Our Op Shop 'Sorters' have shared lots of good times over a cuppa

On 1st October 1985 Dapto Anglican Church took over the running of the Op Shop.

In January 2000 the shop moved to the Dandaloo Shopping Centre at Brownsville.

In 2006 when the church sold the old building at Wongawilli the storage & sorting moved to 36 Hamilton Street, Dapto.

During the 26 years our Church has been running the Op Shop, Gwyn & Ruby Davies have been co-ordinating its operations along with a dedicated committee and 100’s of volunteers.

On the 1st February 2012 Gwyn and Ruby will be handing over their responsibility to Carl &  Lyn Cheetham.  Carl & Lyn have both had significant experience with the Op Shop and they have been meeting with the Davies to arrange a smooth hand over for the last 2 months.

Stephen and the Parish Council are preparing a Thanksgiving Celebration for all or Op Shop volunteers to occur in February.  Any Parishioners who whish to financially support this opportunity to bless this fine team for their years of service, please use an envelope and mark it ‘Op Shop Thanksgiving’ and place in the offertory.

 Stephen Semenchuk, 
Senior Pastor.

 To view this week’s bulletin click on this link: 15 JAN 2012

Of course some habits are helpful and some of our relational tendencies are positive.  The challenge of spiritual maturity is to discern which habits we need to ‘break’ and which ones we should nurture.

This is something most people seem to explore each new year.  Many of us make ‘new year resolutions’ which generally do not survive as long as the January sales.  Such failures can often lead to guilt and feelings of hopelessness.

The test of true Christianity is that when we stumble and fall we grasp hold of God’s grace and get up, secure in the forgiveness available in Christ.  We then need to become aware of those times, people and places that take us out of the ‘light’ of Christ and into a murky twilight zone of worldly pursuits and desires.

Keeping a diary and recording the thoughts and feelings that accompany our slips into ‘sin’ are a useful first step.  We need to identify the areas of our personal temptations so that we can bring the light of God’s gospel and love to bear.

Stephen Semenchuk
Senior Pastor

To see this week’s bulletin Click on this link: 2012 JAN 08

Our Annual Community Carols in the Showground had to quickly find another place as the Showground and its surrounds was so wet under foot. A bit of a logistical headache for a few, but their work meant we all enjoyed a wonderful celebration of Christmas.

The week before Christmas saw DAC members providing a gift wrapping service to Dapto Mall’s shopping customers at the Mall’s invitation.  Each day saw interesting shapes providing new challengers for the wrappers!

It is a privilege to partner with the Dapto Mall in this service.

Dapto Mall invited us to entertain the shoppers on Thursday 15th December. Our dance group ’Rockstars’ were fantastic, we had some Christmas songs, face painting and crafts for any who needed a break from shopping.

One shopper asking lots of questions about our dance group, could his children join, as it was very obvious how much fun the children had. What a great testimony to Karoleena & her team.

Our Young Adults Group were out and about in the streets of Dapto, Carolling in the evenings.

This has become such a popular event. Our community are quick to book in their street for a visit as soon as the announcement is made.

Our Young Adults made a visit to St. Luke’s Village for a Carolling session too.

Then there was the Christmas Star. I could go on for ages about this spectacular! You were promised one and you got one! A show to beat all shows, with Jesus being revealed as the true star of Christmas, much to the bemusement of other great stars!  Then there was a Christmas feast, chicken & ham & baked veges followed by pavlova. I think Jill and her team feed 400 of us!  And for the little ones, a petting farm, Christmas crafts and face painting and more.  It was fantastic and a great way to celebrate Jesus birth.

Here are some photos from our adventures:

YES our Community Carols Event is still on!

WE’VE HAD TO CHANGE VENUE

It is now at Dapto Anglican Church, in Moombara Street, Dapto

From 5pm to 9.30pm

Food on sale from $2.00 each: Sausage Sandwiches, cold fizzy drinks, water, chips and chocolates

Park in Dapto Mall (Our Sponsor, Dapto Mall have kindly agreed to leave their carpark open for us to use)  Very limited car parking on our site.

What do we do with this precious feedback?

It is used by Christian leaders to understand their people better.  It helps us work out our strengths and weaknesses.  It identifies opportunities.  The results help us know where we need to improve and where we can praise God for his work.

Please take the time to fill in the survey as every opinion matters.  When the experiences of each unique person are combined we learn where patterns of behaviour exist or not.  The results inform our prayers and challenges our preconceptions.

Stephen Semenchuk
Senior Pastor.

PS For those who miss out on Sunday …..
please come down to the office and fill out a survey during the week.

To view this week’s bulletin click on this link: DAC Bulletin 27 NOV 2011

Dear brothers and sisters,
God has mercifully answered your prayers. Bronwyn was discharged from hospital over the weekend after her pancreatitis settled reasonably quickly.  In fact she came home and promptly enjoyed a BBQ feast with family friends!

As for her slow growing recurrent tumours (in her left lung, and liver), it is likely she will again try oral chemotherapy called 5FU. Despite constant back pain and weakness, God continues to give her strength. We’ve certainly had our valleys both physically and emotionally.  But God sustains her joy in him.

Rachel is now in Vanuatu helping proclaim Christ with a Scripture Union team.  Music exams are over for Thomas and Grace, and Naomi continues on her busy schedule which now includes driving lessons from Dad.  NTE preparations appear to be on track.

Thank you so so much for praying.  We are very grateful to God for your love.

Do take care,
the Chin family.

We will be road-tripping down to Shoalhaven Ski Park in North Nowra for a day of boating fun on Sat 17th December!

Cost is $16 per person which will include lunch/drinks, entry to the ski park and a contribution to cost of boat fuel.

The boats will be heading out onto the river from 9am but you can arrive at any time throughout the morning.

There will be a RSVP clipboard at the 7pm service over the upcoming weeks. See Pete G for more info!

EVENT #2: Carolling!

Dapto Young Adults will be carolling this again Christmas throughout the streets of Dapto and Horsley!

Dates are Monday 19th, Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st December 2011 (timeslots TBA).

Young Adults – head to Facebook page to RSVP and for more info.

Contact Pete Gold or the church office if you would like the young adults to sing for you. Why not organise a Christmas BBQ with your family, friends and neighbours! HURRY – only limited timeslots available.

This year we’ve moved our show up a few notches to make it even better for you!

• We have quilts for sale,
• Papercraft Workshops available,
• A bigger and better Trade Table
• Display of the quilts made specially for the children at Wollongong Hospital.
• Complimentary morning or afternoon tea.
• The Cafe – with our new building has come our new cafe.  Why not call in for brunch or lunch and enjoy a light meal and espresso coffee at our new cafe.
• As well as our regular quilts and papercraft displays.

Papercraft Workshops:
Bookings are essential to ensure we have enough equipment for all.  You can book at our Church Office on 4261 1001.

Trade Table:
A regular at our annual show is the Trade Table.  You can buy gifts, nic nacs and specialist one off handmade items. This may be an opportunity to get ahead on the Christmas Shopping.   Included in the Trade Table area will be a table by La Maison Quilting for all your quilting & needlework supplies.  La Maison also provides a quilting service for those toppers that you have finished but haven’t quilted yet.  Pick up a business card and find out more about La Maison’s services.  We will also have a Stampin’ Up table with all sorts of goodies to embelish and beautify your cards or scrapbooks as well as all the basics needed for papercrafts.

Admission is $5.00 per person which includes a complimentary morning or afternoon tea.  So come for the morning or the afternoon or just make it a special day out.

If you have planned to come down this weekend there will still be lots to do but there will be even more gardening to do next weekend (Saturday 13th August).

Some of the jobs on offer are:

• Some preparation of gardens beds (bring spades & gloves)
• Some cleaning up around the site (bring some gloves)
• Wash all plastic chairs
• Clean blue upholstered chairs
• Put together new trolleys
• Some plumbing work (replacing washers and maybe a couple of taps)
• Sanding & painting small items
• General Cleaning
• Some trips to the tip (bring a trailer)
• Cleaning up the playground area (bring some gloves)

We’d love to see this weekend or next weekend.

Information packs are now available from the Church Office and from the Information Wall in the Minsitry Centre.

Or you can click on the link here for information: 2011 DAC Getaway Info Pack

The preparation of the grounds are our responsibility to prepare for Council to inspect for our occupancy certificate. That means we need all hands on deck.

There are gardens to be planted with trees and plants, fences to be fixed,  turf to lay, mulch to spread, rooms to be cleaned and prepared, storage to be sorted, kitchen equipment to be sorted & cleaned before and after installation and much, much more.

So the way forward is this……

Inductions: to tell you what, where and how to do the task.

• Saturday 30th July at 9am then again at 1pm
• Saturday 6th August at 9am then again at 1pm
• Sunday 7th August at 1pm (come join us at 10am Church ready for work, enjoy a sausage sizzle then help us complete the work)

Then 3 hour shifts
(to get really stuck in to the tasks, straight after the inductions)

Who can Help?
Well, everyone! I hope you will come (we need all our congregation members) to contribute in the best way you can. Jobs range from the very physical work, to the dusting and wiping down of surfaces.
We are so thankful for the teams who are already preparing seats and tables for our café, preparing the kitchen equipment for transfer and assisting to clean the current auditorium of the dust build up from the work going on.

Remember to bring equipment
(Obviously as a church we don’t necessarily have the equipment needed for such tasks: So we need you to bring your own: wheelbarrows, spades, rakes, watering cans, buckets, gardening tools, cleaning rags, etc).

As I reflect on the many blessings God has given us here at Dapto Anglican I realise the great privilege it is to be a part of this new building.

• To help pay for it.
• To help prepare it.
• To work side by side with God’s family to make it ready.
• To provide and leave a special place in Dapto for our community. To have it ready for its official opening on the 13th August.
• And to see and know that more and more people here in Dapto may come to hear and know our Lord Jesus as their own personal Lord and Saviour.

See you on site, partnering in this great privilege and responsibility that our God has given us.

Hilary Brown

On the weekend of the 6th & 7th August we need every able bodied member to give us some time. We will be inducting gardeners (helpers) at 9am and 1pm on Saturday to work for 3 hour shifts. These shifts include planting, laying turf and mulching. There will also be lots of indoor jobs in setting up the kitchen and storage areas throughout the site.

• On Sunday 10am 7th August we are inviting you to a mufti day.
• Come to church ready for work after the service.
• There will be a sausage sizzle and we need as many people as possible to stay around to help us finish off our site.
• If you go to another service come after lunch, prepared to join us in finishing off the work.

For those of you who are ready to make a sacrifice, Saturday 30th July will also be a big day and again we need all able bodied people to help! There will be some trees to plant but also lots of preparation work.

God has showered us with great blessings and now is our opportunity to do something with the land he has entrusted to us.

Stephen Semenchuk,
Senior Pastor

*** When you come, bring your own tools (wheelbarrows, spades, gardening tools, gloves, etc) to help us with the job at hand.

Four couples shared from their personal experiences – each from a different ‘season’ of marriage.
Neville and Carol Stumbles gave hope to those struggling in the despair and coldness of winter, pointing us to Christ’s saving power.
Ron and Julie Irving shared about the importance of intentional connection during the Autumn time of isolation and drifting apart.
Brian and Christine Lane encouraged us to invest in the springtime of new beginnings by learning your partner’s love language and keeping Jesus central to your relationship.
Scott and Natalie Goode painted for us an ideal of God’s summer design for partnership and intimacy in biblical marriage.

Ultimately we want to strengthen our marriage so that we can live blessed lives under God, serving Christ from the strength that comes from a marriage partnership of mutual service and support.

Here are two ideas that may interest you:
1. Read Gary Chapman’s book The Four Seasons of Marriage together and discuss your thoughts over a few scheduled date nights. Copies are available from Scott Goode.
2. Take the opportunity to enrich your Marriage: During term 3 we are running ‘The Marriage Course’ over 7 Thursday evenings 7.30pm to 9.45pm at St. Aidan’s Mt Brown. This is an opportunity to have a great supper, hear some practical talks (dvd) and have some time for couple discussions. There is no group work during any of the sessions. Cost $60.00 per couple which includes material, books & suppers. Commences Thursday 3rd August. Bookings & payment to the Church Office by 31st July.

Hosts: Nigel & Natalie Dixon

Speakers: Brian & Christine Lane

Speakers: Neville & Carol Stumbles

Speakers: Scott & Natalie Goode

Scott Goode,
Assistant Pastor

Who/what is the Op Shop?
The Op Shop is us, that is, Dapto Anglican Church. As God’s family we have set up to serve our community and reach out through our Op Shop. At a grass roots level we are supplying affordable clothing. At a different level, we have Christians on the ground in a place where many of our community come.  On a whole different level, the Op Shop’s profit helps provide the dollars to do ministry in many areas at Dapto Anglican.

Where is our Shop?
Located in the Dandaloo Shopping Centre, just off of Kanahooka Road. It opens from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and again on Saturdays 9.30 to 11.30am.

Without our fabulous volunteers this ministry couldn't happen!!!

What does the Op Shop Sell?
Clothing—all sorts, sizes, styles and shoes, jewellery, sheets, blankets, curtains, books and nic nacs.  There are some great bargains. Preloved and even new clothing available for the discerning buyer.

How does the Op Shop run?
With volunteers, volunteers and more volunteers!  Our Op Shop Ministry can only function because we have an amazing number of church and community volunteers who give of their time.
Firstly the volunteers run the shop and are kept busy restocking, hanging, sorting, displaying and keeping the shop tidy while serving customers. If the opportunity comes up as they share life with our customers, they will share Jesus and the hope He gives us all.
Secondly volunteers drive and collect donations of clothing from our various donation bins returning the goodies to our sorting shed.
Thirdly volunteers help to sort & distribute the clothing for resale.

What happens to money made?
Funds are set aside for rental of the Shop and our sorting/storage venue and towards the upkeep of the Op Shop Van & clothing bins.  Profits are also used for valuable ministry opportunities at Dapto Anglican. For instance, it pays for the student scripture books used in 5 primary schools in Dapto. It helps fund various youth and children’s ministry. And we are able to financially support Anglicare, Anglican Counselling and welfare. Then there are other outreach opportunities and more!

How can you be involved?
We are always looking for new volunteers!  The best people to chat with are Gwyn or Ruby Davies (10am), Carl or Lyn Cheetham (10am) or Daphne Chapman (8am) and find out more.

• Retail Shop
• Sorting & Distributing
• Collecting Clothing
• Identifying ‘Collectibles’ and assisting to on sell those.

There is a place just waiting for you to help at our Op Shop.

View from stage looking out towards entrance & onto enscarpment

How exciting – to see the roofing finished on Friday and the concrete floor down!  It is all coming together now.

If you would like to give an  offering towards our building project or the chairs for the new auditorium or towards Scripture Teaching; then now is a great time to attend if you wish to use the benefits of this gift for your taxation purposes.

Gifts must be to the Church Office before the 30th June to claim for 2010/11 tax.

You can find spare envelopes at your service or from the Church Office.

The early bird catches the worm!

Conventional wisdom says; ‘The early bird catches the worm’. However it can also be said; ‘the early worm gets eaten’.
Who you are determines the outcome.

Our identity is in Christ. Paul describes Christians as having ‘died’ and risen with Christ.  (Romans 6). Our lives are not our own, we belong to Jesus. We need our life and actions to reflect our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. We follow Him because we have ’taken up our cross daily’.

When people want to see Jesus in 2011 they look to us.  We need to fashion an identity that is unmistakably shaped by God the Holy Spirit, applying the Bible to our lives.

Stephen Semenchuk,
Senior Pastor

To see the bulletin click on this link:  DAC Bulletin 12JUN2011

We are often deceived into thinking that life is a series of unrelated decisions and somehow we will end up in the right place by force of will or ‘luck’.  The truth is that the direction of our life determines our destination and outcomes.  God has placed us in a world where our choices have consequences.  The path we choose inevitably leads to outcomes.  We may have good intentions but the direction of our life governs the outcomes.

Each day we are faced with choices.  We can do things God’s way or our own way.  In the end, we see that the direction of our choices, either carries us closer to God or further away from God.

Stephen Semenchuk,
Senior Pastor

To see or print the bulletin as a whole document click on this link: DAC Bulletin 15th May 2011