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Wear Orange Wednesday (WOW Day) is a national day of recognition to say ‘thank you’ to all SES volunteers across Australia. This year WOW Day is celebrated on Wednesday 20 May 2026. On WOW Day communities across Australia are encouraged to wear orange and thank all SES volunteers who generously give their time to help communities during floods, storms and emergencies.

God of shelter and strength,
we give you thanks for the women and men of the SES,
for those who leave the comfort of home
when storms rage and floodwaters rise,
when roads are cut,
when fear settles over communities,
and when lives are overturned in a single night.
We give thanks for courage that does not seek recognition,
for quiet acts of service offered in rain, darkness, exhaustion, and danger.
For hands that carry sandbags,
for voices that reassure the frightened,
for crews who search, rescue, comfort, and restore —
we offer our gratitude.
Strengthen those who stand watch in times of crisis.
Protect them as they travel unfamiliar roads,
enter damaged homes,
and bear witness to grief, loss, and devastation.
When the weight of what they have seen becomes heavy,
grant them rest, healing, and companions who will care for them in return.
We pray also for their families and loved ones,
who wait through long nights and uncertain conditions,
sharing in the sacrifice of service.
God of compassion,
shape us also into people of preparedness and generosity —
neighbours who look after one another,
communities that respond with kindness rather than fear,
and citizens willing to work together for the common good.
On this Wear Orange Wednesday,
may gratitude rise louder than disaster,
hope stronger than destruction,
and courage be renewed in all who serve.
Amen.

18-24th May 2026

The week honours the millions of volunteers who strengthen communities, aligning with the UN International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development. Resources available through Volunteering Australia. Supporters are encouraged to wear red, the designated color for volunteering, to raise awareness. Downloadable editable certificates available here.

Congregations often want to honour volunteers meaningfully, but also need language that is thoughtful, truthful, and hopeful – especially in this moment of social strain and change.
The conversation van move beyond simple “thank yous” toward a deeper theological vision of community, mutual care, justice, hospitality, and shared responsibility. It can also invite fruitful conversations about who carries care in our society, whose contributions go unseen,
what churches can learn from migrant cultures of mutual support, and how communities might become more sustainable and interconnected in the future.

National Volunteer Week offers such a rich opportunity for congregations to honour not only organised volunteering, but the countless quiet acts of care that sustain communities every day — meals cooked, lifts offered, children cared for, gardens tended, phone calls made, grief shared, justice pursued, and compassion lived out. Volunteering is not simply “helping out,” but is participation in God’s work of healing, hospitality, justice, compassion, and community.

The landscape of volunteering is changing, so this focus is an important and timely theme for congregations to engage with – naming both the beauty of volunteering and the strain many communities are carrying right now. Holding gratitude together with honesty can open space for deeper compassion rather than guilt. There’s also something deeply pastoral in acknowledging that people’s capacity has changed. Many long-term volunteers may feel weary or anxious about the future of organisations they love. Naming that gently in worship can itself feel like recognition and care.

Possible biblical references and theological threads
Jesus washing the disciples’ feet (John 13)
“Whoever wishes to be great among you must be servant of all” (Mark 10:43–45)
The body of Christ, where every gift matters (1 Corinthians 12)
Faith made visible through love (James 2)
The call to “serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13)

Brief Theological Introduction (for newsletter, worship notes, or spoken introduction)
At the heart of the Gospel is not domination, prestige, or power, but service. Again and again, Jesus draws close to people in compassion: feeding the hungry, welcoming the excluded, healing the wounded, washing the feet of his disciples, and teaching that “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant” (Mark 10:43).
Volunteering reflects something sacred about our shared humanity and our calling as disciples. Through acts of generosity, care, advocacy, hospitality, mentoring, listening, organising, cooking, visiting, supporting, and accompanying, volunteers participate in the work of healing and hope.
Not all volunteering is formal or publicly recognised. Much of it happens quietly: caring for family members, supporting neighbours, checking in on friends, driving someone to appointments, preparing meals, offering encouragement, or simply being present in difficult times. These hidden acts of love are also holy work.
In a world that often prizes productivity and individual success, the ministry of Jesus points us toward another way – a life shaped by compassion, mutual care, and service for the common good. National Volunteer Week invites us to give thanks for all who embody this spirit of generosity in our communities.

Downloadable editable certificates available on Volunteering Australia website.

Prayer of Thanksgiving for Volunteers
God of generous love,
we give thanks for all who serve others
with quiet compassion and faithful care.
For those who volunteer in schools and op shops,
in emergency services and sporting clubs,
in neighbourhood houses and charities,
in churches, kitchens, gardens, and community groups –
we give thanks.
For those whose service is public and visible,
and for those whose care is unseen:
the friend who listens,
the grandparent who babysits,
the neighbour who checks in,
the carer who keeps going,
the person who simply shows up –
we give thanks.
In a world that often measures success by status or wealth,
you show us another way:
the way of kindness,
the way of service,
the way of Christ,
who knelt to wash the feet of his friends.
Bless all who give their time, energy, wisdom, and compassion
for the sake of others.
Renew the weary.
Encourage the discouraged.
Protect the overlooked.
And remind us all
that small acts of love can help transform the world.
Through Christ, servant and saviour.
Amen.

Prayer inspired by Jesus washing feet (John 13)
Christ Jesus,
you took a towel and basin
and showed your disciples
that love kneels down.
You taught us
that greatness is found not in power, but in humility;
not in domination, but in service.
Today we remember and honour volunteers:
people who quietly embody your way
through acts of generosity and care.
For those who cook and clean,
organise and visit,
mentor and advocate,
comfort and accompany,
we give thanks.
For those who volunteer formally in organisations,
and those who care daily for family, friends, neighbours, and community,
we give thanks.
Shape us into a people who notice need,
share responsibility, and serve with joy.
May our churches be places
where every gift is valued,
every contribution honoured,
and every person welcomed.
In your holy name. Amen.

To insert into Intercessory prayers in a worship service
Loving God,
we pray for all volunteers throughout our communities.
For those working in times of crisis and disaster,
grant courage and strength.
For those supporting people who are lonely, grieving, vulnerable, or struggling,
grant compassion and patience.
For those who advocate for justice,
care for creation, welcome refugees,
feed the hungry, or work for reconciliation and peace,
grant hope and perseverance.
For carers whose volunteering is woven into daily life –
parents, grandparents, friends, neighbours, and family members –
grant rest and support.
Where people feel exhausted or unseen,
bring encouragement.
Where communities are fractured or isolated,
build connection and belonging.
And where acts of kindness seem small against the weight of the world,
remind us that love is never wasted.
God, in your mercy:
hear our prayer.

Short congregational litany
Jesus said: “Whoever wants to be first must be servant of all.”
Teach us the way of love and service.
For volunteers who strengthen our communities:
We give thanks.
For carers, neighbours, family, and friends whose quiet support sustains others:
We give thanks.
For those who are weary in serving:
Grant rest, courage, and joy.
May we follow Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve.
Help us live with compassion, generosity, and hope. Amen.

Love Made Visible (a short sermon)
One of the striking things about Jesus is how often his ministry happens in ordinary acts of care.
He notices people others overlook.
He stops to listen.
He shares meals.
He touches those considered untouchable.
He feeds hungry crowds.
He kneels to wash dusty feet.
Again and again, Jesus teaches that love is something we do.
In John’s Gospel, on the night before his death, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet — a task usually reserved for servants. Then he says: “I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).
That moment tells us something profound about God. The God revealed in Jesus is not distant or self-important, but deeply present in acts of compassion and service.
National Volunteer Week reminds us that this spirit is alive all around us.
We see it in formal volunteering – in charities, schools, sporting clubs, emergency services, community organisations, and churches. But we also see it in the countless unseen acts of informal care that hold communities together.
A neighbour checking in. A grandparent helping raise children.
A friend sitting beside someone in grief.
Meals cooked. Lifts offered. Phone calls made.
Quiet encouragement given.
Much of this work never appears in headlines or annual reports. Yet without it, communities would unravel.
The Gospel reminds us that these acts are never “small” in the eyes of God. Love made visible is sacred. Service offered with compassion participates in the ministry of Christ himself.
And perhaps National Volunteer Week is not only about saying thank you — though that matters deeply. Perhaps it is also an invitation.
An invitation to ask:
Where is God calling me to serve?
Whose burden can I help carry?
How might I embody Christ’s compassion in my community?
Because the way of Jesus is not simply believed. It is lived.

Sustaining compassion in changing times (a short sermon)
There is a quiet truth many community organisations and churches are feeling at the moment: the landscape of volunteering is changing.
Many charities are carrying greater financial pressure as the cost of living rises. Donations are stretched. Organisations are being asked to do more with less. At the same time, many volunteers themselves are tired – balancing work, fixed incomes for retirees, family responsibilities, financial stress, and their own wellbeing.
Communities are changing too. Younger generations often want to contribute meaningfully, yet many are juggling insecure work, rising housing costs, and relentless busyness. Older Australians are living longer, which is a gift, but it also means more people require care and support at a time when families themselves are stretched thin.
The result is something many organisations quietly know: fewer people are carrying more responsibility.
And yet, perhaps this moment also invites honesty and reimagining.
The Gospel never romanticises service. Jesus himself grew weary. He withdrew to pray. He relied on others. The ministry of compassion was always shared work -people bringing loaves and fishes, opening homes, supporting one another, carrying burdens together.
Perhaps National Volunteer Week is not only a moment to celebrate generosity, but also a call to nurture sustainable communities of care.
Because the future cannot depend on a handful of exhausted people holding everything together.
The invitation of the Gospel is broader than that. It is the call to become communities where compassion is shared, where everyone’s gifts matter, and where care is not left to a few, but embraced as part of our common life together.
Even small acts matter: a meal cooked, a phone call made, an hour given, a willingness to show up.
In the ministry of Jesus, love was rarely spectacular. More often, it was faithful presence.
And perhaps that is still the way communities are sustained today.

The gifts we receive from each other (a short sermon)
One of the quiet contradictions in public life is this: migrants are often spoken about as though they are a burden on society, while in reality many migrant communities embody some of the deepest traditions of mutual care, hospitality, and collective responsibility.
Across cultures and generations, many migrant families understand instinctively that survival depends on community. People share food, childcare, transport, housing, language, money, grief, celebration, and responsibility. Elders are cared for. New arrivals are welcomed. Community is not treated as optional; it is woven into everyday life.
Of course, no community is perfect. Yet many churches and charities know firsthand that migrant communities often sustain extraordinary cultures of volunteering and mutual support – frequently while carrying the pressures of resettlement, racism, economic hardship, language barriers, and insecure work.
There is something profoundly Gospel-shaped in this.
Again and again, Jesus gathers people into communities of shared care. The early church in Acts speaks of believers sharing resources “so there was not a needy person among them.” Hospitality to strangers was considered sacred. Burdens were carried together.
Perhaps communities who have experienced displacement, vulnerability, or dependence on others sometimes understand more clearly what affluent and individualistic societies can forget: that we belong to one another.
At a time when volunteering is under strain and many organisations are struggling, migrant communities may offer not only practical help, but also a different imagination about what community can be.
Not service as an optional extra.
Not compassion outsourced to professionals or charities alone.
But care as part of being human.
This is deeply countercultural in a society shaped increasingly by individualism, busyness, and exhaustion.
National Volunteer Week can therefore become more than a celebration of service. It can also be an invitation to learn from one another — especially from communities whose traditions remind us that generosity, hospitality, and mutual responsibility are not signs of weakness, but sources of strength.
And perhaps this, too, is part of the Gospel: that the people too often dismissed, feared, or misunderstood may also carry gifts the wider community desperately needs.
For Jesus continually revealed that wisdom and grace often arrive from the margins, not the centre.

Prayer for informal volunteers
Loving God,
today we pray especially for those
whose volunteering is rarely recognised or named.
For parents and grandparents,
for carers and companions,
for neighbours and friends,
for those who quietly carry responsibility for others each day —
we give thanks.
For those who offer practical help,
emotional support,
time, patience, transport, meals, advocacy, and presence —
we honour their gifts.
When the work is exhausting,
bring rest.
When they feel unnoticed,
bring encouragement.
When worry or grief becomes heavy,
bring comfort and strength.
Surround informal carers and volunteers
with communities of support and care,
so that those who give so much of themselves
may also receive kindness and hope.
And remind us all
that every act of love, however hidden,
is precious in your sight.
Through Christ our companion and servant.
Amen.

Sending blessing for volunteers
Go into the world
to serve with courage and compassion.
May your hands bring comfort,
your words bring hope,
and your presence bring peace.
And may Christ,
who came among us as servant and friend,
walk beside you in every act of love. Amen.

Commissioning Prayer
You might invite volunteers (formal and informal) to stand, or invite the congregation to extend a hand in blessing.
God of compassion and community,
today we honour and bless all who serve others.
We give thanks for volunteers in every place:
in churches and charities,
schools and sporting clubs,
community groups and neighbourhoods,
aged care and emergency response,
advocacy and hospitality,
caregiving and friendship.
We especially remember those whose service is quiet and unseen:
those caring for family members,
supporting friends,
helping neighbours,
offering lifts,
making meals,
listening with patience,
and carrying responsibility day after day.
Bless these hands that serve.
Strengthen weary hearts.
Renew joy where there is exhaustion.
Grant courage where the work is difficult.
And remind all who give of themselves
that their acts of compassion matter deeply.
As Jesus washed the feet of his friends,
may we continue to serve one another
with humility, grace, and love.
Go in peace to love and serve,
in the name of Christ.
Amen.

National Sorry Day has been held annually on May 26 in Australia since 1998 as a day of remembrance and commemoration honouring the Stolen Generations – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children forcibly removed from their families. It acknowledges the trauma caused by past government policies and promotes healing and reconciliation. The day allows Australians to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations survivors and reflect on the ongoing impacts of forced removal.

In 1997, the Bringing Them Home Report was tabled in Parliament, which investigated the forced separations. It was the final report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. It documented the forced removal of Indigenous children, the resulting trauma to the Stolen Generations, and provided 54 recommendations for healing, reconciliation, and reparation. A 2025 report by The Healing Foundation revealed that only 6% (or 5 out of 83 tracked recommendations) of the 1997 Bringing Them Home report have been fully implemented after 28 years. The majority of recommendations, aimed at healing for Stolen Generations survivors, remain unfulfilled, with 54% not implemented at all.

A documentary on the Bringing Them Home Report can be viewed here.

One year later after the tabling of the Report, Sorry Day was introduced into the Australian political and community calendar on May 26, 1998.

“Sorry Day” called for a national apology, which was formally delivered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Federal Government on February 13, 2008..

In 2026, the closest Sunday to Sorry Day is the Day of Pentecost (May 24th, 2026). This provides a rich opportunity to entwine the story of Pentecost (Acts 2) with Sorry Day, a day that calls us not only to remember, but to listen… to lament… and to walk more truthfully together.

The following resources may be helpful for those who wish to draw together the Day of Pentecost and Sorry Day themes. In John 20, the risen Christ breathes peace and Spirit into a fearful, closed room. In Acts 2, that same Spirit moves outward, creating understanding across difference.

Opening Invitation / Acknowledgement
Today we gather on the lands of First Peoples,
lands that have been loved, sung over, and cared for
since time beyond memory.
We gather with gratitude – and we gather with honesty.
We look towards National Sorry Day,
a day that calls us not only to remember,
but to listen…to lament…
and to walk more truthfully together.
We remember the children of the Stolen Generations—
taken from family, from culture, from Country.
We remember the strength of those who survived,
and we acknowledge the wounds that remain.
Today is not only about the past.
It is about the kind of people we are becoming.

Welcome
Today may stir different things within us –
grief, sorrow, discomfort, even uncertainty.
Whatever you are carrying, you are welcome here.
And we trust that God meets us – not in perfection –
but in honesty, and in our willingness to keep walking together.

Passing of the peace
In our fear and silence, Christ comes among us and says, “Peace be with you.”
Peace be with us, and peace be with this land.
He breathes his Spirit upon us.
Breathe in us, Spirit of life.
Where voices have been silenced
Let truth be spoken.
Where stories have been ignored
Teach us to listen.
Where cultures have been wounded
Bring healing and honour.
At Pentecost, each heard in their own language.
May we hear and honour the voices of First Peoples.
What kind of people will we be?
A people of peace,
a people who listen,
a people who walk together in truth.
The peace of Christ be always with you.
And also with you.
A sign of peace is shared.

Prayer of Lament and Hope (Prayer of Confession)
God of truth and mercy,
you hear the cries that history tried to silence.
We bring before you the pain of the Stolen Generations—
children taken, families fractured,
language and culture disrupted,
love interrupted by policy and power.
(Silence for personal reflection and naming)
We confess the ways this story is not only past,
but present—
in systems not yet healed,
in justice not yet complete.
Give us courage to listen deeply,
to learn truthfully,
and to act justly.
May we walk gently on this land,
honouring those who have cared for it since the beginning.
May we build relationships marked by respect,
humility, and shared hope.
God of healing,
where there is brokenness, bring restoration.
Where there is silence, raise up truth.
Where there is distance, draw us into community.
And where there is sorrow,
plant seeds of hope. Amen.

Congregational Response / Affirmation
On this day of remembrance, what do we choose?
We choose truth over denial,
listening over silence,
justice over comfort.
How will we walk together?
With humility and respect,
seeking healing,
and honouring the voices of First Peoples.
What is our hope?
That truth will lead to healing,
and healing to renewed community.

Framing the readings (John 20 and Acts 2)
You might briefly prepare people to hear the connection:
Today we hear two stories of the Spirit.
In John 20, the disciples are behind locked doors – fearful, uncertain.
And the risen Christ comes among them, saying, “Peace be with you,”
and breathes his Spirit into them.
In Acts 2, that same Spirit moves outward –
and people from many nations hear in their own languages.
At Pentecost, people from many places gather,
and each one hears in their own language.
Not erased. Not replaced. But honoured.
Today, as we head towards National Sorry Day,
we listen to these stories alongside the truth of this land,
where voices have been silenced,
and where healing calls us into deeper listening.
So we listen, not only with our ears, but with our hearts.

Linking Pentecost & Sorry Day (a suggestion for a reflection/sermon thread)
At Pentecost, in Acts 2, people from many nations gather. And something extraordinary happens. They do not all speak the same language – but each one hears in their own.
Pentecost is not about sameness. It is about being heard, honoured, and understood in one’s own voice.
And that is where it meets Sorry Day.
Because the story of the Stolen Generations is also a story about language silenced,
culture suppressed, identity denied.
Children who were not allowed to speak their own language.
Families whose stories were interrupted.
Communities whose voices were ignored.
Pentecost is not just about speaking.
It is about being heard. And that matters on this land.
Because part of our history has been a failure to listen – to First Peoples,
to truth, to stories that challenge us.
The Spirit does not create sameness. The Spirit does not demand uniformity.
The Spirit creates understanding.
The Spirit does not silence or erase difference.
The Spirit honours it.
And so to be a Pentecost people in Australia
is to become a people who listen – deeply, humbly, truthfully.
So on this day, the question becomes:
What would it mean for us to be a Pentecost people in this land?
A people who listen across difference
A people who honour First Peoples’ voices, stories, and wisdom
A people who allow truth to be spoken – and truly heard
Because the miracle of Pentecost is not just speaking.
It is listening that leads to transformation.

A Simple Symbolic Action
a) Stones or Seeds Ritual
Provide small stones (for lament) or seeds (for hope), or both.
Invite people to hold a stone as they name grief, sorrow, or truth,
then place it in a shared bowl or at the foot of the cross/table.
You may provide an option to take a seed as a commitment to ongoing reconciliation.
Words to introduce the ritual
We cannot change the past,
but we can choose how we carry it,
and how we walk into the future.
As you come, you may carry a stone –
a sign of lament, of truth, of what must be named.
And you may take a seed –
a sign of hope, of commitment,
of the work still to be done in us and among us.
b) Bowl of Tears
Invite people to come forward, dip their fingers into the bowl of water,
and wipe the ‘tears’ down their face, followed by a time of quiet reflection.

A Brief Litany of Listening
For the voices long unheard:
Teach us to listen.
For stories that unsettle us:
Give us courage to hear.
For truth that calls us to change:
Lead us into action.
For relationships still to be rebuilt:
Guide us in humility and respect.

Options for Sending /Blessing
Go now as people of the risen Christ.
Not locked in fear, but opened by peace.
Not closed to difference,
but listening for the voices of this land.
And may the Spirit who breathes life
make of us a community
where truth is heard,
and healing can begin.
And may the God we know as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer
go with you. Amen.

As we leave today,
may our remembrance become relationship,
and our sorrow become commitment.
Perhaps this week, you might take one step –
to listen, to learn, to support,
or to stand alongside First Peoples in tangible ways.
Small steps, taken faithfully,
become pathways toward justice.
Friends, go into this week
not turning away from truth,
but walking gently within it.
May you listen more deeply,
love more courageously,
and act more justly.
And may the God of all peoples –
Creator, Christ, and Spirit –
guide us toward healing,
together. Amen.

(Communion liturgy below)

Music/video

Archie Roach, ‘Took the Children Away‘

The Piano – Season 2 – one Aboriginal man, the last one to speak his language (5 mins)
Peter Salmon, a 92-year-old Thiinma Elder and stockman, performed original songs in his traditional language. He’s the last living speaker of the First Nations language Thiinma. He collaborated with musician Rosie Sitorus, a linguist who was working at the time with the Bundiyarra Irra Wangga Language Centre in Geraldton, helping to find and preserve Indigenous languages. The pair performed their song Warri Yungu Warri Paba – “The song means, if there’s no rain, there’s no water. And if there’s no water in the pools of the river, there’s no grass, there’s no kangaroos, there’s no birds. There’s no life, and the country dies.” At the finale of The Piano, Peter’s grandson Mitch came out and vowed on stage to keep his knowledge alive for the next generation.

Communion
The same Spirit who breathes peace
and opens understanding
now gathers us at this table.
Here, we are not strangers, but guests of grace.
Here, truth and mercy meet.
Here, we are formed again as a people
who will listen, honour, and walk together.
As we share this meal,
may we be nourished for the work of reconciliation.
Not only in words,
but in lives shaped by truth, courage, and compassion.
May this table be a place where truth is not feared,
where grace is abundant,
and where new relationships are born.
All are welcome here,
where Jesus is host and we are the welcome guests.

God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Holy and life-giving God,
Creator of all peoples and all lands,
You spoke this world into being—
diverse and beautiful,
woven with many cultures, languages, and stories.
From the beginning,
you entrusted this land to its First Peoples,
who have cared for it, sung over it,
and lived in deep relationship with it.
And yet, O God,
we confess that your vision of harmony was broken—
through colonisation,
through policies that caused deep harm,
through the taking of children,
and the silencing of culture and voice.
Still, you did not turn away.

In Jesus Christ,
you came among us, not in power that dominates,
but in love that listens, restores, and heals.
He walked with those on the margins,
heard the voices others ignored,
and proclaimed a kingdom of justice and peace.
Through his life, death, and resurrection,
you opened a way, not only to be reconciled with you,
but with one another.

And on the day of Pentecost,
your Spirit was poured out on all people.
Not to make us the same,
but to draw us together in understanding.
Voices once divided were heard anew.
Barriers of language and fear began to fall.
Your Spirit moved among your people
as breath, as fire, as possibility,
calling a new community into being.

So with all who have gone before us,
with the prophets who spoke truth,
with the disciples who bore witness,
with the First Peoples of this land,
and with all who long for justice and healing,
we join our voices in praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord… (Sanctus)

Gracious God,
Pour out your Spirit upon us,
and upon these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us
the body and blood of Christ.
And pour out your Spirit upon us, your people,
that we may become the body of Christ in this place:
A people who listen deeply, who walk humbly, who seek justice,
and who honour the voices of First Peoples.
Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.

Resources that may be helpful in response to what is happening with Venezuala

A Watch Night service is traditionally held on New Year’s Eve to reflect on the past year and welcome the new one through prayer, scripture and worship. It is part of the liturgical rhythm in many church traditions.
It also has deep roots in Moravian and Methodist traditions, with a significant special meaning in African American churches as “Freedom’s Eve,” commemorating the night enslaved people waited for the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect at midnight on January 1, 1863. 

‘As we step into this new year, may Christ’s presence steady us, and lead us forward together in hope’. (Charissa Suli)

(a post by Rev Dr Stephen Koski)

Christmas began on Christmas Eve. It didn’t end on Christmas Day. We just shook off the retail part. Christmas is a 12 day feast beginning the evening of December 24 and ending on the evening of January 5 or Twelfth Night. The mystery is too vast for one day. We are invited each day to move from a Merry Christmas to a deeper Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, we lit candles and remembered what all children know. We come from Love. We are here to love. One day we will return to Love. We made room to give ourselves to the mystery of the Source of All Love becoming flesh entering this harsh and hostile world in a helpless, innocent, vulnerable child. We lit candles and shared them one to another allowing something deep within us, long since forgotten, to be awakened.

A New England medical journal published a story of a couple who had a 4 year-old little girl who gave birth to a baby boy. When they brought the baby home from the hospital, his little sister insisted on spending time alone with her baby brother. The parents waited just outside the bedroom door listening on the baby monitor. The little girl moved closer to the crib and they couldn’t believe their ears when they heard her say to her little brother, “Tell me about God. I am beginning to forget.”

The gift of the child in the manger is intended to awaken something within us long since forgotten. The days following Christmas are an invitation to stay awake and make room for love to deepen and dwell before business as usual occupies those spaces.

The poet Hafiz wrote, “How did the rose ever open its heart and give to this world all of its beauty? It felt the encouragement of Light against its being; otherwise we all remain too frightened.”

May we find moments of stillness in these 12 days of Christmas to feel the encouragement of Light against our being. May that which is long since forgotten awaken within us that we might open and give to this broken and aching world the fullness of our hearts.

Aged Care Employee Day, held annually on 7 August, celebrates the thousands of dedicated workers, supporting millions of older Australians in aged care, retirement living and seniors housing.

From leaders to those providing hands-on compassionate care or working behind the scenes – volunteers, cleaners, chefs, cooks, maintenance workers, gardeners and administrators – this day is all about saying #ThanksforCaring.

BLESSING FOR CARERS OF THE ELDERLY
At bedside and dining room,
through physical frailty and spiritual richness,
in the exhaustive and
sometimes exhausting detail of the everyday,
in the graced intensity of celebrations and of death-time,
we are privileged to accompany those in our care.
We pray for one another:

The blessing of surprise be upon us–
surprise that every so often delights us anew
with the truth that each person is mysterious and unique.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of patience be upon us–
patience that enables us to hear generously
the same story over and over
as if for the very first time.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of empathy be upon us–
empathy that knows keenly
the perspective of the other person
from within their shoes and inside their skin.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of humility be upon us–
humility that whispers gently to us
of our own blind spots and reminds of our need for forgiveness.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of attentiveness be upon us–
attentiveness that graces the other with a sense
of how much they are loved
and respected right at that moment.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of memory be upon us–
memory that holds as precious the life
and story of each one when her own memory
may have deserted her.
Response: Bless us, great God of life and death.

The blessing of self-care be upon us–
self-care that insists on space
and fun and time for rest and leisure.
Response: Bless us great God of life and death..

God, you are the source and the aim of our lives.
You are our joy and our hope.
We thank you for your infinite and wondrous mercy.
Response: Amen.
(Source: Mary Wickham)

Praise God, the Source of life and birth.
Praise God, the Word, who came to earth.
Praise God, the Spirit, holy flame.
All glory, honor to God’s name! Amen.
(Source: Ruth Duck, to tune of Praise God from whom all blessings flow)

Chuseok, also known as Hangawi or ‘autumn eve’, is a major mid-autumn harvest festival in Korea, and a three-day holiday in South Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunisolar calendar on the full moon.

If there are Korean people in the congregation, consider ways to acknowledge this festive ‘new year’ day.

“Being a seafarer is a tough, lonely and dangerous existence. Courageous men and women from some of the poorest countries in the world are sourced as labour for this industry. On board for lengthy eight to 10 month contracts, they do this job as a means of making a living and providing for their families back home.”

More than 90% of the world’s goods and fuels are transported around the world, thanks to seafarers. Without them the world economy would grind to a halt. This would place businesses and millions of jobs around the world in jeopardy.

Sea Sunday is the day set by many Christian Churches to remember, celebrate, pray for seafarers and their families and give thanks for their lives and work. It is officially held in July – various dates including ‘second Sunday in July’ as well as  Sunday, 21 July, and Sunday, 28 July, 2024. Probably ok for any Sunday in July.