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Vicar’s Letter:
In view of the fact that I am present among you as a sort of ‘prophet –in –the –gap’ I feel privileged to share with you some of the joys and pains of being an Anglican in this very diverse community of the Upper Clutha at this important time in its history. I was intrigued to read the excellent potted histories of the three churches in the parish – written by Erik Laytham at Saint Andrew’s, Cromwell; Helen Mathewson’s of Saint Columba, Wanaka; and Spin Davis’ notes about the Community Church at Tarras, which we share with the Presbyterians. We have a lot to be thankful for in those who have pioneered the Faith in this place.
The picture below gives you some idea of what the heart of my life is about in the lovely new Vicarage. |
This shows my little chapel in the corner of the Vicarage Committee Room. It’s here that I begin each day with prayers for the parish, and from which I gather strength for whatever is ahead of me in the way of ministry from the Blessed Sacrament reserved here for that specific purpose |  |
It is with this resource in mind that the Parish Vestry has obtained from the Bishop a Faculty to install in each of our churches at Wanaka and Cromwell a special wall-safe in the Sanctuary, called an Aumbry, which will be used to contain the Elements of the Eucharist for distribution to the Sick and Housebound in the parish.
Helping towards the provision of an Aumbry would be a very suitable object for anyone wishing to, in this special way, make a Thank-offering, or commemorate a Departed loved one. If you would like to contribute, please contact me, Fr. Ron. |
 | This picture was taken at a recent meeting of the Wanaka Study Group. At 10am each Wednesday this small group of parishioners gathers for a simple celebration of the Eucharist, with prayer and study. I am hopeful that we might raise up at least one more study group at each one of the parish centres at Tarras, Wanaka and Cromwell this year – before the arrival of your new Vicar. This would be such an encouragement to what I hope will be a new, fresh and fruitful ministry in your midst.
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Of course, there are splendid things happening in the parish – founded on a faithful group of people who have borne the ‘heat & burden’ of the day over many years, and we should indeed be thankful to God for their quiet, often unseen, background of prayer and action in our community |
The Baptism of Ashton Williamson, shown above, with his parents, Kelly and Rory at St. Columba’s is a sign of new life.
as is the Wedding of Barry and Deanne Banks, below:
| I feel that newcomers like myself, are often unaware of the years of selfless devotion that have been invested into the fabric and activity of church life in each of our 3 centres of worship. When we might long for a more active and energetic worshipping community –especially of the young – we are prone to forget that our structures have stood the test over many years – simply because of the faithfulness of local families and their offspring – whose Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals are still very much a part of our liturgical life.
We long for growth, and this will come when we are prepared to play our part in its encouragement. This means commitment and a ready willingness to open up our church buildings to new life-giving oppor-tunities for interaction with our neighbours in the community. We need, too, to make our worship as beautiful as possible, and I am hopeful that we might be able to learn a communal setting of the Eucharist in order to display the treasure of our Anglican Liturgy at its very best.
I think that when our congregations are able to join in a simple setting of the music of the Liturgy, the sense of wholeness and holiness that can be experienced by the gathered Body of Christ is one of the fruits of a lively worshipping community. |
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| Profile : The Brew Family |
 Reluctantly we say goodbye to Leith and Yvonne Brew who have been loyal members of the Saint Columba's family for 21yrs, originally the youngest members of the congregation.
Their daughter Moira, now in the 6th form year at St Hilda's College in Dunedin, was baptised at a Midnight
Easter service at St Columba's, especially remembered because the organ caught fire. Moira has a loving
relationship with God, and is supervisor of liturgy within the boarding house community of St Hilda's, and regularly
attends Eucharist at the Cathedral. She is remembered by the older generation of our congregation as a special
child of faith, the only child to attend regular church worship.
Leith has been actively involved within St Columba's using his skills as a builder for voluntary activity
including the merging of the old Presbyterian church and associated activities such as planning, moving, restoration
and painting. He remembers loyal supporters of this project including Rob and Helen Mathewson, Tim Wallace,
Curly Morris, and Gerry Aspinal to name a few. He has served along-side six Vicars, taking his Lay Ministry course
with the Rev'd Bill Sim.
He remembers Neville and Betty Selwood with special affection. Leith has served on the St Columba's
church committee almost continuously, and has been a member of the Upper Clutha Vestry for sixteen years. He has
been a one-time Parish Nominator and involved with supporting Maureen Sloan in initiating the Youth Group, and
Food Bank. He values Joan Nolan as a special overall leader within the St Columba's community. For two years he
was a joyful participant of a house group which included Mary Tolley, John Miles, and Eleanor Ayre. To quote Leith,
" It was Huge ". Outside voluntary activities included leading Scouts for twelve years and assisting Yvonne coaching Netball, both locally and regionally.
Yvonne shares her Christian beliefs with Leith and has supported his involvement with
St Columba's. Both were confirmed by Bishop Mann. Yvonne is known as a competent interior designer, owning her
own business and working in this interest since living in Wanaka. St Columba's has benefited from her expertise
during the building of the new vicarage. She has volunteered her skills making curtains there, and also
covering pew seats in the church. Within the community she has given a lot to netball - an involvement of 16 years,
including framing the constitution here, playing, coaching, and selecting players for Otago.
The Brews leave at the end of November for Invercargill where Leith has building work, and Yvonne intends
to continue working there. Future plans include, for Leith, to travel to Greece to visit a dear friend, then living with
Yvonne in England for two years, before intermittent mission work in the Ukraine and Rumania teaching small
business for a year, while Yvonne continues to be in England with family. The future may depend on Moira, and they
may be back. They certainly would be welcomed. They have made many friends through their Faith activities, and
wish to mention the Pennycuick family who came here as Youth Leaders. We as a Faith community will miss them,
but wish them Godspeed. The family is to be farewelled officially at the Sunday Eucharist at St Columba's on the
1st of October. They go with God's Blessing. |
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| WANAKA HAPPENINGS by Jacqui Roberts & Kelly Murfitt
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JAM CLUB
(Jesus and Me) | This provides Christian teaching and activities for primary school-aged children, jointly funded by the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches in Wanaka. Meetings are held in the Presbyterian Hall each Tuesday from 3 to 4.15pm during school term-time. There is Afternoon Tea and Worship, followed by age-group studies from the scripture Union syllabus. Our Joan Nolan is one of the teachers.
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W.A.Y.T.
(Wanaka Area Youth Trust) | This is a Christian Youth Group Trust with a committee from , and funded by, the Churches of the Wanaka area. The Coordinator is Amy Collins, who organises youth of the area from 12 to 17 years of age in teaching and fun activities. Their group is called FUEL and meets on Monday evenings. St. Columba is represented by Cate Davis and Kelly Murfitt on the trust Committee |
| WANAKAFEST | This Winter Festival celebrates the ski season in many ways - one of which is a parade featuring floats from the various social and commercial interests in Wanaka. The local Churches provided their own distinctive float this year, on the theme ‘Freeing the Prisoners’ |
| THE BIG FEED | The Saint Columba Community were again involved in this event which provides free meals to visiting youth who are in the area for the ski season and other popular activities. The third ‘Big Feed’ on 13th August, for 15o participants (mostly young Asians) was addressed by an Olympic Gold Medalist who gave a testimony on “How God Changed My Life”. The fourth event took place on 17th September, also well attended. |
| OVERSEAS MISSION | The members of the Wanaka Ladies’ Coffee Group (mostly members of Saint Columba congregation but open to other local women) were contributors to the recent appeal for help for the victims of the War in Lebanon and Gaza. $150 was given from the sale of soup, and another $100 from Group Funds - altogether #300 was sent from this small group of women in the Church.
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| ARCHBISHOP’S FAST FOR PEACE IN YORK MINSTER | This was noted by the Women’s Coffee Group as an encouragement by our parent Church of England for our involvement in concern for people in other parts of the world. To show his concern, the Archbishop, Dr. John Sentamu, pitched a small tent in the St. John Chapel in York Minister and with a shaven head, was anointed and began a Fast and Prayer Vigil for Peace in the Middle East. He asked people to come into the cathedral, light a candle and pray for the victims of the strife, asking that a lasting peace solution be found to this ongoing conflict. The Vigil was a great success, proving that the world is longing for peaceful solutions to conflict and many people are willing to work and pray for that end.
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| RECENT FAMILY LANDMARKS
| FUNERALS: Graeme David HENDERSON; John de Courcy HANAFIN & Kathleen Minnie CUPPLES
WEDDING: Barry Roy BANKS & Deanne Marie HOLDEN
BAPTISM: Ashton Robert WILLIAMSON |
| TARRAS TOPICS | The Anglican ladies recently catered afternoon tea for
the Otago Regional Council Irrigation meeting which was
held in the Tarras Hall. This was done as a Fundraiser.
20 chairs have been donated for the newly refurbished
Church Vestry. Many thanks to the local families for
contributing to these.
Some parishioners have joined us in the new experience
of "Taize" over the winter. Taize is a Protestant Religious
community in France, attracting young people from around
the world, gathering to enhance and build relationships and
trust among each other. The Taize style of worship is
reflective, using candles, music and silent contemplation.
On the 8th October at the Anglican Eucharist, Father Ron
will share his story of life as a Franciscan Friar. This is
expected to be very interesting for people of all ages.
Following the service will be morning tea, which everyone
is most welcome to attend.
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| ST ANDREW'S CROMWELL | In Memoriam
Muriel Craig - Ray Brown - Audrey Wright. These
stalwarts of St Andrew's congregation all their life, have
gone to their Maker. All departed this life within a few
weeks of each other. All are sadly missed.
Add to these, the recent loss of Russell Brown ( Ray's
husband ), Rev'd Edgar Pacey, Stan Bell and Lin Blair,
and you will note that St Andrew's has had a
disproportionate attrition rate. These deaths have literally
decimated our congregation. We need your prayers, and
we need an influx of new attendees at church.
The baptised young
Over recent years we have had a number of children
baptised in our churches. Unfortunately, after the service
of Baptism, we seldom see them again. One must ask
"Why?" "What do we do wrong " or "What do we not do
that we should do ?" St Andrew's committee has started
looking for answers. "Would there be support for a
daytime meeting ( or service ) to which all our young
mothers with their children could be invited ?" If anyone
has a suggestion as to what we might do, please do so.
The retired and aged
Recently we sat and discussed the issue of retirement
from the business world and its effect on other areas of
life, such as church attendance. It seems that many
people deem retirement as implying total retirement
including attending and supporting the church in which in
many cases they have had a very active roll. Surely we
should look at this from exactly the opposite direction.
With fewer commitments, retirement must give us the
ideal opportunity to indulge in as much church work and
social/welfare activity as our health will allow ???
If anyone has any suggestions as to how we might
encourage more of our "retired "to join us, please do so.
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