Weekly Notices - 29th March 2026
I am sure that as I write this, many of you will be feeling uplifted and encouraged that as we walked our Lenten trail, we found ourselves becoming closer to God and to the Son of Man – whose entry into Jerusalem we celebrate this week.
Some of you may have given up various things to mark your own journey in the wilderness; some of you may have dedicated more time in your lives to prayer and reading of Scripture. All these things add to the excitement and enthusiasm with which we have looked forward to Palm Sunday.
However, let us remember that Palm Sunday is the beginning of the end of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. In less than a week, the 'Triumph' and ‘Hosannas’ of Jerusalem will turn to ‘Crucify him’ and ‘Barrabas!’
So let us hold on to the sacredness of the coming week as we embrace dear David Heard & his family, and Yvonne Radford & her family, who lost dearly loved members at the very end of our Lenten walk. Both Elizabeth Heard and Grant Radford will be sorely missed here at St Aug’s after so many years of service and fellowship on their respective parts. May their souls rest in Eternal Peace, and may their families know the Comforting Grace of God surrounding them as we move towards that magnificent Day of Easter!
May God bless St Aug’s
Your Friend & Vicar, Kofe.
Vicar Kofe
This Sunday’s Service (29th March)
Theme: Palm Sunday
Sentence: At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:10–11
Collect:
Jesus, when you rode into Jerusalem
the people waved palms with shouts of acclamation.
Grant that when the shouting dies
we may still walk beside you even to a cross;
for the glory of your holy name.
Amen
Readings: Matthew 21: 1-11; Matthew 27: 11-26, Matthew 27: 27-44, Matthew 27: 45-54
Daylight Saving - don’t forget to move your clocks back for Easter Sunday!
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.
Click here to view our EASTER Services
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.
MONTHLY PRAYER FOCUS
As we work our way through the year, the Prayer Working Group (Liz, Jenny, Christine) would like to lead you through a journey of praying together, as a church, for one carefully selected topic each month.
And here’s the topic for the month of April:
Prayer for our own families: spouses, partners, children, grandchildren…..
Before we pick up on praying together for our church, our community, our world etc, we wanted to join together in praying with you for your very own family.
Next to the Prayer Table with the candles and Prayer Box is a board where, at any time in the month of April, you are invited to place the names of your family members who you would like us all to pray for. You can either write their first name(s), or simply put their initials. Then each member of the parish is invited to glance at these names from time to time, pray for these people as you read their names, then continue the prayer during the week right throughout the month of April. The Sunday Intercessors will also pray for this group of people (but without stating individual names)
Many of us have family members with big needs, or have long prayed for our family members to commence (or recommence) their own spiritual journeys as they open their lives to God and his grace. There are many who we long to return to the faith we brought them up in. Here’s an opportunity for the whole parish to join you in your heart-felt prayer!
Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more that we would ever dare to ask or even dream of – infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes. (Ephesians 3: 20 – Living Bible)
Did you know that you can subscribe to receive the Dio’s weekly e-Lifenewsletter via email?
This newsletter contains current ‘happenings’ in the Dio, the Bishop’s weekly blog and other interesting articles Well worth a read!
Go to https://www.anglicanlife.org.nz and scroll down to the bottom (left) of the page where you will find a ’sign up’ button.
You need to put in your email address to sign up.
The Bishop has put out a plea (below) asking for people to make submissions to the Council (Heritage Projects) to prioritise funding for the reinstatement of Christ Church Cathedral. Please do so if you are able.
Dear Friends,
I am writing to ask you to make a submission to the Christchurch City Council’s draft annual plan for 2026-27 which supports the City Council prioritising funding for the reinstatement of Christ Church Cathedral. We need you to speak up for the Cathedral in this regard. There will be voices speaking up for other heritage projects in the city in this submission process and it will be vital that we have many voices speaking up for the priority of the cathedral being funded.
You can find out more the Cathedral Reinstatement website here https://christchurchcathedral.org.nz/support-us/speak-up/ and make a submission via that site.
Or, you can make a submission directly to Council here: Our Draft Annual Plan 2026/27 | Kōrero mai | Let’s talk
You can also read the full Council plan concerning four iconic heritage buildings in the city here:Restoring our iconic buildings | Our Draft Annual Plan 2026/27
In essence, the City Council seeks your views on potential future investment in the restoration of these four iconic buildings. The Council estimates there is a funding gap across all four iconic heritage projects of $290m and thus it wishes to understand community views on what investment might be made in the completion of the four heritage projects.
The first question the Council asks is: “How important is completing the restoration of these four heritage buildings to Christchurch’s future?” and we are invited to make one of six responses, from “Critical – these are essential to our city’s identity and economy” down to “Don’t know”.
Then the Council invites us to make comments “about the Council investing in the restoration of these buildings” and this is a golden opportunity to make a comment about the importance and priority of re-opening the Cathedral.
I ask each resident of Christchurch receiving this letter to make a submission in support of the Cathedral’s reinstatement receiving further City Council support and encourage friends and families to do the same. Possible themes for your written submission are:
The Cathedral as the heart & soul of our community.
A place of spiritual nourishment & reflection
A place of refuge.
A place where all are welcome.
A quiet space away from the busy world.
A symbol of hope.
Your support via this submission process will make a difference to the future decision making of the Christchurch City Council in respect of the priority of Christ Church Cathedral among the four major heritage projects of this city. The deadline for submissions is Friday 27 March 2026.
Thank you for your action on this vital step in securing the funding which will enable us to re-open our cathedral.
Arohanui,
+Peter.
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.