Weekly Notices - 13 April 2025
"Dear brothers and sister in Jesus, E te whanau kariti
"Dear brothers and sister in Jesus, E te whanau kariti”
Already you have won my heart!
Whilst all numbers are but a snapshot, nevertheless there were 70 worshippers last Sunday. In the West Melton they took about one minute to unanimously change their worship time to 8.45am. And, that was also followed by Hornby in one minute going to 11am. You have allowed this servant to truly be included and to feel your love.
I’m counting on you to be the same heart as I call you to repentance. Any new folk are not to blame but those of us who for decades and decades have relied on our priests and the beautiful rituals of our church have lulled ourselves into being in the end a rather nice CLUB instead of a magnet of Jesus.
Unless we recognise our sin, the sin of ignoring the decline of His church parish by parish. We too have betrayed him, squandering our freedom, freedom that He paid for. We risk Jesus repeating to us Matthew chapter 25, yes the whole chapter, because we are in these parables. Read that chapter and IF you listen you will hear Him in the silence. This Good Friday is a day for our church, His parish, to truly repent.
During Holy Week Monday to Friday there will be Holy Communion available at St Columba's at 12 noon in the Iona Room.
The Regeneration gang have arranged for a Maundy Thursday service at Templeton, St Saviour’s at 10am this Thursday. It will be based around the foot washing that Jesus did. All clergy have always considered it as an honour to wash your feet. I’ll be doing it also on behalf of pastors denied by persecution, and the ability to wash feet in their own churches.
The Good Friday Vigil is at St Columba’s 9am to 3pm, the hours that Jesus spent dying for us. Come in and sit for a while, whenever you like, there will be quiet music sometimes, on the hour there will be scripture read. At any time you can light a candle. Its a time of quiet in the face of remembering what God did for us . Patrick
Patrick
Today’s service
Sentence: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! (Matthew 21:9)
Prayer of the Day: God of transcendence, as an example of humility for the human race, you sent our Saviour to become incarnate and so submit to the cross; grant us the grace to learn from this patient suffering and so share in the resurrection; through Jesus Christ who is alive with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Readings: 1 Corinthians 2:1-9 & John 2:13-17
Parish News
Lenten Discussions: Tuesday 15 April 2025
St Saviour’s Church Hall: 9.15am. Come and join us on the journey to Easter. Read: John 12 :1—8 Jesus is anointed. Enquiries to Justine
From our Lent discussion on ‘The Prodigal Son’
· Is our church culture a welcoming one?
· Does the “All Welcome” sign mean what it says?
Time 4 U
Tuesday 15 April from 1.30 to 3pm. Guest speaker: Stay well man, Mark Webster our local pharmacist. St Columba’s Church Hall.
Parish Monthly Prayer Meeting at St Saviour's Church - 9:15am on last Tuesday of the month: 29 April 2025
Easter Services:
Good Friday: 9am-3pm - Vigil at St Columba’s Church.
Easter Sunday: All three churches are celebrating at their regular times, St Paul’s 9am, St Columba’s 10.30am and St Saviour’s at 5pm, please join us.
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.
