Welcome
Welcome to the SEM Forum. It is hoped that visitors to this page will feel free to make comments, not only about the activities of the Seaford Ecumenical Mission, but also about matters of concern to the local Seaford Community and in the wider world.
In the life of the Church SEM represents the complexities of the interaction between different Christian denominations as the members of the partner churches seek to find ways of working together for the sake of the Gospel. At the same time they are very aware of the barriers which still remain between the different traditions.
The SEM Centre, too, is set at a crossroads in the community, situated as it is on the Town Square surrounded by Schools, Library, Recreation Centre and Shopping Complex and with Grand Boulevard, the main thoroughfare of Seaford winding around the building.
What are the concerns of the Church and Society which you would like to share with us?
Hullo people
I find your web site and Mission interesting as I grew up Uniting but am now Catholic.
I wonder if this Seaford Ecumenical Mission is unique in Australia.
As I live in the Northern Suburbs of Adelaide I am thinking to one day come down and attend Mass at the Mission and see what it is like. I am curious to know how it works.
Have a nice day
Anthony
At the moment I am responsible for looking after this website and am only too well aware that it could include a lot more information about SEM and a number of other features which might be helpful to those who visit the site.
So that any new features will be useful I would like to hear from visitors to the site about what you think would be worth developing.
Would you like more information about SEM programmes, recordings of sermons, study guides about the Christian faith, introductions to the Sunday readings or activites for children?
Or perhaps you would be interested in comments on current affairs from a Christian perspective or for an opportunity to raise your own questions.
Please use this forum to share your ideas with me so that I can try to develop this website in a useful way.
The challenge for us today as we celebrate the birthday of Jesus is whether we have room in our hearts and in our lives for him or whether he must remain homeless as far as we are concerned.
There is even a question whether there is still room for Jesus in our celebration of Christmas. One of the commentators writing about John the Baptist and his call to repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah has even suggested that we have much to repent for in the way in which we celebrate Jesus' birth.
Certainly, if what you see in the shops and in the media is any guide there is very little mention of Jesus in the contemporary celebration of Christmas. We might also ask how far is our own celebration centred upon Jesus the Messiah.
Are we too busy to recognise who Jesus is and say “no room” or do we take him in - into our worship and into loving hearts.
Please feel free to add your comments or to raise a question which is important to you.
In 1809 a Presbyterian minister from Ireland who was ministering in Pennsylvania at the time, Thomas Campbell, produced a document known as \"Declaration and Address\" in which he saw the divisions in the Christian Church as a sin which impeded the proclamation of the Gospel. He called for Christian Unity based on the New Testament, setting aside human traditions.
This was the beginning of the \"Restoration Movement\" of which the \"Disciples of Christ\" and the \"Churches of Christ\" are a part.
Two hundred years later Christians are still divided and the proclamation of the Gospel is weakened. Pray for Christian Unity.
I know that all the members of the SEM community have been very appreciative of the many different ways in which Sr Bernie has been involved in the life of SEM and will miss her greatly. However we do wish her well and pray for her as she begins her new ministry in Queensland.
I\'ve just explored the renewed website and congratulate you, Alex, on the excellent material and presentation.
Well done!
Bernie
It has been very exciting to work on this new website. I hope that you find it helpful and I would like to hear from you about how it should be developed.