E NEWS 15TH NOVEMBER 2024
Talofa lava. Well, the hikoi is slowly approaching Te Whanaganui a Tara. My house first billet arrives tomorrow and then another 3 on Sunday. As Sue Hirst reminded me “hospitality polishes the pots” although you know I’m not going to be waiting hand and foot on my guests they can all help themselves. I will even suggest we go to the supermarket together so our food and meals will be a “tatou, tatou” affair and not fall on the host alone. I
Yesterday I attended the funeral of the Rev Jannet Mudavanhu from Zimbabwe. Jannet died after a brief illness on the 26th October 2024, on her 57th birthday. She suffered an aneurism of the brain on Sunday 17 October, and was admitted to intensive care in Wellington Hospital. Her sister Tendai was able to fly out from the UK to be with her during her final days. Members of her family travelled from Zimbabwe and South Africa. I should not have been pre-occupied during her funeral service but I was. The funeral director placed her coffin sideways upfront. My understanding when a minister dies they lie in the church with their head to front as if they are standing leading their final service. Parishioners are placed the opposite direction where they would normally be sitting in church. I felt like getting up there and turning her coffin around but hey it’s not about me and it really was none of my business, but it did annoy me. Someone needs to let funeral directors know clergy protocol.
On another sad note Rev Linda Pollock a visiting minister from Ireland died this week from a fatal heart attack she was only 62. Her and I were zooming recently as she was helping me plan my study leave next year. She had lived at Iona in Scotland and Corymeela in Northern Ireland. The last time I saw her at Central Presbytery she showed me the scar on her chest where she had had recent heart surgery here in NZ. She paid for it with it from her pension fund. If anything it gave her a few more weeks. But like Jannet and Linda life was short and no one knows when our time on this earth is up. They both died serving God. So for us make hay whilst the sun shines.
Last night Rev Hana Popea Dell was inducted back into Hutt City Uniting Church after 9 years at St Ninians in Karori. It was like going home for her. Uniting churches have limited tenures and usually 10 years is the maximum time you can serve before you have to move on. Hana loved HCUC and so for her and many of her former parishioners they were excited to welcom her back home. Her two new parishes are Wainuiomata and Waiwhetu, both just down the road from me so I am very glad to now have her in my neck of the woods.
This Sunday is our Annual General Meeting after church. Hope to see many of you there. Our Young Adults group will then meet for a shared lunch and fellowship afterwards.
A reminder that next Sunday is our Transgender memorial Sunday followed by a shared lunch, the Glamaphones will be singing which is exciting. Here’s a blurb about our guest speaker: Afioga Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann MNZM JP is a Samoan-born, New Zealand-based academic, nurse and fa’afafine (literally translated as ‘like a woman’, but this is a highly insufficient translation) and is called by Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand “one of New Zealand’s best-known and most honoured fa’afafine”. Pulotu-Endemann moved to New Zealand as a child in 1959. After training initially as a psychiatric nurse, Pulotu-Endemann became a health consultant on the Pacific Health issue, and created the Fonofale Model of Pacific Health has been accepted by the Mental Health Commission of New Zealand. As an educator, Pulotu-Endemann rose to be associate-head of Manawatu Polytechnic‘s Nursing and Health Studies (now UCOL). He was recently bestowed with an Honorary Doctorate from Massey University. Please bring a plate of food to share bearing in mind we will have extra guests including Glamaphones. So there will be no lunch on December 1st the following week.
Good news, I was successful in my application for the Anglican Vaughn Park Writers Retreat Scholarship for the month of July next year in Auckland. So I will return from my overseas travel and go straight to Vaughan Park. The Scholarship is for accommodation & food. It’s a beautiful location by Long Bay beach.
8th December is the relaunch of the Rainbow room programme. Our theme is “Be the light” Caroline and I will be promoting this service at Queen Margaret College over the next days leading up to the 8th December. If you have children or grandchildren or great grandchildren you would like to bring along that would be great.
This Sunday our reflection theme is “whangai (adopted/fostered) to God”. The story of Hanah offering her son Samuel to Eli the Priest as an offering to God. I will be exploring what it might mean for some to be an offering to God for a life of service. It’s still a work in progress but I need to have it done before I leave the office today as there is no time from tomorrow onwards with the Hikoi folk arriving. In the meantime, have a great weekend and hope to see you on Sunday. Ka kite ano. Fei
You can read the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/d233808336d0/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-10131528
