Serving Our Community
There’s no doubt that participation is what helps us feel we belong to something, and the church community is no exception.
The Scriptures are quite clear that the Church is like an integrated body which, in order to be balanced and healthy, requires everyone to play their part in using the interests, abilities and resources that God has given them.
Financial Giving
Foodbank
Selwyn Centre
Seasons for growth
Thursdays @ Seven
Christmas Lunch on Jesus
Space
Eco Group
Financial Giving
This is a particularly vital part of our commitment to God, not just to enable the mission of the church to continue and to expand, but because giving is of the very nature of the God we serve. Generosity, motivated not by duty but by gratitude, is a hallmark of the Christian life.
Please see the form included with the welcome booklet for details of how you might best arrange your financial support of All Saints’ mission.
You may also make any payments or donations directly via the Give Here button.
Food Bank
The Food Bank is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10am-11am and is a confidential service available to all regardless of household size.
Hours of operation are 10.00 – 11.00am Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.
Donations of meat, dairy products and any non-perishable goods are always most welcome as is your assistance.
Contact: office@allsaintshowick.org.nz
Due to the cost of providing large quatities of food on a regular basis any financial help the foodbank receives is also greatly appreciated.
Selwyn Centre
Monday & Friday 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
Hosted by the Anglican Church in parishes across the country, in association with The Selwyn Foundation, Selwyn Centres offer social activities, gentle exercise, a varied events programme, laughter and fun, morning tea, and practical advice.
The small charge to attend our centres goes towards refreshments, activities and running costs.
What’s on offer at the Howick Selwyn Centre:
- social activities
- gentle exercise
- a varied programme of events
- laughter and fun
- morning tea and a cooked lunch (On Fridays)
- practical advice and information
- personal support
Contact: Mary Rolf, 09 534 6864
VACANCY: Part-Time Coordinator
Howick Selwyn Centre, based at the All Saints Community Center in Howick, provides services and support to older members of the community. We are seeking a person with plenty of enthusiasm and an affinity for older people to fulfil the role of coordinator. The post requires you to organise the activities of the guests, provide a balanced and varied program, train and manage the volunteers, and liaise with relevant service providers. Your hours of work will be 4 hours on Mondays and Fridays, as well as 4 hours of administration, which can be done in the office or at home (laptop provided), making a total of 12 hours per week.
The post is subject to NZ Police vetting and will need a first aid and CPR certificate.
If this sounds like you, or you would like more information, please get in touch with the All Saints Office at office@allsaintshowick.org.nz.
Seasons for Growth
A grief and loss education programme for those experiencing significant change and loss in their lives.
How it works
Small groups of participants meet for 8 consecutive weeks and are guided by trained facilitators called Companions.
School aged children meet during school hours at their local school. Group participants are of similar ages experiencing change and loss.
Seasons for Growth Howick has a positive relationship with local schools. The area coordinator works closely with your school to provide a supportive and positive experience for all group participants.
Groups for Adults experiencing their own responses to grief are offered when required.
All resources are provided, including a journal for all participants to keep. There is no cost to attend.
Seasons for Growth is an evidence-based, non-religious programme which has been operating in the local community for over 20 years. It is not a crisis intervention service or counselling.
Participants are provided space and support to:
- learn the impact of change and loss on everyday life
- develop tools to respond to changes positively
- understand it is normal to experience a range of emotions
- build communication, decision making and problem solving skills
- share learning with caregivers, whanau, friends and other important relationships in their lives
- understand they are ‘not the only one’
Overall, the programme strengthens the social and emotional wellbeing of participants.
Who is it for
Change and loss are part of life, and grief is a normal response to these losses. The Seasons for
Growth groups benefit anyone who has experienced significant changes in their lives such as;
- Bereavement of a loved one
- Relationship breakdowns
- Separations
- Moved schools
- Migration
Seasons for Growth offers participants a safe space to come together and share their experiences of grief and loss.
Companions
Group facilitators are called Companions.
Companions volunteer their time to this service and complete ongoing training to work with Seasons for Growth. All Companions are police vetted and receive support from the area coordinator.
Our team of Companions include volunteers from a range of backgrounds and professions including those from the health sector, educators, librarians, grandparents, mental health workforce, university students (psychology / counselling) and more. Many have their own experience with grief and loss.
If you are interested in becoming a Companion, please contact the area coordinator.
Testimonials
Help Fund Seasons for Growth
As a charity, we rely on donations to operate.
You can help us continue to help those in need by donating.
Contact
To find out more information, contact Seasons for Growth area coordinator
e. griefandloss@allsaintshowick.org.nz
m. 022 423 8904
Christmas Lunch on Jesus
A ministry which not only brings people together from within the parish but a ministry which enables others to share and bless those around them with the simple gift of food.
The cost of the boxes this year are as in previous years $70 each and they contain all the goodies to make a yummy Christmas lunch.
Christmas Lunch on Jesus enables us to serve others in a very tangible way. The team will be looking for volunteers to come on the 21st December to make up boxes and set up tables, then on 22nd December we will be looking for volunteers to come and pack boxes and or deliver them.
Our Community
Thursdays @ Seven
Since 2000, the name Thursdays @ Seven has become a byword for music listeners in east Auckland. On 21 Thursdays a year, at 7pm through till 8pm, you can roll up at All Saints’, and expect to bliss out for an hour of music presented by excellent performers. The crystal-clear acoustic of the church is ideal for intimate chamber music. Best of all, the series is taking music to people where they are, near home – no parking hassles, no high costs, no extra travel time. All Saints is pleased to offer its hospitality for these life-enhancing concerts.
Concert coordinators, Katharine & Peter Watts, recognise that performers need appealing venues and help with promotion, and the local audience wants accessible music near home. “We just bring the two together,” they say. “Established performers are often too busy to promote their own concerts. Young performers find it hard to draw an audience for a one-off occasion. We can serve both those groups by giving performers a warm audience, and giving our audience a gift of music which creates a refreshing space in their week. The concerts are organised in three seven-week series. This regularity is a definite key to the success of Thursdays @ Seven”.
Admission is by donation, so that all are welcome, and for All Saints the concerts are an open door to the community.
You can watch a 2022 concert celebrating 21 years of Thursdays @ Seven concerts: our own String Orchestra with special guest pianist Lisa Chou playing Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto in a thrilling chamber arrangement for piano and strings. The concert opens with Warlock’s Capriol Suite and closes with Wirén’s String Serenade.
Click on the brochure image to the left to see the details of our Autumn concert series.
Space For You and Your Baby
Space for you and your baby is a parenting programme mainly for first-time parents of newborn babies. Parents and babies attend the sessions together and extended whānau are always welcome. Participants usually join Space when their baby is between two and four months old. Parents of older babies are welcome to enquire if a suitable group has a place available for them to attend.
Our vision is “empowering and encouraging parents to support the development of the whole child in their first year of life.”
Space provides a safe place for parents to bond well with their babies, meet other new parents in their community and receive information and support from trained facilitators and each other. It allows parents and infants to learn and grow in a supportive, teaching-based, community environment.
The programme runs for two hours a week over the course of 30 weeks (excluding school holidays).
Each week there is the opportunity to:
- Participate in group discussions on child development topics.
- Explore play, music, movement, books and stories with parent and baby.
- Chat to other new parents over refreshments.
Our group has four core objectives:
- Review current practices at All Saints, Howick.
- Work in collaboration with lay and ordained leaders and volunteers around the church so that any suggestions or projects work alongside current projects already in place.
- Educate the wider church community about ecological sustainability.
- In consultation with the wider church, introduce new initiatives at All Saints, that enable more sustainable practices.
We have recently completed a “Recycling Hubs” booklet, which identifies local businesses that recycle various items. Click on the image on the right to check it out.
Eco Group
The All Saints Eco Group is a voluntary collective that began in August of 2023. Since then, we have worked hard on a number of initiatives to increase sustainability at All Saints, resource church members in ways to decrease their ecological footprint and raise awareness about environmental community initiatives.
We welcome new members, either in the steering group that plans projects or in the wider parish group. One of the best ways to connect is through our Facebook page (click on the icon below).