The Glen Waverley Uniting Church PSALTER
Request for Members and Volunteers for Synod 2022
Dear Ministers, People in non congregational placements, Retired ministers, CC chairs and secretaries, Presbytery members and associate Presbytery members,
Port Phillip East Presbytery encourages members of congregations and faith communities, ministers, pastors and lay leaders across the Presbytery to consider joining as a member or serving as a volunteer in Victoria Tasmania Synod meeting being held from June 30 to July 3 at Box Hill Town Hall.
The 2022 Synod meeting is an opportunity to hear about the work of the Uniting Church across Victoria, Tasmania and beyond. The gathering provides opportunities to worship together, listen together in small groups, learn together, pray together, eat together. There will be opportunities to join together in discerning the way God is calling us as the Uniting Church forward in mission and ministry.
David Fotheringham, as the new moderator, has named the Synod theme as “Arise, come with me”, inspired by Song of Songs 2:10. Appropriately for our first post-pandemic meeting, verse 2:14 goes on to say “Leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice.”
Sign up as a member of the Synod meeting
In our Presbytery we have thirteen spaces left for ordained and thirteen spaces for lay members of the Uniting Church. As a member you will have access to the reports and proposals being considered at the Synod meeting, and will be able to take part in decision making.
We have heard of some older church members who have been reluctant to attend Synod so as to make way for younger members. We applaud such selfless motives and look forward to the input of younger members, but it is vital that all age groups are represented.
We understand people are concerned about meeting in person in this post-pandemic world. The Synod Business Committee and Synod Standing Committee are doing everything they can to ensure everyone’s safety. Numbers have been reduced and the meeting has changed from five days to three days.
If you would like to attend, or know someone who you believe should be a member of Synod 2022, but have possibly missed the chance to be nominated by our Presbytery, it is not too late. Fill in the attached nomination below and send it back to me, Anne Kim, Presbytery Secretary.
Nomination form to attend Synod 2022 .doc
Sign up as a volunteer
We already have members of our Presbytery volunteering on the tech team for Synod.
Sarah Manase is looking for volunteers to join a team of at least eight people to help with the Synod meeting. We need people to help with the opening worship at Wesley Church, Lonsdale St, Melbourne on Thursday, June 30, and people to help at Box Hill Town Hall, Friday to Sunday, July 1 – 3.
Duties include welcoming and greeting members at registration, staffing the information table, assisting members with computer or app log ins, helping with bump in and bump out (tables, chairs etc), and other administration tasks.
Volunteers need to be 18 years and over, have attention to detail, with good communication and interpersonal skills. Enthusiasm, patience and understanding. Volunteers will need proof of Covid-19 vaccinations and a Working with Children Check.
Please contact Sarah Manase by email: [email protected] or phone 03 9116 1963 by Monday 25 April.
Ann Kim