Weekly Notices - 7th December 2025
As we come to the 2nd week of our Advent Journey, did you know the Advent wreath, placed in our sanctuary in front of our altar, has powerful meaning and symbolism?
Derived from the Latin word "adventus," meaning "coming" or "arrival," Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year and is a sacred season of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day.
At the heart of this profound tradition stands the Advent wreath, adorned with symbolic candles, and accompanied by heartfelt prayers as you light each candle.
Each candle represents a different theme of the Christian journey during Advent: the first candle symbolizes hope, the second peace, the third joy, and the fourth love.
The central, white candle, often called the "Christ candle," is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, signifying the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah.
I pray that each week, as we light our Advent candles and as each of your families gathers around you at home to share in the joy of the season, you will be surrounded by the essence of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love so much so, that we can, together, welcome our Messiah into our hearts at Christmas.
God bless St Aug’s
Your Friend and Vicar, Kofe.
Vicar Kofe
This Sunday’s Service (7th December)
Preparing for the Coming of the Lord.
Sentence: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news. Mark 1:15
Collect:
We praise and thank you, Creator God,
for you have not left us alone.
Each year you come to us, Emmanuel,
God with us in a manger.
Each time you come to us
in the broken bread and the cup we share.
In time or out of time you will be revealed
and we shall see you face to face.
Amen.
Readings: Isaiah 11: 1 – 10 & Matthew 3: 1 – 12
From next week onwards (December 14th) and through to the end of January we will only be holding one Combined 10am Sunday Service.
Our mid-week (Wednesday 10am Service) will continue until December 24 and then re-start in February 2026.
Last Saturday, those of us who were lucky enough to attend, witnessed Cirũ
being ordained at the Cardboard Cathedral.
It was a beautiful service and an honour to witness.
Alongside Cirũ André Muller and Bruce White were also ordained (you may remember Bruce was one of our guest preachers in our ‘Mission Month’ in September).
FROM THE PRAYER WORKING GROUP (Christine, Jenny and Liz)
Memories of our 24-Hour-Prayer event continue to warm our hearts & feed our spirits!
A big thank you to all who participated; the Saturday section leaders, the parishioners who came along to support and pray, the faithful parishioners who prayed us through every one of the 24 hours at home, and the wonderful background people who assisted along the way.
And now, as we focus on “where to from here”, we’re beginning to look towards prayer goals for 2026.
We’d love to increase the numbers in our Email Prayer Team.
Many of you have received prayer through this team, or through the Prayer Box, and from the 11am Pray-ers at the end of services.
We invite you, along with all parishioners, to seriously consider joining the seven intercessors who currently make up the Email Prayer Team.
In joining, you commit to pray regularly for as long as you like, and in any way you like, for prayer requests that are forwarded firstly to Christine, then on to the team.
This ministry is one that older parishioners can so easily be part of!
Give it a go, and see how this special ministry will bless you and bless others through you!
Just email Christine at cdesenna@gmail.com to join up!
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
The church is currently 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.
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.