Weekly Bulletin: Staying connected as a church - 15 September 2024

Kia ora St John’s whānau,
 
This Sunday we celebrate becoming an Eco Church, as we join this initiative to care for God’s creation.

Our Bible readings are Mark 9: 30-37  and James 3: 13-18.
 
God’s Word commends to us what is the wise way of living – in ways that are somewhat familiar: the way of the cross, of service, of learning from intergenerational community, of humility to care for others and creation. This wise way of living aligns with the beauty in the world and is an attractive reality for lives that are broken.
 
For this Sunday’s service we will all gather in the Church at 10am and our young people will go out part-way to their peer groups.  And we will all share Morning Tea together afterward.

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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.

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...

QUIZ NIGHT

On Friday 13th September we are having another fabulous St John’s Quiz Night from 6:30-8:30pm. This is for all ages, and is run by our Guest Quiz Master Chris Darnell – he has categories of quiz questions never heard of before, that will make everyone competitive!
 
There will be spot prizes, and the beautiful trophy made by Roger Gyles is at stake…

You are invited to bring a koha that will be gifted to churches in Indonesia in December.
 
There is parking available in marked spaces on the St John’s site, including in the basement carpark.

ST JOHN'S CHURCH CAMP

The Church Camp will run from Fri 20th Sept (evening) to Sun 22nd Sept (late morning) at the Paekakariki Holiday Park. 
There will be a Sunday service at 10am as usual at St John’s in the City.

FELLOWSHIP GROUP

Bronwyn Wood, is the speaker this month and she is known to us as one of our Church family and keen environmentalist. 
She will give insight into a global Christian Conservation network going by the Portuguese name for Rock: “A Rocha” (rhymes with kosher)
How can we as Christians be involved? Here’s an opportunity to have a lively debate on Tuesday 24 September 2024 at 11am in the St John’s Centre.

VISION UPDATE

Thank you for all those who were part of the Sunday workshop to refresh our Vision initiatives.
Our St John’s Vision is: 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.

The kaupapa we are working with is permission-giving, experimental, welcoming of ideas, and using adaptable structures.
 
Here’s what is coming up soon…

…all of us are able to get involved!

CHILD PROTECTION AND ETHICAL PRACTICE

As a Church community we are committed to keeping young people safe. This commitment includes supporting all our leaders with up-to-date training to work together and follow safe practices.
The Safety WOF training is conducted regularly for all those who serve our ministry with young people. On the 20th of October (after the St John’s Annual General Meeting) Hannah North will run this training from 1pm to 6pm.
If you have any further questions or would like more information, please contact Hannah North.

CROSS CULTURAL ENCOUNTER TRIP TO INDONESIA

A third trip is planned to depart 27th November this year – serving, sharing, growing.
There is a team of 10 confirmed to travel. There will be fundraising happening in the coming weeks – not for the team travel costs but for gifting to churches in Indonesia.

BIKE RACKS

As part of our practice of caring for creation, we have had two new bicycle racks installed in the St John’s courtyard.
These are high-quality ‘sculptures’ that witness to our intention of caring for God’s creation, and you are invited to sponsor these. We are seeking contributions to the total cost of $1,564 for both bike racks – and we are halfway to covering this cost.
Donations can be made to the St John’s bank account:
02 0500 0021908 00       
Particulars: (Your name)
Reference: Bike

CREATION CARE TIP

When you become overwhelmed with the paper bags from supermarkets, they can go in your recycling, including the handles. No need to chop the handles off, pop them straight in! Easy as!

‘God gives grace to the humble.’  (James 4:6)
Ka kite ano
Allister