Dear Friends,
It is my pleasure to welcome on behalf of S. Michael’s Church the pupils, parents, Staff and Board of S. Michael’s School to this Founders’ Day Mass. In one sense you need no welcome, as you are part of this community and the common life of the parish and school. The children are well and truly familiar—and I hope at home—in this space.
Together we celebrate this shared life, which dates from the earliest days of this church and this city. 158 years ago our forebears embarked on a journey of commitment and optimistic endeavour, grounded in faith, and founded on the Gospel of Christ.
The place of faith and the values of the Gospel are an essential component of school life. In prayer, in learning and relating, in our weekly School Mass, we are shaped as a community, and in this our pupils grow and find nurture. In an age of change and challenge, this experience of common life—growing from and in Christian spirituality —is a taonga, a treasure. Today we celebrate our holding that, and hope to be able to pass to another generation such a gift.
I am currently Acting Parish Priest while Fr Peter is on study leave. He will return at the end of the month, and shortly thereafter we will share in the Baptism of a significant number of pupils, and the Welcome to Holy Communion for those already baptised. We pray for those on that journey.
Please accept the invitation, too, to join us for Sunday worship regularly. The enclosed flyer gives details of our Sunday School, which meets on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of the month. In addition, the parish is beginning a children’s choir. Please do contact Music Director Paul Ellis if you would like to know more.
May God bless you all.
Fr Tim Hurd
Thursday is Hiroshima Day
We offer this Collect for Peace
Almighty and eternal God, you have made of one blood all the nations of the earth and will that they live together in peace and harmony; so order the course of this world that all peoples may be brought together under Christ’s most gentle rule. Grant that we who share his blood may, through your unifying Spirit, break down the walls that divide your children. Amen.
To the parents of S. Michael’s School pupils:
Did you know that S. Michael’s parish has a Sunday School programme?
And your children are welcome!
It is for children of all ages. (A parent should accompany very small children.) Children are welcome even if they can attend only occasionally.
Each class is about 30 –35 minutes in length. Children come to the 10:00 am service, and after the opening singing and prayers, there is an announcement for Sunday School. The children and I (with my helpers) go into the parish lounge for their class. We all come back into the church before the Eucharist.
The programme is based on the same lessons the adults hear in church, so that you can talk to your children about what they learned. But it is also designed to be fun! After a short lesson, there is always an activity or craft. Most weeks, the children have something to take home to remind them of what they learned. Our lessons have one central theme: Our God is a God of love, and we seek to share that love with others.
We generally meet on the first, third, and fifth Sundays of each month.
(There may be a few exceptions for weeks with special church services,
and there will be a summer break.)
A schedule for the rest of 2009 is listed below.
Marla Hughes (960 0753)
Sunday School Supervisor
16 August 1 November
30 August 15 November
6 September 29 November
20 September 6 December
4 October 20 December
18 October
