Weekly Notices - 8th March 2026
We enter an interesting and thought provoking Gospel this Sunday as we meet Jesus and the woman at Jacob’s Well in the Samaritan city of Sychar. This is a poignant text as we continue our journey through Lent and it calls to mind things like racial tension, cultural segregation of sexes and all sorts of prejudices. And in the middle of it all, Jesus, with great subtleness, reveals his identity as the Messiah. Blink and you’ll miss it.
Over these next 3 Sundays, we are hit by extremely lengthy Gospels as we look towards Jesus’ crucifixion and death. It is a real challenge to whittle down our Readings to fit within our hour-long service times, so I will be digging deeper than usual to provide texts and sermons that suit our purposes and our walk through this holy season, whilst hanging on to the profound messages we are given. In the meantime, you are all invited to look at our upcoming Gospels and really sit with what God is telling you, and then to listen in on each sermon you receive on the respective Sundays for a deeper appreciation of what Scripture is saying to us:
8th March: John 4: 5 – 42
15th March: John 9: 24 – 41
22nd March: John 11: 1 – 45
I wish each of you, continued blessings as we draw closer to our Season of Easter.
May God bless St Aug’s
Your Friend and Vicar, Kofe.
Vicar Kofe
This Sunday’s Service (8th March)
Theme: Jesus, the Water of Life, who assuages our thirst by pouring on us the Holy Spirit.
Sentence: ‘The water that I will give,’ says the Lord, ‘will become in you a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ John 4:14
Collect:
Almighty, Ever-present God
Give us grace and courage to hope, and to risk disappointment.
Teach us to pray expectantly,
and when our prayers seem to fail,
bring us to pray again and again;
for you are our God,
who acts, and will act again.
Hear this prayer for your love’s sake.
Amen
Readings: John 4: 5 - 26 & John John 4: 27 – 42
This year, we will be heading for an earlier than usual Easter.
- come and join us as we journey through Lent, being marked with the cross of humility, mortality and penance.
Our AGM date has been set for Saturday, 18th April. Please pray over this most important meeting, and let the Vicar know if you're interested in being a part of our Vestry: no age barriers; we are looking for strong voices who be a part of our decision making group.
The church is being opened to the public each Thursday afternoon between 1 - 3pm.
This is a great opportunity for you or others you may know to walk through our beautiful doors and sit in the quiet holiness of our space. Everyone is welcome, and we thank Kristine & Mick Mckey for this ministry.
Messy Church
We are aiming to run one sometime in Term 1 next year.
See the photos below to see what our previous ‘Messy Church’ session looked like!
What is ‘Messy Church’? Messy Church is a church for everyone who may not feel comfortable attending a ‘normal’ church service and who don’t yet belong to a church. It typically includes a meal, hands-on activities such as arts, crafts, meeting God in the outdoors, science activities and more, which are suitable for all ages.
Check out the NZ ‘Messy Church’ website! www.messychurch.nz
Please be warned that with the commencement of our roof repairs we have LOTS of scaffolding around the place to be aware of. In particular this affects parking near the Hannan Centre ramp.
Be careful out there!
(And here are a couple of shots of the team in the skyline)
Helpful info
Giving
Groups
It’s easy to connect and get involved with some great social and faith-focused groups that meet regularly across the parish. You can find out about all our regular groups on our Groups page. If you have any questions, just click the contact button to connect with the group’s organiser.
Need prayer?
We’d love to pray for you. See the ‘Prayer Support’ section on the Help & Support page for more information on how we can help with your prayer needs. There are confidential and anonymous options available.