The Homecoming – a song that has emerged out of the global COVID-19 crisis. We currently live in a community required to socially isolate. In this situation it’s easy to imagine that there is no capacity to join together to do creative things to glorify God. We are firm though, in our belief that God is God of grace and mercy. The song reflects the assurance that through God’s grace and mercy, this time of separation will pass and the gift of reconnecting with community shall be made all the more joyful through ‘the homecoming’.

The recording of the song was done remotely. Using a guide track, each player recorded his/her part in their own home – including the flute part recorded on a farm in northern Victoria. Recordings were then returned via email to a central point for mixing and production. The result we hope not only proves our capacity to worship God as a community even though we are apart, but also demonstrates that the worship of God can take on many forms.

We hope you are you remain safe and well and that you enjoy ‘The Homecoming’ – a celebration of the grace and mercy of God.

– Peter Heazlewood

The Homecoming is featured on our Resources page.

In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re currently in the middle of a global pandemic – a situation that has presented to the world significant challenges. Despite changed and challenging times, the worship of God continues – and always will – and part of that worship of course is through music. Like many other congregations, we have successfully established live, weekly worship using Zoom. We chose this, in preference to the more common pre-recorded mode, because the congregation has traditionally been very interactive in worship, and we didn’t want to lose this element.

But what do we do about music? Like most places of Christian worship, music plays a huge role in our community. We are passionate about praising God through music of substance and do so with piano, guitar, strings, flute, organ, drums and voice. Fairly early in the piece (prior to Stage 4 restrictions in Victoria) we did quite a bit of work recording our band (including our organist) capturing contemporary, traditional and locally written songs we use as part of worship. These recordings are incorporated into our weekly online worship, complemented by words and visuals. Those who can’t connect online can participate in worship via phone, and are provided with weekly mail outs of song words for the upcoming week and other materials to ensure they don’t miss out.

We’ve been extremely lucky to get ahead of the game in this regard and post-Covid, it will be interesting to consider possibilities to continue using enhanced media and streaming to enhance the life of the church.

Beyond our congregation though, we join with many, rejoicing in the singing of songs and the writing and playing of words and music that glorifies God. This time of separation will come to a close and with it I expect an enriched, thankful, highly resilient and blessed community of Christ.

A final comment in relation to music – the worship of God through music doesn’t depend on huge technologies, Sunday mornings, smart techies or hours of work from week to week. It doesn’t rely on choirs, musicians and teams. The worship of God through music and song is as close as the songs in your heart or the whispered fragments of praise and reflection that we may find ourselves consciously or unconsciously offering to glorify God at any time or in any place.

The band at work in less-isolated times.

Church Online

During the COVID lockdowns, Coatesville worshipped exclusively online to retain our fellowship through those difficult times. Since the easing of restrictions we are continuing to broadcast worship on Sunday mornings.

• Live worship is broadcast at 10am Sunday and instructions on how to access it on a computer or telephone are below.
• There is an interactive component mid-service where those online and in the chapel can share their Joys and Concerns.
• The weekly news sheet is delivered by email mid-week, including Notices and Joys and Concerns from the previous week.
• The Church monthly newsletter, Shuttle, is also available by email.
• If you are interested in receiving either of these publications, please use the Contact Us link at the top of the page.
• Services are also recorded and made available on our Coatesville Church YouTube channel.

Online Worship

Our services on Sunday (10am AEST) will be broadcast using the Zoom service in a format suitable for viewing on a computer, smartphone or tablet and is available (audio only) on the telephone.

https://zoom.us/j/605768711
Password:135

A more detailed set of instructions, including telephone dial-in information, is available on the Resources page.