Update to church - 7 September

I do hope that you are managing ok.

Following yesterday's Level 2D announcement, and with consideration to the government restrictions, decision has been made that we will not immediately resume in-person Sunday worship.

We are a loving community who loves to interact with one another each week. I believe, that for the majority of our congregation, this is best done through the safe distance of online community.

So... on Sunday a small group of musicians, readers and myself will live-stream from St Mary's. As has been during lockdown, the focus will be on being interactive online, so please login, sing with gusto and join the chat.
The quickest and easiest way to access the live streams (whether you are a Facebook user or not) is at: facebook.com/whitbyanglicans/live

As we did on Sunday, I will be breaking the bread of communion during the service. You may wish to have your own bread and wine ready at this point in the service so that you too can share in our distanced-but-together meal.

(We know that for some this will be an untenable solution - either through not having ability to access the livestream, or a necessity to be physically present. For you we wish to make a special exemption - you may join the service in person, but must be seated by 9.25am, remain masked, and maintain appropriate social distancing. We hope that this will be only a couple of people.)

Other church gatherings (such as Morning Prayer, community garden, home groups) can resume under Level 2D but will look different. Signing in with the Covid19 app or paper form is required whenever entering St Mary's. Masks are strongly recommended. We will be keeping the building ventilated so wear an extra layer (or two). Events that are focussed on sharing food, such as our Thursday Meals, will not be happening during Level 2. There will be no Kindle Worship this week. For our building hirers, it is at their individual discretion when they can safely return.

Please do get in touch with myself or the Wardens (Helen and Bill) if you have any questions or concerns.

​Chris Darnell, Vicar

Please join us for our Sunday Service: 9.30am

​Our Sunday service is a combination of a friendly, informal welcome with a contemporary Anglican service. We enjoy each other's company, sing, share together, pray, listen to scripture, laugh and minister to one another, finishing with morning tea. Excellent programmes for children and young people are provided.  ​

Chris Darnell, Vicar
04 234 7088

For our latest news please ​follow us on Facebook

Our statement: “Loving God. Loving community.”
​ 

We understand this statement in four ways:
    1.    We have a loving God who reaches out to us.
    2.    We respond by loving God in lives of worship.
    3.    We grow in loving community with one another.
​    4.    We demonstrate God’s love in our community.

The Catechism describes the mission of the church as “to proclaim the good news of God’s Kingdom, to make disciples, to work for justice and peace; and to strive for reconciliation and healing in a broken world.”
​
In living out this mission we aim to be faithful, attentive, expectant, inclusive and generous.

Key leadership

At Whitby Anglicans we are an "all hands to the deck" kind of family, so we are all ministers and we all take a lead along the way, but here are some of the key faces you might see around the place...

​VICAR

​PEOPLE'S WARDEN

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​VICAR'S WARDEN

Rev Chris Darnell
​04 234 7088
​021 347 967
vicar@whitbyanglicans.com​

Helen Moran
04 235 8852
hmoran3110@gmail.com

Bill Creighton
​​04 239 9995
babycry@xtra.co.nz

Our vestry: ​Bill Creighton, Ian Frater, Mikayla Joyce, Sarah McGlone, Audrey Moonlight, Helen Moran, Alice Wards

“Dear friends, let us love one another,
​for love comes from God.”

1 JOHN 4:7

What we do

​Cell and Discipleship Groups 
Growing together in small groups is an important dynamic. Various groups meet during the week to share, study, pray and grow together.

Tuesday Morning Prayer
A group gathers in the church at 8.30am on Tuesday mornings to pray, followed by a coffee and chat.
​
Prayers and Squares 
Thursdays 10.30am-12pm a group meets to make quilts, and tie threads into them. These quilts then go into the Sunday service where they are blessed and knots are tied into the quilt with prayers for the recipients. Anyone can request a quilt.

Thursday Dinner 
Every Thursday night we feast together with the family, 6.15-7.20pm at St Mary's. Food is provided on a roster system and anyone is welcome to turn up and join us.

Community Garden
Growing together in community. The community garden team meet in the garden behind the church 10am - noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The pantry is a great place to find produce (or drop off produce from your own garden).

Mens' Breakfasts
8.30am on the first Saturday of the month the three churches of Whitby take turns  hosting a bloke’s breakfast (all the good stuff) with a guest speaker.

Night Prayer 
The goodnight prayer of the church, livestream weeknights at 9pm on Facebook and in-person every Thursday at St Mary's.

Whitby Rest Home
Weekly services are held on Fridays at Whitby Rest Home at 11am, including hymns, Bible readings and communion.

Church Freezer
The idea is simple - we fill the freezer with food for people in various needs, then as needs arise we help ourselves to the food to bless our community.

Kindle Worship Nights
​At 7.30pm on the second Thursday of each month we gather for an extended period of free sung worship. Feel free to bring any musical instruments and join in.

Whitby Colleagiate Chaplaincy
The parish provides school chaplaincy to Whitby Collegiate School, with chapel services, support for school events, and further  encouragement of the unique Christian character of the school.

​In addition to our Sunday services there are a variety of regular events that are key to our life together:

​On top of these events, our parishioners have strong connections with other organisations such as St Anne’s Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Little Sprouts, Prison Fellowship, the Foundation for the Blind and e-Learning Porirua. We believe that these organisational connections strengthen the local church.​

Baptisms weddings and funerals

Getting connected to us

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St Mary's Anglican Church, 69D Discovery Drive, Whitby (by the entrance to Whitby Shopping Centre)
04 234 7088   office@whitbyanglicans.com   PO Box 58 103, Whitby, Porirua 5245   ​Vicar: Revd Chris Darnell