Thought For The Week 10 August 2025

Welcome to our service today and thankyou Janie and Catherine for leading last week’s service so well while I was in Auckland. Our Parish Council have been busy lately grappling with a couple of significant things in our life which I would like to update you on.

Budget 2025/26

This will be presented for congregational approval on Sunday 31 August. The budget includes provision of $25,000 for programme expenses tagged to outreach initiatives. This budget only covers the costs of our operation and doesn’t include capital expenses (outside of regular maintenance on property). We have many plans to improve our properties which will be funded, if approved, from our capital reserves. Copies of the budget are available in the foyer or on request.

Heritage service

When we made the bold decision to centralize our worship to St Stephens back in February, we undertook to test the waters of an afternoon service once a month at Trinity. This has been reviewed, and feedback was sought last month. In response, Parish Council have  decided to end the afternoon Heritage service and begin a monthly combined service at Trinity at 10am on the first Sunday of each month, beginning on September 7 with a Boys and Girls Brigade parade.

We are looking into ways we can live stream from Trinity so that our online community can have continuity of service and the possibility of having something happening at St Stephens to cater for any ‘walk ins’. We appreciate your patience as we work through these changes.

Property upgrades

Work is going on behind the scenes to bring proposals to upgrade our facilities, most noticeably the St Stephens carpark and the Trinity Community Centre. The original concept of an expanded carpark was going to be very expensive with the need to handle water run off through storage tanks or specially engineered water gardens, so a simpler plan is being explored. This will still be an improvement on the current parking, but it will not be bigger. For the community centre we are looking at new carpet, heating, drapes, paintwork and a significant upgrade to the toilets. These improvements, if approved, will ensure this facility is fit for purpose for many years ahead and will be a facility we can be proud of.  Nga mihi ,