Thought for the Week 9 August 2026

At this month’s parish council meeting we celebrated Murray Facer’s long tenure on the council coming to an end.  Murray shouted us tea (pizza) and Judith made her family’s famous cream horns. Murray joined St Stephens in 1980 when he and Christine came to Timaru and were looking for a church for their young family. He was ordained an elder at age 25 in the Ranfurly area and has had a lifetime of faithful service ever since. He was session clerk in the very busy years Hamish Galloway was minister here and the ensuing vacancy when Hamish went to St Andrews College to be their chaplain. We will certainly miss Murray’s quiet and prayerful wisdom around the table, but we echo the words of our Lord: ‘well done, good and faithful servant’.

Our Admin group have been busy taking care of our sites. You will notice the carpark upgrade has been completed now. Please remember to enter via the west end entry and exit at the east end; follow the arrows! Work will soon begin on addressing a long-term problem of water seeping in through the foundations of the Trinity centre at the northeast corner of the building. On the 21 September the windows in the offices will be replaced with double glazed units matching the foyer. This will smarten the look of the building and of course created a warmer space to work in.

Reminder: next Sunday following the service will be our congregational meeting to approve the 2026/27 budget. Copies of this are available in the foyer or through the office by request.

Nga mihi nui, Brent