Christchurch North Methodist Parish: Child, Youth and Family Ministries
The home of AWESOME KIDS, HOT CHOCOLATE CLUB, FISH and CHYPS at The CHAPEL STREET CENTRE.
Saturday 17 February 2024
Welcome back!
Sunday 14 January 2024
Blessing of the Backpacks
Join us on Sunday 4 Feb at 10am for our Blessing of the Backpacks.
Bring your schoolbag, kindy bag, uni bag ... and we'll have a special blessing with Rev Anne to mark the beginning of our school year.
We'll have some presentations for our youth who are beginning secondary school too.
Look forward to seeing you there!
Saturday 25 November 2023
Youth Christmas Service
Join us on Sunday 10 December at 10am for our very special Christmas Service, led by the Chapel Street Youth. All welcome!
Thursday 28 September 2023
Friday 22 September 2023
Wilderness Sunday
God of the wild, the beautiful, the mysterious,
We thank you for the wilderness of Aotearoa,
for open spaces, beaches, mountains, forests, bushland,
Thank you for space to play and be.
Help us to step out of the noise and busyness of our lives,
away from electronic devices;
to be kind to our world, to be kind to each other,
and to be still, breathe and focus afresh on you.
Amen
Wednesday 20 September 2023
Sunday 10 September 2023
Land Sunday
Sunday 27 August 2023
Lego and Geese
Do you like playing with Lego or building blocks? You can make all sorts of amazing creations.
If I gave you one block, do you think you could build an awesome house with it?
No, of course you couldn't! You’d need more blocks. All sorts of blocks. Different sizes, shapes, colours. Blocks that have different functions. What a silly goose I am for thinking you could make something with just that one block.
And that brings me to geese - who aren't silly at all. Do you know that geese fly in a V formation? Scientists have discovered that as each goose flaps its wings, it provides lift to the goose following. It gives the geese 70% more flying range when they fly in a V formation. When the lead goose (who is working harder than the rest) gets tired, they fall back and another goose takes its place. What awesome teamwork!
You might also have noticed that as the geese fly, they do a lot of honking. They do this to encourage each other. I know when I'm doing something difficult, I often need a lot of encouragement!
Today, our Awesome Kids practiced 'teamwork' and used their individual gifts and talents to work together to create some cool Lego monsters and amazing backdrops. Check out the photos below, which were also taken by Beth and James.
Friday 25 August 2023
Awesome Time this Sunday!
What do LEGO bricks and a flock of geese have to do with this week's message from the bible?
Join us for Awesome Time this Sunday at 10am to find out! We'd love to see you, and I sure do need your help to do some building!
We look forward to seeing you!
Science with Carol & Maureen
Who knew that when Carol and Maureen are on deck as Awesome Leaders, you not only get a bible lesson, but a science lesson too!
Tuesday 15 August 2023
Jelly
On Sunday, Carol and Maureen shared the story of Jesus walking on water. Lukas and Isabella enjoyed the science experiments involving mandarins and jelly!
Friday 4 August 2023
Worry Beads
nothing can ever separate us from God’s love
Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow,
or where we are - high above the sky
or in the deepest ocean -
nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God.
In different translations of the bible there are different lists of things suggested that can’t separate us from God’s love. All kinds of troubles and challenges are mentioned.
When I was looking up the children’s ministry websites for resources to help illustrate this bible reading, there were two books recommended.
The first story was Florence Parry Heide’s Some Things Are Scary!
The book goes through a long list of things that some people find scary… like, stepping on something squishy when you’ve got bare feet or skating downhill when you haven’t learned how to stop.
There are lots of scary things in life, and they will be different for different people. But no matter what, there is nothing that can separate us from God’s awesome love.
Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I'm dumb in school?
Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there's poison in my cup?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
And it goes on, so many ‘whatifs’ - so many worries. Do you ever worry about green hair growing on your chest?
When I was younger, one of the biggest ‘What-iffers’ around, was my little sister. She had the longest list of ‘Whatifs’ you could imagine. So much so, that our Mum and Dad put a poster up on her bedroom wall that said, ‘Don’t tell me worrying doesn’t work - the things I worry about most never happen!’
It’s rather fitting that the story I chose to read to our Awesome Kids was written by my little sister. In it, the little girl has a long list of troubles, which she shares with her Great Uncle Arthur. But, as you’ll hear, Great Uncle Arthur has also had his share of fears and woes.
As it says in The Message version of our bible reading today “absolutely No Way! can anything separate us from the love of God; anything thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love.”
Let us pray.
Loving God,
Thank you for your never-ending love. Help us to remember that through the scrapes and scares and in our pain and fears - you are with us, loving us always.
No matter what our worries or our whatifs are, You are always with us.
Amen.
Saturday 24 June 2023
Refugee Sunday
Bring a blanket and a soft toy on Sunday. We will hear the beautiful story, My Two Blankets and create a quilt together ... and maybe even build some blanket huts!
Monday 12 June 2023
Health check!
We are thankful that you want to be a friend to everyone
Even those who have chosen to do wrong
Thank you that we are your children whom you love
We thank you that we are part of your family of faith
Help us to show your love to others
And make them feel part of a loving family
Amen
Sunday 28 May 2023
Pentecost Party pics
Friday 26 May 2023
Sunday 14 May 2023
Happy Mothers' Day!
This morning we learnt that there are many different names for God. Sometimes God is referred to as a king, a shepherd and even a rock. Many people call God 'Father', but did you know that God is also like a Mother?
In the bible, in the book of Matthew (chapter 23, verse 37), it talks about God being like a mother hen, 'gathering her brood under her wings'. In Isaiah 40:11, 'God tends the flock like a shepherd; and gathers the lambs with gentle arms and carries them close to the heart'.
We shared the brand new book 'Mumapalooza' by NZ author and illustrators Sarina Dickson and Ant Sang. It's a wonderful celebration of all the mums and mother-like figures in our lives.
With 'gentle hands' we played the game of 'Pick Up Sticks', and created some beautiful framed artwork for a treasured mum.
Sunday 7 May 2023
West Coast celebrations
Saturday 6 May 2023
The Good Shepherd
Last week our theme was the good shepherd. We made some 'lost sheep' and Claudia demonstrated just how to pick up and carry a lost sheep!
Sunday 9 April 2023
Palm Sunday
Wednesday 22 March 2023
You Are Special
We heard the story of Punchinello, the wooden toy - who believes he isn't good enough because of the things people say to him. Finally, he meets someone who has a very special message for him.
It was very much like the special message God has for us. God sees beyond all mistakes, all past, all dots and stars, and sees the child God made. God says You are beautiful. You are special. You are loved.
Find the book in your local library and read the story for yourself, it's You Are Special by Max Lucado. You can also watch the service on our church Facebook page and hear me reading the story there. Facebook page (fast forward to 13:27).
Afterwards, Lukas and Isabella had fun creating some handprint art for our gallery. I forgot to take photos of the finished work, so you'll just have to go and check it out in person at the Chapel Street Centre!
Welcome back!
It was a hot day for the first day back at the Chapel Street Centre for 2024! Our Awesome Kids enjoyed some ice blocks to cool off. We had...
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On Sunday, Carol and Maureen shared the story of Jesus walking on water. Lukas and Isabella enjoyed the science experiments involving mand...
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Last Sunday our reading from the bible was from the book of Romans, chapter 8, verses 26 to 39. This is one of my favourite bible readings. ...