Welcome to Mongolia

 At Parish Camp back in February, we did our best impression of this gorgeous little girl and her furry friend... who do you think does it best?

...and the boys are victorious in the tent pitching challenge!

Back at Musikool Kids

 It is good to be back at Musikool Kids!

Lovely to see all your smiling faces back at music, enjoying bubbles, scarves and percussion instruments.

FISH resumes this Saturday night!

Transformers

A few weeks ago...
We learnt about a story in the bible called the Transfiguration. Which is really just a big fancy word for change.

There are lots of examples of transfigurations  in stories. Cinderella is seen for the person she really is with the help of her fairy godmother.  Simba seeing his reflection in a pond realizes that he really is father’s son and is meant to be the Lion King.  There is also Fiona’s transfiguration in Shrek.  In a whirl of light and special effects the beautiful princess becomes an large, loving ogre.  Similarly, in a flash of light, Jesus' face and clothes became dazzling white, so bright it blinded the eyes of his friends who were with him, Peter, James and John, who were with him on the mountain.

God's amazing love is transforming, it can change things for the better. We can show love to others, give a hand to people who are sad, scared or need help. 

On the mountains of life, we experience God in small and big ways. And when we show God's awesome love to others, whether in a small way or a big way, we are helping change the world.

We transformed these balloons, by filling them with air and creating a wonderful assortment of animals and other creations!

In February we celebrated the one year anniversary of being in our new building, the Chapel Street Centre.

Candles were lit by Rev Neti, and the youngest and oldest people sitting in the congregation that day - Caleb and Ruby.

Edible Nativity

I have found some pictures from before Christmas to share with you. Here is our Edible Nativity Scene!

We had a candy cane for the shepherd' crook, star-shaped cookies for the Christmas Star, rocky road for the road Mary & Joseph travelled on, and a jelly baby in a 'manger' of rice bubble cake to represent baby Jesus.

Super Hero Day coming up

Time to dust off the cape or make a mask... for super hero day at Musikool Kids next Friday 10th March :o)

Back from Parish Camp!

Parish Family Camp was a great success - our theme was 'Backpacking with Jesus'. Our activites took us around the globe, including speeding down a flying fox in Costa Rica, playing cricket in India, walking the catwalk in a high fashion show in Paris and bridge building in Italy.

Here are a few photos of some of the action... we will add a link in the next week or so with more pics.

Enjoy!

The Shark Game with the parachute was a hit as usual

'Team NZ' looking fierce in high fashion

Sledding down the hill on a hot, dusty afternoon

'Howzat!'

Some of our campers... after raiding the dress up box

Waterslide action!

Jumping from the swing rope into the waterhole

Musikool Kids starts again!

Livvie on her last day at Musikool Kids

So excited to see you all at Musikool Kids in the morning, for our first session of 2017! Looking forward to lots of singing and dancing this term :o)

Hope all you children who have returned to school, or started school for the first time have had a wonderful first couple of weeks.

Camp Promo Video!

Thanks to Monica and Matilda for making this really cool promo video for church camp. Get your registrations in now and start packing!

Register now for Parish Family Camp

Register now to join us for a fantastic weekend away - fun for the whole family!

click HERE to register for camp.

Blessing of the Backpacks this Sunday

Register for Musikool Kids

Musikool Kids starts back on Friday 10 February. Please re-enrol for 2017 by following the below link.

click HERE to register for Musikool Kids

We look forward to hearing from you!

Church Camp

Family camp is coming up! Mark it on your calendar now and register your interest with Mel or Dave.

17 to 19 February

Christmas Eve Carols 5pm

Nativity Photos

Here is a link to some rather stunning photos from yesterday's Nativity Play. 

click HERE to view NATIVITY PHOTOS

Christmas Music Video 2016

What you've all been waiting for... our Christmas Movie! This year we headed out to Woodend Beach, North Canterbury, to film a music video. The backing track is 'The First Noel', put together by Philomena, Berith and Monica - way to go guys!

Here is the link... please pass it on to all your friends and family and spread the love, peace, hope and joy.

click HERE to watch in YouTube

Awesome job this morning in our Christmas Children's/Youth Service too. I'll write up a special post about that with some amazing photos and video footage in the next few days. 

Blessings, 

Melanie.

Children's Christmas Service

FISH photos

Our last FISH night for the year was fast, fun and furious - as we competed in 'Minute to Win It' challenges.

Check out photos from the night and previous months by clicking on the link below.

Keep an eye out for details of 2017 FISH dates.

To view FISH photos click HERE

FISH this Saturday

Youth Church

 Last Sunday, Philomena and Monica played in the band at Youth Church, a district Methodist youth service, held at Beckenham Methodist Church.

The music was awesome! The company was great, and Siu lead a wonderful informal service. Hope to see you at the next one on November 27th!

FISH report

We had FISH night a few weeks ago, our family fun night. After a take-away tea we joined in some games. Father and son Bernard and Tom proved themselves to be champions of 'Hagoo' - where you 'walk the gauntlet', trying to make your opponent smile. Both of them, without a glimmer of a grin, were able to stare down the competition causing their opponents to explode in laughter.

Poisonous Ball and Bodyguard provided the chance to get a little more active, and our brains were challenged in The Mystery Box and Giant Pictionary games.

Our next FISH night will be on Saturday 26th November. Hope you can join us!

Surprise Visitors at Church

Last Sunday we celebrated St Francis of Assisi Day, and had a Blessing of the Animals.

We had some wonderful visitors at the Chapel Street Centre. The most surprising guest was a big green dinosaur... I'm not sure where she came from! There was also Butterscotch the toy horse, who neighed when you pressed her ear; Hadja the gorgeous cuddly teddy bear, a variety of animal puppets... and two real live animals! Gavin the Cat meowed through the service, and afterwards enjoyed exploring the Awesome Room, including the cupboards! Milo the rabbit hopped about our circle of children in church, as I told the story of the Mouse and the Lion.


Milo sat on my knee for a while as I talked, and I really enjoyed patting her soft silky fur. It made me feel very calm and happy (which was good, because I was a bit nervous about doing the children's talk!)


Thank God for the animals, for those that fly and roam free in the wild, and for our pets who give us comfort, companionship and help people in so many ways.

And as in the story of the Lion and the Mouse, even if we are young or small, we only need a little bit of faith to be able to share God's love in the big wide world and do amazing things.

As 6 year old Caleb so beautifully summed it up, "Even if you're small, you can do big stuff!"

Check out the photos below, and click on the link at the bottom to view more.

Milo the rabbit

Gavin the cat

Fingerprint animal artwork

click HERE for more photos.

Blessing of the Animals this Sunday

This Sunday we will be celebrating St Francis of Assisi Day / Blessing of the Animals. 

Feel free to dress up as an animal, bird or bug - and/or bring a furry friend to church (real or toy)!
Out in Awesome Time we will be making a fingerprint animal picture to frame and take home. Check out the sample I very quickly made up below (by the way, in case you can't tell, they are supposed to be frogs at the bottom!) I'm sure you will do a much better job than me!
Look forward to seeing you Sunday,
Melanie

Storm Bells ringing