E NEWS 10 NOVEMBER 2023
Our Parihaka Sunday service was a resounding success. Thanks to Rev. Dr. Wayne Te Kaawa for leading our service and communion and for preaching the sermon and to Rev. David Dell and the Maori Regional Choir for their superb contribution in both poetry and song. It was also great to have members of Te Kakano o te Aroha present with us. There was great feasting on Hangi at our hakari which followed.
My parents are finally together again forever. They were reinterred last Thursday and as a family we are very happy and know that they are resting in peace together side by side in the public crypt at Waikumete cemetery.
This Sunday November 12 is Armistice day. If you have a white or a red poppy at home this would be a good Sunday to wear it. There will also be some available on Sunday morning for you to wear.
Next week is Transgender Memorial Day which will be led by Fionn McKenzie, and the following week is White Ribbon Day which is anti-domestic violence. Rev Hana Popea-Dell who is the PCANZ white ribbon ambassador will be leading our service.
Just a quick update on my condition. Next week I begin my 2 weeks annual leave which was planned well before my accident, so the Concussion clinic recommend that this will be a good break for me to continue to rest and relax. I will be across the ditch for ten days. The Concussion clinic use the analogy of traffic lights saying that I should go from having been in “red” to “amber” not green and take things slowly otherwise I will “boom or bust” and recovery will take much longer. I’ve been trying to get back into normality but I feel as if I am running on empty, my brain cannot get its head around writing a sermon or writing in general, it’s all just mumbo jumbo and a lot of disconnected words. I am grateful to Ross Scott for offering to preach this Sunday whilst I lead the service. I guess that is an example of me trying to take things slowly. When I return from holiday I will be working with a doctor who is a “stay at work clinician” to monitor my workload so that my energy deficits do not have me running on empty. I cannot believe how incapacitated one can get with a concussion. It’s something that no-one can see but so often the same output is expected but is not attainable. I am present in body and spirit but not necessarily in mind.
3rd December is our St. Andrew’s Thanksgiving service and Communion Sunday and also the time we take up a special offering for the work of our church. So if you are able we hope to provide envelopes for you to add your donation and also your offering number so you can claim your tax back on it. See you on the 3rd all going well. Ka kite ano. Fei
You can read the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/259eedf5fcdf/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-9414048
