Weekly Notices - 10 May 2026
Happy Mother’s Day!: Today we celebrate our mothers, grandmothers and those who have been mother figures to us over the years. We give thanks for their patience, sacrifice and nurturing love and the ways they represent the love of God to us. So we thank our mothers who shaped us, but we also stand alongside those who longed to be mothers but were unable to be. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is of course the ultimate role model for mothers. Mary trusted God completely, released Jesus to his calling, stayed faithful through suffering, and remained a committed member of the early church. May God continue to bless and strengthen all our mothers and mother-figures today and always! Thank you!
Continue to Pray for our Parish’s Future: I do hope you are getting into the spirit of our ‘Month of Prayer and Discernment’ for the future of our parish! We really need the guidance and encouragement of the Holy Spirit in this season of transition. Our Wardens Henk Bunnk and Ross Jones, as well as other Vestry members, are undertaking research that will inform our decisions so please pray for them. Also remember to write down any guidance you feel you have received from God and give it to one of the Wardens. Vestry will look at this information, pray and add this to the decision-making process.
Bring Your Little Ones!: An All Age Service is being planned for two weeks’ time at St Columba’s and the theme is to be ‘Strength and Weakness’. This is a great opportunity to bring children and grandchildren and even neighbour’s children to a lively, interactive and creative service – there will be puppets! Thanks so much to the team who are preparing this service – it’s hard work but it’s very much worth doing something different, interesting and engaging. My Bible reading recently was about Moses who had both strengths and weaknesses – but God used him as a great leader. God has a habit of using our strengths in spite of our weaknesses!
Strengthen Faith Through Confirmation:
A public declaration of faith in God and our Lord Jesus Christ can be a significant step in our discipleship and a way of strengthening faith. Jesus spoke about the importance of ‘owning’ our faith publicly (Matt 10:32) and the book of Acts records the courageous and costly public witness of the first disciples (Acts 5:17-18; 8:1). Confirmation is a way of bearing witness to our faith before the church community and is especially appropriate for those who have been baptized as infants or those who have recently ‘rediscovered’ their faith in God. Recently, a St Paul’s parishioner expressed a desire to be confirmed and the Bishop has agreed to come and lead this special service on Sunday 26 July. If anyone else in the parish would like to be confirmed please contact me on 0274327474 and we can form a discipleship group and prepare for confirmation together.
A Prayer for the Future of our Parish: God of all hope, you have inspired your people in times past with visions of a good future and given them energy and resolve to achieve great things for your kingdom; endow us with wisdom at this time of change in our parish, unite us in love, give us your guidance, and help us to follow where you lead. In the name of Jesus Christ, the pioneer of our faith, Amen.
This Sunday at Mark Chamberlain will be at all three churches.
Next week the 17th May Sue MacLean is back with us at all three churches. Reminder St Saviour’s service start at 4pm.
Sunday 24th May: Sharing service at St Saviour's
In this special service we will have space for anyone who wants to share a short (no more than 5 minutes) input for the church. If you would like to share something you are encouraged to do so. Examples of things to share include:
- A poem
- A bible verse/reading
- A piece of writing that means something to you
- An artwork
- A short testimony
- A song (there will be a speaker so we can play something on YouTube)
There will be time to reflect and respond to what has been shared.
24 May 2026 at 10.30am. All Age Service with shared lunch to follow at St Columba’s, Hornby.
Today’s Sentence and Prayer
Sentence: They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father (John 14:21a)
Prayer of the Day: Everliving God, may we fervently celebrate with great joy these days in honour of the Risen One and show forth in our lives all that we proclaim; through Jesus Christ, who is alive with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Readings: Readings: Acts 17:22-31, and John 14:15-21
Parish News
Time For You
Tuesday 19 May at 1.20pm at St Columba's Church.
Visit to Doll and Teddy museum. Meet in Church carpark 1.20pm to share transport. Afternoon tea provided coin donation.
RSVP to Gina 0277665073 All welcome.
All Ages Service at St Columba’s
Sunday 24th May:
Family Service and puppet show followed by a shared lunch. Service starts at 10.30am.
What is happening at St Saviour’s
Working Bee
Saturday 23rd May 10:00 - 12:00. Come along to give the church a much needed spruce up. If there is something that has been bothering you (e.g., a spider web in the top left corner) then this is the time to fix it! If you have tools or cleaning gear that could be useful please bring them along. In case of bad weather we will focus on inside cleaning jobs. Shared lunch afterwards to celebrate the good hard work.
Sharing Service
Sunday 24th May: Sharing service
In this special service we will have space for anyone who wants to share a short (no more than 5 minutes) input for the church. If you would like to share something you are encouraged to do so. Examples of things to share include:
- A poem
- A bible verse/reading
- A piece of writing that means something to you
- An artwork
- A short testimony
- A song (there will be a speaker so we can play something on YouTube)
There will be time to reflect and respond to what has been shared.
Young adults group at St Saviour’s - seeking new members
We have a small young adults group (ages 18-35) who would love to get to know new members. If you know anyone who might be interested in joining, please contact Sarah on 021 0267 6170.
Next Prayer Meetings
Templeton will be held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday mornings of the month -
9:15am: at Jean’s place.
Hornby will be held on Wednesdays mornings -
Wednesday 10.30am, prayer gathering at Bolton's place
Anglican Parish of Hornby, Templeton and West Melton & Beyond…
Prayer for Leading Your Church into Growth
God of mission, who alone brings growth to your Church, send your Holy Spirit to give vision to our planning, wisdom to our actions, joy to our worship, and power to our witness. Help our parish churches to grow in numbers, in spiritual commitment to you, and in service to our local community. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
News from around the Diocese
See Anglican e-life: http://anglicanlife.org.nz/publications/e-life/
Helpful info
Groups
It’s easy to connect and get involved with some great social and faith-focused groups that meet regularly across the parish. You can find out about all our regular groups on our Groups page. If you have any questions, just click the contact button to connect with the group’s organiser.
Recycling
Used batteries can be placed in the boxes in each church or taken to Mitre 10
Soft plastics can be dropped off at participating store locations. This is any plastic you can fold up in your hand.
Pastoral Care
Need meals or other in-home pastoral support? Please contact the Parish Pastoral Care Co-ordinator.
In-Home Communion
If parishioners can't attend church but would still like to have communion, this can be brought to you at your home or rest home. Please get in touch with the Home Communion Co-ordinator to organise this.
Need prayer?
We’d love to pray for you. See the ‘Prayer Support’ section on the Help & Support page for more information on how we can help with your prayer needs. There are confidential and anonymous options available.
