 |
 |
|
|
|
|
From November 2011 until end January 2012 Rev'd Clark was the Exchange Minister for Bays Presbyterian Church, Mairangi & Castor Bays, NZ. He came from being the Minister of North Kent Group of United Reformed Church, UK. (Visit The Bays Presbyterian Church's web site. See St Paul's location map or Mairangi Bay location map) There follows below in reverse date order Peter's thoughts and writings on his exchange experiences. Hover your mouse over each image to read captions. To read Don Hall's (the Exchange Minister from NZ) own Kentish Musings, please click here. Peter’s Mairangi Musings Part (xi) – A Postscript Well I’ve signed off once so this is by way of a ‘PS’ for which I hope you will indulge me. We left the Saints of Mairangi Bay sharpish after our final service with the lovely Stewart Milne running us to the airport in plenty of time for out flight (the dire warnings to keep away from the roads due to a major traffic works turned out to be for us a damp squib fortunately). It seemed rather surreal to travel in a a warm summery day in a dark suit but even more strange to realise that we had managed for four months including work with the contents of a suitcase (23Kg max weight) and hand luggage. I wonder if I might travel lighter in real life now?
Anyway we arrived safely in Christchurch and popped straight over for me to collect a rather basic motorhome while Sue was run home to join in grandson Archer’s 2nd birthday party. Once I had the van I then realised that in the three months since I’d been in Christchurch I had only vague memories how to get to Lincoln. Vague turned out to be sufficient, even if I had to do a couple of course corrections, arriving in time to join that great Kiwi event – the BBQ!
Now for the first justification for this PS – and for that I need to back-track a few years when I received a direct marketing letter. Normally I throw this sort of thing straight into the bin, but this was from a New Zealand winery called the Clark Estate and started; ‘Dear Fellow Clark …’ It even referred to the life-long problem of having to tell everyone “Clark-without-an-E.” It hit all my buttons and I was hooked. I bought a half case for Christmas 2009 and later bought some more to celebrate my sister’s 50th. On arriving in Mairangi Bay in October, I ordered some more at the cheaper Kiwi price. Delightfully the marketing manager, Sarah Clark, not only remembered me, it turned out that the North Shore was her old stomping ground. She also remembered that I had always intended to visit the vineyard on my next NZ visit and encouraged me to do so.
Thus before I left the North Island I had again emailed to find directions to the vineyard and Sarah encouraged me to ring her father – also called Peter Clark - who lived on site to sort a convenient time. When I did so he kindly invited us to stay overnight. Thus on the Monday after our arrival on the South Island we belted up to the Awatere Valley south-east of Blenheim. We had a wonderful tour and heard the fascinating history of the vineyard from first planting to the current day with Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Riesling grapes. I the most beautiful of scenery, we had terrific hospitality, fellowship and as a wonderful bonus, slept on site.
But that was not all, for after breakfast Peter took us for some fun driving around the vineyard on quad bikes. And after that we got a go on the big tractor, including cutting the grass both on the verges and between the vines. It was so cool – hence I just HAD TO TELL SOMEONE!!!!! Which is what a blog is about I suppose so forgive my self-indulgence. If you feel like joining in the indulgence you can find out more about Clark Estate wines at www.borehamwoodwines.co.nz The rest of our mini-break was pretty good and included time in Blenheim (among more Marlborough wineries), Nelson, Pohara in the Abel Tasman National Park, Murchison and Hanmer Springs. No details as who wants to hear about other people’s holidays? But in the midst of that there lies my second justification for this PS. For driving around the Abel Tasman area was a humbling experience as some months back there was a period of torrential rain about which I had the temerity to complain at the time even in my blog. Well the poor souls of this locality bore the brunt of it as huge numbers of flash floods washed away great chunks of the roads in some sections of this region. I have previously seen the evidence of nature’s power to destroy in our first visit to NZ – but this was an awesome amount of damage. And I’d like to pay tribute to the civil engineers who have made the roads available again and will, in due course, return it all to a point when no-one will even know it happened.
But it made me reflect on the expression people have used several times in my visits here – about New Zealand being a ‘young country.’ I have always thought in terms of occupation by people but I now understand the geological youth more clearly (having watched one of a very few home-grown TV programmes) and having seen the effects of nature against our human attempts to carve the environment to suit us. It has given me much to reflect on the wisdom of the Psalmist in exploring the role of humanity in the place of things: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honour. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:3-9 NRSV) And my third justification is another gift that I have received during my time here – a visit from Lloyd Geering to the parish in November. Hearing him preach and subsequently reading his autobiography have made me ponder much on my relatively orthodox Christian views despite my generally liberal / open approach to Scripture and faith. I was struck by one reference of his to the use of the term ‘dogmatics’ relating to systematic theology. And I wondered if I am either simply ‘content / comfortable in orthodoxy’ or maybe in some way rather a ‘prisoner of dogma.’ In actual fact I don’t want to be either. I believe our faith is about struggling and exploring and never ever about either simple certainties or being settled and comfortable. I haven’t got the answer and indeed never expect to get it – but I do think that this experience in a similar but different environment has been most helpful in re-opening my mind to the challenge of being a theologian as well as being a pastor. It is too easy in the fullness of pastoral ministry to simply get bogged down in the business (busy-ness?) of leading services, attending meetings and caring for people to forget to think, pray, read and explore my own walk with God and attempts to better understand the incomprehensible creator. Church can be a useful institution but being a member of a church is not about running the church but about us being the People of God, the People of Faith. And for that prompt and opportunity for refreshment I am most grateful. So thank you Castor and Mairangi Bays and the North Kent Group, thank you Don and Janet Hall, thank you all and, more than anything, thank you God for this wonderful time. With every blessing, Peter Mairangi Bay, 9/2/12 [uploaded 9 February 2012] Peter’s Mairangi Musings Part (x) – Parting is such sweet sorrow Our last week has been as full as normal – as if anything here is normal, though I am assured constantly that this is more like normal weather and Summer has arrived at last. Just in time to leave then? Huh! Our penultimate day off was spent popping across to the final of our trinity of islands to visit. The volcanic island is the youngest one in the gulf and dominates the horizon from whatever coastline you look. And of course being volcano-shaped it looks the same from wherever you stand. It is said that when the volcano erupted, the dust cloud was noticed in China – so for the Maori on Mototapu island next to it must’ve been somewhat disturbed. In the 500 years since (or anywhere up to 800 depending on what source you access) nature has slowly and steadily covered its bleak surface with plants under the umbrella of stunning pohutukawa tree islands.
We walked up to the summit where we were met by a stupendous view over the crater beneath us – every inch covered by tree growth. And a reassuring education board stating that scientists think it is extinct. THINK? I thought, I jolly well hope so!
The view from the summit was wonderful and we sat and ate our sandwiches in awe. We took a longer route back alternately slipping on dry dusty road and then baking in the reflected heat from the lava at others. We arrived back at the wharf at 17:05 – plenty early enough for the last ferry due at 17:30. So a casual walk around the base lanes, a little chat with an occupant of an historic bach (remember these are basic holiday homes / shacks and these were the real McCoy – and pronounced ‘batch’), and we and 15 others sat and awaited the ferry. At 17:45 one of our number rang the company to ask where it was and guffawed at the response that it had been! I have seldom seen such a perfect exhibition of the art of assertiveness and our party was grateful to her securing an explanation (a boat had broken down and in the rescheduling the 17:30 had simply been forgotten), a boat sent to collect us a mere 45 minutes and an apology. Oh yes – and a free drink from the bar on the short journey over. So all in all a great and successful day. Sunday’s service tied up my series on the Church as the Foretaste of the Kingdom (yes Lance Stone I’m still thinking about the concept so credit where credit is due, ok?) and the service included a baptism of an 8-year-old. Half way through I realised I’d forgotten to put on Don’s cassock alb but nobody else seemed to notice or mind so I carried on in my style of normal. This was followed by another lunch with church members – we have been so well looked after – in a house overlooking the sea and, in the distance, the ever-present Rangitoto. One minute in beautiful crystal-clear view, the next with clouds and rain making it almost invisible. It is a stunning place this. Our final week just rushed by in a whirr as I tied up loose ends including preparing reports for Parish Council, a Pastoral Report, a service for my return (when I will probably be jet-lagged) and of course my final service here. Plus the necessity to respond to countless emails as I prepare the ground for UK ministry – a reminder if ever I needed one that this was always going to be a temporary experience. A meal with a Kiwi Minister who I’d met at Westminster last May, a couple of pastoral visits, a shift at the Dee’s Social Group and then a handover to Don who had landed the night before and then on our last Friday, another ferry trip Devonport to Auckland City Centre for a bit of souvenir shopping and another go at green-lipped mussels, a report to Parish Council – and our last week was gone. A final beautiful Saturday spent mostly indoors packing unfortunately but with the prospect of a swim later maybe? A final service tomorrow in which I shall tell the story of our stay here in personalised number plates, and my concept of the similarities between the church and the pohutukawa (including the fact that they appear to be at their best at Christmas!) And that’s it. Three months of exchange ministry all gone in the flash of an eye. Except that it has not gone. It has, rather, been spent and shared and experienced in the most wonderful way. It is an enormous privilege to be a Minister of Word and Sacrament and to share in the hearts and lives of God’s people in the highs and lows that life throws at us. It has been an especially wonderful experience to be released from my own care temporarily to be among another equally special group on the other side of the world. Church struggles with the same things it meets in England but the people are at to be with and God’s blessings are manifold. So often in church life we repeat the mantra that the church is the people not the building and it is SO TRUE. I have learnt also that the Maori have a proverb on similar lines: He aha te mea nui i te ao? He tangata he tangata he tangata! What is the most important thing in the world ? It is people it is people it is people! So with that final thought I sign off. We have two more weeks of holiday before returning to the delights of the UK winter hopefully refreshed and ready to take up ‘normal.’ As if ‘Normal’ can ever exist again!
With every blessing, Peter Mairangi Bay, 29/1/12 [uploaded 28 January 2012, UK time] Peter’s Mairangi Musings It hardly seems a moment ago that we arrived in New Zealand after months and months of planning and looking forward to four glorious months in Godzone, three of which to be in post as Acting Minister at Castor and Mairangi Bays churches. And here in the blink of an eye I find myself preparing myself for goodbyes, final services, a holiday in the South Island and – more strange than I thought a thought could be – getting ready for home and normality (whatever that is!) With emails now reaching me with requests for diary dates, decisions and briefings for my return I can feel already that I am mentally on the move. Since last I recorded my thoughts on this blog, it has been actually been quite a quiet period into which we have fitted some interesting experiences. Church life here goes a bit quiet as it often does in August in the UK – though there I have the added impetus of planning for a Holiday Club to full my days. In Kent at this mid-winter stage I often too have a number of funerals to conduct but here the nearest to a death was when I caught a cold and spent a week feeling distinctly under par and doing my best not to be accused of having ‘man-flu.’ I have managed a bit of pastoral work, several sessions at Deed Group and prepared a series of services with a linked theme of what Church is all about? Series rarely happen in my home pastorate since I jump from church to church week by week so that has been a nice change. My final service will bring those thoughts together with some images of the Pohutukawa tree (‘NZ Christmas Tree’) which has been a wonderful symbolic image during this sojourn in the North Island. One afternoon when my cold was slowing my thought processes Sue suggested we got a bit of air and walked part-way around Lake Pupuke, a flooded volcanic crater that once upon a time was the reservoir for the North Shore inhabitants. It was delightful with the bonus that we finally spied the beautiful blue moorhen-like native Pukeko birds along the shore. I can’t count the times I have seen cartoons and caricatures of these beauties and though bird-watching has never been a passion I got really excited at the sight. Islands in the Hauraki Gulf have been a bit of a theme as on our days off we have visited or circulated several. First we took the Devonport ferry to Waiheke, a beautiful and rather large island on which many folk actually live as well as having bachs (pronounced batches) – the North Island name for a holiday home (South Islanders have ‘cribs,’ we’re told). The weather has been very trying and hugely variable apart from the regular visit of ‘Mr Rain.’ But that Friday was absolutely glorious and boy was I glad I had taken my panama hat (a Christmas present from Sue to replace the one lost on the steam train in our first week here!). It was blistering and we walked through the replanted woodlands to Oneroa. Much of these hillsides had been over-farmed and over-grazed and were basically being washed away by the rains. Back in the 70’s one man started a process which others joined in planting native trees on the slopes to restore the land. I am most impressed with the conservation-mindedness here and the foresight to realise that much as the early settlers had brought benefits to the land, they had caused harm too. Sensitive farming and development is surely the answer – such as the Cable Bay sustainable winery we also walked to. Stunning views towards Auckland with mobile sculpture moving gently in the wind. Lovely wine too. The following week’s trip was to Tiri Tiri Matanga, an island off the Whangaparaoa peninsula. Here again the initial European inhabitants farmed and decimated the natural flora and fauna. From the 70’s onwards, there has been a concerted (and very successful) effort to restore the native species here by planting native trees and other plants and encouraging native birds which have been faced extinction thanks to competing animals (including rats), mostly introduced by European settlers (we ‘Pakeha’ as the Maoris call us). Again it was stunning to see how successful they have been in transforming an island that was bare in huge swathes to a glorious woodland. One of the church members, Norma, is a volunteer on the island our little group of four were blessed by having her to ourselves for the day. She showed us a list of native birds that we might hope to see and of these we saw the overwhelming majority including; Whitehead, Rifleman, Saddleback, Stitch bird, Oystercatcher (and chicks), Brown Teal, North Island Robin, Kakariki, Takehe and (the bonus) a Kokako. Gosh this place could turn me into a birdwatcher maybe after all? We even saw a fairly small Weta – a grasshopper-like insect that grows absolutely huge. The island authorities are really strict about it’s bio-security and maintaining it as vermin-free and was an absolute joy – and the weather for once wasn’t a pain with just a number of short showers. Again I congratulate New Zealand for utilising these islands to conserve and develop it’s unique and very special biological and botanical heritage – and thank God for the gift of these islands.
On Sunday afternoon we managed a quick re-visit to Murawai Beach since every time we mentioned it, folk asked if we’d see the gannets? On a windy and showery day we got so entranced again by the incredible waves crashing over the rocks that we actually forgot about the sea birds! Then on in impulse to cross the rocks between waves crashing across them and running up the staircase up the cliffs, we stumbled fortuitously on the gannet colony on the cliff edges. Now I understand why folk kept asking us if we’d seen them? Stunning!
Our third trip was a much anticipated invitation to go fishing with a couple of the parishioners. When Don suggested that George might take me fishing I confess that my heart sunk. Nothing was less attractive than sitting by a riverbank for hours, probably catching tiddlers and then throwing everything back in. The picture attached with Don’s email, however, had him holding a massive fish and standing on the rear of a sea-going craft. “Now that’s fishing!” I thought – and boy did it live up to the billing! In once more glorious weather, we set out from Gulf Harbour on Whangaparaoa and anchored off Tiri Tiri Matanga and bagged a decent trawl of snapper and a couple of bigger fish. Sue we think caught the biggest – a Kingfish – but it was undersize so had (after a picture of course) to be returned. It was a fabulous day polished off with a swim off the back of the boat by Shakespeare Beach - and we had a feast of snapper for supper (with several portions now in the freezer). The only downside was it was a Wednesday when I should’ve been working as a fisher of people not fish but the trip was weather-dependent and I trust I will be forgiven! Well as we approach the final week or so I suppose this will be my penultimate entry and I shall aim for that last one to be a bit more reflective and less fun-filled maybe? Then again the sun is shining and maybe God wants us to enjoy our time here too? With every blessing, Peter Mairangi Bay, 19/1/12 [uploaded 19 January 2012, UK time] Peter’s Mairangi Musings Part (viii) – After Christmas With Christmas over Emily and I set out on our road trip. Hardly Thelma and Louise but it’s a long way from Auckland to Wellington and we did it in one day and almost completely within the speed limit. I had thought it might be hard work but to be honest the scenery – particularly in the mountainous area in the middle of the country past Lake Taupo – was breathtaking. Whoever said only the South Island has the views was wrong. We arrived in our B&B in Upper Hutt and then, distinctly peckish, set off for supper on the waterfront in Wellington. The following day Emily and I spent a fascinating say in the Te Papa museum – with the volcano and earthquake section given an added piquancy (nay horror?) in the light of the continuing aftershocks Sue was experiencing in Christchurch.
By lunchtime I was all on my lonesome as I popped Emily onto a plane to join Stefan and family in Christchurch and I had several hours to kill before Sue was to join me in Wellington. I pined badly – how Don managed for so many weeks I don’t know as I had only a few days. I spent my day lone in glorious sunshine in the countryside overlooking Wellington. And after our joyous reunion, I simply had to share my trip and hill climb a second time with Sue. Indeed our next day included a revisit to Te Papa, this time including the Maori cultural section. The weather was again wonderful but sadly this was not to last.
A delightful drive to Napier was followed by an enjoyable time in the art deco capital of New Zealand. Following its destruction in the 1931 earthquake (is this becoming another theme?) the city was rebuilt in the then fashionable architecture and is the largest display of art deco I have ever experienced. We even enjoyed a night in the Masonic Art Deco Hotel – quaintly old-fashioned and delightful.
The following day we drove the relatively short distance to Taupo on the stunning Lake Taupo but by this point the weather had deteriorated seriously and we could barely see beyond the shoreline. We opted to soldier on to our next port of call in Rotorua, the geothermal centre of the North Island on the basis that some of its attractions were indoors, including a Maori cultural performance at Te Puia in the Te Aronui-a-Rua Meeting House. It’s most spectacular ones, however, remained outside and in order to experience them (wonderful bubbling mud pools, steaming fumarole landscapes reminiscent of Dr Who episodes and after a long cold wait in the rain, glorious geysers) we had to brave the precipitation and in the process get very, very wet. Thank goodness for a motel room with a heater where we snuggled down, battened down the hatches and slept soundly through the arrival of 2012. Our second (still wet) day included a trip round the Victorian era bath house museum. Nevertheless, despite the weather and the constant stink of Hydrogen Sulphide in the atmosphere, I thoroughly enjoyed the taste of the primeval. Though in truth it was quite nice to breathe fresh air some miles north.
An uneventful drive north-west took us via a quick look-see over the Bay of Plenty and Mount Maunganui by Tauranga and safely back ‘home’ to Mairangi Bay. Whereupon the rain stopped. Thus Sue was able to do the weeding and I cut the lawn before a decent walk along the beach. So typical January 2nd then! With every blessing, Peter Peter’s Mairangi Musings Part (vii) – Christmas comes but one a year (though 13 hours earlier this time!) I’m playing catch-up now having laid aside my keyboard for the pre- and post-Christmas periods – it does tend to get busy in my field of work as well as everybody else. Tuesday 13th December began with a rude awakening as I had to drive across the Harbour Bridge for my first time to collect my daughter Emily from the airport at 5:30am. She arrived full of beans after an incident-free trip via San Francisco and having slept a full 10 hours on her last leg. We were greeted by Sue producing a cooked breakfast and then we took her on a full tour of the locality by foot. I’d expected a spaced-out visitor so this was a bonus – and by the time she felt the need for a nap, I still had most of the day left to do some work. Well I would’ve if I hadn’t dropped off myself mid-afternoon. Early starts are not my thing! The rest of the week was a juggling act of final touches to Christmas service preparation, pre-Christmas pastoral visits and taking the chance to show Emily the sights between Sue and I. They had a trip to Auckland city centre, and we had a drive along the causeway coastline, taking in Kelly Tarlton’s Arctic and Undersea World, another trip to Whangaparaoa and Orewa. Well sometimes you just have to do the tourist thing. We also had the delight of a performance of Berlioz’s oratorio ‘L’enfance du Christ by the Bach Musica in Holy Trinity Cathedral. This was followed by a trip down city centre Franklin Street where the locals decorate their house fronts with lights in an annual display of gaudy display without being tacky. The high point of the week was the culmination of weeks of choir practice – the Choral Service which is much more music- and choir-centred than my own rough equivalent service (on Christmas Eve). I interspersed a collection of reflections penned by me over the years to tell the story in words as the choir and congregation told it in music. I’d written one piece specially with Mary (read by my Sue) and Joseph (me) supposedly writing letters to each other apologising for their own gaucheness and inadequacy on the one hand throughout the events of the first Christmas, whilst appreciating the way the other had managed it so well on the other. We don’t affirm each other in relationship often enough and I’d like to think it reflected the all to often unsaid things. The whole service was glorious and so fabulous to be a part of a 30+ strong choir in a full church telling the first chapter of the greatest story ever told. It set me up for the following week. What a shame Emily overslept and missed the whole thing!
Christmas week seemed to pass in a blur one minute and then periods of time standing still - as it always seems to. Waiting, waiting and the ‘now and not yet’ of it all seem to coincide. Somehow we fitted in a social gathering for the Parish Council one evening, a convoy of cars taking 11 of us around to older folks’ homes to sing carols (one time in the garden – now that could not happen in the UK!) and my debut as Santa Claus at the Dee’s Group. With the elastic pulling the beard higher and higher I ended up with the moustache above my nose and having to be led out ultimately by my helpful elfin assistant since it totally obscured my vision. At least I got the ‘ho-ho-ho’s’ by the end even if I couldn’t remember the words of Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer. Not my finest performance!
Never mind, the Christmas services went well – I’m more in my comfort zone in my own uniform. But first, with Sue having flown to Christchurch the day before Emily and I popped to see the sights of Devonport. While atop Mount Victoria, I got a text to say Sue had arrived safely but while in Santa’s grotto a mere hour or so after landing, had ‘hit the ground like a local’ as the first of two earthquakes hit Christchurch. The difficult times for the Cantabrians continue, sadly. Difficult times too for a parish member whose husband died overnight and prompted a pastoral visit on Christmas Eve. The Season is always that mix of joy and sadness. Well we had the mixture at a raucous 7pm service held jointly with the Anglicans at Castor Bay with standing room only. A neighbour bemoaned the prospect that this might not happen next year if the church, which has agreed to close by 2013, opts to move that date forward. “Is it all about money?” he asked. No it’s about people –without the people week in and week out. If we could do every week as well as we do Christmas, perhaps? Anyway, we were moved by the vicar’s message that the churches in Christchurch could not get engineers’ reports in time to OK using church buildings for Christmas services so had agreed to hold them all in the open air. Terrific witness of the ‘homeless’ in solidarity with the homeless saviour born in a stable. 11:30pm was a much quieter, more reflective service. I haven’t done a ‘midnight’ service since Cambridge as we don’t do one in Gravesham and the 16 or so folk shared with me a quieter and more reverent service – though it did include meeting the very donkey who witnessed the holy birth.
Christmas Day saw a joyous and celebratory service in Mairangi Bay. Church habits are different here and a full church celebrated the Emmanuel complete with an interactive reading of the Bible Story with the whole congregation taking part. We also had a guest appearance of Emily together with me as the Angels in the Heavenly Planning Department getting ready for Christmas. Don had briefed me that this service was ‘usually a blast.’ I think we kept up the tradition.
So an Upside Down Christmas as Shirley Murray calls it has been celebrated. Different but similar and certainly recognisable. And rightly so – the Saviour didn’t just come for the Northern Hemisphere after all. Emily and I embraced the Kiwi Christmas by going swimming in the sea before lunch where we not only saw swimmers with Santa hats, but, obtusely and unexpectedly we even found a snowball after presumably someone had been defrosting their freezer. East and West meets North and South as we celebrate the Coming One!
With every blessing, Peter Mairangi Bay, 3/1/12 [uploaded 4 January 2012] Part (vi) – The Sequel’s Sequel Returns A relatively quiet time at the start of this week with hospitality all over the place from the good folks of Castor Bay and Mairangi Bay. My goal of NOT putting on weight during this period took a bit of a bashing with supper out Monday and Tuesday, a shared meal with the Luncheon Club on Thursday and then the eponymous parish ‘Coffee and Desserts’ evening on Saturday. Whoever came up with the idea of all gathering for a social with again a shared meal – but this time only puddings (sorry desserts)? Sounded bonkers but after my third trip to the table I was a convert – sheer genius! My only problem was the South American musician who played brilliantly on guitar and pan pipes but insisted on singing ‘”Guantanamera” to one tune instead of the proper words “Sing when you’re winning, you only sing when you’re winning.” I know they’re the proper words cos we sadly sing them all too often at Oxford!
I’d put together Sunday’s services early on again and then got on with getting ahead with the plethora of Christmas services. So pretty much in control again and enabled to do a touch of pastoral visiting again. It makes me realise how many meetings I have to attend in the daytime back in Kent that are not directly associated with the pastorate – and thus take me away from my folk. I received a newsletter from the local Northern Presbytery which ended with a motto of sorts: “Pastors look after the flock. The sheep bring the lambs.” I know it’s fashionable to point out that pastoral visiting isn’t the sole job of the Minister – and certainly it is not! However, I do think (especially if pastoral care is part of your nature, as it is with me) that it can be an important part of being a Minister. I spend a significant amount of doing things that are either not really my strengths or part of my nature – and feeling guilty about being on the one hand a lousy evangelist and on the other for not visiting folk as much as I (or they) would like. Perhaps this episode is seeking to teach me to remember I am a Pastor, and “Pastors look after the sheep …” Pastors though also need a day off and we went to Devonport which like its UK namesake is a naval town. The shopping was the most I have enjoyed since arriving (real shops rather than malls), the pier was fabulous to walk to the end and watch the yachts and ferries, the view from the top of Mount Victoria stunning (and even better for having walked up it this time) and in the town, a real pub-like pub! Great day and felt fully recharged at the end of it.
Saturday result ended Oxford’s five match run of losing – so no singing about others singing when they’re winning this week after all. Sunday showed how the same core service can be quite markedly different in different churches – and it wasn’t just the fact that there was communion and audio-visual support in the Mairangi Bay version. It is a real privilege not only to be a Pastor but to be an affirmed Worship Leader too. Well my daughter Emily arrives early next week – we’ll see if it’s quite as quiet then, shall we? Blessings, Peter Mairangi Bay, 12/12/11 [uploaded 13 December 2011] Peter’s Mairangi Musings Part (v) – The Sequel’s Sequel? Surely it cannot be that many weeks since we arrived … and only those many to our return? Ah well, then I’d better be using my time here wisely. The diary has been full and hopefully wisely filled with an interesting time at the Albany Presbyterian Church for an event aimed at encouraging local denominational engagement when Presbytery seems so distant physically and psychologically (prompting comparisons with a Southern Synod similarly perceived as distant prompting local gatherings of Synod Areas in the URC). It was an enlightening evening with two interesting speakers. And though the cheesecake with the coffee separating the two halves didn’t live up to its billing, the cheese was to die for (so thankfully there was hardly any there otherwise I’d’ve been tempted back for more and backslid on my intentions to lose some weight!) Monday’s high point was the emergence of the Monarch butterfly from the chrysalis given by Stewart and Barbara Milne. Amazing bit of nature to start the week.
Thursday was a bit fraught as a super pre-Christmas lunch with committees was followed by a kind offer to take Sue and I on a quick tour of Devonport with a magnificent view from the former fort atop Mount Victoria. What a view of the environs of Auckland that equalled at least that from the famous Skytower – and this one not only for free, but unlikely to disturbed by some lunatic doing the Skyjump off it! The fraught-ness resulted from begin caught in traffic on the return journey making me fifteen minutes late for a booked home communion. Fortunately the folk understood and forgave – though our host was a little disappointed I wished to be known as ‘Peter’ and not (presumably) Rev Clark! Hopefully the service didn’t’ confirm the impression of being frivolous. As last week the priority after preparing for the upcoming Sunday service has been to get ahead of myself with Christmas services – all of which are coming on fine. It has occurred to me that nature too is preparing. In the UK we tend to use ‘sleeping nature imagery – seeds and buds already evident but quiescent and full of promise. Hence a baby in a manger is a sign of possibility, opportunity, surprise in the offing? Here we have arrived in a late Spring / early Summer season where such iconography cannot be appropriate. And yet nature perversely offers an alternative track for the Southern Hemisphere. It seems to me just as the palm were used to announce the coming of the King into Jerusalem, so the palms wave in welcome, the iconic Norfolk Pines seem like hands in praise and the falling petals of the beautiful bottle brush trees coat the pavements like a red carpet reminiscent of Oscars Night. Then there’s the majestic and impressive Pohutukawa trees that cling tenaciously to cliff-sides in defiance of their protected status, almost as it they are saying “Need protecting do we? Ha!” And then at this time of year, gradually and imperceptibly, they put forth their buds and by and by transform from green to red as their amazing red flowers burst forth. It’s only Advent of course so they are only part-way there but it seems to me as I walk around that all around me nature is ready to announce the Coming One in a glorious Technicolor that Hollywood could only dream of! Like a small child awaiting Christmas I can almost hardly wait to see a whole Pohutukawa in proclamatory bloom!
Day off took us this week to Whangarei with its beautiful town basin marina, craft market and a stunning walk through Kauri woods to a spectacular water fall. How often have I walked to ‘The Falls’ to end up looking at a disappointment? Too many times is the answer – but not this time. Now this was a waterfall. Wow!
After that it just rained and rained for twelve hours. I suppose a) that saved me from having to cut the grass again and b) the Pohutukawa etc. will benefit (and in due course us too!) Shalom, Peter Mairangi Bay, 6/12/11 [uploaded 7 December 2011] Sue Clark: The blog from NZ! It seems high time that I managed a blog on my experiences here so far in this delightful country and also let you know that I often think of you all and especially in this period of Advent. I was delighted that the choir and other folk had an opportunity to participate in Songs of Praise and look forward to seeing the recordings. We were very appreciative of the wonderful welcome and generous hospitality we had from everyone and it was a lovely opportunity to get to know people. However I was really amazed at how quickly time flew in the early weeks in Auckland just getting to know the local geography, the church folk, the times of church services, and activities. It was also important to find the local shops, and consultation with the local map ensured I found my way back! It was useful to read the house manual to ensure that the bins were out on the correct day and that I could safely operate some of the machinery around the house!! It was fun exploring the locality although I had forgotten how hilly it was!! But of course good for a bit of cardiovascular workout. Also two days after arrival here I enrolled for a class at the Mairangi Arts Centre on printmaking which was something that I had not done before. Apart the usual domestic necessities I also started to deal with the garden which is really delightful but needs care and attention such as weeding and watering!! Peter gets the pleasure/pain of the motor mower! I also got to drive the Holden so could do a bigger grocery shop and some Christmas shopping. We seemed to have full days and were out a lot in the evenings for meals, Rotary meetings/dinners, choir and bible study which all contributed to the weeks passing quickly. Obviously now we are more familiar with things and places it is easier to get around. The scenery is just beautiful with the coast and its paths and so many unusual green shrubs and plants as well as the red blossom trees especially the Pohutukawa Christmas flowering tree!! Early on I was attracted to a beautiful tree known as a Norfolk Pine and used it in my printmaking class only to be informed that what I thought was an indigenous pine is actually from Australia, so I duly incorporated some of the wonderful fern images that are indigenous! The climate is generally mild and warm at the moment and I have done some walking between the bays along the beach when the tide is low. The views are stunning on clear days across to small islands and I know that some of you aware that the spectacle from the sitting room, on the first floor, is of the Pacific! The beach is 15 minutes walk and is really delightful and most days I walk to the village and /or beach. The final Saturday of November Mairangi Bay had the Santa parade, with a great carnival atmosphere, but Christmas music, which involved among them the emergency vehicles, surfers, life savers, girls brigade, children’s nurseries as well as church groups and we had a cake stall which did very well. That evening we went to Handels’ Messiah at a Presbyterian church a few miles away in Takapuna which was delightful and began to put us in Christmas mode. We look forward to another concert at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland which features L’enfance du Christ by Berlioz. Our early days off were spent motoring a bit further afield and getting to know the wider geography all of which were really wonderful. Most recently we drove further north and stayed overnight in Whangerai and visited an artisan craft market on the waterside by moored yachts and followed this with a walk up to the Whangerai waterfall. The walk through the woodlands again demonstrated amazing diversity of plants, shrubs and trees and was truly magnificent. This is an experience I feel privileged to be having and am grateful that we were able to undertake it and believe that our involvement here is a blessing to us in many ways. If it is any consolation the weather is not always lovely, it has poured with rain most of the day!! Christmas blessings to you all. Sue, Mairangi Bay, 24/11/11 [uploaded 4 December 2011] Peter’s Mairangi Musings Part (iv) – The Sequel Returns! Life in New Zealand as in Gravesend is of course a mixture of gladness and sadness and this week began with one such mixture – my first taste of a Kiwi funeral. And again a mixture of the familiar and the different. Family and friends had gathered from all over to celebrate, give thanks and to say goodbye to a much loved person with long associations with the Mairangi Bay church. But however did they manage to do so in less than a week I (who normally finds 10 days the quickest possible in the UK)? The service was familiar and accorded as in the UK there is much more informal family involvement and story telling than there was even 10 years ago. A brother’s and a daughter-in-law’s moving and honest tributes were followed by an opening to the gathered folk to add their thoughts. This has happened in a couple of my funerals but apparently this is the norm here, with the Minister’s role principally that of adding some prayer and sensitively holding the whole rite together (done beautifully by Karel Loriel a retired Minster in the parish). What was absolutely new was the final farewell – for after family members had carried out the coffin and placed it in the back of a white classic estate car (UK hearses are uniformly black and purpose-built), the funeral director drove the deceased away to the crematorium alone. There are a variety of sequences I have encountered before – but never that one. Theologically it is fine of course – we had carried out the committal and all was ‘in order.’ It just seemed a bit strange I do confess. Stranger yet was a pastoral visit with a lovely parishioner who I’d seen the weekend before and prayed with fully expecting that this might be the last time I ever saw him. Tuesday I popped in to be greeted cheerfully by name and asked how Don is getting on? God is good! Much of the rest of the week was pretty routine and indicates that perhaps I have settled in to more or less ‘normal’ mode. Worship planning, visiting folk, meeting and getting to know others in church activities, finding my way around the patch, waiting for the plumber to arrive (the waste disposal unit having worked its way a little loose), give the manse lawn a second cut since arrival (this time without risking offending any strict Sabbatarians!) – so pretty normal stuff really. Which has given me time to do two things. The first has been to start a list for ultimate comparison with three columns entitled ‘Same,’ ‘Similar’ and ‘Different.’ The idea is to produce this at a later stage of the period. The other thing I’ve started on big time is Christmas. The priority is the Choral Service on the 18th December which is by now more or less in its last draft format – and I’ve had to get my head around the Christmas Eve and Day services which are quite a bit different from the norm in North Kent Group. I’m meeting the Anglican Vicar next week to chat about the joint service at Castor Bay and it’s good to feel it’s all pretty much in hand. Day off consisted of cashing in on my experience of a fortnight back and driving to Birkenhead (we’ve been kindly lent a SatNav which makes life a breeze suddenly) and taking the ferry across to Auckland City Centre. We took shops, the art gallery and saw a massive cruise ship arrive in port and returned on a ‘rush-hour’ ferry glad we hadn’t opted to drive in!
Saturday’s highlight was a trip to St George’s Takapuna for a 60-plus voice choir performing Handel’s Messiah – the first time I’ve heard it live and it was glorious, wonderful etc. Incidentally, two of the pieces for the Mairangi Bay Choral Service are ‘Quodlibets’ – i.e. each part of the choir sings a different but complimentary song, initially separately but ultimately all at once. One is even in a mixture of languages. I noticed in St George’s that it had a stained glass window with English, Latin, Greek and Hebrew – so I decided it was a window quodlibet (though sadly my Greek and Hebrew have receded so far that I could not translate them).
The seven days concluded with a baptism at Castor Bay and a joint service at Forrest Hill Presbyterian Church on a blisteringly hot day that just had to end with a paddle in the sea. Glorious … wonderful … oh there I go again!
Peter Mairangi Bay, 27/11/11 [uploaded 29 November 2011] Peter’s Mairangi Musings Part (iii) – The Sequel I don’t know if it’s the air, the mattress, the workload or the regular exercise but I have never slept so well so many days in a row – or maybe it’s simply the lesser levels of stress? I wonder how I can manage that on my return topside? Talking of exercise, I was reminded on my arrival what a great walker Don is. But since he is also a great early-riser (I’m not – I refer you back to the first paragraph) I believe he goes for early morning walks. I have alternatively set myself the target of walking down to Mairangi Bay Village where the church is every day at least once. There have days I haven’t managed it – but they’re countered by the days with two or three visits. Down is fine – but up is very, very steep. My next target is to arrive back at the manse without being breathless – and as I get fitter that is definitely within sight! One of the benefits of good nights of sleep has been a clear head on a Monday morning and three weeks in a row I have rattled off a half-decent sermon by the end of the first working day of the week. I always aim earlier in the week than later but have never managed it so consistently before. It meant that by the time I arrived at Rotary to hear all about Finland from a 16-year-old exchange student (speaking fluently in her third language!!!) Sunday was in essence put to bed. Tuesday began with a real treat as the choir leader held a special session just for we tenors. I well remember a rather arrogant Scottish Minister at Westminster whispering that the audience come to watch the sopranos and hear the tenors. Not when they need extra lessons methinks – or at least until we get the benefit of that personal teaching. It’s coming but boy do I struggle. Tuesday ended with Parish Council – again a parallel of UK Church life because it was so much like an Elders’ Meeting! Slightly more formal (apart perhaps from Rowena’s delightful introduction/devotions reading ‘The Life of Riley’ which suggested humans need to be more like rats to find true happiness) but so many of the same issues challenging churches a world apart! Wednesday included a visit to a family to prepare for an upcoming baptism and Thursday took me back to my nursing days with standing in for a whole day at Dee’s Group. Took me back apart from the fact that I felt absolutely exhausted at the end of the ‘shift.’ Ah how the years’ passing leaves us older!
Our day off this week took us not quite as far north as we visited the Whangaparaoa peninsula which has provided all the Kiwis around since with huge amusement at my pronunciation. The again I got tickled by a village there called Manly – giggling at the signs for the Manly Methodist Church (not exactly inclusive), the Manly Barbers (I pictured macho men swaggering in for a trim with blunt scissors) and I hooted at the thought of a Manly Dry Cleaners (would that be to let the muck dry and brush it off?) Anyway the Manly fish and chips were fabulous and eaten al fresco on a park bench overlooking Owen’s Lookout (photograph above, left - obviously named after my own son Owen!) We then cut across country to Murawai Beach (photograph above right) to be overwhelmed by wild waves and even wilder kite surfers riding them. Stunning it was and somewhere we will return to when it’s a tad warmer.
After a by now fairly routine service at Castor Bay (it has dawned on my that I shall actually preach there as often in my three months as I do in a whole year at Hartley) it was off for a mere bit-part at Mairangi Bay. The preacher was a big name hereabouts – the Rev’d Dr. Prof. Sir Lloyd Geering (photograph below left). Famous or infamous for his ultra-Liberal theological outlook and apparently in the 60’s tried for heresy by the PCANZ. It was a fascinating and certainly challenging address that actually I thoroughly enjoyed. Breaking open God’s word should be so and it certainly made me think – indeed I’ve been thinking a lot about what he said on his theme ‘What is the Church’s Gospel in Today’s World?’ I didn’t agree with everything by any means (on heaven and the power of prayer to name but two) but it was well worth hearing and he asked many good questions as well as offering his answers. Jesus asked good questions likewise that ring in our minds to this day. What was particularly amazing about Lloyd Geering was that not only was his mind as sharp as a razor but as he stood there at 93, he did so preaching from an Apple iPad. If I’m half as ‘with it’ in both respects at 80 I’ll be well pleased.
Sunday ended with more words as the General Election hustings were hosted by Mairangi Bay Church (photograph above right). Twelve candidates from eight parties certainly made for a diversity of views and a heck of a lot of hot air. I don’t know what those who could vote made of it but I thoroughly enjoyed it and was actually most impressed by the candidates’ grasp of their briefs and level of eloquence. By the end of that 7 days, my mind was buzzing with words and thoughts. As we enter the final week of the General Election and my fourth week on North Shore I wonder what God has in store for me? Peter Mairangi Bay, 22/11/11 [uploaded 24 November 2011] Peter’s Mairangi Musings Part (ii) – The Adventure Continues ‘Crash moments’ I described in my last posting have reduced significantly since the first few days – especially since I have worked out Don’s logic in saving files on his PC. His logic is no less logical than mine – it’s just differently logical. And now that I have gotten my head around it I can work it OK. My most significant ‘crash’ occurred when the door bell rang and instead of seeing the person I was expecting to drop by I was greeted by a witch, a skeleton and some sort of ghoul – all under three feet tall. I’d forgotten about Halloween and just stared and muttered incomprehensively. “Just a minute,” I said and rushed upstairs to consult with Sue. I barely knew where my socks were leave alone sweets or treats! “How about cookies?” suggested my brilliant wife. Not sure if ghouls eat cookies but no tricks so presumably they do? Our first day off took us rather conservatively first to Milford and then onto Takapuna with its long sandy beach lined with ancient (I think) pohutukawa trees which I am told to anticipate an enflowering that transforms them with the red flowers and leads to them being known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree. First Sunday was quite light – one service only to prepare the whole of at Castor Bay (below left) and a short talk on Martin Luther-King at a wonderful All-Age Service led by Allan and Jenni Jones (below right). Hang on a minute! What is this with an 8:45am service every week? And I said I’d gotten the better side of the deal with a second summer in a row? Never mind what with wonderful folk who greeted me with warmth and love – even though they didn’t know one of the hymns and we sang them to tunes I didn’t recognise!
Monday brought me into a second week on the North Shore and much more settled. I rattled off two services including a PowerPoint introducing us to the folk at Mairangi Bay and the North Kent Churches to the them. The pictures of snow-covered church and manse were introduced with the words, “And these were the pictures I didn’t show Don!” And Monday evening gave us an intro to Rotary Kiwi-style (photograph below) at a local golf club with a stunning view over the grounds towards the bay, a cracking meal and an interesting talk by an eccentric former personal chef. Now there’s a combination!
Tuesday’s view was even more spectacular as a local Minister, Chris collected me for lunch on the wharf at Birkenhead (I told Sue I was popping to Merseyside). The bay, the harbour bridge, the skyline of Auckland City Centre and the sailing ships in between was a sight to behold – and certainly trumps the view on the Mersey!
Wednesday meant the commencement of a number of pastoral visits which is always a joy – and culminated in a second Bible Study / Fellowship Group. Another group the church at Mairangi runs is a weekly one for folk with dementia – sensitively called the Dee’s Group. A variety of activities then enable, encourage and entertain the folks on the one hand also give carers some respite – it’s a good model of effective social ministry. Once a month there is an overlap with the luncheon group followed by entertainment (a choir this week). Next month’s choir we’re promised will be a corker – and there will be a ‘bring and share’ lunch. Sue and I should’ve read the programme properly as we’d brought our contribution this time and sat surrounded by people eating their packed lunches while we faced a massive pumpkin pie. Never mind – it was delicious and eventually others joined in and enjoyed it too. Some even took it home in doggy bags. Day off this week was much more daring – a dash up the Northern Motorway to Matakana with its wineries, sculpture walk and another beautiful bay at Snells Beach. Beginning to get a theme here on days off? Saturday was spent at the first meeting of the new Presbytery formed by the merger of six or so older ones to form a super-Presbytery reaching from Auckland area right up to Northland. It was held in a huge industrial building converted to a huge Korean Presbyterian church. Our worship began with a 40-plus strong choir singing a version of Psalm 1 and then the old hymn ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem ‘ in Korean. It was stunning.
The business was a bit confused as the new officers found their feet but it so very much mirrored a URC Southern Synod Meeting – especially one of two years ago following the removal of District Councils and the resultant disconnect of Local Church from a rather distant Synod. Suggestions of inserting local neighbourhood fellowship / pastoral groups sounded very like my own Synod Area to me. Sunday in the UK would have been Remembrance Sunday and heaven help me if I had forgotten to wear a Poppy (as if!) Here in New Zealand April’s Anzac Day is the equivalent and I found myself the only one in the congregation with a Poppy on. That seemed strange even though I had prepared for it – and I wove remembrance into the theme rather than it figuring as large as it would be in England. It felt right and I hope appreciated. I woke up on the following day to be reminded by Sue that our time in New Zealand is already 25% gone. It’s already been a blessing – let’s see how the rest pans out …. Peter Mairangi Bay, 14/11/11 [uploaded 16 November 2011] Thoughts from Mairangi Bay Part (i) – The Beginning Our timetable for arrival was blessed by being somewhat more gentle that Don’s as we flew left the UK mid-October to spend a fortnight with Sue’s son’s family in Lincoln near Christchurch. That family includes now two grandchildren we had yet to meet in addition to the one we met only as a baby and we thoroughly enjoyed entertaining the older boys by playing with train sets, reading stories and taking them to the park. Interaction with four-week-old Mila (the first granddaughter in the family) was limited to cuddles and rocking off to sleep.
But more on that and our first fortnight in my next posting...
[posted 12 November 2011] |
 |
||
| Updated: 09-Feb-2012 | Website by Clive Stanley Associates |
|
