Rest In Peace John Williamson

Sadly, John Williamson passed away on Monday 14th February.  He had remained quietly active at home for the last few weeks but contracted an infection on Sunday which would not respond to medication and caused a rapid deterioration.  He died in the early hours of Monday morning.

John was a much loved member of this parish and retired last year as Churchwarden and Maintenance coordinator.  He was always looking out for everybody else, noticing what needed to be done and quietly organising for it to happen.  He was great at encouraging other people and his loyalty, dedication, strength of character and humour were an inspiration to myself and many others in this parish.  He will be sorely missed.

In your prayers please commend his soul to eternal rest and give thanks that his passing was very peaceful, that he was surrounded by family, and that he enjoyed quality of life right to the end.  Please pray for Janet and all their family as they grieve his loss.  The funeral will be held at St. Mary's, Middle Swan, at 10am on Monday 21st February.

If you would like to leave a tribute message about John please click on the "comments" link below, 
where it says "comment as" choose "anonymous", 
type your comment in the box, 
click "post comment". 
         

Any comments will be forwarded to Janet                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Greetings From John and Janet

John Williamson is still battling the symptoms of his leukaemia and managing to stay home most of the time with just some brief visits to hospitals, doctors etc.  Unfortunately, John and Janet cannot attend church (or other crowded places!) because of the risk of infection, so I took a photo on my last visit (10th Feb) to remind you all what they look like!

John and Janet want you all to know that you are very much in their thoughts and they are grateful for all the phone calls and good wishes.  They also had a wonderful night at the Vines Resort on Wednesday of last week -  a gift from the parish that was presented to them at last year's AGM.

Fresh Start For the Young at Heart

The year has started off with more action for the young at Swan Parish.  Last Friday the Young Adults enjoyed a social barbecue with great food and company as a way of regrouping for the coming year.  And today the St. Mary's crowd were treated to the first "Kids Take The Church" service of the year.  During these services most of the leadership roles and rostered jobs during church are performed by the kids.  Its very satisfying to see how confident they have become after several years of running these services. What a great way of engaging, training and discipling the kids as well as deepening their understanding of liturgy and worship.  Thanks to Paula, Nicole and Doug and all the parents and others who support these services.  Also, big thanks to the Swan Parish Youth (SPY) who chipped in at the last minute to provide an impressive morning tea.

A new worship initiative in the parish, for all ages, is the monthly Taize service.  On Saturday night a small group gathered for a friendly glass of wine and snacks before moving into the church for this peaceful and moving service involving reflective singing, readings, silence and prayer.  I always leave the church after the Taize service feeling I have just been given a great gift.  Lyn and Sharon are doing a great job coordinating these services and we all look forward to the crowd growing as word spreads.