The Parish of Saint John the Evangelist, Roslyn 

   This page contains news and photographs from recent events at St John's Roslyn.  In general, this page is about things that have already happened.  For news about forthcoming events, please refer to the Calendar and Noticeboard Page.  To see many more photographs, visit the St John's Online Photo Album, which can be reached via the link on the Contact Information Page.

   Contributions of news items (text or photographs) are welcome.  Please contact Alan Firth or the Parish Office.

   Items on this page are in reverse chronological order, with new material added at the top of the page.

Sunday School Christmas Pageant 2008	14th December 2008
The Sunday School presented its annual Christmas Pageant at the 10:00 a.m. service on the 14th of December.  The Nativity story was enhanced by dance and music.  That evening, St John's held a traditional service of Nine Lessons and Carols.
Left: the shepherds.  Below: Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the angels.    Right: the Magi.
Parish Fair 2008	8th November 2008
The annual Parish Fair was revamped this year.  New stalls included a Christmas Crafts stall and a very successful silent auction.  The weather was excellent, and the Fair raised about $15 000, a 50% increase on the usual figure.
Parish Camp	17th-19th October 2008
Several families from St John's enjoyed a camp at the Waiora Scout Camp from the 17th to the 19th of October.    On the 19th, the main Sunday morning service took place at the camp instead of at St John's.  Over fifty parishioners attended the service, which was held in the Scout Camp hall with a half-hour break for contemplative wandering outside, in glorious weather.    A picnic followed the service.    Right: the Waiora Scout Camp.
Left: parishioners at the camp were able to make use of a bonfire prepared for a Scout camp but unlit due to rain.    Right: at the picnic after the Sunday morning service.
Harry Potter Family Fun Night	20th July 2007
On the night before the release of the final novel in the series, St John's held a Family Fun Night with a Harry Potter theme.  About forty parishioners, some of them in costume, were sorted into the four Hogwarts houses before a supper of fish and chips.  A non-magical but energetic Quidditch championship followed, with broomsticks, Quaffles and Bludgers conjured up on the spot from a pile of old newspapers.  Interspersed with these activities were a series of quizzes about the first six Harry Potter books, with plenty of prizes of chocolate.
Left: a witch preparing for Quidditch.  Below: the Quidditch match.
New Programmes at St John's	February-May 2007
The first few months of 2007 have been particularly busy at St John's, with a number of new programmes beginning or being planned.  A new Men's Group, meeting every second Monday evening, began in late February.  A third Pre-school Music and Movement Group has been added to the existing schedule.  Also, the first major initiative of the Dunedin Hills Ministry scheme is the new environmental study group, known as HELM, which recently carried out a sustainability audit of the parish buildings.  (Please see our Groups and Activities and Environment pages for more information on these groups.)    Other recent events were a Parish Planning Meeting in February, which came up with four main ideas for further study, a Parish Camp at Pounawea in March, and our Annual General Meeting which was also in March.  The 10:00 a.m. Sunday services in Lent featured "Windows on the Cross", a song cycle written by parishioner Agnes Beamish, and on Palm Sunday the Bishop visited St John's and performed three confirmations.
Inauguration of Dunedin Hills Ministry	4th February 2007
Dunedin Hills Ministry St Mary's Mornington St John's Roslyn
A joint service on Sunday the 4th of February inaugurated the Dunedin Hills Ministry arrangement involving St John's Roslyn and our neighbouring parish of St Mary's Mornington.  For the people of St John's, the service began at Roslyn, but our clergy, choir and congregation relocated to St Mary's during the second hymn, and entered in procession to hand over our curate, the Revd John Sherlock, for his installation as Priest-in-Charge.    During the service, Jolyon White was commissioned as Youth and Community Minister to both parishes.  Jolyon was a part-time Youth Worker at St John's for about two years, and he is now the third full-time member of the Dunedin Hills Ministry Team.
Sunday School Christmas Pageant	10th December 2006
The 2006 Pageant followed a narrative entitled "B is for Bethlehem", which ran through the traditional Christmas story by means of keywords in alphabetical order.  The arrival of angels, shepherds and magi was interspersed with appropriate carols, including two written by parishioner Agnes Beamish.  Some were sung by the congregation, some by the children and others by two soloists.  For the second year in a row, the central role of the baby Jesus went to a real live person rather than a plastic prop.
Above: some of the actors in the 2006 Sunday School Pageant, with musicians and narrators.    Right: in the cast: a shepherd with a sheep.

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