Sunday 26th September
Dear parish family,
Last week I had an encouraging time away on retreat at Mamaku Grove in Golden Bay. Mamaku Grove is a working farm which is also used as a retreat centre. So as well as time to pray and listen to God, I also got a turn milking a cow by hand.
I’m always thankful when coming back from retreat on the new perspective which time with God brings. Also I want to thank Robin for his time with the parish last week. His pastoral presence was appreciated by many.
This week TRT builders have completed their work on the office partition in the hall at St John’s, and the next steps are for an electrician to connect up the wiring and for the room to be plastered and painted. This partition has been built largely with the help of a grant from the diocese and means that we have an office space on site at St John’s building from which both I and Stephen will be based. The parish internet and phone connection is in the process of being moved out of the vicarage and into the new parish office. That means that the parish phone number 03 789 8348 will now ring and be answered in the parish office. During the next few weeks whilst we are making the switch there is an answerphone message on the parish line asking people to phone Matt’s cellphone 022 639 6093.
Also this week the technology upgrades at St John’s have finally been completed with a large screen TV replacing the projector screen to enable better visibility, particularly when the sun comes through the windows. This will make a huge difference for funerals which take place in the afternoons and for families and children’s work happening in the afternoons (see below). Thank you to those who contributed financially to this project, to Ryan Stechman for troubleshooting issues with the cabling and to Palmer Engineering for their work building and mounting the bracket which allows the TV to swivel backwards against the wall.
Over the last month Raewyn and I have been discussing how best to help the children at St John’s grow as followers of Jesus. Attendance at our Sunday morning kids programme has been diminishing, but attendance at our Messy Church service on a Sunday afternoon once a month has been increasing, to the extent that we now regularly get 30 kids attending. Messy Church in its current format is not able to run at Level 2, because of protocols around serving a meal, and the significant mix of ages present. However, Raewyn and I are planning to trial a Jesus Kids Club for 3 Sundays afternoons in November. This would be for primary school children only, and children would need to commit to coming for all 3 sessions. We are holding a meeting for parents on Sunday 3rd October at 2pm in St John’s Church hall to share our plans. We will also be looking for people who have completed Police Checks and SafeHere training to join a team to help lead this new Kids Club. Our long term aim is still to develop an afternoon congregation that can disciple parents as well as children. However, we see trialling the Kids Club in a November as a first step in this direction. We don’t want to run before we can walk!
We also have regular numbers of children and teenagers joining Sunday morning worship in Granity and Karamea churches. St Peter’s have made some significant efforts over the last year to develop their Sunday service to be inclusive for young people. This Sunday I am preaching in Karamea and I am open to meeting with families to discuss how best to use our resources to develop children’s ministry at Holy Trinity. Any programmes that we run for children and young people must come under the SafeHere policies used by the diocese, as made clear in the Bishop’s Letter that was read out in our churches last Sunday.
Finally Sunday 3rd October had originally been planned as a “Fellowship Sunday” in Westport. With the Level 2 restrictions still in place that is going to be difficult to run, so instead we will have our regular combined 9am service for the first Sunday of the month on that day.
With every blessing,
Matt
PS Jane has asked for our prayers for her long-awaited heart surgery this coming Tuesday. Michelle will be driving Jane over to Christchurch on Sunday and she is expected to be kept in observation for a few days post-op. Those who know Jane will know that she has been waiting for this surgery for a significant time, and she has a severely compromised immune system. Please pray for healing for her heart, protection from infection and strength for the period of recovery ahead.
Dear parish family,
Last week I had an encouraging time away on retreat at Mamaku Grove in Golden Bay. Mamaku Grove is a working farm which is also used as a retreat centre. So as well as time to pray and listen to God, I also got a turn milking a cow by hand.
I’m always thankful when coming back from retreat on the new perspective which time with God brings. Also I want to thank Robin for his time with the parish last week. His pastoral presence was appreciated by many.
This week TRT builders have completed their work on the office partition in the hall at St John’s, and the next steps are for an electrician to connect up the wiring and for the room to be plastered and painted. This partition has been built largely with the help of a grant from the diocese and means that we have an office space on site at St John’s building from which both I and Stephen will be based. The parish internet and phone connection is in the process of being moved out of the vicarage and into the new parish office. That means that the parish phone number 03 789 8348 will now ring and be answered in the parish office. During the next few weeks whilst we are making the switch there is an answerphone message on the parish line asking people to phone Matt’s cellphone 022 639 6093.
Also this week the technology upgrades at St John’s have finally been completed with a large screen TV replacing the projector screen to enable better visibility, particularly when the sun comes through the windows. This will make a huge difference for funerals which take place in the afternoons and for families and children’s work happening in the afternoons (see below). Thank you to those who contributed financially to this project, to Ryan Stechman for troubleshooting issues with the cabling and to Palmer Engineering for their work building and mounting the bracket which allows the TV to swivel backwards against the wall.
Over the last month Raewyn and I have been discussing how best to help the children at St John’s grow as followers of Jesus. Attendance at our Sunday morning kids programme has been diminishing, but attendance at our Messy Church service on a Sunday afternoon once a month has been increasing, to the extent that we now regularly get 30 kids attending. Messy Church in its current format is not able to run at Level 2, because of protocols around serving a meal, and the significant mix of ages present. However, Raewyn and I are planning to trial a Jesus Kids Club for 3 Sundays afternoons in November. This would be for primary school children only, and children would need to commit to coming for all 3 sessions. We are holding a meeting for parents on Sunday 3rd October at 2pm in St John’s Church hall to share our plans. We will also be looking for people who have completed Police Checks and SafeHere training to join a team to help lead this new Kids Club. Our long term aim is still to develop an afternoon congregation that can disciple parents as well as children. However, we see trialling the Kids Club in a November as a first step in this direction. We don’t want to run before we can walk!
We also have regular numbers of children and teenagers joining Sunday morning worship in Granity and Karamea churches. St Peter’s have made some significant efforts over the last year to develop their Sunday service to be inclusive for young people. This Sunday I am preaching in Karamea and I am open to meeting with families to discuss how best to use our resources to develop children’s ministry at Holy Trinity. Any programmes that we run for children and young people must come under the SafeHere policies used by the diocese, as made clear in the Bishop’s Letter that was read out in our churches last Sunday.
Finally Sunday 3rd October had originally been planned as a “Fellowship Sunday” in Westport. With the Level 2 restrictions still in place that is going to be difficult to run, so instead we will have our regular combined 9am service for the first Sunday of the month on that day.
With every blessing,
Matt
PS Jane has asked for our prayers for her long-awaited heart surgery this coming Tuesday. Michelle will be driving Jane over to Christchurch on Sunday and she is expected to be kept in observation for a few days post-op. Those who know Jane will know that she has been waiting for this surgery for a significant time, and she has a severely compromised immune system. Please pray for healing for her heart, protection from infection and strength for the period of recovery ahead.