NOTICES:

A very warm welcome to you all this morning. Please come through to the Lounge after the service for a cuppa and a time to talk.

Today Dugald leads his last service with us as our minister before his retirement after 35 years in the ministry.  Following the service we invite you to join together for a barbeque lunch at 12 noon.  Sausages, meat patties, bread, and drinks will be provided. Dugald will continue to have involvement with MenzShed and the meditation group but the ‘pastoral tie’ will be ended. The Presbytery will be appointing an Interim Minister who will have responsibility for all pastoral matters in the parish.

MenzShed…The woodwork workshop is now placed on piles. MenzShed volunteers will construct a ramp for disabled access and install fire wall lining and a structural skirt around the foundations. The old Sunday School rooms have been lined and rewired and will be used as an electronics workshop. Expect an opening in mid April.

Presbytery News…Charissa Nicol has been appointed as the new chaplain at Rangi Ruru School. Hamish Galloway has been appointed Interim Minister at Cashmere with the resignation of Sylvia Purdie. Hamish will shortly leave Hope Hornby to prepare for his role as Moderator of General Assembly.

Thank you to those who returned blue forms indicating your support for fundraising projects. The finance review team will now co-ordinate teams to promote these projects. Mark your calendars now for a ceilidh on Saturday 25^th April.

A dollar a day…and you can have Sunday off!

Fireside is a friendly meeting for women and we welcome others to join us.  This Tuesday 25th February we plan to have a general catch up with each other, discuss plans for this year’s meetings, and enjoy “dessert and coffee” together.  We meet in the church lounge at 7.45pm. Enquiries to Margaret 366 8936.

Wednesday Walkers 26^th February: Meet 9.30am at Cracroft shops. Coffee at Silverbacks Café. All welcome. Judy 027 242 7943.

Ash Wednesday services 26^th February – an invitation to join our neighbours at St Mark’s 10am in the lounge 101 Opawa Rd or 7.30pm at St Mark’s School 33 Cholmondeley Ave. All are welcome.

National Remembrance Service Sunday 15^th March in North Hagley Park.

Crafty Crafters Thursdays 10am – 12 noon. $3 per session. New faces very welcome. Lyndsey 388 1264.

World Day of Prayer Friday 6^th March 7pm at Beckenham Methodist Church, 83 Malcolm Ave. A service prepared by Zimbabwe with the theme “Rise! Take Your Mat and Walk”.  All are welcome.

Court Theatre Group Booking:

“Lysander’s Aunty” Friday 17^th April 7.30pm Tickets $54 or $42 Add your names to the clipboard please, and money to Sue Saunders by next Sunday.

Craft Crawl Thursday 12^th March Kaiapoi-Rangiora area. Leaving from the church at 8.30am for optional 10am sailing on the “River Queen” (cost for this is $20 payable on the day) or explore Kaiapoi. On to Rangiora 11.30am for lunch and shopping, back home by 3pm. Bus cost approx. $25. Please let Lyndsey McKay know by 29^th Feb if you would like to join us.

Meditation Group: meets in the CHURCH this Tuesday from 7.00-7.45pm. We are learners who are following an ancient Christian practice of being still with God.

Singing Group   1^st & 3^rd Sunday at 9.15am.

Board of Managers’ Report February:

• Peter Mechaelis is our new chairperson.  Sue Saunders continues as our secretary.  
• The following areas of responsibility have been allocated:

Buildings: Warren Pettigrew and David Hodder; Grounds: David Hodder

Social: Elizabeth Hawker; Fundraising: Ken Austin

Finance: Joan Macdonald and Barry Moore; Health and Safety: Warren Pettigrew

• The ground improvements following the rebuild have now been completed.  A big thank you to Keith, Rob, David, Cyril, Barry, Dugald, and others who have removed concrete, laid new concrete paths, installed decking, gates, and fences, and levelled ground and sown new grass.  This has been a big job, but the grounds look great!
• Handrails will be installed to aid stepping off the deck.
• Blinds will be installed in the lounge – thanks to the Fireside Group for funding this!
• The corrugated iron roof over the toilets will be replaced with help from the menzshed possibly in April.  When completed we will have no new maintenance issues to attend to for some years.
• We now have a Facebook Page – please visit it, add your like, and share it with a friend.  Thanks Ken and Sonya.
• The consent to locate the Menzshed on site has been granted and piling is imminent.  We have however used up most of the $22,000 we received from the Alpine Mission fund for this project with the Council charging $8,500 to process the consent (we have applied for a rebate) and consultant reports costing $9,400.   Piling will cost $4,000. 
• Finance:  Accounts for the last two months show income of $22,634 and expenditure of $17,178.  For the year to date we have income of $78,713 and expenditure of $78,469 (excluding menzshed grant and costs). We are very thankful to those who have increased their giving.
• Charitable Giving Tax Credit – we will be inviting all members to consider donating their Charitable Giving Tax Credit (which can be applied for from March 31^st) to the church.  The Managers team and minister have all indicated they will support this request.  If we all committed to this, there would be a very significant bonus in our income.  Talk to our treasurer Joan Macdonald for more information.
• A defibrillator has been installed in the foyer. This has been purchased through a grant from the Manchester Unity Trust Fund.

NOTICES:

A very warm welcome to you all this morning. Please come through to the Lounge after the service for a cuppa and a time to talk.

Farewell Luncheon

On Sunday 23^rd February Dugald will lead his last service with us as our minister before his retirement after 35 years in the ministry.  Following the service we invite you to join together for a barbeque lunch.  Sausages, meat patties, bread, and drinks will be provided, and if you are able bring a salad to share.  Those not bringing a salad may like to donate a gold coin to help cover costs. 

Many thanks to the Session members for hosting this morning’s parish breakfast.

Board of Managers meets this Wednesday 12^th February 7.30pm in the foyer.

Working Bee Saturday 15^th February 9am. Come and help! Likely jobs will include: window cleaning, gardening, shifting of soil from behind the sheds.

Articles are now required for the next edition of the ‘Messenger’.  Email contributions to Anneke: anneke.howie@gmail.com before  Friday 21^st February. Many thanks.

Wednesday Walkers 12^th February: Meet 9.30am in the Carpark between Halswell Library and The Old Vicarage, for a walk around Halswell. Coffee at The Old Vicarage.  All Welcome.  Barbara and Alan 021 126 3801

Crafty Crafters Thursdays 10am – 12 noon. $3 per session. New faces very welcome. Lyndsey 388 1264.

Sermons…most of Dugald’s sermons are available on line from our website.

World Day of Prayer Friday 6^th March 7pm at Beckenham Methodist Church, 83 Malcolm Ave. A service prepared by Zimbabwe with the theme “Rise! Take Your Mat and Walk”.  All are welcome.

Meditation Group: Every Tuesday a group meets here from 7.00-7.45pm to meditate together.  We are learners who are following an ancient Christian practice of being still with God.  For 20 minutes we sit in silence.  In silence you soon discover your mind is far from still, and is dancing all over the place.  However we use a mantra to keep gently refocusing.  In the stillness God is at work transforming us and helping us become more authentically ourselves. 

If you would like to try Christian meditation, join us on Tuesday evenings. Meditation is not only good for your soul, but helps relieve stress and anxiety, and has been shown to be very beneficial for your health.

Fundraising Ideas: We had a very good forum with a large number of ideas suggested for fundraising. Please return the blue form to the silver box in the foyer by next Sunday.

Singing Group will next meet at 9.15am on 16^th February.

Foyer Store Room …. the north storeroom in the foyer is now locked. If you need a key, please contact Anna in the office. 

Court Theatre Group Booking:

“Lysander’s Aunty” Friday 17^th April 7.30pm

‘In this radical comedy, Lysander and Hermia, the lovers from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, run away to the forest…but things take a sharp turn along the way that lands them in the lap of Lysander’s unconventional, untraditional and very Kiwi Aunty. The world of Shakespeare is lovingly turned upside down as the highbrow meets the down-to-earth in this wonderfully quirky comedy’.

Tickets $54 or $42 with copy of Community Services Card. Add your names to the clipboard please, and money to Sue Saunders by Sunday 1^st March.

National Remembrance Service for 15 March

To be held on the afternoon of Sunday 15 March in North Hagley Park. The programme is being put together with input from those most affected by the attacks at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques. The service will be led by the local Muslim Community, Christchurch City Council, the Government, and mana whenua Ngai Tahuriri. Further details pending.

The Gentle Revolution – Emerging Green Churches of Europe
Sunday 16th February 4pm – 5.30pm @ The Chapel of the Waves (corner Collingwood St and Union St, New Brighton)

Mark Gibson, the minister of two East Christchurch parishes, recently visited Eco and Green churches in Scotland, England and Denmark. Hundreds of mostly small local churches are transforming their life in response to the global ecological and climate crisis. Come and hear some wonderful stories. Could Aotearoa NZ evolve our own Green Church? Entry by koha.

Thanks to the concreting team Keith, Rob, David, Graeme, Dugald who have nearly finished all the concreting after the rebuild.

Peggy Cree has donated a bench seat for people to sit in quietness. It will be situated in a new garden area on the northwest corner of the building with a tree in memory of Vivienne Sinclair placed nearby.

NOTICES:

A very warm welcome to you all this morning. Please come through to the Lounge after the service for a cuppa and a time to talk.

We give thanks for Shirley Murray…In today’s service we sing three hymns written by Shirley Murray who died this week in Wellington. Colin Gibson, who worked with Shirley on many hymns, wrote:

Our community has lost a brave bright soul, a distinctive prophetic voice and New Zealand’s finest religious poet. Her work is known, admired, and sung throughout the Christian world. Her hymns and songs will be her legacy for many years to come; her latest volume (published by Hope) reached her a short time before her death.
In one of her poems, Shirley wrote:
Something beautiful for God,

in my seeing,

in my being,

something beautiful for God

let the Spirit make of me.
Something meaningful and true,

in my living

and believing,

something meaningful and true,

something beautiful and new.

I think we can all agree that her wish was fulfilled.

Over the next week read Matt chapters 5-7. What questions come to you? Discuss with someone else a teaching that stands out for you. What does it mean for your life?

Farewell Luncheon

On Sunday 23^rd February Dugald will lead his last service with us as our minister before his retirement after 35 years in the ministry.  Following the service Dugald and Janet invite you to join with them for a barbeque lunch.  Sausages, meat patties, bread, and drinks will be provided, and if you are able bring a salad to share.  Those not bringing a salad may like to donate a gold coin to help cover costs. 

PARISH BREAKFAST next Sunday 9^th  February 8.45am, hosted by Session. Come along and enjoy cereal, fruit & muffins. Gold coin donation appreciated.

The Parish Office will be closed this Thursday (Waitangi Day).

Working Bee Saturday 15^th February 9am. Come and help!

Articles are now required for the next edition of the ‘Messenger’.  Email contributions to Anneke: anneke.howie@gmail.com before  Friday 21^st February. Many thanks.

Meditation Group: Every Tuesday a group meets here from 7.00-7.45pm to meditate together.  We are learners who are following an ancient Christian practice of being still with God.  For 20 minutes we sit in silence.  In silence you soon discover your mind is far from still, and is dancing all over the place.  However we use a mantra to keep gently refocusing.  In the stillness God is at work transforming us and helping us become more authentically ourselves. 

If you would like to try Christian meditation, join us on Tuesday evenings. Meditation is not only good for your soul, but helps relieve stress and anxiety, and has been shown to be very beneficial for your health.

Fundraising Ideas: We had a very good forum last week with a large number of ideas suggested for fundraising. This week you will receive a blue form asking if you would commit to making an idea happen. Please fill this out with your name and return to the silver box in the foyer.

Singing Group will next meet at 9.15am on 16^th February.

Foyer Store Room …. the north storeroom in the foyer (currently with foot clinic, craft group and Elder Care gear in it) is now locked. If you need a key, please contact Anna in the office. 

Wednesday Walkers 5^th February: Meet 9.30am in Hawford Rd by Opawa Café carpark for a walk around Opawa/St Martins. Coffee at Opawa Café. All welcome. Joan Mac 022 081 4088.

Crafty Crafters Thursdays 10am – 12 noon. $3 per session. New faces very welcome. Lyndsey 388 1264. No session this week 6 Feb.

Decking…  Cyril Morris has recently stained the deck outside the lounge to complete this project.  We say a very big thank you to Cyril  for this great addition to our complex.

You are invited to the Induction of Beckenham Methodist’s new minister TODAY at 2pm.

Sermons…most of Dugald’s sermons are available on line from our website.

Court Theatre Group Booking:

“Lysander’s Aunty” Friday 17^th April 7.30pm

‘In this radical comedy, Lysander and Hermia, the lovers from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, run away to the forest…but things take a sharp turn along the way that lands them in the lap of Lysander’s unconventional, untraditional and very Kiwi Aunty. The world of Shakespeare is lovingly turned upside down as the highbrow meets the down-to-earth in this wonderfully quirky comedy’.

Tickets $54 or $42 with copy of Community Services Card. Add your names to the clipboard please, and money to Sue Saunders by Sunday 1^st March.

The Gentle Revolution – Emerging Green Churches of Europe
Sunday 16th February 4pm – 5.30pm @ The Chapel of the Waves (corner Collingwood St and Union St, New Brighton)

Mark Gibson, the minister of two East Christchurch parishes, recently visited Eco and Green churches in Scotland, England and Denmark. Hundreds of mostly small local churches are transforming their life in response to the global ecological and climate crisis. Come and hear these wonderful stories. Could Aotearoa NZ evolve our own Green Church movement?

Entry by koha for the work of the Centre. All welcome.

Session Report:

• Pastoral Care…a small task group has been set up to review our system of Pastoral Care.
• Ministry Settlement Board…has met and is progressing the work of developing a Parish Profile.
• Presbytery has not as yet been able to appoint an Interim Moderator for our parish.
• We have agreed to seek to appoint a minister on Stated Supply for 3-6 months. We will approach Presbytery to see who might be available.
• We noted that we have our own Facebook page. If you use Facebook please connect with the page (St Martins Presbyterian Community Church) and recommend it to friends.