February Monthly Update
To our beautiful church whānau,
We trust you have had a great start to this new year. It has been absolutely wonderful to have some beautiful weather over the summer break, especially with a few long weekends! We’ve had three Sundays back at church so far, and it has been so lovely to see people gather as God’s church, with vibrant worship and community happening. Our Curate Youth have had an incredible camp at Finlay Park and we had a picnic at Kulim Park last Sunday which was a great opportunity to connect with friends old and new.
Our focus for this year is on discipleship, and we have been sharing messages around “I have decided to follow Jesus”. If you’ve missed any of the messages from the past couple of weeks, you can always catch up on YouTube or the podcast. We’ve had ten people make a decision to follow Jesus for the first time so far this year, which is just incredible. God is good!
Staff Changes
With the start of a new year comes changes in staff and staff roles. After some time away, Steve and Merryn Fruish have decided to finish working at Curate Church. Steve and Merryn have been on staff for a number of years here at the Mount, working in many different roles over this time. They also founded Curate Whakatane, pastoring in the community there. The current Echo Church in Whakatane is a result of their hard work and dedication. We’re going to miss having them around! We have greatly appreciated the way they have worked and served at Curate and wish them well for the future.
Also stepping down from a role on staff is Vonnie, who is moving with her whanau to Australia to pursue some new opportunities. We’re also going to really miss Vonnie around the offices! We don’t have a replacement yet, and are looking for a great new Accounts Assistant. If you think this might be something you’d like to consider, you can find out more information here.
Stepping into new roles this year on staff are Katie, Anika and Trish. Katie is overseeing Pastoral Care and Small Groups. Anika is overseeing new people, new Christians and Night School and Trish is overseeing Curate Kids. With these significant changes comes new ways of working and the opportunity to think about what we do and how we do it.
Anika (left) - Connections & Formations Pastor
Trish (right) - Kids Ministry Director
We’ve had an amazing start to the year, with a general buzz of excitement and anticipation in the air of what God is doing in our community as we choose to follow Him. We look forward to seeing you at one of our gatherings this Sunday, at 9am or 11am in the Mount, or at 10am in Auckland.
Many blessings and much love,
Update Your Details
As we journey into a new year, we recognise that it is important to maintain an accurate database to better serve our valued church community. To ensure that we have the most up-to-date information about you, we kindly request you to review your records using the following link: www.curatechurch.com/update
There's a bunch of things coming up in the life of our community so make sure you check them out below. You can also see what is happening at www.curatechurch.com/calendar.
Youth Begins for 2024
Thu 8th February
After a great Youth Camp in January, our youth are looking forward to start meeting again every Thursday night of the school term at our Newton Street building. Youth is from 6.30pm - 8.30pm and is a great way for your youth aged students (Years 9 - 13) to be more connected into the Curate community.
Night School
Starting Mon 12th February
We want to provide opportunities for you to continue learning and growing in your Christian walk. Each term we will be running courses to help facilitate this. A Spiritual Practices course starts on the 19th Feb - a course exploring facets of Christian life that help us to draw closer to Jesus. This course is for everyone, with no prior experience in the Christian faith required. No cost. Six weeks, starting Monday 7th February at the Newton Street building. Find out more at curatechurch.com/learn
Lent Begins
Wed 14th February
Lent is the 40 days before Easter and is a time to go deeper in our spiritual practices and enjoy more time being with our Heavenly Father. Make the most of this season by spending more time in prayer and the Word by using the Lectio365 devotional below.
Lectio365 for Individuals - 24-7prayer.com/resource/lectio-365/
Lectio365 for Families - 24-7prayer.com/resource/lectioforfamilies/
Church Picnic
Sun 3rd March
Save the date, come along and hang out at a casual picnic lunch after each gathering. Bring your own food and a blanket to sit on. This is a great time to be friendly, get to know some new people and enjoy time together. Location to be decided.
Baptisms
Sun 10th March
We believe that if you have decided to follow Jesus, you should be baptised in water. This is something that Jesus did, and is a public declaration of our faith in Him. If you want to know more you can find out more on the website, or connect with one of our pastors.
Good Friday & Easter Sunday
10am Fri 29th March • 9am & 11am Sun 31st March
Join us for special Easter gatherings on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This is a wonderful time to invite friends and family to celebrate one of the key events in the Christian calendar. We're looking forward to sharing this special time with you. We'll let you know more details closer to the time.
