Welcome Susan!

I am very pleased to announce that we will welcome a new staff member to St Bart's this week.  Susan Pietsch will begin as the Administration Officer for the parish, and I look forward to welcoming her. The role of Administration Officer is new to St Bart's but is reflective of the ministry support needs we require now and into the future.  

Some of her roles will remain familiar to us as Susan becomes our church's welcoming face and voice in the office during the week. Susan will generally be present at the church Tuesday to Thursday, including the regular office hours of 9 am - 1 pm.  

We are thrilled that Susan brings a broad range of skills and experience working with churches and supporting mission and ministry. She most notably brings the skills we need to help transition our practices to meet the increasing load of administration, compliance, and communication in a digital world.  This part of her role will significantly reduce the burden on the clergy and complement the current media position.  I believe that Susan will also provide our long-serving volunteer administrator Amy Fussell with the opportunity to reduce her weekly time commitment while continuing her vital participation as Treasurer and leading our pastoral care team.

At this stage, Susan's contract is until Christmas, by which time we hope to be in a better position to determine our overall staff and ministry needs into 2022.  I encourage you to introduce yourself to Susan when the opportunity arises and keep her in your prayers.

God's Peace,
Michael Stalley

We’re Adapting Well

We have made it a priority to do what we can to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.  The last time we had to lock down, we only had 24 hours notice before our Church services.  I get a little nervous every time an active case appears on the news in Queensland.  We are increasing our capacity to respond to the various needs of being "The Anglican Church in Mt Gravatt."  This response is all the more challenging when we have such a diverse church.  Can I assure you that we keep in mind the needs of those who have limited access to the internet or email for each technological response we are undertaking? I would even suggest that this technology will make possible a spectrum of responses in communication, care, and worship.

One of these responses has been to develop our meeting room to facilitate hybrid gatherings, meetings, bible studies and worship.  This last week, we gathered ten people face-to-face and five online for the latest Mission 360 Workshop.  I know that some of those online would not have been able to attend if this option was unavailable.  This improved room means we can quickly move into this online environment with minimal setup.  I expect this facility will be used daily in our church and allow for greater use by the wider church.  Importantly we will soon have the ability to include more isolated church members to join the worship and other events simply using their home telephone.

You may be aware that this meeting room has become a convenient place to archive files and store library books.  The library has played a role in the faith life of this church but of recent times seen little use.  I am very grateful to the many who had donated books and volunteered to maintain the library over the years.  To help us make the most of that space for our current needs, we are working towards removing the bookshelves and find alternate storage and disposal of material stored here.  The library books have been boxed and are currently in the hall meeting room.  Over the next few weeks, we will make them available to the congregation to take for your use.  After this period, we will donate to a suitable charitable organisation that holds second-hand bookstalls.

Be assured we remain committed to providing resources and material to support lifelong faith formation in our parish.  To find ways to "Know Christ and make Christ known."

God Bless,

The Rev’d Michael Stalley

Contacts & Communication

We have been working towards improving the way we communicate important information to the whole parish.  This week is a stark reminder of the importance of providing up-to-date information to our entire parish.  The ability to adapt quickly and stay connected in changing circumstances is essential.  I am aware that people don't all receive our communication in the same way.  Some are comfortable with email or Facebook, but some require a piece of paper or a phone call. To provide a variety of channels, we are asking for your help.

Can you please help by making sure that the contact information we have is up to date?  

I sent out an email to all people we have on our current database during the week.  This email provided the opportunity to update your details and those of your household directly.  If you did not receive this email, we might not have a valid email address for you.  It could also be that you need to check your email spam and mark emails from us as trustworthy.  If you have any concerns please contact the office or Erika or me.

We use personal information to assist us in providing pastoral care and religious services to our church community.  The parish has kept this information electronically for some time now.  We commit to follow the privacy requirements as determined for the Anglican Church of Southern Queensland .

We have recently begun to use an Australian provider called UCare who have an arrangement with the Anglican Church of Southern Queensland.  This organisation provides Church management software that allows us to handle much more than just a parish database.  It assists with communication, rostering, events, pastoral care, and giving as well.  It is the sort of tool that helps us manage a church with contemporary requirements and increased compliance needs.

I am grateful for any feedback or questions that you may have.  I hope that these new tools can assist as to be the Anglican Church at Mt Gravatt: To know Christ and make Christ known.

God's Peace,
Michael

Welcome Reverend Erika Williams

I am so pleased that this week

we welcome The Rev'd Erika Williams as an Associate Priest here at St Bartholomew's.

It is clear that this parish functions best with two full-time clergy.  Erika is a joyful and caring person and I look forward to her bringing her skills to be part of the mission of this church.  Erika has long experience in working with children and youth as a teacher and school chaplain. Erika's is appointment is intended to for a short period until an Assistant Curate is appointed in early December this year. I know that Erika will quickly find a welcome place in which her ministry gifts are well appreciated.

Next Sunday, we will seek to welcome Erika in all our services officially.  On Sunday evening, we also hope to pray for and commission leaders of the Senior Ichthus camp to be held in the school holidays.  This parish has a strong history of Young Adult leadership that supports this camp ministry of the Anglican Church of Southern Queensland.  I encourage us to pray for these leaders and others from around the Diocese as they lead this vital week of Christian formation for senior school students.  The theme for this years camp is "Living Lives of Integrity."  You are welcome to join our evening service community to support them in prayer.

Last Sunday, I suggested that we might consider celebrating baptism anniversaries in our worship.  I wonder how many of you can recall the date of your baptism, let alone celebrate it each year?  Catherine and I have tried to make it a habit in our family to do so with our children. Do you have Godchildren? Do you take the opportunity to remind them of the love that you celebrated at their baptism?  I like the idea that we remember the event that publically acknowledges our belonging to God and our call to participate in God's mission.  This practice is something that allows us to help deepen our faith and the faith of others.

God Bless,

Rev’d Michael Stalley

Just The Beginning

Leaders of political parties who want to get elected will often help people understand their priorities by telling them what they will do in their first 100 days in office. Today is 91 days since I started as the Rector of the parish, and I thought it might be helpful to give some insight into what I have been doing and what I think the priorities are for the near future.  

I arrived in the parish during Lent, a hectic time in the Church year to begin. I did very little in this time leading up to Easter other than look, listen and learn. There was the small matter of Easter to prepare for as well. I have involved myself in visiting Aged Care Facilities for worship, attended a couple of home groups, and had many conversations with people who see my office door open. I have learnt that St Bart's is quite a large parish for one clergy person.

I have learned over time that it is better to take the time to set something up right the first time. It is more effort in the beginning but saves energy and resources moving forward. It also can mean some tasks remain undone for longer than I would like. So here is a summary of my priorities at this time. 

Challenging the whole church to consider what God's mission looks like at St Bart's. This teaching prepares us to engage in a Mission Action Planning process that leads us to a contemporary response to "Knowing Christ and making Christ known."

I intend to focus our teaching on living as Christians because I believe this is a necessary response to a world emerging from the pandemic.

We are establishing a solid foundation in areas of communication, finance and governance. This work seems mundane but must be done well if these underpinning activities are to support our intended mission in the future.  

I want to prioritise training for our congregation to support our mission in pastoral care, worship and faith formation.  

On this day, when we celebrate Pentecost, we look forward to the ways God will pour the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

God's Peace,

Michael Stalley