Weekly Bulletin: Staying connected as a church - 27 February 2022

Kia ora St John’s whānau,

This Sunday we welcome some special guests to our morning worship, and we will be Commissioning the leaders of our ministries with young people.

Peer groups will be running in the second part of the service, and afterwards we’ll have Morning Tea all together in the St John’s Centre.

We are meeting Jesus in the book of Luke as we journey through this gospel story, and we hear a couple of stories of how God’s encounters us.

We are currently in covid protection framework colour ‘Red’.  This means we have a limit of 100 people that can gather at St John’s in the City for worship.  So you might want to think if you can join via Zoom. Here are the details to access the live-streaming of the worship service via Zoom:

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

BEING A CONNECTED COMMUNITY DURING COVID-IN-THE-COMMUNITY

Soon it will be necessary for households to self-isolate when someone tests positive for COVID-19 or is a Close Contact of someone else who has tested positive for COVID-19.  If you are in this situation and find you need help (e.g. food or supplies dropped off), please let us know through the St John’s in the City Office.  We will do what we can to help one another.

Even if we have to physically isolate, we want to stay connected as a faith community. To help us, have Online Devotions every Thursday at 11am.

Please join with others for fifteen minutes of spiritual reflection together.

The link to join via Zoom is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/150457018?pwd=OU55OXhDY2YvZFlIWmNNZkxVaVN2UT09

If using your phone, dial 04 886 0026 (Meeting ID: 150 457 018, Passcode: 333)

WHANAU NIGHT

St John's Whānau Night is back in 2022!  After a year of experimenting with intergenerational faith evenings, we are excited to announce a full year schedule for '22.

Whānau Night in the Park 3-6pm, 27 February, Aotea Lagoon

The year kicks off with an all age celebration in the Aotea Lagoon park in Porirua, just a 19 minute drive from the church. There will be games, sports, crafts, icebreakers, conversations, as well as the playground equipment and splash pad. Bring along your own picnic dinner, blankets or chairs.

LENT IS COMING

Please mark your diaries to be part of our community faith events coming up as we begin the season of Lent:
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Breakfast: 1st March, 7:30-8:30 am in the St John’s Centre (with the maple syrup)

Ash Wednesday Prayer & Ashes: 2nd March, 5:00-5:30 pm in the Courtyard (with the Burning Bush – this is something worth seeing for yourself!)

Lent Reflections: Thursdays at 7:30pm during Lent (the season before Easter)
We will start these on 10th March with a movie about the life of C.S. Lewis followed by a discussion. Other reflections will be on current issues and Easter themes as we move through Lent (these may need to move online at some point).

SERVICE PROECT

Instead of Picnic Church this year we are having a Service Project Gardening Working Bee at the Dixon Street Flats on Saturday 12th March 2-4pm. Everyone is encouraged to be part of this intergenerational mission event, as we weed, spray, mulch, plant, etc. We will have an afternoon tea and invite the tenants to join us.

RECOVERING FROM DISASTER IN TONGA

Thank you to everyone who has shared their prayers and support for Tonga. You have donated more than $170,000 to the CWS Tonga Emergency Appeal.
The Ama Takiloa women’s network of Tonga Community Development Trust plans to repair rainwater harvesting systems, plant fruit trees, replant family and community gardens, distribute water purification supplies, set up household poultry enterprises and provide community-based psycho-social support following training from the Family Centre.
In “Dad, is this what they call snow” CWS Board member Fe’iloakitau Kaho Levi shares his experience of January’s eruption in Tonga.

ALICE CARTER’S FUNDRAISER

One of the reasons children in Africa don't go to school, or have access to safe education, is because a lot of girls are scared. To raise awareness for this all, as part of the 1HumanRace challenge, throughout March Alice Carter will be walking 85km, and raising money to fund education, support, and empowerment projects for the girls of East Pokot.
What could you do to help? You can donate to Alice’s fund in a few simple steps. Here is her page; https://1humanrace.raisely.com/alice-carter