Weekly Bulletin: Staying connected as a church - 9 March 2025

Kia ora St John’s whānau,
 
This Sunday is the first Sunday in the season of Lent, as we journey toward Easter.

Also starting this Sunday is our Follow Me series on the faith practice PRAY.
To pray is to assume God cares for us and hears us.
When we pray we open ourselves up to a much more fulfilling spiritual life.
Prayer can help us deepen our relationship with God and each other, centring us so we can live more closely aligned with Christ's calling for us.
 
We are celebrating Communion this Sunday, so our children and young people can go straight to their peer groups in the St John’s Centre at 10am.  And we will all join together in the Church later for Communion.
At the conclusion of the service we will all share Morning Tea together – as well as a BBQ in the courtyard!

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…

SHROVE TUESDAY

Here are some photos from the fun Shrove Tuesday Pancake Breakfast at Church, and the Pancake Lunch at Scots College!

 

PRESBYTERY GATHERING

Twice a year, Presbytery Central holds their Gathering. This is an opportunity to learn, fellowship, and grow together. Everyone from churches in the region is welcome to join in for a meaningful and engaging day on Saturday 15th March.
 
The Keynote speaker is our own Prof. Neil Dodgson!  His topic is “Living in an Age of Disruptive Technologies: AI and What It Means to Be Human” exploring the ethical, theological, and practical implications of artificial intelligence. How does AI challenge our understanding of humanity? What does it mean for the future of the Church? His insights will guide us as we reflect on faith in a world increasingly shaped by technology.
 
Our world is rapidly changing, and technology is reshaping how we connect, communicate, and engage with faith. At this Gathering, we will explore how the Church can navigate and respond to these changes while remaining grounded in our mission.
 
This Gathering will take place at St Albans Church in Palmerston North. Ministers have fellowship and learning on Friday, and everyone in invited to be part of the full-day program on Saturday.

 

A&J ANNUAL APPEAL FOR MISSION SUNDAY 16TH MARCH

The St John’s Outreach Committee encourages everyone to be part of the spiritual and practical support for A&J (a St John’s couple working overseas), by praying regularly and contributing financially to their work with poor migrant workers. A&J speak eight languages between them, so can talk to these migrant workers often in their own language. A&J are not paid a salary for bringing hope to these people . Instead, they raise most of the money that they need to live themselves.
On Sunday 16th March there will be a Retiring Offering (making a donation in the foyer after the service).  The Outreach Committee is committed to give $4,000 each year and matches dollar for dollar all additional donations up to $2,500 per year. We hope to generate additional giving of $6,000 through this annual appeal.
If you would rather use internet banking, then use the normal bank account number 02 0500 0021908 00 and put ‘AandJ’ in the reference and your name or donor number in the particulars.

 

WHANAU NIGHT

HOPE continues as we take an international focus in our next whānau night on March 16th!
Ian McInnes, CEO of Tearfund New Zealand, will be joining us and sharing his experience bringing HOPE to some of the world’s toughest humanitarian situations.
Ian is an engaging storyteller who loves connecting and sharing how God is working in many nations and through faith filled people like you. We’ll be thinking about his message of HOPE and considering how we can apply this to Our City, Ourselves and Our Church Community.
 
We came up with some awesome “Mission Possible’ Hopes during February’s whānau night.
 
Some follow-up actions you could try are:

  • Pick an item and pray about that HOPE

  • Ask God to Guide our HOPE focus as a church for Our City, Ourselves and Our community, and Our World.

  • Take some action about that HOPE. You can be Gods Hands!!

 
The Details
Shared Kai: 5:00pm
Activity: from 5.30pm
Finish: By 6.45pm
@ St John's Centre – next to the church
 
This is an all ages event – so everyone is welcome.

Ian McInnes, MBA MSc
CEO, Tearfund New Zealand
Ian McInnes is the CEO at Tearfund New Zealand, the second largest international NGO in New Zealand. He has spent the last two decades in international aid and development work, including many years in disaster response work and follow-on recovery operations. Ian has served in some of the world’s toughest humanitarian emergencies - starting in 2004 with the Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka which was followed by a civil war, then in Myanmar, Haiti, Pakistan, East Africa and within various Pacific Island disaster responses. Ian holds a number of governance roles in the charity sector: the Emergency Alliance – a consortia of NZ humanitarian agencies; at Fairtrade Australia New Zealand; Crave and KIND Cafés Auckland; and various Baptist Church bodies - Chair of the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle Governance Elders Board, Deputy Chair of the Tab Trust,  trustee at the Northern Baptist Association and trustee of Iosis Social Services. Ian is married to doctor and author Himali McInnes and they have served alongside each other in a number of humanitarian contexts.

 

WEDDING

Our Youth & Families Pastor, Hannah North is marrying Josh Dunne on Sunday 30th March!
Their wedding will be part of our 10am Sunday service, and so all are able to be part of this celebration.

Please save the date, and consider dressing up for this special occasion!

 

EASTER CAMP

Our youth are preparing for the Easter Camp at Forest Lakes, so this is an opportunity for us to pray for them to encounter the risen Jesus in a new way at this special time with other youth.

 

MICRO-VOLUNTEER JOB – CAN YOU HELP?

We want more photos of all we do together as a Church, for use online and in print. Could you help coordinate a collection of photos?
Part of what needs to be organised is permissions for sharing from anyone who is identifiable in the image, and an on-line folder for receiving digital images.
If you’re interested in this opportunity please let Allister or an elder know.

 

Mā te wā
Allister

Bulletin(Church Office)