Thought for the week
Thought For The Week 3 July 2022
Welcome to our services today. If you are a regular attender, you will probably have noticed a decline in numbers at both Trinity and St Stephens. There are several factors contributing to this. Travel restrictions have lifted so folk are free to go overseas and escape the winter; we have quite a few folk who […]
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Thought For The Week 26 June
Last week I had the privilege of sharing in a Zoom seminar with Rev. Dr. Wayne te Kaawa, Maori Chaplain at Otago University and former moderator of the Maori Synod Te Aka Puaho. Wayne shared with us his understanding of the Matariki festival, and encouraged us to engage, as followers of Jesus, with the celebration of […]
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Thought For The Week 12 June 2022
Welcome to our very special ‘Chosen” service today. Chosen is an innovation on traditional child sponsorship that allows children to choose their sponsor (rather than the sponsor choosing the child). Anyone who would like to sponsor a child has their photograph taken and this is sent to the project in Bangladesh for a child to […]
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Thought for The Week 5 June 2022
Trinity Roof Replacement – Insurance claim What’s happened? Some months after the hail storm of November 2019 contractors working on a neighbouring property informed us that we had significant hail damage to the roof of the church and hall at Trinity. This damage was not visible from the ground. The damage is quite extensive and […]
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Thought For The Week 29 May 2022
Last week I attended the dedication of Hope West Melton’s new worship facility- a 150 seat extension to the original church plus new children and youth spaces. I began my ministry journey 12 years ago as an intern at West Melton. This congregation had dwindled to around 12 people before reaching out to Hornby Presbyterian […]
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Thought for the Week 22 May 2022
As Autumn draws on, the leaves fall, and wintry winds blow, it can be easy to feel a little tired and even glum. That’s how I was feeling on Wednesday – I’d had a very busy few weeks, and with a slower day I just felt tired! As you can imagine, I wasn’t feeling too […]
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Thought For The Week 15 May 2022
Today we are reflecting on the story from Acts of the conversion of Cornelius, a Roman centurion. Our reading focusses on Peter explaining his actions to the church leaders in Jerusalem. He had taken the unusual step of entering the house of a gentile, something good Jews never did. The fact that Luke, the author […]
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Thought For The Week 8 May 2022
Hi folks, As part of my work for Presbytery, I have been re-reading the Alpine Presbytery Cultural and Strategic Framework (2020). Thrilling stuff, I know! But actually, there is some real gold in there. The focus is on being followers of Jesus, together, not just staying busy with doing work for […]
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Thought For The Week 1 May 2022
This week Andrea and I have been Timaru’s commissioners to the 2022 Special Assembly. The Moderator’s theme for his tenure is “Empowering Generations”: As Hamish explored this theme with the national resource team 2 things became clear: Timing In many churches in Western World there is what the French sociologist of religion, Daniele Hervieur Leger, […]
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Thought For The Week 24 April 2022
Thought for the week: Moderators Message ANZAC Day 2022 Where does the church stand? The war in Ukraine is a chilling backdrop to ANZAC Day this year. As we remember the sacrifices made by New Zealanders and Australians who died at Gallipoli, we also think of all those who have served their country in times […]
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