Methodist Church Blog

Greetings,

Today we consider the cleansing of the Temple through the lens of John's Gospel and ask why it may have been placed at the beginning of the gospel rather than its generally accepted chronological location toward the end as we find it in the Synoptics.

Who is Jesus - John 2 vs 13-22

https://youtu.be/sdjyVjJfahU

Every blessing to you this week as we work through another week of Alert Level challenges.

Andrew Doubleday
President
Methodist Church of New Zealand
Te Haahi Weteriana o Aotearoa

Kia ora whanau,

An update from the Connexional Office on the latest Covid-19 Alert Level changes.

CLICK HERE to see the video

Tara made it back last night after braving the way from Northland to Tamaki (Auckland)and waiting for about 3 hours in the queue, so she knows some of the frustration that's been going on throughout our communities as we adjust once again in this latest Covid Alert Level environment.

Just a reminder about numbers of people at gatherings for our different Alert Levels.

·         At Alert Level 3 up to 10 people can gather for weddings, funerals and tangihanga.

·         At Alert Level 2 we can have gaterhings of up to 100 people.

The Government is also encouraging us to wear face masks in public areas like shops. In addition to that the Church is encouraging people to wear face masks at church services. So at Alert Level 2 even though we can gather in numbers up to 100 people, please wear a face mask and take that extra step of keeping people safe.

In addition, all face to face meetings with connexional office staff will be shifted to Zoom meetings for the week of those lockdowns, and the following week. This will give certainty to people around travel arrangements and bookings.

The Government have confirmed they will be reinstating the wage subsidies, this information will be given to us late Monday afternoon, and we hope to have all the information out to parishes by lunchtime on Wednesday so there is certainty around what you can and can't apply for in terms of the wage subsidy.

There is a lot going on whanau. What is best for us as Church is that we continue to work together and that we continue to be kind and help each other as much as possible.

The Connexional Office is here to receive any questions you may have. Call, text or email and we will answer as soon as possible.

Untill we see each other again, stay safe, keep well and God bless.

Tara, Trudy and Sarah.

 

Tara Tautari General Secretary

Trudy Downes Health and Safety Coordinator

Sarah Andrews Accountant

Get the best Covid-19 information from https://covid19.govt.nz/

Current locations of interest and what you need to do CLICK HERE

Information for Pacific Peoples CLICK HERE

Video link https://youtu.be/jeuiotfq59U

 

Kia ora koutou

 Another new community case today points to contact tracing being the best thing we can do to find out if we have been at a location of interest, and if you have been at a location of interest you need to know where you have been in case you test positive for Covid-19.

 Keep an eye on the locations of interest at this website CLICK HERE

 I would be interested in learning how isolation at home works when not all household members have been at a location of interest: how easy is it to isolate one member of the household from everyone else if only the one person was at a location of interest?

 Advice to Auckland parishes... how safe the parish feels will determine whether you should hold in person services or not. And if you do hold in person services then I recommend that you wear a mask for the entire services. I know it is likely to be uncomfortable but we wear masks to keep others safe.

 Take care everyone, and have a great weekend!

 Ka kite.

 TRUDY
Health and Safety Coordinator

 

Our video https://youtu.be/mLSYY5jZ9PU

 Locations of Interest:  https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/contact-tracing-covid-19/covid-19-contact-tracing-locations-interest#auckfeb

Greetings,

Jesus talks of the suffering awaiting him in Jerusalem and invites his followers to each take up their cross and follow him. I'm asking if we've understood his invitation right.

28 Feb 2021 - Worth living and dying for - Mk 8 vs 31-38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w99Eqx_AzLo

Every blessing to you this week, the second week of Lent. 

Andrew Doubleday

President

Methodist Church of New Zealand

Te Haahi Weteriana o Aotearoa

Kia ora whanau

It is great to reconnect again with you again at the end of the week, a week that has seen us move down Alert levels. Auckland is now at Alert Level 2 and the rest of the country is at Alert Level 1.

Something we all need to be remembering to do is use our QR tracer app wherever we are going outside as well as to make sure that we keep a diary of our journey of where we are going so we can keep tracing our movements, if we need to.

This is particularly important so we can reduce the time that any contact tracing may take. As we have recently seen, one person catches COVID-19 and another person catches it and the close contacts' bubble becomes so much bigger.

In addition, the Government introduced further requirements to wear face coverings at Alert Level 1. Everyone is asked to wear face masks on public transport and you should also expect your taxi driver or ride-share driver to also wear a mask.

Mask up whanau!

This is so important, I have two kids – one in high school and one in university and they both take public transport and they are also taking masks with them wherever they go.

Whatever it takes to keep us safe, we've got this. We just need to make sure we are looking out for each other.

That also means understanding that some of us might need to be checked in on from time to time. Phone, text, email, visit. Make sure we are looking after each other.

We wish you Lenten greetings at this special time of our liturgical year. We wish you a wonderful weekend and we look forward to speaking with you again soon.

 Ka kite!

Tara Tautari General Secretary tarat@methodist.org.nz

Trudy Downes Health and Safety Coordinator trudyd@methodist.org.nz

View our video message

Please contact Trudy if you would like a Contact Tracing Diary, these are available in many languages.

Also available is a powerpoint about Contact Tracing and why it is important (could be used as a pre-service presentation as people are coming in to worship). CLICK HERE