receive
the benefits of his sacrifice,
and also daily endeavour
to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Flowers this week are in memory of Roslyn Wieland. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
Stay In Touch
Father Ted Starr - Priest-in-Charge - 0451 929 180 - edward.starr@anglicanchurchsq.org.au
Mrs Liz Peters - Rector’s Warden - 0400 844 946
Mrs Gail Symons - People’s Warden - 0409 618 511
Mr Tony Hughes - People’s Warden - 0468 764 009
Zoom Church - 328 492 8300 - 548 747
Readings
for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Romans 11:13-36
Matthew 15:10-28
Printed copies of every sermon are on the back table
Giving
Offering - 704 901 - 0000 0780
Building Fund - 704 901 - 0001 4767
Other Stewardship
Cards are on sale at the back of the church.
For Your Prayers
We ask of your goodness, Lord, to comfort and sustain all who in this transitory life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity, and especially Shirley and Alan Kimber, Rosina, Ann, Barbara, Kevin, Ian, Chris, Jeff Byrne, Karne, Greg, Aaron, Joanne, Grace and Faith, Beryl Old, Fr David, Nina, Sophie, Lesley, Helena, Claire, Melissa Cameron, Janice, Carol, Shakiraia and Kristy. Please contact Fr Ted to be on this list.
We also give thanks for those whose year’s mind occurs at this time., and among them Roslyn Wieland, Kathy Wonka and Colin Hodson. Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.
Mission and Outreach
Woody Point Special School has been discerned as a focus for our new season of mission and outreach. The yellow lid bins at the back of the church are waiting for your extra groceries to donate to their pantry. Meals which are labelled with date and ingredients, packaged and frozen can be put in the church freezer for collection. For more information, contact Elizabeth on 0404 080 861, or Leisa.
BCA Boxes are due: please leave them on the back table, or hand to Elizabeth.
Spirited Generosity is an ongoing initiative in our parish. Please check the back table for information on our next steps. If anything has been raised in your spirit as a result, please continue the conversation with fellow parishioners, parish councillors, wardens, and Fr Ted.
Ministry During the Week
Mother’s Union: 19th August at Sea Salt and Vine, Scarborough, 11:30am
Thursday Fellowship: every first and third Thursday from 9:30am to 11:30am. All welcome for a cuppa and a chat. Bring your craft to work on or just enjoy the company.
Caring and Sharing: every fourth Wednesday after Holy Communion.
Bible Study: Tuesdays at 9:30am and Thursdays at 7pm. All welcome; all materials supplied.
Beaumont Aged Care: Holy Communion every third Friday at 10:30am.
Recycling has resumed in the new location: the small white shed at the back of the property. Any questions call Elizabeth Melvin on 0404 080 861
Services: Part of the priestly calling is that clergy “shall unite themselves with the unceasing prayer of the Church on earth and in heaven, being carried by this rhythm of prayer in peace and joy.” Various services throughout the week are offered to this end, and all are warmly encouraged to attend.
The Week Ahead
Tues, 18 Aug
6:30pm - Parish Council
Wed, 19 Aug
10:00 am - A Service of Holy Communion
11:30 am - Mother’s Union, Sea Salt and Vine
Thu, 20 Aug
9:30 am - Friendship and Craft Group
Fri, 21 Aug
10:30 am - Holy Communion at Beaumont with special liturgy or thanksgiving and farewell for Lou, care co-ordinator
Sun, 23 Aug
7:00 & 9:00 am - Holy Communion for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Growth Committee Update
The Growth Committee have been busy preparing for the second half of this year. Please see information below for events coming up in the life of the parish.
Father’s Day Raffle tickets will be on sale after worship from today onwards and drawn on Father’s Day, 6 September. Tix are $5 for 6. See back table or Liz, Gail or Florine to purchase.
Men’s Breakfast will be held on the church deck on the morning of Saturday, 12 Setpember. Details to follow.
The Blessing of the Pets will be on the afternoon of Saturday, 10 October at 3pm. Donations this year will go to Happy Paws, a community-run animal shelter.
Melbourne Cup Afternoon Tea will be held on Saturday, 31 October from 2pm. Tix are $20 each.
Volunteers will be needed for all of these efforts. Please consider what your role could be, and how you might support these events.
Prayer Space with Leisa
Be the Church!
Church is more than a building we enter on Sunday. We are the Church—the people of God, called to carry the love of Christ beyond our walls and into our homes, workplaces and communities. This week, let us not simply go to church; let us be the Church.
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving God, you have called us to be your people and to share the love of Christ with the world. Teach us what it truly means to be your Church.
Where there is loneliness, help us offer friendship.
Where there is hurt, help us bring compassion.
Where there is division, make us instruments of peace.
Where there is need, give us willing hands to serve.
Where someone feels forgotten, help us notice them.
And where hope is fading, may we carry the light of Christ.
Remind us that our worship does not end when we leave church on Sunday.
Send us into the week ahead to live the Gospel in the ordinary moments of life: through a kind word, a listening ear, a helping hand, an act of forgiveness, or the courage simply to care.
Holy Spirit, guide us to recognise the opportunities you place before us. May our faith be seen in the way we live, our love be known through the way we serve, and our hope be shared with those we meet.
Lord, help us not simply to come to Church. Help us to be the Church.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Mary, Mother Of Our Lord, August 15
Loving God,
who chose the blessed virgin Mary
to be the mother of your incarnate Son:
grant that we, who are redeemed by his blood,
may share with her in the glory of your eternal kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The place which Mary, mother of our Lord, holds in Anglicanism is both rich and often misunderstood. We do not look to other denominations and decide how near or far we would like to be to or from them. We have our own tradition, our own theologians, and our own understanding, built on the classic Anglican “three legged stool” of Scripture, Tradition and Reason. Since we celebrated her last week in the Australian lectionary (lectionary: church calendar and readings), and she is the patron saint of Mother’s Union, it is worth spending a bit of time reflecting on what it means for our faith today.
In Scripture, we have the Angel Gabriel speaking to her with the words “Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women!” From there, Mary was told she was to be the mother of Christ. Following this, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who spoke to her in similar terms: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:28, 42)
Tradition sings to us through Anglican hymnody. Last week we sang the hymn “Ye Watchers And Ye Holy Ones”. Did you catch the bit about Mary?
O higher than the Cherubim,
More glorious than the Seraphim
Lead their praises, Alleluia.
Thou bearer of the Eternal Word
Most gracious, Magnify the Lord
Consider also the pattern of prayer in our daily cycle of Morning and Evening Prayer. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, when compiling the first Book of Common Prayer, set a certain Canticle (canticle: song) in between the first reading, from the Old Testament, and second reading, from the New. It was the Song of Mary, or the Magnificat. That is to say, in Anglican tradition, it was widely understood that in Mary we have the hinge between the Old and New Testaments. Christ is the One who fulfils the promises of the Old by his work in the New; and it is by being born as man, of his earthly mother, he does this.
Finally, we have our third “leg” of the “stool”: Reason. In the midst of the ongoing wider debate in our global communion on the place of women in the Church, it is important not to fall into any extreme. Whatever your position on this issue, it is important to remember the high opinion God has of women in his Church. I would like to quote an article from the North American Anglican:
“The consideration of Mary not only helps demonstrate the vital importance of motherhood as vocation but helps us to remember that it is a woman who stands at the apex of creation. It is not only in the calling of many women into his inner circle, nor in the providential act of making a woman the first witness of the Resurrection, but it is in Word becoming Flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin that women are elevated by Christ and the Christian faith to a place of proper dignity and accorded the honor they deserve. Anglicans, by remembering who Mary is, revel in the full splendor of truth; recall that “the mighty one has magnified [her]; and, rightly proclaim the importance of the feminine in the Christian faith.”
