Saturday 24th December 2017

Once again the Beaumaris Uniting Church hosted the 41st Community Carols held behind the Beaumaris Community Centre on Christmas Eve.
This fabulous event is fortunate to have the backing of the Mordialloc Light Opera Company (MLOC) and the Southern Area Band.

Roger Wilson, O.A.M., hosted this event for his 40th consecutive time, a mean feat by anyone’s standards.

We had solo performances from Katrina and Lucinda Pezzimenti.

Large numbers of families from near and far joined in the singing of carols, whilst picnicing on the lawns.
A visit by the man in red and white is always a hit for the children (of all ages).

We are grateful for the sponsorship of the Bayside City Council and the Beaumaris Bendigo Bank, without whom this event would not be possible. Thanks also to Hocking Stuart for donating the signs around the area.

The video of the duet by Katrina and Lucinda Pezzimenti can be viewed below:

>> Download the photographs of the Beaumaris Community Carols 2017

“Born A King”

A Special Choral Service was held on Sunday 17th December when the St Martin’s Singers together with an augmented choir of family, friends and other members of the church presented the cantata “Born A King”

Born A King is a brilliant unfolding of the Christmas story in both song and word, written by John W. Peterson.

The Cantata begins with a number of prophetic passages and proceeds through the main events of that glorious night. We had solo performances for Soprano by Katrina Pezzimenti and Shirley Tillett, Tenor: Geoff Hinde and Baritone: Graham Webster, together with scripture narration by John Barklamb, Shirley McKenzie, Sylvia Parry and Graeme Keys. We appreciate the wonderful piano accompaniment by Tanya Chaves.

 

 

>> Download the Photographs of the performance of our Christmas Cantata “Born A King”

Our church community held its Annual Twilight Fete on Friday 10th November from 3:00pm until 8:00pm. There was fun for everyone – afternoon teas, snacks and kids activities after school including Craft, Face Painting & a Jumping Castle. Yummy meals from 5pm included a barbecue, baked potatoes with fillings, salads and desserts. Bargain Stalls Galore included Books, Clothing & Accessories, Linen Bric-a-brac, White Elephant, Children’s Toys, White Elephant, Jewellery, Novelties and Craft, Plants and home baked cakes and preserves. The community contributing to the Twilight Fete included the St Martin’s Beaumaris 3 y.o. Kindergarten, St. Martin’s Play Group, Little Feet Music Group and the Kallara Callistenics Group.
We were gifted a beautiful day for the fete and a large number of people participated. It was all a great occasion of fellowship and was a great success.
The church grounds were buzzing with activity and it was deemed to be an exceptional event in the life of the church.
We are particularly grateful for the generous sponsors of this event:

• Veolia Environmental Services for donating the waste removal skip
• Century 21 McCann Alliance, Beaumaris for donating the two advertising boards
• Bakers Delight Beaumaris and Cheltenham for donating the bread and rolls for the barbecue
• Uniting Lentara for collecting unsold products for distribution to those in need

>> Download the photographs of the 2017 Fete

Pentecost Sunday 4th June 2017

Rev. John Connan and his wife Ann helped us celebrate the manifestation of the Holy Spirit through wind and fire with an inspired service.
One of the highlights was the play “Touched With Fire” – a drama with some very ordinary people, who sound like some people in our church. As the drama unfolded we could see that our central mission is to be people engaged in God’s mission turned outwards,  in a deep transforming faith that flows in to outreach. A pertinent message delivered in a simple way that enabled us all to laugh at ourselves.

Friday Morning Group Visit to Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute on 2nd June

A group of 8 ladies headed in to Parkville by train and tram to explore the wonder of the architecture and interior design of the new Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute (opened in June 2016).  The triangular corner block has been used to its maximum potential to house this amazing hospital and cancer research institute. A registered art gallery, the new Peter Mac Centre displays a range of art works on every wall of the atriums to provide a marvelous atmosphere for those waiting on specialist care. The principal artwork is the magnificent five-metre wide tapestry, “Life Burst” by John Olson. This vibrant tapestry was woven by five talented weavers over 1,200 hours at the ATW in South Melbourne, Life Burst comprises warm and bright hues of orange, yellow and red; with touches of green and purple. The interior is designed in such a way that every room in the building has a window and light is the main thing that bursts from every where. There are two cafes, one on the ground floor and another on the 7th floor which opens to a roof top garden as well as a walk way connecting to the Royal Melbourne Hospital across the road. We enjoyed a plentiful, well presented lunch at the 7th floor cafe after taking in the views of Melbourne and the hospital and university precinct from the outdoor garden. This is a unique hospital and research institiute and one Melbourne can be extremely privileged to call our own. Definitely worth a visit!

Our Palm Sunday service on 9th April was full of joy and an abundance of plants flanking the palms. The choral service sung by the choir to celebrate the last week of Christ’s life was sung with passion as we celebrated the start of Holy Week.

Palm Sunday – Choral Service

Palm Sunday this year is on the 9th April.
A choral service will be held on this day which tells the story of the last week of Christ’s life in word and song.
Choir rehearsals for this service will be held at 7:30pm at St. Martin’s on Thursday 16th, 23rd, 30th March and Tuesday 4th April.
Anyone who enjoys singing is invited to join the choir for the occasion. We would welcome participation by friends and relatives to augment the choir. This service is one of the highlights of our church year, so please make sure that you set the date aside so you can be there.

Pancake night – Flipping Fun for a GOOD CAUSE

Pancake night on Tuesday 28th February was a great success.  Approximately fifty people indulged themselves on delicious pancakes with a range of fruit toppings and ice-cream plus a wide choice of drinks.  Our thanks go to all those who organised the event (especially Wendy Hinde), set up the hall, prepared the pancake mix and various add-ons and cooked and served the pancakes and drinks.  It was a great opportunity for chatting and catching up on peoples’ news at leisure.

Beaumaris Uniting Church Pancake Flippers 2017

All funds raised on the night were donated to a Good Cause, the Uniting Care Share Appeal.

Advent is the season which leads into the celebration of Christ’s birth at Christmas. During Advent we heard about the events leading up to the nativity and we lit a series of candles which spoke of the themes of HOPE, PEACE, JOY and LOVE. On Christmas Day we lit the fifth candle for the Christ Child.

On Sunday 11th December – we had a special Children’s Service and the placing of Christmas gifts under the empty Christmas Tree. It was a very special service and some little people acted out the nativity story. Launch Housing (previously Hanover Services) were extremely grateful for the generous donations of gifts.

Children’s Christmas Service

On Sunday 18th December a choir of about 20, comprising our Singers, plus friends and relatives, presented the cantata “Night of Miracles” to a congregation of about 60. Retelling the story of the nativity in song and word, it was an enjoyable performance. Our thanks go to the choir and special thanks to Geoff Hinde who conducted with patience and perception, to soloists: Katrina Pezzimenti, Graeme Webster, Shirley Tillett and Geoff Hinde himself, and to our pianist Tanya Chaves.

Christmas Eve – the 40th Anniversary of the Beaumaris Community Carols was held at the Beaumaris Community Centre. This started out as a gathering of families at St Martin’s Church and grew so popular that a larger venue was sought. This was an exceptional night of choral singing with the Southern Community Band accompanying the MLOC (Mordialloc Light Opera Company). St Martin’s Choir did a number of pieces and Katrina and Lucinda Pezzimenti also performed some duets. Our own Roger Wilson O.A.M.,was the compere for the 39th time!