Safe Water September POND Cake Pop Stall
Last week POND, held their annual Cake Pop Stall to raise money for Safe Water September.
Safe Water September is a GMP (Global Mission Partners) event where teams from across Australia give up all drinks except water for the entire month of September to raise money for safe water projects in countries that need help accessing clean and safe water.
The POND children had a lot of fun cooking and decorating the cake pops. They made the cake pops flavored after drinks in recognition of what some of them and their parents are giving up this month. There was Hot Chocolate, Orange Juice, Chai and Coffee flavored cake pops.
The clear favorite was Hot Chocolate which sold out.
We are so proud of the children's efforts and they raised a total of $345 for Safe Water September.
If you would like to donate to Safe Water September, there is still time.
Check out our team page via the link on the page.
Living Faith Church Phone Number is no longer in operation.
Please do not try to call the landline.
Living Faith Church has been debating the need to keep our landline in use for some time and today it was decided that the we will no longer maintain the office landline.
We apologies if this is an inconvenience to you and ask that if you would like to contact Living Faith Church, please contact us through our website or via email at admin@livingfaithchurch.org.au
At Living Faith Church, we too affirm our commitment to reconciliation, justice and truth.
"Between 25th May and 18th June this year, thousands of Victorians walked a total of 500km with Travis Lovett. Lovett, the Commissioner of Victoria’s Yoorook Justice Commission, carried the final report along this Walk for Truth and delivered the result of this truth-telling process to Victoria’s Parliament House. There, the result of a four-year process of documenting injustices against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Loris and Ellen joined the Walk for Truth on its second-last leg from Footscray to Camp Sovereignty at King’s Domain.
The Uniting Church’s Synod of Victoria/Tasmania welcomes the Yoorook Commission’s report and the opportunity to further develop and help implement appropriate local responses to the report and its recommendations. At Living Faith Church, we too affirm our commitment to reconciliation, justice and truth."
On the 12th of June, Reverend David Fotheringham sent a letter out to members of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania about the commission's final report. A PDF copy of this letter is available for you to read if you are interested or we invite you to find out more about the Yoorrook Justice Commission at their website.
Awaken! State Youth Games 2025.
State Youth Games 2025 saw Living Faith Church join a Uniting Church cooperative team made up of five churches from around the state. Supported by UCA’s Vic/Tas Synod and leaders from LFC, Shepparton, Brunswick and Glen Waverley Uniting Churches we formed a warm, inviting and God loving community to play sports and consider Jesus in our lives over 4 days in Warragul. Abundant support from all of our home churches helped create a really great atmosphere with comfy couches, catering, care and consideration of everyone’s needs.
This was such a great event we will be back in 2026!
Here is LFC’s Team and some happy snaps from the event:
A Vision for a Just Australia.
A Uniting Church Resource about the 2025 Election in Australia.
The Uniting Church of Australia have released an updated Vision for a just Australia in the lead up to the 2025 election in Australia. This resource encourages Australians to look at how they are living and how they want to see Australia change and grow as a nation of integrity.
The President of the Uniting Church in Australia Reverend Charissa Suli wrote "This resource is an invitation to engage prayerfully and faithfully with the issues that matter, upholding the values we cherish as a Church. This is not about endorsing political parties but about embodying Christ’s love in the political process—asking hard questions, advocating with compassion, and holding leaders accountable to the values of justice, mercy, and love."
Furthermore the resources are intended to " express our hope for Australia to be a nation that is just, compassionate, inclusive and courageous.
If you would like to know more please check out Uniting church page at :
https://uniting.church/a-vision-for-a-just-australia/
Surrender 2025 : Upside Down Revolution
On March 21st and 22nd, members of Living Faith Church were excited and thrilled to head up to the Belgrave Heights Convention Centre to participate in Surrender.
Surrender is a weekend of workshops, worship, and discussions entirely organized and funded by volunteers with an aim to open discussions about First Nation people and faith. This year, the theme was Upside Down Revolution and there was a strong focus on justice of reconciliation and conversations about how sometimes what is needed is for people to stop talking about what they think is needed, and to stop and listen, actively listen to First Nation people. This brought up a lot of intense emotions for those listening, making them feel at times ashamed, uneasy and even guilty, but they also said, that it was something they needed to hear and feel to better understand.
Members who attended praised the quest speakers including Aunty Ann Patel-Gray, Johnathan Cornford and Mike Frost. Saying "they were high caliber presenters". One member went on to say that the bible study at the event was the "Best Bible study I have ever done...with total strangers." The weekend was an experience of strong community connections and deep conversations, heightened by the overall sensory appeal of the location. The location was described as " peaceful, earthly and humble, overall amazing and restful", even if the kookaburras would not stop laughing the entire time.
We look forward to seeing what Surrender as instore for next year.
"Serving"
What does it mean to serve in our communities? How do we serve? What does serving mean to us?
These were a few questions we looked at this year at our church camp. For many of us serving is how we work together to help out those in our communities. Sometimes this act of service can be small like helping someone carry a bag to their car or helping with music on a Sunday. Other times it can be more difficult as we try to help a sick friend or loved one. Some of the discussion groups brought up this idea that while we serve others, it is important to remember that we do not serve alone and that we have a community around us, who are willing to walk beside us and support us. Our community serves us as we serve it.
This certainly seemed so at Living Faith's Church camp, where we had 50 campers join us for challenging physical activities, beach fun and intergenerational relationship building. It was wonderful seeing how adults and children worked together to help each over the course of the weekend, from everyday tasks of setting up for meals or cleaning up to camp activities such as high ropes and archery.
Everyone had a great time and we look forward to returning next year!
Reflecting on our beloved friends who have worshipped at Living Faith Church and passed away in 2024.
Mary, Aileen, Joy, Eunice, Lindsay, Lorraine
Thank You Property and Maintenance Team!
Every week around our church, little things begin to move, tidy and repair themselves...or so it seems. On many Tuesdays and Wednesdays you may notice the sound of hammering, drilling and casual chatter as "The Dads" begin to arrive and get to work with their tool boxes and lunch boxes in tow. Together these men work on improving our church space and problem solving new dilemmas, from the complex workings of the new heaters to replacing shelving and changing door locks.
So much of what they do goes unnoticed and it is our pleasure to publicly acknowledge how much time and effort these men spend working on the property for us here at Living Faith Church. We truly appreciate all the work you do.
As such it was our pleasure to present " The Dads" a small token of our appreciation, during our service on Sunday the 22nd of September.
Thank You David and James!