Thought For The Week 9 July 2023

It is a wonderful pleasure to welcome our National Moderator Rev Hamish Galloway to our combined service today. Many of you will know that Hamish’s first parish was St Stephens and he was a dynamicpastor and leader here. I also had the privilege of working with Hamish at Hope Presbyterian in Christchurch for a number of years which were very fruitful for me.

Continuing with our theme ‘People of this place’ and tying in with the Matariki theme of seed planting and celebration, Hamish will be planting three kowhai trees out the front as the initial steps towards a renewed landscape frontage at St Stephens. He will be aided by Estelle Cormack and Sophie Flannery representing our oldest and youngest members. We will cap it off with a shared lunch so please stay for that if you can.

After being away for three months it was so nice to get back to our own home. And what a lovely surprise awaited us; flowers, food and your kind thoughts documented in a card. We have had a wonderful time away – the trip of a lifetime really- visiting seven countries and we are looking forward to sharing some stories with you in the months ahead. For now, though we are getting over some jet lag and catching up with happenings here as we re-enter our regular lives and work. As enriching as travel is, it is really family and community that matter most and we feel very blessed to be part of this wonderful, loving Christian community.

Blessings,

Brent