We are keen to enhance our ministries of hospitality by recommencing or increasing our ability to serve food and/or drinks at selected church activities. The following guidelines should assist. Please refer to the full COVID Safety Plan for more details. It is also worth saying that you should not assume every ministry will return to doing things exactly how they did before. Sometimes new patterns will be tried.
If you are sick or symptomatic, please do not cook, prepare, serve or clean away food or drinks (and stay at home).
Please sanitise hands before all preparation, handling, service of food or drink. Sanitise again during and after as needed.
Please wear disposable gloves while handling and serving food.
Food and drink items are best served individually wrapped or in individual servings.
Where food is served buffet style, it should not be self-serve, and there should be one person serving each separate item, with no cross-handling.
Cleaning away should only be done by designated cleaners (not everyone helping pack up).
For ‘potluck' events (e.g. picnics), it should be BYO food and drinks and we discourage sharing food between families and individuals from different households.
Except where numbers are small (under 25) or the food service is very simple (e.g. distributing a single-serve/individually wrapped), there should be a designated COVID Food Service Monitor on duty providing constant supervision of food service (including seconds or where children or adults might ‘browse’, and during clean up).
For church-related activities in people’s homes (e.g. growth groups), food and drink service is the responsibility of hosts, but the above guidelines should be considered.
Sunday March 14
8am & 9:45am: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (Reg Piper) 11:30am: Matthew 12:28-50 (Sandy Grant) 5pm & 7pm: Matthew 9:14-17 (Mitch Walker) Friendship Service: 17 March, 10:30am
Just Keep Swimming Minister's Letter- Stacey Chapman
Last Saturday morning we had 102 women from across all the St Michael’s congregations in the church hall for breakfast. It was so good to be together again! We’re thankful for the easing of restrictions which meant we could have the event in the way that we did, albeit with some limitations in place to comply with our Covid safety plan. The last 12 months have taught us many things, not least the significance of being together in body – on Sundays, in small groups, and at events like this. It’s been a tangible reminder that we are not just brains or hearts, but embodied souls. But that’s a topic for another day…
I’m very fond of swimming (it’s my favourite day-off activity), so Dani Treweek’s topic really appealed to me – ‘Just keep swimming?’ (Surely the obvious answer is yes!). I’m also very fond of kids movies, so the Nemo reference wasn’t lost on me either. But Dani’s challenge to us as Christian women in 2021 was not about wellbeing or fitness, but to understand the culture that we live in – the water in which we are swimming...
AGM March 29, 7:30pm The Annual General Meeting for St Michael’s will be convened on Monday, March 29th at 7:30pm in the church hall. At this meeting, our Senior Minister and the church Wardens will give their annual reports, including finances. We also elect key office bearers for our church. Please pray for suitable candidates of godly conviction & character.
KYCK April 23-25
High school youth, Years 7-12, KYCK IS HAPPENING IN PERSON IN KATOOMBA!! Make sure to register now for KYCK 3, 23-25th of April. All the times, costs and further details are on the registration form. Call Andy Stevenson, our Youth Minister on 0438 614 286 for any questions or further details.
Leader Development Saturday March 27, 9am-12pm
Our first Leader Development morning for this year is on Saturday, March 27, 9-12 in the hall. Anyone interested in growing as a leader and servant of Christ is welcome to attend. There is some pre-reading for this event - please ask Liam or Stacey/Office if you would like to come and haven't received it. Remaining dates for this year: June 19, Sept 4, Equip training week November 1-6.
WCCEB Hot Cross Bun Drive It’s that time of year, there’s a chill in the air, Easter is on its way. It's time to buy millions of those toasty warm hot cross buns with extra butter to go with your coffee! You can order here and pick up on Sunday 28th MarchOR Good Friday after any of the Church services on those days. Help support High School Ministry in our local high schools!
Lifeblood
The people of St Michaels, as a part of the 'Donating for Josh' team, are currently 6th on the list of Wollongong donors! There have been 31 donations and 93 lives saved within this team. There is a special callout for blood this month as blood supplies are rather low, so why not book an appointment now?
Harry Goodhew Biography April 1st, 5-6:30pm
The official biography of "Harry Goodhew, Archbishop, Dynamic Anglican, Godly Radical”, also former Rector of St Michael's, written by Stuart Piggin, will have its official Wollongong launch at Figtree Anglican Church, 1st April 2021, 5:00-6:30pm. You are invited but must register and RSVP by 16 March here.
