WHILE OUR CHURCH BUILDING IS REPAIRED WE ARE MEETING EACH SUNDAY AT THE MINERAL & LAPIDARY CLUB 11O WALTHAM RD (NEXT TO WALTHAM SCHOOL) AT 10AM.
WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO WELCOME YOU.
Sunday 11th February 2018 10am
Notices: A very warm welcome to all who worship with us this morning. Please stay for morning tea. Many thanks to Rev Lyndsey McKay for leading today’s worship.
Articles are now due for the next ‘Messenger’. Email contributions to anneke.howie@gmail.com please. Deadline is Friday 23rd February.
Wednesday Walkers: 14th February. Meet 9.30am by footbridge near old Info Centre, Botanic Gardens to walk around Nth Hayley Park. Coffee at Museum Café and maybe afterwards folk might like to have a look at the National Geographic photographs. Rosalie 021 239 5005
ASH WEDNESDAY Service 14th February 7.30pm at St Anne’s Anglican Church, 7 Wilsons Rd. All are welcome.
Crafty Crafters: Thursdays 10am – 12 noon at Beckenham Methodist. Bring along an unfinished craft, or come and learn a new one! $3 per session. All are welcome. Contact Beverley Hudson 384 7814 for further details.
Crafty Crafters Craft Crawl to Hanmer Springs Thursday 29th March leaving at 9.30am from Beckenham Methodist. Cost for the bus is $25 pp. Bring your togs if you want a swim! Please let Lyndsey McKay know if you would like to come along.
Also being planned is joining a cruise around the islands in winter – see Lyndsey if you are interested.
WANTED: Photographs of Parish events – please email photos to the Office so we can keep a record of what’s happening around the parish.
Court Theatre Group Booking: Thursday 5th April 6.30pm “Easy Money” by Roger Hall. Cost $49 per person or $40 with a Community Services Card (photocopy of card details required). The seats selected are easily accessible for those with mobility issues. Numbers attending and money in NAMED envelope to Sue Saunders, or dropped in to the Parish Office, by Sunday 4th March at the latest please. Sign up today!
Homemade jams, chutneys, sauces etc…Please let Sue Saunders know what you would like and she will make them on request.
Fundraiser for St Martins: Handmade greeting cards for sale. $3 each. All proceeds to St Martins Building fund.
Moderator’s Waitangi Day Message
Ko taku reo taku ohooho, ko taku reo taku mapihi mauria
My language is my awakening, my language is the window to my soul
The whole point of the Treaty, as I see it, was to form a partnership between two peoples – a partnership which valued the culture of each fully and equally. What formed the basis of this agreement was a deep understanding that each culture had significant taonga (treasures) to offer a combined people.
One of the fundamental treasures of each culture was, without doubt, the language. Yet today – despite the fact that it is an official language of this country and despite the fact that the government has supported spending on the development of Te reo within a Maori context – the language remains unknown by the majority of New Zealanders. This is a huge loss, both to the personal development of all New Zealanders and, indeed, to our nation.
The one thing that will forever be unique about this country is Te reo Maori. No other nation can ever lay claim to that. Furthermore Te reo remains the very best pathway to the treasures of Maori, and therefore to true partnership.
This Waitangi Day, as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, I call for this language to be placed on the same footing as English in our education system and to become the true possession of everyone who is a citizen of this country. It is not just those who identify as Maori who should have to work to preserve this treasure. This is the birth-right of everyone who calls themselves a New Zealander – a citizen of Aotearoa, and it should be treated as such, I believe.
Many countries teach multiple languages from the start of school. Many teach more than two. It is not a hard thing, but it is the right thing to do, so I call upon the new government of this land to honour the Treaty in this way and to give Te Reo Maori the same resources we give to teaching English. In doing so, this will make the language what it truly is: the legacy of a Treaty between two peoples who desired to become stronger not through conflict, but by sharing their treasures.
We are weaker than we should be because we do not truly hold this treasure. Let us correct this today and more fully resource every educational institute in this country to teach and to speak this wonderful language.
In the name and for the glory of Christ
Richard Dawson
Lenten Conversations…
During Lent 2018 there is an opportunity to gather with others to grow in our connection with God and one another. We will gather every week for 4 weeks (4 sessions of approx. 90 mins, beginning from Monday Feb19th) for tea/coffee and a time to converse and learn with a focus theme. Groups of up to 8 people will run on Monday evenings, Tuesday mornings, and Wednesday afternoons. (Some people find they can’t make every session). Our focus theme this year is Nurturing Spiritual Practices. We are going to have some fun experimenting with different ways of connecting with God and discerning God’s voice in our lives. Sign the sheet on the back table or send Dugald a message. You are encouraged to invite a friend.