Congratulations

It seems to be wedding season at Marion!

Congratulations to Greg and Sally who celebrate their wedding tomorrow. We have loved seeing Greg and Sally when they've been able to join us, starting just a few months back. We pray God's blessing on them as they start this journey together, settle into their new home in Warradale and as Greg has started his new job as well!

Help Wanted

Well this last week has seen the first stages of the renovations at the Glenelg centre undertaken. The split system air conditioners are in, and the old gas heaters, with their antiquated piping are coming out today. The next step will be when the asbestos sheets are removed, hopefully later this coming week.

This has been necessary if our Corps is going to be able to use the centre in the future. Sadly, some disrepair has meant some dangerous occurrences at the centre where people have fallen over carpet and fan blades have flown off. Also, we lack simple amenities like decent change spaces for parents and disabled toilet access. The renovations will make the place look better, sure, but they're mostly about making it safe and usable.

Some conjecture has been about regarding the expenditure at the centre after the Corps have come together as one. It is sad that much of these works weren't done in the past. However, we now have an opportunity to make this great asset a viable venue for future outreaches from our Corps.

To this end we need some help. This Saturday, October 30, we are meeting at the Glenelg centre at 10am for a clean out. We need to move everything off the floor that will be ripped up by the asbestos tradesman. We also need to get rid of things that might be cluttering the building and have no future use. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The Billboard

Many of you would recall a hairbrain scheme that we were working on to raise some money for the Corps. The idea was, in a nutshell, that we would have a billboard (the advertising type) placed at the far end of our car park visible to motorists on Morphett Road. This plan was dependent on a number of things, such as our right to veto advertising that was incompatible with our values.

It also depended upon permission to erect the billboard from Marion Council. Their response, this week, was a resounding 'no'. So much so that when our advertising agent sent an email of protest, I had a councillor in my office within the hour to explain why 'no' was 'no'.

The good thing was that we had a relationship with this councillor, through our involvement in the Rajah St project and also through the Marion Community Forum, that she felt comfortable speaking to us and approaching us about the matter. While we may not reap the financial rewards in this instance (in fact this year alone it will leave a $10,000 hole in our budget), we certainly can see where our community engagement is paying off.

Let's continue to ensure that we are externally focussed - existing only for those that are yet to encounter Christ.

Morialta Trust

This morning our church was blessed by recognition from the Morialta Trust. The Trust has operated for the last 30 years supporting intervention projects that help children in South Australia. To date they have distributed over 7m to hundreds of organisations working with children.

This morning at the Maughan Church a certificate of recognition and a grant was presented to Paul McDonald for our children's programmes. (Well... the promise of a grant. The money will be sent in December). This money has been granted so that we can offer a parenting programme for parents connected with our children's programmes and CSS in the new year.

Some good stories

You know the health of a church by the good stories that crop up.

One of our volunteers 'volunteered' that they had bought their first Bible. This was because they had been listening to the way the stories had been told at some children's activities and wanted to read more for themselves. This would only be the case if they had seen some of what they were hearing taking affect in the lives of the CSS and children's teams that they work with.

Then today, a client returned to CSS to repay the voucher that he had obtained the other day. Turns out that through manipulation and cunning he had managed to exchange the voucher for cash (or sold it, more likely) and then buy tobacco (not permitted with the vouchers). Feeling guilty, he used his first pay day to repay the voucher. Our team showed great grace in allowing him to keep the groceries he tried to donate, thanking him for his honesty and then letting him know that we are still there to help. He left in tears of gratitude.

Grace does that to people. When you know that you don't really deserve something, but it's given anyway, that's when grace has an impact. It is the most humbling thing to experience.

Thank you God for signs of health at Marion Salvos.

Thrift Shop Manager

Today we welcome Debbie Hepworth as our new thrift shop manager. Make sure you make yourself known to her and extend the hand of welcome and friendship.

Debbie comes to us from a extensive background in retail, including six years with Vinnies stores. She will be a great asset to the team.

Visibility

Yesterday we were contacted by the association that assists migrants and refugees. They are putting together a directory of essential services for refugees and migrants. Part of the difficulty is that language can be a barrier to the publication of such a directory. Not all migrants or refugees speak English, and obviously, they don't all speak the same language as each other.

The solution is a pictorial directory so that they know which buildings to look for, by photo. The association contacted us because we are considered a key place for refugees and migrants to know. They want them to be able to find our English classes, our Community Support Services and the range of social groups (Pioneer CC, youth, kidzone etc).

Our light is shining in the south! We are known and people want to be able to find us. Let's continue to provide a welcome to people from all walks and all nations so that they join us as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Hallett Cove

Another update on our Hallett Cove proposal...

The neighbouring property to ours had objections lodged against their development application with Marion City Council. This objection has been heard by the Development Assessment Panel, but has been deferred the a traffic consultant because part of the objection was that traffic would be diverted from Lonsdale Road, down a side street.

It is our belief that the objections to the developments at Hallett Cove are from the owners of neighbouring shops and shopping centres and won't stand up because they are simply anti-competitive, rather than in the interests of the community. However, the process needs to continue.

In the meantime, we have met yesterday with Marion City Council regarding their plans for the southern suburbs. They have some exciting ideas, especially for Trott Park. It is our hope to be a partner with them so that when we are established in the southern part of our city we are already working with the community.

It may also be that if our development plans fall over, we have a back stop in our partnership with the council and can redevelop our model based around the Trott Park Neighbourhood Centre. This remodelling would need some serious examination because the financial costs would not be covered by a thrift shop, as in our original plans.

Please keep the Hallett Cove dream in your prayers and let's see where God takes us.

Nehemiah's reforms

This morning in the devotional journey toward a generous life, we considered the pride that sometimes comes with wealth, and how that limits the way God can use people.

Nehemiah had to deal with the neglect of God's house even when people were becoming established in their new city, the rebuilt Jerusalem. Relative to their circumstances, these people were in a comfortable position again.

But no-one was supporting the work of the temple. The room where they kept the offerings had become so barren that the temple priest had leased the room out to one of his relatives! The workers from the temple could no longer be paid so they all left their jobs to go and become farmers again - out of the need for survival.

We can't neglect our role in supporting the work of God's house.

There are a number of documents related to our lives that could be termed theological documents. That is, they tell us what we worship.

A job performance review is one of them. Where we spend our time, what we honour and do not honour, our honesty and integrity at work all may reflect a piece of our standing in Christ.

As our devotional reading suggests (in the journey to a generous life we are taking together), our bank and credit card statements also tell us what we worship. Jesus said, "Your heart is where your treasure is" (Matthew 6:21). Where we spend our money suggests the things that are the most important in our lives.

Maybe next time we get a letter from the bank, it would be good to sit down with our families and discuss what we value.

Shop manager interviews

At this stage we can report that the interview process was quite successful and that we have made some decisions around who we will appoint as our new shop manager.

There are some personal circumstances that we need to further discuss with the applicants concerned, and this will delay the appointment for a short while. It will also mean that, in fairness to everyone, we won't be making any official announcements soon, either. Our goal is to get the best available person, so we are working toward that end.

Having said all of that, thank you for your prayers. They have been effective. God has brought good applicants to us and it is in his hands to help us work out the details. More information will follow as soon as possible.

God brings every good thing

Day two of our journey together.

The verse in our reading guide that stands out to me today is from Isaiah 26:12, "All that we have accomplished you (Oh LORD) have done for us".

Thinking back to yesterday when Angela launched this journey, you will recall her listing many of the great things that have happened over the last three years since our last dedicated planned giving programme period. In that time, with all the good that has happened around our Corps, we need to remember that all that we have accomplished as been done by God. It is God at work among us and we recognise what he is up to, not what we are up to.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Eph 1:3-4)

Give, Live, Grow

Today we launch "Give, Live, Grow", a spiritual journey toward the generous lifestyle that we are taking together as a church over the next few weeks. If you didn't grab your information pack and devotional book from the back of the hall this morning, make sure you pick it up - or wait by the mail box in a few days time when we will send out the remainder.

This is a great opportunity for our Corps to study the word together, pray together and seek God's will together. It is also a great time for us to recommit to his cause and invest in his mission. Please prioritise this journey. The devotional readings only take a few moments, but the challenges will probably take a bit more working through.

I'm sure some of you have already started. I have day 1 next to me at the moment "God is the owner of everything". That's actually quite a liberating thought. He is in charge. Everything is his - and it's up to him to look after it. We are merely his helpers or stewards in this regard.

I look forward to this journey with you.

Children's Ministries

Wasn't it good to see Alex at church this morning? For those that missed it, Alex is a life size character that will be with us for the next few weeks as we journey together. He and his sister Zoe are helping with the children's lessons at the moment.

What is also helping is the training that is available to our leaders. Yesterday a group of four of our children's ministry leaders went to a training day provided by DHQ. This meant they could experience some of the teaching that was provided at a territorial event recently, without the trip to Melbourne.

Let's thank God for the way in which our children's ministry continues to develop. Pray especially for the young lives that are committing to Christ, to Junior Soldiership and those that lead them.

Global Leadership Summit

Each year, for the past five years, our Corps has invested in leadership development. We do this through the Growing Healthy Corps program initially, which gives leaders in our Corps access to two training events per year for leaders. We also send a group each year to the "Global LEadership Summit".

This is a summit that is simulcast to 300 locations around the world from Chicago. The best church, business, academic and leadership speakers are recruited each year to teach at the summit. This year was no exception.

The best part of this year's teaching was almost universally acknowledged as the biblical teaching about desert experiences. Have a chat with one of the team that went and let them pass on some of their learning.

Thank you

Just a note to thank everyone for their support over the last week. It's been pretty harrowing, especially not knowing what is happening at some stages, and also just being out of energy and breath... feelings I'm not too acquainted with.

The value of friends shines through this, and I appreciate the support of people that have phoned or helped, especially. The best part of coming home from hospital was the messages from two close friends in Melbourne that had caught up with the news and phoned.

Thanks.

Good news

It is important that we continually share some of the good news stories. Our centres see thousands of people and serve our community well. Here are a few examples:

Jack (names changed) is a refugee whose family fell apart while trying to settle in Australia. He was left alone with a high rental bill for a unit in Brighton, and a student payment from Centrelink. Our CSS team helped him extensively and he was placed in our Doorways programme. After a while he vanished, and so was followed up by his case manager. We discovered that he had found work and was involved in a neighbouring church. He came in to our centre today to thank us for the help he recieved, for the love and the follow up and also to speak about finding faith. He has offered to be a speaker for The Salvation Army whenever we are promoting our CSS services.

Bill (name changed) has struggled with alcoholism for years. He has averaged 3L of wine a day for the last 15 years and is now battling liver disease. He has been attending one of our services intermittently and came to CSS today for a referral to rehabiliation. He asked if we could pray with him. He declared both his faith and his dependance on God for help. This in itself must be the first step to his recovery, but he felt confident that if he needed support our church was the first place he could turn.

Fred (name changed) was a member of the Australian Defence Force until he was discharged, in part, due to his addictions. At a low point only two years ago he was involved in a single motor vehicle accident, partially under the influence of alcohol, partially due to being suicidal. Due to the support of a number of services connected with our church and the greater Salvation Army, he has turned his life around. Today he came in with his new family and was not only sober, but in full time employment again.

God is doing amazing things through Marion Salvation Army. Keep praying for our team, and keep up the good work of shining God's light in Adelaide's south.

Prayers please

I am led to ask for your prayers for our leadership team at the moment.

There is an increased tempo around the place, despite school holidays, and there are many that are away for one reason or another.

Please pray as we seek to appoint a new manager in Lucy's place in the shop. Interviews are being conducted next Monday, October 11. We have four people that we have shortlisted for interview.

Please pray for Judy as she continues to recover from surgery. Pray for Mark as he is on holidays - pray that he will be refreshed and refocussed. Pray for Kerryn who is looking after kids with illness and on school holiday - during a QI audit week for CSS, no less. Pray for Ange who is down at the Glenelg centre this week dealing with tradesman and quotes while we prepare to renovate. Pray for Neil, Iris, Paul, Ross and Doris who continue to serve as well.

Our whole team could do with your prayers, all the time. These people carry great responsibility in serving you, our church, and our community.

Thank you for your support.

Celebrations

What a beautiful day on Saturday to celebrate the marriage of Nathan and Chrissy Wright. It was great that our church was able to support them, including the presence of the band for the ceremony, and they express their gratitude.

Pray for Nate and Chrissy as they build their family, and especially as they continue to look after little Tyson. Tyson will be back at the doctor this week, so remember them, please.