Tales from the Team

Community Aged Care

By Meg Matthews – SHAP Aged Care Community Chaplain

It has been terrific to have Rev Paul Perini join our Aged Care ministry team this year. Each week Paul and I run a service for residents in either Beresford House Rose Bay or Hall and Prior Vaucluse in the morning. Attendance is usually about a dozen, with some regulars for whom this is a most welcome part of their week. We have struck up some friendships in both homes, as well as with staff. The photo attached is from last Tuesday of me with a dear friend from Beresford Hall, Michael Duffett.

Michael, a spritely gentleman in his nineties, does his best not to miss our service, and we also share Holy Communion with him and a few other residents monthly. Michael has even made it to the 10am service at St Michaels twice this year, aided by the wonderful Tina Bondar on the front desk at Beresford. Michael is coming again to church on the 9th June, so please look out for him with me and do say hello. He is a terrific conversationalist and has an abiding faith.

Each Tuesday afternoon, Paul along with our team of Verity, Tanya, Catherine and myself, enjoy a wonderful time of fellowship and Christian worship at Moran Village, Vaucluse. A new addition this year has been the weekly Bible Study at 1pm, enjoyed by half a dozen residents. This came about because one of our service attendees, Pat, said how very much she would love a Bible Study. She is thrilled that this is now happening. She does her level best not to miss one, even when she is feeling tired or a bit unwell. Following the Bible Study, we enjoy the 2pm service upstairs in the bright and sunny Orangerie, with views over coast and harbour. Our regular attendance is about 25-30, and a very strong fellowship community has developed over the years. All of us on the team are involved in leading worship, Bible reading, prayers and giving a short message. The photo attached shows Paul in the front row at a recent service. Ann and Ian Loveridge along with Barbara Crouch (St Peters members for many years) now residents at Moran, do a wonderful job assisting us in this ministry, and they are great community connectors in that place.

Aged Care ministry has so many enjoyable moments for me, as for all the team. Sometimes unpredictable moments bring a smile to our faces. What we love is seeing people singing along to a hymn from their past, also hearing words of sincerity from some who tell us these times mean so much to them. Michael Duffett is one of those friends. He tells us his faith has been much stirred and encouraged by our regular service and visits, and now he is very much enjoying his opportunities to come to church in person.

We appreciate your prayers for the SHAP aged care ministry. May we be a sweet fragrance of Christ in each home we enter. May residents be encouraged in their faith, or even to find faith, and may they see in us a faint glimpse of the Saviour.