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Your Columba News was delivered by…………….…………………………
St Columba’s Havelock North
Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa NewZealand
Columba News
June - July 2015
Issue No. 6
ST COLUMBA’S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HAVELOCK NORTH
SUNDAY
10.00am
FAMILY SERVICE
followed by morning tea in the foyer
SPECIAL BRANCH (Children’s Programme) each Sunday (except January) (crèche available)
8am COMMUNION
SECOND SUNDAY EACH MONTH (except January)
Mission Statement—The people of St Columba’s seek through worship
and loving service to offer the good news of Jesus Christ to all people.
Minister
Office
Rev. Roger Gillies
Phone: 877 7634
0274 167395
gilliesrj@gmail.com
Parish Secretary:
Lorraine Carter
Phone/answerphone: 877 8096
stcolumbahn@xtra.co.nz
Website: www.schn.org.nz
Session Clerk
Postal address:
P O Box 8487
Havelock North
Treasurer
Hours
Monday to Friday
9am to 12 noon
John Heesterman
Phone: 877 7775
CONTACTS:
Roger Gillies, Minister: phone 8777 634 or 0274 167395,gilliesrj@gmail.com
Church Office - phone 8778096, info@schn.org.nz
PARISH REGISTER
Funerals
Irene Chrisstofels
Prue Neild
13 April 2015
6 May 2015
Dear friends of the Columba Way,
On the evening of Tuesday, 5 May, the Session decided, unanimously, that
Prue Neild be recognised, posthumously, as Elder Emerita in this church.
On Wednesday, 6 May, the congregation gathered for Prue’s funeral service.
Many accolades were offered in memory of Prue. Let us be reminded that the
true value of a life is not measured by its length, but rather, by its depth of
relationship.
As I said on the day, Prue and I have been friends for about twenty-five years.
She is one of the best friends I have ever known. I shall miss her, as will
many of you. I shall hold my memories of Prue in my heart, with deep
gratitude, for as long as I draw breath.
While acknowledging Prue’s contribution to the National church, the
Presbytery, and the many other levels on which she has participated within
the church over many years, I feel compelled to acknowledge Prue’s
contribution to this particular congregation.
From the moment Prue first returned to Hawke’s Bay she became a
committed and highly active member. She has helped this congregation to
learn about itself, and to grow beyond what it has been, into that which it is
becoming.
This congregation has been through some difficult times, of late. Prue Neild
has been a key person in this congregation’s survival, development, increase,
growth, success, and its thriving. Prue has helped this congregation to find its
way from the past into the future. It is as if Prue was sent to this congregation
for such a time as this.
Prue is one of the best friends I have ever known. I think Prue is one of the
best friends this congregation has ever known. We shall miss her. We shall
hold our memories of Prue in our hearts, with deep gratitude. We shall
continue to honour her by pursuing the future which we have envisioned
together.
With love Roger
SESSION REPORT:
From the April Session meeting
 A scheme plan for the Havelock North Domain has been prepared by
Hastings District Council and this plan is on their website
(www.hastingsdc.govt.nz). Submissions are invited and you are encouraged
to send your thoughts in by 19 June 2015.
 Charities Services matters: Until now individual parishes have been covered
by the charitable status of the National Church.
The changes to the
Charities Act require that each parish becomes a charity in its own right.
Registration must be made by 30 June 2015.
 Janice Hopkinson has offered to take up the task of setting up for Quarterly
Communion services.
 The membership roll is being reviewed with a view to identifying those names
which would be more appropriate on the Pastoral Roll.
 Special Branch – Elma advised that a team has been established to work in
this area. Members are Anne Heesterman, Anne Keown, Beth Neilson, Elma
Pienaar, Wayne Rewcastle, Sally Russell, Bob Sanderson and Dianne Taylor.
 Details of the Sunday responsibilities of Vestry Elder, Duty Elder, and Duty
Managers were submitted for review.
From the May Session meeting:
 The meeting took time to think of Prue Neild and to share some thoughts
about her – words like wit, wisdom, loyalty, courage, fortitude, caring,
facilitating were some of the aspects mentioned, all with a great deal of love
and a sense of thanksgiving for Prue.
 A posthumous award of Elder Emerita was conferred on Prue Neild.
 A posthumous aware of Elder Emeritus was conferred on Cyril Whitaker.
 Roger will be on leave from 25 May to 7 June.
 A recent Presbytery workshop was attended by Sally Russell, Sam and Janet
Browne, Anne Heesterman, Wayne Rewcastle and Nolan Martin. Another
gathering is planned for June.
VISIT OF THE MODERATOR OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
On Sunday 21st June the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Rt Rev Andrew Norton, will visit St Columba’s
Havelock North. St Columba’s is honoured in that it is unusual for a Moderator to
visit an individual church and you are encouraged to be present.
Special Morning Tea - following the service Pure Catering are providing a
special morning tea in the Community Centre from 11.15am, at a cost of $5.00 per
person. It will give us a rare opportunity to speak with the Moderator so please
keep this date free.
Quarterly Communion Services
10am.
- Sunday 14th June at 8am and at
‘mainly music’ is a most enjoyable outreach into the community from St
Columba’s. We interact with little ones and their caregivers through music and
movement, play time and morning tea. Come along and be part of a great team.
There is always opportunity to participate for young and, well, the not so young!!!
Contact Elma on 877 0049 or 02102773099.
LADIES COFFEE MORNING – this group will meet on Wednesday, 10th June
and on Wednesday 8th July, at 10.00am in the foyer. All ladies most welcome.
Bring a friend!
BLOKES BREAKFAST - Saturday 20th June, 8am at the Café at Summerset,
Ada Street, and Saturday 18th July – same time, same place. Come along and
bring a friend! Please let the church office know if you will be attending so the
caterers can have the right amount of food available!!
FROM SCHNEHG
The 17th of May was ‘Norway Day’. This year it fell on a Sunday. It celebrates the
constitution of modern Norway. Located just across the North Sea from
Scotland, the Norwegians have always been great neighbours to the Scots - at
least since the Viking days! Traditions are shared; especially those associated
with Celtic, maritime and protestant perspectives.
Because the roots of our Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand reach
back to the Church of Scotland, and because some Norwegians like the Scots
headed to the antipodes in the 19th Century, it is good to acknowledge the
Scot/Norwegian/Kiwi relationship. And especially so on Norway’s special day.
Think of Norsewood in Central Hawkes Bay, and Waipu in Northland as respective
clusters of Norwegian and Scottish descendants that add their culture and colour to
the New Zealand scene.
Within our own lifetimes we recall the Norwegian Government in exile in London
during the occupation of Norway in the Second World War. And at the same time,
the mariners among us especially remember the daring operations of ‘The
Shetland Bus’ between the Shetland Islands and Norway in support of the
Resistance – clandestine voyages by fishing boats at night and without lights.
Norway and New Zealand have other connections too. Sally has noted that
recently, in facilitating survival aid to devastated Tibet, the leadership of a
Norwegian church group has been to the forefront.
Jim Watt
FAITH AND REASON
Ian Harris in the Otago Daily Times - 8 May 2015
The Australian drug traffickers did wrong. But in killing them, punishment
triumphed over grace, writes Ian Harris.
What a way to go! Ghastly, tragic, merciless, yet with a defiant air of resolution,
peace, even hope, as two Australians faced an Indonesian firing squad on April
29, along with six others who had also smuggled drugs. They showed it by
singing the hymn Amazing Grace as they stood, each tied to a cross with arms
outstretched, awaiting the order that would end their lives.
President Joko Widodo ordered their execution to send a message of ultimate
deterrence: Smuggle drugs and you’ll die. This vicious trade causes
incalculable harm, and Indonesia is serving up a vicious response.
The Australians, Sydney-born Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, of Sri
Lankan origin, accepted they had broken the law. If the justice system is all
about punishment, they deserved to be punished.
But human relationships include those between the individual and the societies
they live in. They go deeper than merely staying within the law and taking the
consequences if you don’t. Relationships leave room for change, growth,
“amendment of life”, as the Book of Common Prayer puts it. They allow for
grace – amazing grace – and by all accounts, that was Chan’s experience. As
with Sukumaran, the man who was executed was not the man he’d been 10
years earlier. His life had been transformed.
Grace is a key concept in the Christian life-view. It lifts a person’s experience
out of the mundane world of reward and punishment into that of generosity of
spirit beyond anything anyone could ever say they deserved. That’s why grace
is amazing, and that’s why Amazing Grace was exactly the right hymn for the
condemned men to be singing as they stood bound to their crosses. For it was
written by a man who today would rightly be condemned as a slave trader.
This was John Newton, a libertine and very much a man of the world when, still
in his twenties, he became captain of a ship carrying slaves from Africa to
America. At 19 he had been press-ganged to serve in Britain’s navy, deserted,
and when recaptured was publicly flogged. Transferred to service on a slaver,
he had been brutally abused – the slaves even more so. Amazing Grace,
written years later, refers to “a wretch like me”. It was an understatement.
An unexpected deliverance from the perils of an Atlantic storm, which Newton
attributed to God’s mercy, marked a turning-point towards a new way of life.
Getting to know and respect John Wesley and other leaders of the early
Methodist movement confirmed it. In 1764 he became an Anglican minister at
Olney, in Buckinghamshire, and campaigned against the slave trade.
Imprisoned in Bali, Chan had a similar transformation. He became a Christian,
took a course in theology, and was ordained as a pastor. He led church services
and, with Sukumaran, established a drug rehabilitation programme for fellow
prisoners. Sukumaran, lured to drugs by the promise of a big pay-off, came to
describe his arrest as “a blessing”.
Three pastors and a priest who ministered to the eight on the execution field told
how they sang Newton’s hymn in unison, “like in a choir”, including a verse that
must have seemed written for them:
Yes, when this flesh and heart should fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
Life beyond death? This was not the place or time to quibble over the reality or
otherwise of an after-life. As the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise
Pascal wrote in quite another context, “The heart has its reasons which reason
knows not of.” This hymn speaks to the heart.
After Amazing Grace came Bless the Lord, O My Soul, cut short by the fatal
volley of shots. Clearly, the hymns bonded the singers and gave them peace.
With the Australians died four Nigerians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian.
Those who put their trust in punishment will take a grim satisfaction from their
deaths. But the death penalty is the most callous of weapons in the fight against
crime. When prisoners have turned their lives around, as Chan and others had,
incarceration has done its job and people of good will show mercy.
A British grandmother, also on Indonesia’s death row, commented: “The men
shot dead today were reformed men – good men who transformed the lives of
people around them. Their senseless, brutal deaths leave the world a poorer
place.”
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop added: “They were examples of hope
and transformation.”
The world needs more of those.
PRESBYTERIAN SUPPORT EAST COAST
Snippets from Sanja, Chief Executive Officer
Enliven: The new Enliven Centre on Pakawhai Road officially opened on 23rd April
at 3pm. Encouraging feedback has been received from clients in regards to the
new premises, as well as to the Day Programme content. It seems as if they are
very keen to keep attending!
Family Works Hawke’s Bay: The Family Works Hawke’s Bay Whakamana
Whanau Family Violence Social Work Service evaluation report was presented to
the Ministry of Social Development funders and other key stakeholders at a
breakfast held at Hillsbrook on Friday 27th March. The Children’s Commissioner,
Dr Russell Wills, spoke briefly and was very complementary about the service and
the fact that Presbyterian Support East Coast has provided the resources for
evaluations such as this. Congratulations to the Family Works Hawke’s Bay team
and their partner, Te Ikaroa Rangatahi Social Services, for the ongoing delivery of
their excellent work. Pam McCann presented this service at the Australasian
Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect (ACCAN) in Auckland.
Sparkle – the new fundraising event for Cranford Hospice took place on 23rd May.
This was a glamorous evening which set a new standard for charity fundraising
events in Hawke’s Bay.
New Communication Campaign Manager, Helena Ninow, a member of the
Fundraising, Communications and Marketing team, will be handling the
communication channels and branding.
CHRISTIAN WORLD SERVICE
UPDATE: A lot has been happening in Vanuatu. Reports have been received from
Australian counterparts Act for Peace who are working with the Vanuatu Christian
Council on recovery efforts. The report shows how closely they are working with
others including the Vanuatu government to make sure no one misses out and that
goods are shared fairly.
The story is the same in Nepal as ACT Alliance Nepal works alongside local groups
and as part of the government response to make sure more vulnerable and
isolated communities get supplies.
Donations are still being accepted so more families can get the help they need.
Contributed by Nolan Martin:
HEROIC LOVE
A soldier fulfils his duty
loyally, professionally, courageously.
If he is unlucky
he will die in action and,
rightly so,
we will remember him,
we will remember him.
A carer sets aside
the life she might have had,
endures a loss of sleep and,
perhaps, a loss of laughter, joy and peace;
becomes a witness and companion to decline.
She learns to balance on diminishing hope
and sometimes falls –
yet climbs on board again to give and give
and give…
will we remember her?
will we remember her?
Ian Fosten
About Ian Fosten….. Ian is a director of a community theatre, a poet and
leader of the ministry team for Norwich Area United Reformed Churches in
the UK. He lives on the Suffolk coast with his wife and youngest children. He
helped set up the St Cuthbert’s Centre mission project on Holy Island
(Lindisfarne) and has built and restored several wooden boats. He has a
particular interest in connections between theology and landscape, and
between scripture and the inevitable untidiness of everyday life. A collection
of his poetry and writing is found on his blog “Heaven in Ordinarie” at
www.fosten.com.
FOR THE CHILDREN
The Day of Pentecost – Acts 2
JUNE CALENDAR
Tuesday 2nd
9.30am
Badminton at St Andrew’s hall
7.30pm
Session meets in the foyer
10.30am
Prayer Group, 36 Simla Ave
7.30pm
Indoor Bowls at Summerset, Te Mata Rd
9.30am
‘mainly music’ in the foyer
7.00pm
The Singers in the Millar Room
Sunday 7th
10.00am
Family Service and Special Branch
Monday 8th
7.30pm
Bible Study Group, 625 St Georges Rd
Tuesday 9th
9.30am
Badminton at St Andrew’s hall
Wednesday 3
rd
Thursday 4th
Wednesday 10th 10.00am
Ladies Coffee Morning
7.30pm
Indoor Bowls at Summerset, Te Mata Rd
Thursday 11th
9.30am
7.00pm
‘mainly music’ in the foyer
The Singers in the Millar Room
Sunday 14th
8.00am
Communion
10.00am
Quarterly Communion and Special Branch
7.30pm
Board of Managers in the Millar Room
9.30am
Badminton at St Andrew’s hall
7.30pm
Indoor Bowls at Summerset, Te Mata Rd
9.30am
‘mainly music’ in the foyer
7.00pm
The Singers in the Millar Room
Saturday 20th
8.00am
Blokes Breakfast at Summerset, Ada St.
Sunday 21st
10.00am
Family Service and Special Branch
Monday 22nd
7.30pm
Bible Study Group, 625 St Georges Rd
Tuesday 23rd
9.30am
Badminton at St Andrew’s hall
Tuesday 16th
Wednesday 17
Thursday 18th
th
Wednesday 24th 7.30pm
Indoor Bowls at Summerset, Te Mata Rd
Thursday 25th
9.30am
‘mainly music’ in the foyer
7.00pm
The Singers in the Millar Room
Sunday 28thh
10.00am
Family Service and Special Branch
Tuesday 30th
9.30am
Badminton at St Andrew’s hall
JULY CALENDAR
Wednesday 1st
10.30am
Prayer Group, 36 Simla Ave
7.30pm
Indoor Bowls at Summerset, Te Mata Rd
9.30am
‘mainly music’ in the foyer
7.00pm
The Singers in the Millar Room
Sunday 5th
10.00am
Family Service and Special Branch
Tuesday 7th
9.30am
Badminton at St Andrew’s hall
7.30pm
Session meets in the foyer
10.00am
Ladies Coffee Morning
7.30pm
Indoor Bowls at Summerset, Te Mata Rd
Thursday 9th
7.00pm
The Singers in the Millar Room
Sunday 12th
8.00am
Communion
10.00am
Family Service and Special Branch
9.30am
Badminton at St Andrew’s hall
Thursday 2nd
Wednesday 8th
Tuesday 14th
Wednesday 15th 7.30pm
Indoor Bowls at Summerset, Te Mata Rd
Thursday 16th
7.00pm
The Singers in the Millar Room
Saturday 18th
8.00am
Blokes Breakfast at Summerset, Ada St
Sunday 19th
10.00am
Family Service and Special Branch
Monday 20th
7.30pm
Bible Study Group, 625 St Georges Rd
Tuesday 21st
9.30am
Badminton at St Andrew’s hall
7.30pm
Board of Managers in the Millar Room
Wednesday 22nd 7.30pm
Indoor Bowls at Summerset, Te Mata Rd
Thursday 23rd
9.30am
‘mainly music’ in the foyer
7.00pm
The Singers in the Millar Room
Sunday 26th
10.00am
Family Service and Special Branch
Tuesday 28th
9.30am
Badminton at St Andrew’s hall
Wednesday 29th 7.30pm
Indoor bowls at Summerset, Te Mata Rd
Thursday 30th
9.30am
‘mainly music’ in the foyer
7.00pm
The Singers in the Millar Room
MORNING TEA ROSTER
JUNE
7th
Jan and Arthur Peake
Elaine and Noel Congdon
878 2842
877 7535
14th
Judy Hausler and Jean Cornes
Heather Templeton and Colleen Field
877 5340
877 6230
21st
Jill Thomsen and Alan Wildbore
Ngaire and Ian Holford
877 4994
877 5537
28th
Jill and David McDonald
Jocelyn and Mac Kirkwood
877 7730
877 8184
Heather Templeton, Colleen Field
Judy Hausler, Jean Cornes
877 6230
877 5340
877 5336
877 4140
Beth and John Clothier
Shirley Hodge, Anne Keown
877 8502
877 8114
877 6266
19th
Judy and John Bark
Anne Ford Anderson
877 8449
877 5984
26th
Janet and Sam Browne
Jan Jenkins
877 7103
877 6547
JULY
5th
12th
877 4140
877 5336