Weekly Bulletin: Staying connected as a church - 24 March 2024
Kia ora St John’s whānau,
This weekend we celebrate Palm Sunday, as we enter Holy Week leading us to Easter.
We will also conclude our Lent series exploring Spiritual Practices that sustain and grow our faith.
We will all gather in the Church at 10am, with our Special Choir singing to start our worship. Our young people and leaders will go out part-way through the service to their peer groups.
And afterward we have Morning Tea and a fundraising BBQ.
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.
If using your phone: dial 04 886 0026 (Meeting ID: 370 260 759#, Passcode: 1560107#)
This is the link to the printable Service Sheets:
OTHER THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT…
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES SERIES – FOLLOW ME
Over the six weeks of Lent we are exploring Spiritual Practices. This continues our emphasis of putting our faith into practice, and will focus on our desire for more of God through intentional practices, relationships, and experiences that gave us space in our lives to ‘keep company’ with God.
We are examining specific practices of Engaging with Scripture, Prayer, Self-examination, and Sabbath. But also consider many other spiritual practices that have helped Christians around the world.
You can access lots of resources for the Spiritual Practices we’ve been exploring, Here: https://www.stjohnsinthecity.org.nz/news
SUPPORT FOR OUR YOUTH
Sausage Sizzle Easter Fundraiser: We have six amazing adults who are giving up their Easter Holiday to help support our youth group at Easter Camp. We want to help support them to get to Easter Camp and as part of that we are hoping to raise $500 to pay for some of their registration. To do this we will be hosting ‘blind bag sausage sizzles’. You'll take a beautifully decorated small paper bag and give whatever you want to give for your sausage. Any extra that we raise will go towards subsidising those youth attending the camp.
This will be this Sunday after church in the St John's Courtyard.
Old Towels: Do you have an old towel that's sitting in your cupboard or in the boot of your car?
The youth group would love to take it off your hands! During Easter Camp Hannah is running the prayer stations which is a really powerful time to connect deeper with God. For one of the stations, Hannah needs bits of cloth to wipe people's faces. The dream is to recycle old towels that are no longer needed and cut them so that we would have enough for everyone. There will be a box available in the foyer on Sunday for you to leave your towel, give your towel to Hannah or drop them off at the office during the week.
WHANAU NIGHT
Whanau Night is back for 2024! The theme for this year is Restoration.
The first Whanau Night event this year is at the Southern Cross Garden Bar, Sunday 24 March 5:00-6.30pm ($5 koha).
A chance to connect, share and be a community together.
No need to RSVP, just turn up, and invite your friends!
HOLY WEEK
Sunday 24th March Scots College Easter Service at 4pm
Whanau Night at the Southern Cross 5pm
Tuesday 26th March Fellowship Group Easter Service at 11am
Friday 29th March Good Friday Service at 10am
Sunday 31st March Easter Sunday Service at 10am
TREASURER’S UPDATE
End of Tax Year on 31 March
The end of the financial year for tax rebates for donations is 31 March 2024. If you are thinking of making additional donations and gain the 33% tax rebate in the 2024 tax year, please ensure it is deposited in St John’s BNZ account by 31 March 2024 to be included in your tax receipt.
St John’s bank account number is 02-0500-0021908-000
Congregational giving year to date
At the AGM on 29 October 2023, it was reported that congregational giving was 10% below budget, even though the budget had been set at a realistic level achieved in previous years. For the year to date, giving is 12% below budget.
The following graph shows monthly giving compared with budget.
BEACH CLEAN UP
INSTRUMENTS NEEDED TO PRAISE GOD
Our Youth Band has new members and looking to expand the range of instrumentation. A bass guitar has been generously loaned, and we are still seeking: a keyboard …and a banjo!
Also, we are looking for a regular acoustic guitar for the Sunday morning Music Group.
If you may be able to donate an instrument, please contact the St John’s Office.
Rose Luxford, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, encourages us to connect with the deep meaning of Easter…
The resurrection event of Easter is not just something we remember as a past event, it is a continuing reality which gives us hope today. We live in a world that is in real need of a sense of hope. Individuals, communities, countries alike. There are many who are feeling disconnected, isolated, overwhelmed with the pressures around them and the polarization of society. The Easter narrative has something important to offer in this space. A word of hope into situations of despair. A promise of reintegration after brokenness. A sense of ‘gathering in’ as opposed to separating out. Relationship with the Risen Christ who connects with us on this journey of life and holds out the promise of fullness of life. In Christ all things are made new.
Allister