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Pastoral Care

Church Life

You will expect people to look out for you if you come to a church. As a church community, we want to express God's grace to us in practical, active and relevant ways.

Our pastoral team seeks to mobilise people throughout the congregation to do that for each other. We want to encourage people to join Life Groups, midweek groups for encouraging each other in faith, growing in friendship and caring for each other

For those in a Life Group, this is the best place for ongoing pastoral care.

For those not in a Life Group, some of the ways in which we seek to show care are below or you can email the Care Team:

Our church community is made up of people from all walks of life and from many varied backgrounds and our hope is that everyone feels welcome.

If you are new to our community, we would love to invite you to a Welcome Lunch where you can get to know others including the church leadership. These lunches are regularly organised by our Welcome Team.

We would also encourage you to pick up a Welcome Pack, and we'd love to chat with you about how we can help you feel connected.

We have a team of people who look out for the needs of our older members, offering care in many ways including home communion, visiting, driving to church and midweek appointments.

A freshly cooked meal, delivered at a time of need, can be a real blessing and an expression of God’s love.

A number of people in the congregation regularly prepare meals for others who may be struggling both in our local church community and wider afield.

See the linked flyer if you know someone needing a meal, or if you'd like to make a meal - we have some helpful guidelines as well as some meal containers you can use. If you would like to receive a meal, have a chat with your Life Group leader or one of our pastors.

There are several people in our congregation who offer their time, abilities and energy to help with various property maintenance and gardening matters. They look after the church building and the manse, but this is also an outreach ministry to serve others by doing jobs that, for various reasons, are difficult or challenging.

Each request for help is treated on its own merit and all those who come to help in homes are police-checked and insured.

To request support from the Home Help team or to offer yourself to help others, please e-mail the Church Office.

Our church has an arrangement with a local bakery where we collect left-over bread on a regular basis and deliver it to various missions in the city. Any bread that is left over or not wanted by these missions is distributed to those in need within our own congregation.

To help out, or to be considered as a recipient for any left-over bread, please e-mail the Church Office.

More from 'Church Life'

Worship Services

We gather together as a community of believers each Sunday morning from 10:00-11:15am. Most weeks there are programs for our children, youth and Persian community after an initial time of worship together.

We also have a monthly midweek worship service and for the period April 2018 - December 2019 we ran a monthly night service (CUSundayNight).

See the sections below for details.

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Kids Holiday Clubs

Each Kids Holiday Club includes games, craft and construction activities, drama, singing and a short stint of teaching and discussion. We also provide a delicious healthy morning tea to keep everyone going. It’s a great time of laughter and learning together and it is open to all kids aged 5-11.

The Holiday Club runs towards the end of the long summer holidays and attracts over 100 kids each day.

Our 2018 theme was “Follow the Clues”… we had loads of fun joining Detective Dexter Duck and Constable Charlton Clooney as they examined the promises found in the Bible to help them solve the mystery of the man who defeated death!

As always, there were loads of fun activities including drama, singing, stories, games, construction and yummy morning tea.

Check out the video to see what we got up to!

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Bloom - Women's Ministry

Bloom is our Intergenerational Women's Ministry; open to women of all ages.

Join with us for monthly informal evenings to relax, be encouraged and connect with other women (supper, tea and coffee provided).

Check out our next event on the Events page.

Bloom has a private facebook group. For more information, feel free to contact:

- Lauren MacKenzie (0418 895 692)

- Carolyn Dent (0431 593 936)

- Jenny Wichert (0404 834 393)

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ChillOut

Hanging out with friends who know God and know how to have fun is so important!

ChillOut is a 2-3 hour session that gives kids in Years 6 and 7 a fun and easy way to start Christian friendships that we hope will be the beginnings of strong, encouraging relationships that last through teenage years and beyond.

Generally held on Saturday evenings during term time, past events have included Pizza & Bowling, Pool Parties, Night Walks, Games Nights etc.

Details of each event are sent out via facebook a couple of weeks before each event, so if you'd like to keep up to date, request to be added to the closed facebook group (see link).

As part of our duty of care, we request that everyone attending ChillOut completes a once-off registration form (linked).

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The Marriage Courses

The Pre-Marriage Course and The Marriage Course are both designed to strengthen and grow your relationship with your partner.

The Pre-Marriage Course runs over 5 sessions and is for couples who are exploring the idea of getting married and for those who are already engaged. It’s designed to give your marriage the best possible start, whether you’re exploring marriage for the first time or have been married before. There is the option of completing a Couple Survey to highlight issues that are important to discuss together (facilitated by a Support Couple) before getting married.

The Marriage Course runs over 7 sessions and is for couples who are in a long-term relationship, whether or not you are married. It's designed for those who want to invest in their relationship and build a strong marriage, whether you're newly married or have been together for 40 years.

David & Kate Buxton have run these courses for many years, both in-person and online, and many couples can testify to the positive impact they have had on their relationship.

Each course includes:

- a fun, romantic ‘date night with a difference’ - a relaxing, candlelit atmosphere with coffee and tea, wine, juice and delicious food (in-person only!)

- practical, informative and fun talks

- helpful exercises for you and your partner to complete

- no group work or discussions except with your partner

- the opportunity to invest in your relationship, supporting and encouraging each other.

Next course:

- Pre-Marriage Course (in-person) - Wed 24 Aug 2022 for 5 weeks. See our web/app event for full details including how to register.

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The Parenting Courses

Someone once quipped that parenting is the only job you can never get trained for – you can read all the manuals, attend all the how-to sessions, but when it comes to actually looking after your own child, we’re all learners.

To care for, nurture and raise another human being is a wonderful privilege and a profound experience. As a church our desire is to encourage and equip parents to be the best they can be and to model faith to their children in real and effective ways. We offer two Parenting Courses to help with this:

- The Parenting Children Course (for parents of 1-10 year olds), and

- The Parenting Teenagers Course (for parents of 11-18 year olds)

Both courses run for 5 weeks and are for all parents/carers whether parenting on their own, as step-parents or as a couple. Each course includes informative and fun practical talks with film clips, street interviews and advice from parenting experts as well as small group discussions with parents at a similar stage.

Please get in touch if you are interested in finding out more. Course costs are $35 per person ($70 per couple) and include course material and delicious supper.

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Faith @ Home

We all want our kids to grow in faith, yet an hour or so at church each week can only do so much. It is well established (see below) that regular faith discussions in the home have a significant impact on children growing into lifelong followers of Jesus.

Families & Friends FB page

To this end we run a 'CoroUniting Families & Friends' FB page with:

- fun videos and thought-provoking discussion questions that relate to the upcoming theme on Sunday mornings for both Coro Junior (pre-school) and Coro Kids (primary-aged) kids. Note that we encourage these conversations to happen in the home before we get to cover them at church, emphasising the primary importance of faith discussions in the home

- various other resources to encourage you with regular faith conversations in the home, many of which you'll find in our Faith @ Home Resources section of our web/app.

Our hope is that this FB page will spark conversations in the home and that some of the ideas will help you as you parent your kids to know and love Jesus.

See the below tabs for some of the resources we recommend as well as some of the relevant research in this area.

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Life Groups

Life Groups are an integral part of the life of our church. Each group has its own flavour, however they all aim to encourage their members in faith and support each other as they do life together. As such, we encourage everyone to belong to a Life Group wherever possible - it is one of the main ways of connecting with others and finding a place to belong.

There are several different groups that meet throughout the week, some for men, some for women and others mixed.

Interested in joining a Life Group?

- Have a chat with Cat Patrick or email the Church Office.

Keen to find out more?

- Refer the linked document 'Life Groups at CoroUniting'

- Visit our Life Group Leaders Training Resources page

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Prayer

Prayer is a gift from God, allowing us to relate with him - put simply, prayer is conversation with God and is an essential part of any Christian’s life. We can pray as individuals, in families or corporately and it’s a key part of our journey into deeper relationship with God and with others.

As a local church community, we would love to encourage you in your prayer life. It isn’t always easy to set aside the time, but here are some opportunities to get involved.

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Serving Together

If you’re just in the spot where God wants you, and doing what God has gifted you to do, it’s a good place to be.

We call it your spiritual gifting, or finding your ministry. Usually you’ll find it invigorating. Often it’s fun, certainly fulfilling, and definitely a blessing to others.

God made us for fruitfulness, and that’s that. The car park attendant who greets you cheerfully has found it. The member of a midweek small group who has joined others serving in the soup kitchen has made just the same discovery. You can expect a church in which we seek to be inspired by the Spirit to be bubbling up all the time with people doing things that somehow add up to a healthy functioning body that’s a great place to be, but is always pushing out beyond itself.

Each year we invite our members to consider in which areas they are gifted and able to serve. Rather than seeing this as a list of jobs waiting for people to do them, instead ask God “In what area of ministry and service do you want me to be fruitful?” We suggest that each person should discuss this with someone who knows you well, to seek their discernment as to your gifts for ministry. This may lead you to some exciting new adventure with God, and you’ll see why he’s put you in this church.

The latest ‘Together we can make a difference’ (known as 'TWCMAD', pronounced 'twookmad') response forms are linked with a separate children's form also available. Thank you for your willingness to serve in this way.

For some areas of ministry you may be asked to complete a Police Check, and a fillable PDF is linked for this purpose.

Note: SurveyHero.com is supporting us with the free use of their online survey software.

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Giving

If you'd like to know how to give either by EFT from your bank account, or online with your credit/debit card, see the tabs at the bottom of this page.

For many of us, talking about our finances is a no-go area, yet as Christians we are called to be wise stewards of all that we have been given and that includes money. The money that is given to the church is used in many ways:

- to support those who have been called to minister to the congregation as their vocation,

- to contribute to property upkeep costs,

- to give away - we give away a significant portion to support many different projects and individuals that operate outside of our own congregation.

One of the privileges of belonging to a church community is the opportunity to share in what Paul calls this “grace of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:3-7). It’s a great way to feel connected with the practical work of the church and we believe that as we honour God in this key area of our lives, our own needs are met in sometimes quite miraculous ways.

Refer to the attached Giving FAQ for further information. You can also contact our Treasurer with any specific questions.

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Persian Ministry

God's Spirit has been moving in new ways over the past few years and many Persian asylum seekers and refugees have come to faith in Jesus and been baptised. As a church we have sought to encourage our Persians by:

- assisting them with language, accommodation, work and visa applications;

- creating opportunities for connection with the rest of the church community through walking groups, soccer matches and other gatherings;

- running a Teaching Series most weeks during our Sunday morning worship service, exploring the Bible in English with Farsi interpreters.

In April 2018 the Emmanuel Farsi-speaking church was launched under the leadership of Iliya Segherloo and the guidance of the CoroUniting Church Council. The church meets each Sunday evening at 5.30pm at All Saints UC in North Plympton.

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Worship Team

“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of holiness.” (Psalm 29:2)

Our hope is that when you come to CoroUniting you will be blessed and encouraged as you meet with God and with His people. Worship is a key part of our time together. We believe that God has given us the gift of music, singing and worship as a means of drawing near to Him as He draws near to us (James 4:8).

Each of us has different musical preferences and we are an intergenerational congregation, so in our worship we incorporate a range of musical styles. We include contemporary music, traditional hymns and songs that the kids can participate in as well.

If you would like to get involved email the Music Team or contact Steve Kaesler.

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CoroYouth

CoroYouth runs from 7.00-9.00pm (doors open 6.30pm) every Friday night during the school term for young people in Years 7-12.

Our aim is to “Lead young people to Jesus through authentic, Christ-centred relationships.”

We are excited to see young people meet Jesus and discover the life that is found in Him! On a typical Friday night, we spend time in worship, hear a message of Jesus’ love, play games, eat food, and enjoy spending time together. Each week is a little bit different, so come ready for anything!

Our team is made up of young adults from Coro, led by our Youth Leadership Team. Check out the attached program for what we're up to this term.

Throughout the year we also engage in several events such as SYG, with our Youth Camp in Term 4 a massive highlight!

Drop in some time, we’d love to get to know you!

To contact CoroYouth email youth@corouniting.org

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Coro Young Adults

We have a vibrant and growing group of Young Adults who gather on Sunday afternoons at the church.

If you're a Young Adult and would like to join us, request to join the Coro Young Adults FB group or email Jethro.

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Kids on Sundays

Children and their families are an integral part of our life together as the family of God here at Coro. As an intergenerational church community, we place value on children worshipping together with the whole church family, also understanding the need for kids to have opportunities to learn and engage with the Bible in ways that are designed specifically for the different stages of their development.

On Sunday mornings our children spend the first 20-30 mins together with their families in worship. There are a couple of areas at the front set aside for very young children with some quiet toys and books, however we encourage parents to help their children engage with the service wherever they are by explaining to them what is happening and encouraging them to participate.

After this initial time, the children move to different programs that are designed to stimulate, encourage and enable each child to grow in their own faith journey and in their relationships with their peers. We have two different programs that we run most weeks:

- Coro Juniors (ages 0-5) includes free-play for our very young ones and a bible story, memory verse song and craft for the older kids

- Coro Kids (R-Yr6) has large group and small group times with teaching, memory verses, creative and fun activities and times of prayer.

See the tabs below for more information.

Note: The safety of the children in our care is paramount. Children are signed in and out of programs with all our helpers holding valid Working with Children Checks and key leaders having undergone Child-Safe Environments and First Aid training in line with the Uniting Church Child Safe Policy.

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mainly music

Are you are the parent or primary carer of a pre-school child? mainly music is a fun music and movement session for you and your pre-schooler to enjoy together with yummy snacks, the chance to catch up with other parents and much more…

Throughout the thirty-minute music session, children develop gross and fine motor skills, language, imagination, maths and pre-reading skills. They then enjoy a healthy snack before having a time of free-play whilst the parents/carers have the opportunity to catch up over a cup of real coffee/tea and delicious morning tea. Children are introduced to music, creativity and more, plus families given a chance to think about the God-part of life.

Our mainly music sessions run on Monday mornings from 9:30 (for a 9:45 start) - 11:00am during term-time (starting the second week of each term) and cost $6 per family per session or $40 per term (you can prepay online here).

Check out the link for the current mainly musings newsletter.

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Cross-Cultural Ministry

CoroUniting commissions individuals and families who are called to share the good news of Jesus in words and actions by living and working in other cultural contexts.

Many exciting ministries are also happening through others beyond Australia’s shores, and we love to build relationships with some of these. Specifically, we have an ongoing connection with the Saiyarak group in northern Thailand.

Mission Care

Mission Care (formerly Mission Focus Group) is primarily focused on the pastoral care of our Cross-Cultural Workers, especially those who are geographically separate from us. It is our deepest desire that these brothers and sisters not be forgotten or disregarded when we act as a church community. The pastoral care we offer is to hear the stories of those interested in becoming involved in mission activities that require them to cross cultural boundaries, and to journey with them as they enter the field, do the work, and return.

We currently have three cross-cultural partnerships with CoroUniting members - see the below tabs for details.

Each of these Cross-Cultural Workers keep in touch with their supporters via newsletters, blogs, facebook groups and videos - for privacy reasons, these are restricted to those who call CoroUniting home and can be viewed in the Resources section (search for 'cross-cultural').

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Saiyarak

Saiyarak, an HIV/AIDS support group in Nan Province, Thailand, is a group of about 40 adults and children affected by HIV who provide a network of support in their communities through microenterprises, education support, health education, holiday programs and family support.

They are supported within Thailand by the Church of Christ in Thailand AIDS Ministry (CAM) based in Chiang Mai. We occasionally send teams from CoroUniting to continue to build relationships with Saiyarak and CAM to complement our financial and prayer support. The last trip with a team was in 2017.

A comprehensive Saiyarak Q&A has been written to answer any questions and provide further information.

Education Support: One of the key ways in which we financially support Saiyarak is through our Saiyarak Child Sponsorship (see linked brochure), enabling sponsors to support a particular child in their journey through the education system.

If you are interested in supporting Saiyarak financially, please download the linked Support form or contact Abbi Gottsche.

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Local Partnerships

What does it mean to be part of our local community, to belong? Surely part of the answer is that we contribute, we make a positive difference.

As Christians, Jesus says that we are salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) – He wants us to flavour our local communities, to bring out the best in them and to shine His light wherever we go and whatever we do. God has put us in local communities to share our lives so that, through us, people would see Jesus and He would be glorified.

At a local level, CoroUniting partners with several surrounding churches through the Mitcham Hills Inter-Church Council. The group supports the work of Pastoral Care Workers (PCWs, previously known as chaplains) in our local schools and has also initiated the Beacon Emergency Relief Service providing assistance to members of the community who are struggling.

You can find out more about these and other ministries below and also in the Resources section where you will find recent newsletters and updates.

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Creative Threads

Are you new to this area and would like to connect with local ladies? Or do you know someone who loves doing threadwork (ie sewing, patchwork & quilting, knitting, crochet, lacework, etc) and wants or needs to connect socially in a small group with others who also enjoy threadwork?

Creative Threads is an opportunity to find new friends through a common love of threadwork.

We'd love you to join us!

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The Alpha Course

Alpha is a series of interactive sessions that freely explore the basics of the Christian faith - no pressure, no follow up, no fees!

What does Alpha include?

Eat: Alpha always involves having a bite to eat, whether it’s a full meal or coffee & cake, it’s a great opportunity to get to know other people in a relaxed environment.

Watch: We watch a short talk that discusses various aspects of the Christian faith.

Chat: In small groups, there is the opportunity to discuss the thoughts presented in the talk, and any other questions, openly and honestly.

Email the Church Office for more information about our next Alpha course.

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