This year’s nativity play is entitled Dear Theo – it tells the nativity story from Luke’s gospel. It mixes humour and fact with 8 Christmas carols thrown in. Come in dress-ups if you like! Our gift to you, koha optional.
Christmas Eve play 5pm
Christmas Day at Holy Innocents
Bishop Peter to join us for a Christmas Eucharist
On Christmas Day at 9.30am, the people at Holy Innocents will celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ with a Eucharist (holy communion service) led by our bishop, the Right Reverend Dr Peter Carrell. Peter will also preach the sermon. We welcome anyone who would like to join with us to mark this special day in our Christian calendar. In other news, our Toddler Tunes whanau recently met for their final session of 2025. See some delightful pics of the occasion here.
Toddler Tunes fun this week
Wednesday 29/10 at 10.30am in the hall next to Holy Innocents, Church Street, Amberley. Bring your preschoolers along for music, movement and play. Relax with a cuppa and some morning tea.
Church Garage Sale 27th September
At Holy Innocents – Saturday 27/9/25, from 9.00am-2.00pm
Household effects, books, collectables, plants, sausage sizzle & more. Funds raised will go towards earthquake strengthening of Holy Innocents Church and repairs to the bell tower. Goods will be accepted at the Church Hall on Friday 26th September, 1pm-4pm. Enquiries: phone Pat 314-8272.
Background to this fundraiser
Holy Innocents Anglican Church in Amberley is a category 2 historic building. Originally built in 1877, in 1889 it blew down in a storm. The iconic bell tower, which can be seen from afar, survived the strong winds and remained upright while the rest of the church building “leaned at an acute angle”. The church was rebuilt in 1891, which is when the large external timber buttresses were added for strengthening. Those same buttresses are now in need of some repair, as is the bell tower; furthermore, the building needs modifications to bring it up to a higher percentage of the current building code, for earthquake strengthening purposes. This all has to be done in a manner appropriate for a heritage building.
Toddler Tunes this week
Calling all parents and caregivers of preschoolers longing for the real start of Spring! Come to Toddler Tunes this Wednesday (10.30am in the hall), and see your little ones moving to music and playing together while you get some networking in with the adults and relax over home-made morning tea. As usual, we would love to see you all.
In case you missed it…
You missed Rev Meg’s final service at H.I.? Wait! There’s another chance to say goodbye at the Nor’Wester Cafe this Thursday (31/8), where Meg will be available for coffee and a chat from 10.00am to 12 noon. In the meantime, here’s three pics from Sunday.
Church by local artist Rosalind Thomson, one of the farewell
gifts from the parish. 27 July 2025.
Farewell to our Rev Meg
We’re inviting all parishioners and members of the wider community – anyone who appreciates Rev Meg – to come along to Holy Innocents church this Sunday 27/7 at 9.30am and help us give Meg a good send-off with our thanks for all she has done in her three years as our vicar, and our blessings for her future ministry. Mums and caregivers from the Toddler Tunes group – you are most welcome. After Sunday’s church service, we’ll present Meg with some gifts as a small token of our thanks and then have a lovely morning tea. There will be a card to sign. (Regular parishioners please bring some morning tea to share if you can and would like to.) Please come, one and all!
Toddler Tunes this week
Brrr… it’s been a cold school holidays. As the next school term begins (and we hurtle towards the joys of Spring not too far away now), let’s get the little ones moving to some music! Bring them along to Toddler Tunes this week and relax with morning tea while your little ones play. 10.30am in the parish hall on Wednesday as usual. We would love to see you all.
Pray with us
Every month we like to use a shared calendar with a prayer for each day which our members can add at their usual prayer time(s). Below is our calendar for July. We invite anyone and everyone to unite their prayers in this way. Each Wednesday at noon, Paul Dickson leads a small prayer group in the parish office (attached to the hall beside Holy Innocents Church, Church Street, Amberley). All are welcome.
Easter services
Come join us and journey through the darkness of the cross to the light of the resurrection
PALM SUNDAY SERVICE
We will gather at 9.30am this Sunday (13th April), starting outside our parish hall, where the “palm” branches and our palm crosses will be blessed and we’ll hear a reading from Luke’s gospel about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Then we will together slowly process, singing, around the church grounds and into Holy Innocents church, for the service of prayer, song, music to listen to, and poetry on the theme of Palm Sunday. We’d love to see you.
GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE
This is an ecumenical service on Good Friday 18 April. Starting at 9:30am outside the Amberley library we will all process, carrying a cross in turns, to the Presbyterian church where Rev Robert will lead the church ministers and people in a short service of remembrance of the horrors of the cross and Jesus’ death. A shared lunch will follow.
EASTER DAY
On Easter Day, Sunday 20 April, we will have at Holy Innocents church at 9:30am an Eucharist to celebrate Jesus rising from the dead and bringing new life. It remembers how the resurrection fundamentally changed the course of human history and God’s story with His people. Hot cross buns follow.
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