Kia ora, All Saints

Last week has been a wild one when it comes to the weather around us. It had a little bit of everything: wind, rain, warm, cold, and even a bit of hail. 

As I was in the middle of a string of kids at home due to school not being open on days, I began to think about what things we have in our back pocket when the storms in our life start to rage, that keep our faith strong? When the winds of life really start to howl! When it gets cold and frosty? When we get caught in the rain and it's really miserable?

What are the let's tie down the wheelie bin options? What is the flip the tramp over option? What is the house's foundation and solid workmanship that means we don't have to worry?

Things that help keep our faith strong amidst life's storms are daily scripture reading, as we turn to the Word of God to remind us of God's promises in times of trouble (and celebration). The psalms are full of beautiful images of God's loving protection of us during these times. 
Psalm 16:8, Psalm 107:29, Psalm 56:3 and many more from the rest of scripture. How many of God's promises can you find?

Daily prayer is another way to deepen and strengthen our faith, particularly when rough weather comes. Do we have a daily rhythm of prayer? Do we have times when we are praying deeply with others? in our house churches? Or bible studies? A reminder that tools like the ACTS prayer model can help us with our daily prayer, and Lectio365 is a brilliant daily prayer app you can use on your phone. 
And community, others, our people, I cannot stress how powerful being in deep community with others is and what a powerful role that plays in deepening and strengthening our faith. When times are hard or you're facing things that feel too much, let others in with you, pray together, read scripture together, call on the name of the Lord together. 

As we walk towards 2026 together, let us continue to be deeply rooted in prayer both individually and corporately. My hope is that next year we can go on a journey together of deeper Christian Formation as we look to not only see Christ glorified in our own lives, but also in the lives of those who don't know him. I look forward to sharing more about this in the near future. 

We have our AGM coming up very shortly; we are just compiling all our ministry reports and financials for the end of the year. We need to put together our nominations for Parish Council for the next season here at All Saints. Please take a look at our AGM page with all the information regarding opportunities to serve at All Saints in the Parish Council arena. 
We are looking for Parish Council Members, Synod Representative and your People's Warden. 
The Parish Council and I are encouraging you to pray and discern if you are to join us on the team. 

https://www.allsaints.org.nz/agm2025.html

Finally, for this week, we are heading fast towards Advent and Christmas, which is always exciting. We will be sending out event times and information shortly, as well as an opportunity for us to sign up for a roster over Christmas and summer to serve. 

If you have any questions about anything in this newsletter or AGM, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Much love, 

Kia ora, All Saints

This is a quick note from me this week. Please make sure you have a look through our weekly newsletter, as there are a bunch of things to take note of coming up and worth putting in your diary. 

This week, we have our annual Light Party for our community - Sunday, 26th Oct, 3-5pm - We have no central gatherings as a parish, as it is our commitment to all lean in and help with the Light Party as a way of connecting with our local community. 
We are encouraging all our House Churches, Bible Studies, Prayer groups and all those who regularly attend All Saints to jump in and sign up for something at the Light Party or turn up on Sunday at 1:30pm to help set up and get set for the afternoon. 

It is always during this time that I think of the early Christians who were preaching the Good News amongst the different communities around them, having to navigate all the pagan Gods and other things worshiped, and articulating the Good News amongst them. This is our role still to this day: how do we create spaces where the people around us are worshiping this and that, can be engaged with, have conversations with, and have their lives spoken into? 

You can sign up for something here, or if you aren't sure what to help with, please add your name to the section "Willing to turn up and help"

Lastly, many of you have asked either about my trip or when there will be a chance to hear, given there are no central gatherings this week, I would love to offer a cup of coffee and tea at 10 am Sunday 26th Oct for about an hour to hear about my trip, I will hopefully have some pictures to present and we can fill the time with conversation and questions. 
If you would like to join, please feel free to turn up; otherwise, I will look forward to seeing you at the Light Party. 

Much love, 

Kia Ora All Saints 
 
Greetings in the name of Lord and saviour Jesus Christ 
Cultivating a lifestyle of prayer means choosing to seek the Lord, day by day and moment by moment. Prayer is not just for emergencies. It is the fuel for our daily living. As we come to week 2 of this new series that has it focus on cultivating a Life of Prayer. We will examine Paul's letters to the Corinthians and Ephesians, taking another step in cultivating a deeper, more disciplined life of prayer. 
“If your day is hemmed in with prayer, it is less likely to come unravelled”. – Cynthia Lewis 
We are so thankful to God for the women he has given us, wise women who influence us to pray! A strong woman of virtue is one who prays fervently and encourages other women to pray, too. I am so excited to write about the Women’s house church which after months of prayers, discussions, meetings and planning has finally come to life. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the leadership team of the Women’s house church to extend a warm invitation to all the women in our church and their friends and family members to our All Saints Wahine house church. We will be meeting in the gathering space on a Saturday fortnightly starting 18/10/2025.Our meeting timings are 3:00pm – 4:30pm. As an easy reminder it will be on the Saturday before a house church Sunday.
A reminder that our AGM is coming up shortly, Parish Council encourages you to think about nominating someone or standing yourself for Parish Council, People's Warden, or Synod Rep at this year's AGM. So, if you are thinking of someone or thinking of putting yourself forward, now is the time. 
Baptism is a covenant—or a promise—that you make with God. When you get baptized, you promise to serve Him and follow His commandments to the best of your abilities.Here at All Saints, we have adult baptisms scheduled to happen on Dec 7th (2nd week of Advent). We have a couple of people who have committed to this already and so we would love to extend the invitation to the Parish if you are interested in public baptism. Come talk to me or Guy when he is back.
There is much to be excited about coming down the line here at All Saints. Alpha is wrapping up, our annual Light Party is coming up, Baptisms, Advent, Christmas, and summer. We will start planning all our Christmas events that are coming up. It would be great to know if you are around over Christmas and keen to serve together. 
We have both Central Gatherings this week at 9 am and 10:30 am. Bring friends, let's worship together and go out together. 
Please continue to pray for Guy as he is in India and will be back on October 13th. 
The wardens and I are available should you require anything, alongside the vast crew of leadership at All Saints. 

​Love in Christ
Cassandra 

​Kia Ora All Saints 
 
I am still buzzing from all the amazing energy of the Parish Camp. It was such a beautiful weekend of lots of friendships, laughter, connections, God filled moments and silent reflection time.
Some of the highlights from Camp 
Our pizza night on Friday – we had some amazing, customised Pizzas – all the kids made their own pizzas with their favourite toppings. Once this was done, we all settled into our rooms. We gathered for a quiz night and finished with Night prayer.
Day 2 – We have Rev Pete Watson doing a 3-part session on listening to the voice of God story of Ezekiel, Praying and Perseverance.
We did an afternoon session of Paint and Sip, which was so amazing. It was a great session of discovery for so many artists me included.
Day 3 – We had a wonderful morning session followed by eucharist celebrated by +Justin.
We came back with our hearts full of God’s love and grace and peace. It was a wonderful time of peace and connections, not only with our own All Saints people but also with Peninsula Parish as well. 
With this week still being school holiday week. We had an art class here at All Saints, and kids let their creative side shine through.
Please also pray for “Brave Blake “, who is so cheerfully recovering from the incident from Friday.
We will be starting a new series this week, October 5th, modelled on the prayer life of the apostle Paul, titled 'Cultivating a Life of Prayer'. We will run this series through until Advent. This series will look at Scripture from 1 and 2 Corinthians and Ephesians.
A reminder that our AGM is coming up shortly, and we are putting together our Parish Council, Synod Rep(s), and People's Warden at this one, so if you are thinking of someone or thinking of putting yourself forward, now is the time. Please check out the information in the newsletter. 
We are planning to have adult baptisms here at All Saints on Dec 7th (2nd week of Advent). We have a couple of people who have committed to this already, and so we would love to extend the invitation to the Parish that if you are interested in public baptism.
Requesting our All-Saints Whanau to pray for Gerald and Diana as they both deal with the loss of their mothers. Please uphold them in your thoughts and prayers. 
Please continue to pray for Guy as he is in India and will be back on October 13th. 
The Wardens and I are available should you require anything, alongside the vast crew of leadership at All Saints. 
 
Love in Christ
Cassandra