Weekly Bulletin: Staying connected as a church - 6 March 2022
Kia ora St John’s whānau,
This Sunday is the first in the season of Lent, …and Jesus goes into the wilderness.
What does the story in Luke’s Gospel tell us about our own experiences of ‘wilderness’?
Peer groups will be running in the second part of the service, and afterwards we’ll have Morning Tea all together.
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
If you gather in the city for worship, please remember to Scan, Mask, Vaccine Pass
Everyone will need to show a ‘My Vaccine Pass’ to attend. Children under the age of 12 years and 3 months, or those who have an exemption can be admitted without a ‘My Vaccine Pass’.
As well as showing your ‘My Vaccine Pass’ please also follow the usual public health guidelines:
stay home if you’re unwell
scan using the NZ Covid Tracer app (or record contact details manually)
wear face coverings
give others outside of your ‘household bubble’ physical space (move along the pews)
We are doing this together, and so please let someone know if you want support. We can help practically, spiritually and pastorally.
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)
LENT REFLECTIONS
Thursdays at 7:30pm during Lent (the season before Easter)
We will start these on 10th March with a movie just released: ‘The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis’ (R13), followed by a discussion. This will be in the St John’s Church building – offering plenty of space to sit at a distance)
Subsequent reflections will be on current issues and Easter themes as we move through Lent (these may need to move online at some point). More details coming!
SERVICE PROJECT
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. Please bring gardening gloves (if you got ‘em)
You may wish to “sponsor” a planter or make a financial contribution to the plants, potting mix and compost/mulch. This can be done though the St Johns website marking any contribution with "Gardening B”.
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.
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
FELLOWSHIP GROUP
The meeting scheduled for this month on 22nd March – is CANCELLED
CHILDREN & FAMILIES MINISTRY WORKER
We currently have a vacancy for the role of the Children & Families Ministry Worker, and have been trying to find someone to serve in this important position. We have advertised widely through public platforms and our various networks, inviting applications by 3rd December 2021, and then in a second round of advertising with the application deadline of 14th February 2022. No suitable applications were received, and so the search continues! We are grateful to those who have stepped up their commitment to serve during this vacancy and will continue to pursue a successful appointment to have someone fulfilling the responsibilities we need dedicated leadership for. If you, or someone you know, might consider this halftime role, please contact the St John’s Office for a Position Description (Ph: 385 1546)