E NEWS 21 JULY 2023
It has been a sombre week at St. Andrew’s on the Terrace. Firstly, with members of our parish who were and are currently in hospital. Bridget Martin has been discharged to her home; Margaret Rushbrook suffered a stroke last Saturday on top of her diagnosis. I visited her on Wednesday evening, and she had woken up from her long sleep. She is unable to talk but was communicating with her eyes. Another one of our parishioners underwent a brain procedure today and I have yet to find out how things went. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Even though it is sad that Pam Ormsby has passed away, I am very happy of the fact that she was able to come to church two Sundays ago for us to celebrate her 90th birthday with her. When I visited her on her actual birthday on the 5th of July, she was frail, she struggled to breathe in between sentences but she was as always in good spirits. She really wanted to be able to attend church that Sunday which she did. She made comments to a few that that would be the last time she would attend St Andrew’s on the Terrace. I believe she came to say goodbye to everyone and to have one last look at the church she has been a member of for 68 years when she first arrived as a 22 year old. She gave a short speech when she cut her birthday cake and it was lovely to be able to share this special milestone birthday with her.
Pam’s funeral service will be held at SAOTT at 10.30am this coming Monday. I have written SAOTT into the Order of service under “eulogies”. I haven’t named anyone as I am leaving this open for those of you from SAOTT who would like to share a tribute. I already have one request to speak, and we could allow one or two more to also speak. Please let me know beforehand if you have a tribute to share so I can have an indication and also limit speaking time for each person. Our dear Pam Ormsby rest in love and peace.
On Saturday I attended the Kapiti Coast Cluster group which was hosted by Russell and Gillian Feist. It was great to have Rev Marg Schrader join us. She gave me a copy of her new book a biography entitled “Ever widening Circles”. How, after training to become a deaconess in Melbourne Australia, she met Warren Schrader a widow and moved to NZ. After they married, she become mother to his 7 children. They also had an 8th child together. It’s a great story and I was so enthralled I read it in one sitting on Sunday afternoon. She may be having a book launch at SAOTT in the near future. I highly recommend it. Sue Hirst is buying a copy for our SAOTT library.
We all woke this morning to the shooting that took place in Auckland City ending in 3 fatalities and 10 injuries. The 24 year old offender had a history of domestic violence and was under home detention. Obviously, there are a lot of questions regarding gun possession and the circumstances around his home detention. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims that were killed and as well as the offender and also with those who are in hospital recovering.
I hosted a luncheon today with some of my Samoan colleagues who minister in non-Pacific churches. We always look forward to our monthly gatherings and appreciate the opportunity for us to chew the fat together and share our ministry stories with one another. I suppose you could call it our “wailing wall”. A place where like minds get together in a place of trust and safety and offer pastoral oversight to each other.
(I’m multitasking and watching the Women’s world cup football match between NZ and Norway as I write this) and …. Yay! New Zealand ‘s Hannah Wilkinson has just scored a goal against Norway. It is now 9.04pm and NZ have just won their first World Cup match in 32 years to a crowd of 42k people, biggest audience for NZ ever, even for the men’s game. They have just made history. My subscription this week to Sky sport has paid off afterall.
Our lectionary readings for Sunday are from the book of Genesis the story of Jacobs dream at Bethel and then from Matthews Gospel, the story of the wheat and the weeds. My reflection is titled “what are the weeds that get in the way of life?” I’m sure you will be able to reflect yourselves on the weeds that have invaded your life over the years and how you managed to navigate your way around them and sometimes stop and pull them out to clear the way. Do take care and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. Have a great weekend. Fei.
You can read the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/781b1a69d12e/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-9388835
