Sunday 22nd May - Mexican Spirituality (2:30pm)

© Cecilia Lim | Dreamstime.com

A fearsome feathered serpent. Human sacrifice. An all-embracing spirituality. Baptism by the sword. A mother goddess. Mary in Mexican skin. Colourful pageants. A black Jesus. Laughing at death. Worshipping the Grim Reaper. Christs in glass coffins. The patron saint of padlocks. Prayers to "Our Father Sun". Families and communities transformed. Teenagers praying the night away. Witchcraft markets. A spell to get rid of your husband's lover. Prosperity preachers. Christians as both persecutors and persecuted. Mexico's favourite pope. Conquest and subversion. Religion and freedom. Church and state.

Charlie and Kathryn Fletcher will speak to us about the different spiritual influences in Mexico. They will cover some of the history of indigenous religions, the arrival and dominance of Catholicism and their perspective on the state of Mexican spirituality today, including Protestant churches. Come and explore Mexican spirituality.

Charlie and Kathryn are originally from Melbourne. They have recently returned from ten years in Mexico, where they lived with their two boys and worked with a Christian university and high school student group. 

Sunday 15th May - Community BBQ (from 12:30pm)

Our monthly community BBQ is open to all and we love to have new people along! Think sausages, salads, great space, welcoming community.

If you're here for our 10am service, please stick around afterwards for lunch. We have lots of outside toys and equipment for kids, and it's been great to see them enjoying the large but enclosed space.

It's also a peaceful environment later in the afternoon - it's been great to see people bringing books and just hanging out in this communal space on Sunday afternoons.

Please join us to eat, hang out, make new friends and as we continue to deepen our friendships and community!

Sunday 8th May - Zoo Picnic

Entrance to the 'Trail of the Elephants'

Join us this Mother's Day for a community afternoon at the Melbourne Zoo - mothers, children, family and friends are all welcome!

After our 10am morning service, we'll head over to the Zoo together and set up camp near the carousel park (with playground nearby). Bring a picnic lunch to share - we'll eat together and then people can sit, wander, chat, play as you choose.

Starts around 12:30pm.

Directions and more info at http://www.zoo.org.au/MelbourneZoo.

Sunday 1st May - Six days? (Tim Patrick)

Some Christians hold a literal six-day creation as a fundamental doctrine of their faith. But is that really what the Bible teaches?

Our minister Tim Patrick, who has an honours degree in geology and used to work as an experimental scientist at the CSIRO, explores an alternative understanding of the opening chapter of the Bible which is at the centre of this controversy.