Weekly Bulletin: Staying connected as a church - 2 October 2022

Kia ora St John’s whānau,

This Sunday we have a visit from the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Right Reverend Hamish Galloway.

The Moderator is the elected spiritual head of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. The last time a Moderator visited St John’s in the City was when we re-opened the Church building following the completion of the Strengthening Project (on that occasion the Moderator was Very Rev Fakaofo Kaio).

We are delighted that Hamish Galloway will preach God’s Word for us this Sunday.

The children and youth have a combined Holiday Programme to go to part-way through the service.

If you can’t gather in the city, and you want to join the worship service via Zoom, here are the details to access the live-stream:
 
Zoom Meeting ID: 370 260 759
Passcode: worship
 
The link to join the Zoom worship service is below.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/370260759?pwd=b2ZkajZ5d28rTy9EN1VKZDJUM3N4dz09 
 

If using your phone: dial 04 886 0026 (Meeting ID: 370 260 759#, Passcode: 1560107#)

This is the link to the printable Service Sheet 

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT...

RAISING THE STANDARD OF GIVING

We are invited to reflect on how our giving is an important part of living out our faith. ‘Raising our standard of giving’ – describes the thoughtful re-examination of our giving as an important expression for our faith. Together we are thinking about our values, re-examining our giving habits accordingly, making carefully thought-out decisions, and re-arranging our priorities in using money to enable us to carry out these decisions. We give meaningfully, not because the Church needs it (it does, of course) but because as Christians we need to give for our own sake spiritually.
More information will be provided in the coming weeks to help us re-examine our giving.

ANNUAL REPORT AND AGM

The Annual Report of St John’s in the City for the year ended June 2022 is available on the St John’s website: https://www.stjohnsinthecity.org.nz/publications-and-archive
I know you will enjoy the collection of stories and experiences shared in the various contributions. The Annual Performance Report (financial) is included there also.
Printed copies of the Annual Report will be available closer to the time of the Annual General Meeting, which is after the Sunday morning service on the 30th October 2022 in the St John’s Centre.

VISION TO ACTION

Our Vision: We explore and share the gospel with our dynamic neighbourhood. We create safe spaces to be, to belong, and to navigate the tough stuff. Getting to know God is a team sport – that’s why we do this together, not alone.

How to get involved… Join a project team – everyone is welcome!!

Site and Space – Get involved in exploring how the St John’s site can be used in an outreach capacity. This could involve physical changes, projects, use of the Centre.
Current Project: Christmas in the Courtyard - a celebration with food, music and carols
Contact Rob Anderson or Judi Ferguson      
 
Community Rebuild – Help re-establish and build back internal relationships and friendship in the St John’s community post COVID.
Current Project: Supporting Attendance at Church Camp and Talent Show (this was achieved with great success!)
Contact: Margaret Gilkison or Jemma August
 
Caring for Specific Groups of Need in the St John’s Community – Help us intentionally build connections between generations and serve specific groups of need e.g. young, elderly, youth.
Contact: TBC
 
Whānau Night Extension – Get involved in building on the success of Whānau Night. Held each month during school terms in the St John’s Centre or in homes. Food, fun, faith and focus.
Current Project: Youth Lead Code Breaker Night, 20 November 2022
Coordinator contacts for 20 November Whanau Night: Antonia Milkop and Bronwyn Wood with St John’s Youth Group
What we need:  In order for the church to carry on running Whanau Nights from 2023 onwards, we will need to find a committed leader to help orchestrate and organise teams to run future Whanau nights.  Does this sound like you?
 
Vision Communication and Connections – Ensuring St John’s is communicating our Vision with the wider community and supporting the project teams.
Current Project: Improving Signage and Billboards
Contact: Elizabeth Gibbs
 
Getting to Know our Neighbours /Understanding Our - Eco System/Community – Building direct relationships with our immediate neighbourhood i.e. business and organisations, Victoria University of Wellington and Massey University, Kaianga Ora, building developers, WCC, neighbouring Churches, schools.
Current Projects: Follow-up event from Art Installation and Connecting with local property developers to understand future populations.
Contact: Pamela Cohen        

The St John’s Vision is a key focus for Session Leaders so feel free to contact any one of them about this. In particular you can contact the Session Clerk, Rob Anderson.

NAME TAGS

As we turn our Vision into action, one very easy and practical way we can build community is to wear a name tag.
Please keep your name tag on when you come over for Morning Tea in the Centre, and there will be a receptacle to drop your name tag into before you leave.

ONE CONFERENCE

This leadership training conference for the Presbyterian Church is being hosted at St John’s in November (2pm 17th of November - 2:30pm Saturday the 19th of November).
We will have many folks travelling from out of town and many have asked if there is any possibility of being billeted. Would you like to consider billeting out-of-town attendees to the conference?
Conference attendees will have all meals provided at the conference except breakfast. If you can offer billeting please fill in this form One Conference Billet Host Form or email grace@presbyterian.org.nz

NEW WINE FESTIVAL

At this all age festival many voices worship the One. 19th-23rd January 2023 (Wellington Anniversary Weekend) at Wairarapa College in Masterton.
For more details and to register to go (along with others from St John’s): https://newwine.org.nz/

VOICES IN THE WIND CONCERT

“Treasures from American Composers” is a concert happening twice: 7.30pm Friday 14 October at St Barnabas Mana, and 3pm Sunday 16 October at Khandallah Town Hall.
Tickets $20, $15 unwaged. See Linda Van Milligan 027 2889210 for tickets.

The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Allister