The Rev'd Irwin Faris celebrated his final regular Service at St Luke's Church in Torquay on Sunday 7 April. Rev'd Faris held the position of Assistant Priest in the Parish from 2001-2008. Rev'd Faris since then has had the Archbishop's Permission to officiate in the Diocese of Melbourne of which our Parish is part. In recent times he has been conducting a monthly Service at Lorne and celebrating Holy Communion at St. Luke's on the first Sunday of the Month. Rev'd Irwin has also had a crucial role in visiting the sick and elderly in the Parish. Irwin and wife Rosemary thankfully will not be leaving the parish but will remain with us as parishioners. We have been truly blessed to have had Irwin assisting in the life of the Parish.
In his Sermon today Rev'd Irwin preached on the passage about Doubting Thomas from John's Gospel. You can read the text of the sermon by clicking the following link.

Surfcoast Anglican Parish held its annual Parish Fête on Saturday 6th April at St Luke's in Torquay. The weather was cool and overcast and the forecast showers did not eventuate. Locals and visitors and their children took advantage of the pleasant weather and visited the Fête. As usual there were loads of home made produce, the Op Shop, face painting for children, great BBQ'ed sausages, cup cakes, a Coffee Kart, an Icecream Van, wooden toys, craftwork, a raffle and lots of plants. Members of the Parish and the Op Shop volunteers once again all worked together, and had fun, making for another memorable Fête.
This year the Fête raised $7585 for the Parish's ongoing projects.
Thank you to everyone for your hard work before and on Fête Day. Thanks also to all the members of the public who came to support us and opened their purses and wallets.

The Lord is Risen! He is Risen indeed. Happy Easter to all.
St Luke's was full to overflowing with locals and visitors for this Easter Sunday's Service. The congregation joyfully celebrated the Risen Christ.
Following the service the congregation moved outside to bless and officially open the new, long awaited, ramp and steps to the hall.

The Easter Sunrise Service was held again this year by the Combined Torquay Christian Churches on Easter Sunday 31 March at Torquay's Cosy Corner. Local church leaders read the Gospel accounts of Jesus' resurrection, prayers were given and songs were sung. Rev'd Sharon delivered an excellent talk outlining the events of the first Easter morning. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

The Trio Oceanique held a concert at St Luke's in Torquay on Sunday the 24th March 2024. The concert program consisted of Violin, Viola and Cello compositions by Mozart, Boccherini, Sibelius and Ravel. The audience was treated to a wonderful musical experience.

The next concert will be on Sunday 23rd June starting at 3pm and will be a Meditation on Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin.

There were two Baptisms at St Luke’s on Sunday morning the 10th of March. Samuel and Katrina Lander brought their two daughters Imogen & Lucinda for Baptism. The St Luke’s congregation were delighted to welcome the two girls into the Christian Faith.

The Shrove Tuesday Pancake Night was held in St Luke’s Hall on the 13th February.
Thank you to everyone who supported Night. It takes a team to make the night such a success. Thank you to those who organised the night, set up the hall, cooked and served meals and cleaned up. Thanks as well to everyone for sharing conversation and hospitality in our church. We raised around $1300 which will be divided evenly between the Anglican Hospital in Gaza and major parish maintenance tasks.