Dear Friends,

I bring you warm greetings as we begin to move through this beautiful and reflective season of Advent to Christmas celebrations. It always seems somewhat of a paradox to have our church year beginning and to be moving into one of our busiest celebrations, when our calendar year is coming to an end and everything is closing down for the holiday break. There's an internal struggle in gearing up for Christmas at the same time as wanting to slow down for time out. I think that's why the Season of Advent is so important, because it deliberately calls for a steadying, a pausing and some reflection time to allow the significance of the Incarnation to grow within us - to enable us to take the time to embrace the mystery and the wonder that God has come to be birthed into our world and into our lives.

Here in the Parish of Kenmore-Brookfield the months since our last Logos seem to have been extremely busy and somewhat trying at times. There's something of Murphy's Law been happening around and about – you know – whatever can go wrong will! Anyway, enough of that! God gives us strength to persevere. Some great things have happened, amongst them the appointment of Rev. Jocelyn Pitt to provide some extra Priestly assistance in the Parish. Jocelyn has written something about herself in the pages of Logos. She is already becoming known to Parishioners and helping in a number of ways, for which I am very grateful.

Bishop Ron came to visit us for his annual meeting with Parish leaders, and that gathering happened on the evening of the Flower Show amidst the wonderful displays that people had created. He was very impressed with the floral art, and the way the Hall had been renovated.

The Choir went on tour! They performed a concert for the Parish of Boonah which was extremely successful. They also performed for the lovely afternoon of fellowship at the South African “Bring and Braai” at Brookfield Uniting Church. Sue and Barry's farewell will be on Sunday Morning 28th November. We will miss them greatly and pray God's blessing upon their new life in Bundaberg. We are looking for a new Choir leader so that our wonderfully talented people can continue to produce musical delights for us. If you know of anyone, please let us know.

The growing fellowship and working together for the people of Brookfield Uniting and the Good Shepherd Brookfield is proving a real joy. Another joint venture is the Christmas Carols on 12^th December at Brookfield Uniting. More opportunities will develop next year. It has been lovely to be able to work and pray with the other Churches as part of the Kenmore & District Inter-church Council. Our ecumenical relationships are very positive. Please have a look in the Diary Dates for a number of opportunities to be part of Ecumenical Services over the coming weeks.

Youth and children's ministry is working well and we have had some great Youth Services over the past few months, as well as the Faith and Food Sessions with the teenagers. Our committed band of Sunday School teachers continues to do wonderful work with the children. We hope to have more opportunities for children and young people to participate in worship and other areas in the life of the faith community in the New Year.

You may remember that we included a Survey Form in the last copy of Logos. Well, we had some responses, and a summary of those responses is included in this issue. Thank you to all who participated. I will be working on some of the new initiatives mentioned in the New Year as well, including some different styles of Services. We have had some different services over the past few months. We had a beautiful Taize service at our Prayer Vigil in August, as well as a 'Praise and Worship' service, and a gentle reflective Memorial Service in November. I hope to have a Taize style service for our New Years Eve reflective service. We are endeavouring to try to provide a breadth of worship services to meet people in their different circumstances and situations.

The work on the strategic site plan for future ministry and mission at Holy Spirit Kenmore has taken up much of our time in recent months and a Strategic Plan has been prepared. A number of submissions have been received in response to it. Of course this work is something that has been going on for many years. We are really trying to work through to some consensus of a way forward and, with this aim in mind, Rev. Rod MacDonald from the Diocesan Ministry Education Commission is coming to conduct a Parish Consultation with us on Sunday 28th November and Sunday 5^th December at 11.00am. We hope that as many people as possible can join us on those mornings so that all may have a voice. A sausage sizzle brunch will be served at 10.30am so that we can work through for a few hours.

I hope that as many people as possible will be able to take part in our Spiritual Growth Mission, the 40 Days of Purpose, during Lent next year. Information on this programme is in this issue of Logos, and we hope many will be able to be involved in the small group studies and indeed invite their families, friends and neighbours. As well as offering an opportunity for transformation in our lives, this is also an excellent outreach opportunity.

I pray that the next few weeks as we move towards our Christmas celebrations will allow you peace and space in the busyness that surrounds you. I pray that you will encounter the Christ Child in a fresh new way this year, and that the message of “God With Us” makes all the difference for your lives. On behalf of all the wardens, Parish Council and the Revs David, Joc and Colin, I wish you a wonderful Advent and Christmas. Paul and I and all the family wish you Christmas joy. We look forward to our own family joy as our youngest daughter Carrie and her husband Mark join us, along with Mark's family from the UK. I look hope to see you at one or more of the Christmas Services, and pray God will bless you and yours richly. Here is a little Blessing to cover you on your journey to Christmas from the book “In This Hour” by Dorothy McRae-McMahon:

With love, Rev Bev