MCT NEWS
Newsletter of Mackay Churches Together
March 2016 (Part I)
SCHOOL CHAPLAINCY
At our meeting on Wednesday, March 2nd, we welcomed Cr. Frank Gilbert and two School Chaplains, Phil Hall (Mackay Central State School) and Sally Day (Victoria Park Primary School). The visit was at Cr. Gilbert’s request, to put us in the picture about the challenges facing School Chaplains at this time.
School Chaplaincy is funded through the Queensland Government Department of Education and administered through a local committee, supported by Scripture Union.
There are 13 schools (10 Primary and 3 High Schools) served by 10 Chaplains. Sarina and the Pioneer Valley have their own committees.
Chaplaincy is not Religious Education. The Chaplains are there to provide pastoral care for the children. Many Chaplains run Breakfast Clubs which often provide opportunities for conversation.
Cr. Gilbert emphasised that their greatest need is for prayer support and the committee is looking for someone to take on the role of Prayer Coordinator.
They would also like to see churches “adopt a Chappy”, not only to provide this kind of support but to find ways of increasing financial support. Government funding is sufficient for 2 days a week; another $120.000 p.a. is needed to enable local Chaplains to give more time to this work. Schools have the option of having a counsellor but most prefer to have a Chaplain.
Sally Day, one of our newest Chaplains. gave a “snapshot” of her work. She commented; “Chaplaincy is not about right and wrong”.
Phil Hall, our longest serving Chaplain observed. “I used to have to look for people; now they come looking for me”.
During the discussion that followed, it was suggested that profiles of the various Chaplains could be made available to churches for them to consider adopting a Chaplain. As the Chaplains’ conference in Mackay coincides with our Pentecost Service (May 15) it was suggested that we could give special emphasis to the ministry of School Chaplains at that service.
Rev. Wayne McHugh (Northside Uniting Church) mentioned that, during his time at Proserpine, he had originated the “Chappy” lip-balm sticks as a means of fund-raising and hoped to be able to renew this now that he is in Mackay.
NATIONAL DAY OF THANKS
(No, that’s not a typo; please note the change of name!)
When my wife & I moved to Mackay 10 years ago, one of the first events we went to was National Day of Thanksgiving. We were blown away; we had never seen anything like this! The churches of a city, fully supported by the local Council, coming together to put on a free family festival with the sole aim of encouraging people to be more thankful and appreciative of the people who serve us in so many ways. What a great idea!
Since then we have had the pleasure of attending, and sometimes being involved in, this great event. There have been changes over the years - venue, personnel, activities, etc., but the one constant has been the vision and dedicated service of Martine Mahler.
Now the time has come when Martine has to review her level of time-commitment to NDOT. This means that some of us who’ve been content to stand on the sidelines and applaud need to get more involved in the game.
Ideally, what is needed is for each church to have a representative on the organising committee and be the person to promote NDOT in that church. Would you consider being the one to do that or find someone who can?
Come along to our next MCT meeting at St. Charles Anglican Church on Wednesday, April 6th, starting at 12 o’clock when Martine will explain the change of name and give us more information about how we can help.
DID YOU NOTICE that at the beginning of this letter I said “Part I”? So, yes, there’s more coming, but I thought this was enough reading for now.
Have a great day,
Your brother in Christ,
Alan May,
Secretary.
Newsletter of Mackay Churches Together
March 2016 (Part I)
SCHOOL CHAPLAINCY
At our meeting on Wednesday, March 2nd, we welcomed Cr. Frank Gilbert and two School Chaplains, Phil Hall (Mackay Central State School) and Sally Day (Victoria Park Primary School). The visit was at Cr. Gilbert’s request, to put us in the picture about the challenges facing School Chaplains at this time.
School Chaplaincy is funded through the Queensland Government Department of Education and administered through a local committee, supported by Scripture Union.
There are 13 schools (10 Primary and 3 High Schools) served by 10 Chaplains. Sarina and the Pioneer Valley have their own committees.
Chaplaincy is not Religious Education. The Chaplains are there to provide pastoral care for the children. Many Chaplains run Breakfast Clubs which often provide opportunities for conversation.
Cr. Gilbert emphasised that their greatest need is for prayer support and the committee is looking for someone to take on the role of Prayer Coordinator.
They would also like to see churches “adopt a Chappy”, not only to provide this kind of support but to find ways of increasing financial support. Government funding is sufficient for 2 days a week; another $120.000 p.a. is needed to enable local Chaplains to give more time to this work. Schools have the option of having a counsellor but most prefer to have a Chaplain.
Sally Day, one of our newest Chaplains. gave a “snapshot” of her work. She commented; “Chaplaincy is not about right and wrong”.
Phil Hall, our longest serving Chaplain observed. “I used to have to look for people; now they come looking for me”.
During the discussion that followed, it was suggested that profiles of the various Chaplains could be made available to churches for them to consider adopting a Chaplain. As the Chaplains’ conference in Mackay coincides with our Pentecost Service (May 15) it was suggested that we could give special emphasis to the ministry of School Chaplains at that service.
Rev. Wayne McHugh (Northside Uniting Church) mentioned that, during his time at Proserpine, he had originated the “Chappy” lip-balm sticks as a means of fund-raising and hoped to be able to renew this now that he is in Mackay.
NATIONAL DAY OF THANKS
(No, that’s not a typo; please note the change of name!)
When my wife & I moved to Mackay 10 years ago, one of the first events we went to was National Day of Thanksgiving. We were blown away; we had never seen anything like this! The churches of a city, fully supported by the local Council, coming together to put on a free family festival with the sole aim of encouraging people to be more thankful and appreciative of the people who serve us in so many ways. What a great idea!
Since then we have had the pleasure of attending, and sometimes being involved in, this great event. There have been changes over the years - venue, personnel, activities, etc., but the one constant has been the vision and dedicated service of Martine Mahler.
Now the time has come when Martine has to review her level of time-commitment to NDOT. This means that some of us who’ve been content to stand on the sidelines and applaud need to get more involved in the game.
Ideally, what is needed is for each church to have a representative on the organising committee and be the person to promote NDOT in that church. Would you consider being the one to do that or find someone who can?
Come along to our next MCT meeting at St. Charles Anglican Church on Wednesday, April 6th, starting at 12 o’clock when Martine will explain the change of name and give us more information about how we can help.
DID YOU NOTICE that at the beginning of this letter I said “Part I”? So, yes, there’s more coming, but I thought this was enough reading for now.
Have a great day,
Your brother in Christ,
Alan May,
Secretary.
