St. Marks Coptic Church Melbourne

Hi All,

Just wanted to mention some of the exciting activities we will be having at the camp. Which will be held from Friday 9 April until Sunday 11 April 2010.

Canoeing, Archery, Bush Cooking, Rafting, "Flying Fox", Ropes Course, Rock Climbing, Fishing,  "Initiative Course"  and much much more!

All the details will be finalised shortly so stay tuned!      

I understand that you want to make the point that there isn't allot of focus on that age group, and i agree with you!

But my point of view is that you need to look at this issue with all the facts at hand.

Ask yourself these questions:

How many people from that age group come to Church (St.Marks) on a regular basis?

How many people from that age group volunteer in community activities when we ask for help? i.e. Annual Fete, Renovations etc.

How many people from that age group regularly have confession and communion at St.Marks?

How many people from that age group actively partake in the Church community?

The answer for most of these questions  is "Not Many"

Effectively what we have done is IDENTIFY an issue where people are not attending the Church at that age group.

So now we need to understand WHY. To do that we need to ask people from that age group and get some answers.

Luckily for you i have already done some of this. Most of the answers seem to be revolved around the following issues:

- Relationships - Marriage/engagement to person  at another church.

- Busy with Uni & part time work. (mostly working weekends and study during the week)

- Social life - Birthdays, parties etc.

Although these sound like excuses, most of them stem from the "Lack of benefit , or value that they see in the Faith and the Community."

I believe, that this ultimately comes back to the community and the Church to instil the faith and "Value" of service in our current youth. With the view that a stronger foundation with deep roots in faith, service and rich traditions of our Church will guide them and keep them near the Church. Even when other priorities in life present themselves.

We understand and are aware of this issue, and I guarantee you, that is why the service to the current youth (Prep to High school) is the focus of our Church. We are building an English Church to cater for Non-Arabic speaking youth. We are organising camps and regular outings/activities for all age groups. All of this, to encourage the youth of today to become involved and love the church. Not just as an obligation or duty to handover to them, but because of the importance of learning, teaching and living by the Word of God and living by His example. The world of today WILL corrupt anyone who's faith is not strong. Being close to the service and Church provides the support of a greater family unit, and exposure to all our teachings, history, knowledge and experience of our Church Fathers, Saints and Martyrs. This is our ONLY defence against the corruption of this world.

Your statement of "targeting" implies that you are attacking the Service we have at St.Marks. I urge you to stop looking at our Church and see that it is lacking (negative attitude), but look at it with love and see how you can help or contribute to it (positive attitude). As Our Lord Jesus Christ looks at us, ALWAYS with love, and knows that we are lacking. He completes all that we lack. Be part of the solution.

I pray God opens your heart, eyes and guides you to make a positive contribution to our Service, and Church.

God Bless YOU always.

Peter

i am mainly targetting the youth age group of university and above.

other churches organise camps, events etc for its university youth members, i dont see any of that with st mark's church

Hi Viking12, I disagree. St. Marks Church has many social events, we are currently organising a Primary school Camp, and there is a plan in the works for a High School Retreat also.

Further to this, there is the St.Marks Fishing Club which meets every second Friday night for some land based fishing at this stage. For those who don't like fishing, there is also the Friday night youth meeting.

If you have any suggestions or ideas, please raise your voice and share your ideas! For OUR community to cater for OUR needs, we must expect to take on some responsibility and be actively involved to shape it. If you see something lacking or something can be improved, use some of the skills that God gave you, including initiative, communication etc. and find a way to make it better for all. I for one am always open to new ideas. Come and see me if you have difficulty being heard.

God Bless You!

 Peter

does st mark's church organise anything for its youth.

camps, outings, sports events etc

seems that the youth is not as good and strong as other churches.

Good question!

Ok, just try to bring a harp and play with it one of the coptic chants! Every tradition has its own way of worship. Also David used to used these intruments for general praise. I haven't heard that it was used for religious a**emblies in Jewish synagogues thereafter. In any case, the use of Cymbals and Triangle became like a type of tradition in the Coptic Church, used also to add a basic musical touch, as well as a means to coordinate the tune. In our services we try to focus on the spirituality of the hymns, rather than on the musical instruments used.

Sin leads to guilt. If not confessed it leads to guiltless habits. If one delays their repentance, it will lead to further sin and this leads to death, as the bible says. So we need to confess as often as we feel we should, and as soon as we sin, even if it a quick confession. When we say monthly, it is to get us to remember that we confess regularly, and monthly is a reasonable compromise. I think a month is sufficient time to re-examine our spiritual growth, if not more often.

As Servants Yes, we should definitely be even more vigilant in confessing regularly.

Thankyou for your questions! Keep them coming.

with all churches participating in summer competitions with soccer and basketball, i was wondering if an AFL competition can be among that as well.

4 teams with everyone youth mixed from all churches, playing in two sundays at donvale. the two winners from the first sunday verse each other on the second sunday and the two loosing teams from first sunday verse each other on the second sunday for 3rd and 4th place.

because AFL is a contact sport, appropiate age should be uni and over.

tell me your thoughts

I rang tant Laurice, she's fine with the second session. I'll call the manager tomorrow and ask for a special for 20+ kids with food :)

We need to really advertise this so that we can get a good turn out. I'll prepare the form for this Sunday.

 Thanx for your feedback Pete and Pete :)

Ok so, rollerbalding it is! But we just need to make sure that 5pm is not too late. I'll call Taunt Laurice and find out if that's ok.
We need to get the permission slips organised so we can give them out this weekend!

Also food wise, what packages do they have and $$ per kid...

Good job Rania! (i know you're pretty busy at the moment! God Bless your efforts habiby!)

The servants attending the servants meeting on Sunday decided to give this Eltham rollerblading place a go. However, these are the session times:

SATURDAY & SUNDAY
11.00AM -1.30PM
2.30PM - 5.00PM

 Is the second session too late? We're thinking of having breakfast at church, going to the park for a bit and then heading off and getting the food package.

$10 without food for over 20 kids. We could do food elsewhere?

Oh really? didn't realise we had so many, awesome! Nah, the adults aren't included in that.

Is that $10 without food or is that $10 with food for more than 20 kids.

I'm sure you can get more than 20 kids - we've been averaging 25 - 30 kids for the last couple of months! Plus, there will also be adults who come (are they included in the 20??)

I think that's a great idea! Good one Rania! :) I'm sure you'll have a blast and yes, the older kids did tell me they wanted something fun like rollerblading instead of 'boring kids stuff' (their words, not mine!)

That's an awesome place to go, they've been there before and loved it. I'm not sure with the current weather, maybe when it starts getting better?

I rang the Eltham rollerskating centre. $14 without food, $18 with food (the party idea but she said they'll supply platters of food and jugs of drink instead of individual servings) and $10 if we get 20 or more kids.

What about the Childrens Farm in Bundoora or Collingwood?

Bundoora:

Web Link: Bundoora Park

Collingwood:

OPEN EVERY DAY!
9am to 5pm

Daily Activities
10am - cow milking
4pm - cow milking 

Entry Prices
$16 Family
$8 Adult
$4 Child

Car parking is $4 all day 

http://www.farm.org.au/documents/kidsparty.pdf

Your thoughts?

I checked if there's any other rollerblading centres other than Campbellfield. There's one in Eltham (http://www.skaterz.com.au/index.html), not sure if that's too far. Goggle maps says 36 mins drive.

I'm asking about group discounts but thought about a party as such for the kids? I.e. entry and food? It's $18 per child which includes:

Parties  Include

Party Duration 2.5 hours     Invitations     Entry     Roller Skates or Roller Blades Hire     Parents Table     Party Table     Party Hosts

Party Food Option 1, 2 or 3   1 Bottle of Water   1 Packet of potato crisps   1 Flavoured Pop Top Drink   1 Zooper Dooper Icy Pole   2 Coffee Cards for parents

We do have extra money but would rather save that up for our camp that we hope to have. What does everyone think?

Rollerblading sounds fun!!! I haven't been on skates for about 20 years!!!

I love the idea of something that the servants can join in and will be an active, and fun day out!!!

 what are the options for food?