Thursday 21 September 2023
Join with the SPACE Contemplative Community for their monthly Christian Meditation service.
Sunday 24 September & Sunday 22 October 2023
Ivanhoe Uniting Church, 15 Seddon Street
Singing as one of a group is one of the greatest joys we can experience. Two Network events have been scheduled to assist us to sing our way into spring. Both will be held in the Ivanhoe worship space, beginning at 2 pm, and followed by afternoon tea.
The dates for these events are:
- Sunday 24 September 2023
- Sunday 22 or 29 October 2023
The first event will provide an opportunity to sing our favourite hymns and songs, as is part of our September Sabbath program. The hymns and songs featured in this event will be those suggested by members of the Network, and can be chosen from any source, old or new.
The second event will be dedicated to Rod Horsfield’s new hymns, which is published in a collection called ‘Songs in Season’. The date for this event will be either 22 or 29 October.
Please join us at Ivanhoe for both of these events and come prepared to have a great time of fellowship.
Thursday 14 September 2023
Join Rev Sandy Brodine and the SPACE Community for a reflection on what it means to be a re-wilded church…
Café of Dangerous Ideas
Friday 29 September 2023 at 7.30pm
Sycamore Tree Café
185 Burgundy Street, Heidelberg
The Café of Dangerous Ideas is back for the first time in 2 years!
The theme for our first few Café of Dangerous Ideas will be based around the idea of ecstatic experience.
Traditionally religion and spirituality were the places where ecstatic experience occurred, but in more recent times people have found alternative options that are divorced from traditional religion and spirituality via different methods. We’re going to ask questions about some of those alternative options and ask what they might offer us.
Our first evening will be a discussion with John and Roni, who have utilised Ayahuasca – a South American psychoactive brew used as a traditional spiritual medicine in ceremonies among the indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin.
For further information and to book in for the event, see
Café of Dangerous Ideas Facebook page
Sabbath Rest
Sunday 10 September 2023 from 4.30 – 6.30pm
Ivanhoe Uniting Church, Seddon Street
Messy Church this Sunday is going to be all about Sabbath and Rest.
We’ll be drawing, sculpting, making prayer beads, building blanket forts and reading stories.
Of course there will be singing, praying and reflecting together on what it means to rest, with a shared meal to follow.
Please contact Sandy Brodine for more information.
Thursday 7 September 2023
Join the SPACE Contemplative Community in their monthly Taizé worship service this time based on the readings from the Season of Creation.
Let Justice and Peace Flow
From 1 September (the World day of Prayer for the Care of Creation) to 4 October (The Feast of St Francis of Assisi), Christians around the world take part in acts of worship and action focused on how we live in relationship with and care for God’s creation.
The International theme for the 2023 Season of Creation is Let Peace and Justice Flow.
The symbol for this year is a Mighty River. The theme calls us to reflect on the words of the prophet Amos, “Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5: 24). We are called to join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity.
Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters have long walked in the wisdom of these interwoven, interdependent relationships and the need to care for country, acknowledging our role, as Indigenous Christian scholar Randy Woodley expresses, as one part of the “community of creation”.
Season of Creation is an opportunity to reflect on our role as stewards of God’s beautiful Creation and the need for us to work, pray and listen, as we seek to live out Jesus’ call to love our neighbour.
Fruits of the Spirit
Sunday 27 August 2023 from 4pm – 6pm
For something a bit different this month, we’re going to think about “The Fruits of the Spirit.”
St Paul wrote to some of the early Christian Communities and gave them lots of advice. He told them that if they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they’d exhibit these fruits in their lives. How will we explain these in Minecraft? I have NO IDEA – but I bet whatever our miners build, will blow my mind!
Join us this Sunday for our second Messy Miners for 2023 on Zoom and in Minecraft.
Because we’re going to focus on the fruits of the spirit and how we might describe and build them, there’s no script this month… just come along prepared to have some fun!
Contact Sandy Brodine for details.
Thursday 24 August 2023
Join the SPACE Contemplative Community in reflecting on the story of early church Amma, Mary of Egypt.
She was a woman who had lived a deeply sinful life and then went into the desert to seek God. After many years of living an ascetic life, she was overjoyed to experience the mercy and forgiveness of God.
About the Banyule Network
We are a Christian community of faith in the Banyule region, made up of congregations and communities of the Uniting Church. We have chosen to work together to love and serve God in our neighbourhood and the wider world. We warmly welcome you to share with us in worship, and in our community life and outreach.