June 26, 2022
WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
PRELUDE
GATHERING Fiona McDougal
Days are short and darkness grows,
midwinter is a time to turn within,
to slow down and seek nurture for our souls.
The wind blows wild, storms batter and bruise,
we seek solace in the company of others,
share food and stories, and remember old friends.
The clouds part revealing a shining constellation.
The night sky glows with a sign of hope,
A new year begins:
Matariki is here.
PROCESSIONAL HYMN CH4 736 ‘Give thanks for life’
Words © Shirley Murray (AA 45)
Music: SINE NOMINE, Ralph Vaughan Williams (CH4 736&WOV 384)
- Give thanks for life,
the measure of our days,
mortal, we pass
through beauty that decays,
yet sing to God
our hope, our love, our praise,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
- Give thanks for those
who made their life a light
caught from the Christ-flame,
bursting through the night,
who touched the truth,
who burned for what is right, Alleluia! Alleluia!
- And for our own,
our living and our dead,
thanks for the love
by which our life is fed,
a love not changed
by time or death or dread, Alleluia! Alleluia!
- Give thanks for hope,
that like the wheat, the grain
that lies in darkness
does its life retain
in resurrection
to grow green again, Alleluia! Alleluia!
WELCOME Rev. Dr Fei Taule’ale’ausumai
E te whānau a Te Karaiti
ngā mihi aroha ki a tātou katoa.
Kia ora tātou.
Kia ora!
Talofa lava.
Talofa.
A special welcome to Wadestown Presbyterian Church.
PRAYER Catriona Cairns
JESUS’ PRAYER Jim Cotter paraphrase
Eternal Spirit
Life-Giver, Pain-Bearer, Love-Maker,
source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
loving God, in whom is heaven:
the hallowing of your name
echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed
by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done
by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test,
strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory
of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.
LIGHTING THE RAINBOW CANDLE Ellen and Kezia
TIME WITH CHILDREN Ellen Murray
BLESSING THE CHILDREN (All stand)
Ngā mihi o te tau hou, tamariki mā. We bless you today and for your adventures in the year ahead.
Amen.
PASSING THE PEACE
Traditionally we shake hands to pass the peace and say “peace be with you.” Now that COVID-19 is here we ask that you pass the peace without shaking hands.
THE WORD IN TEXTS Ann Barrie
Hebrew Scripture Isaiah 40:25-31
Contemporary reading ‘The Night Sky’
by Joy Cowley
Oh God, when I stand under the stars
I am filled with nameless awe
at the immensity of your presence
and I wonder how, in my daily thinking
I can make you so small.
Oh Holy One, the All of existence
how can I claim to know your mind?
How can my tiny words describe the Word
that brought this universe into being?
Could it be that I worship an idol
of my own making?
In your all-pervading presence, you know
the limitations of the human heart.
Have you given us this night sky -
this vision of galaxies growing and unfolding
to remind us that we have two gods:
one that we make in our image
and the One who made us?
Oh God, I stand under the stars
filled with nameless awe.
RESPONSE
For the Word in scripture,
for the Word among us,
for the Word within us,
we give thanks.
TIME OF REMEMBRANCE Rosemary Lawrence
Taizé Song ‘Within our darkest night’
Words and Music: Jacques Berthier (Taizé Community) © 1984 Dans nos obscurités
Reprinted with permission under One License A-623996. All rights reserved
“Ka mua, ka muri” “Walking backward into the future”
Fionnaigh McKenzie
HYMN AA 77 ‘Jesus comes to me as a Springtime Tree’
Words: Joy Cowley, Music: Londonderry Air
Reprinted with permission under One License A-623996. All rights reserved
1. Jesus comes to me as a springtime tree
and I receive him as a springtime tree.
Fragrant the blossoming of the child,
fresh with laughter, free and wild,
and carrying the green of summer.
2. Jesus comes to me as a summer tree
and I receive him as a summer tree.
Warm in the sun and richly laid
with patterns of growth through light and shade,
and carrying the fire of autumn.
3. Jesus comes to me as an autumn tree
and I receive him as an autumn tree.
Season of ripeness, brightly ablaze
like a torch in the quietness of closing days
and carrying the wood of winter.
4. Jesus comes to me as a winter tree
and I receive him as a winter tree.
Gentle the cross and gentle the snow,
gentle the path where he and I go,
carrying the buds of spring.
TIME OF LOOKING FORWARD Rev. Dr Fei Taule’ale’ausumai
What is our vision for us each as individuals?
What is our vision for ourselves as a community?
HYMN AA 115 ‘Purea nei e te hau’
Words and music © 2018 Hirini Melbourne
Guitar - Fei
(English translation for information only)
Purea nei e te hau,
horoia e te ua,
whitiwhitia e te rā,
mahea ake ngā pōraruraru,
makere ana ngā here.
Scattered by the wind
washed by the rain
and transformed by the sun,
all doubts are swept away
and all restraints are cast down.
E rere wairua, e rere,
ki ngā ao o te rangi,
whitiwhitia e te rā,
mahea ake ngā pōraruraru,
makere ana ngā here,
makere ana ngā here. Fly o free spirit, fly
to the clouds in the heavens,
transformed by the sun,
with all doubts swept away
and all restraints cast down.
Yes, all restraints are cast down.
OFFERTORY MUSIC ‘In the bleak Midwinter’
OFFERING HYMN AA 127 ‘Take my gifts’
Words© 1992 Shirley Erena Murray
Music: © 1992 Colin Gibson, Hope Publishing Co. vs 1
Take my gifts and let me love you,
God who first of all loved me,
gave me light and food and shelter,
gave me life and set me free.
Now because your love has touched me,
I have love to give away,
now the bread of love is rising,
loaves of love to multiply!
OFFERING PRAYER Rosemary Lawrence
We recognise and bless the gifts brought to the table, and those which wing their way electronically from our banks to the church’s account.
LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY OF ST ANDREW’S
People share notices and visitors are welcomed. If you have a notice, please move to the front row, ready to speak briefly from the lectern.
For the benefit of newcomers, please introduce yourself before you begin.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Lynne Dovey
CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Rwanda and the Protestant Council of Rwanda. We hold all refugees in our hearts. We pray in particular for those detained for many years in Papua New Guinea & Nauru. We give thanks for progress that has been made and pray that their calls for justice might yet find a compassionate response. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name Hon Poto Williams (Christchurch East), Hon Michael Wood (Mt Roskill). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Crossway Church, Masterton.
PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S
Renew your people, God,
and renew our life in this place.
Give us a new spirit of unity
with all who follow the Way of Jesus
and new bonds of love
with people of other faiths.
Bless the city in which we live
that it may be a place
where honest dealing,
good government,
the desire for beauty,
and the care for others flourish.
Bless this church
that what we know of your will
may become what we do,
and what we believe
the strong impulse
of our worship and work.
Amen
HYMN E te Atua
Words and Music: Traditional
Tune: KUM BA YA AA31
1. E te Atua aroha mai [x3] O God love us
ake ake tonu e. forever and ever.
2. E te Atua manaaki mai [x3] O God bless us
ake ake tonu e. forever and ever.
3. E te Atua awhina mai [x3] O God help us
ake ake tonu e. forever and ever.
BLESSING
Kia tau ki a tātou katoa, te atawhai o tō tātou Ariki a Ihu Karaiti,
me te aroha o te Atua,
me te whiwhinga tahitanga ki te wairua tapu.
Ake, ake, Amine.
SUNG AMEN
POSTLUDE
THANK YOU
THANK YOU Mark Stamper
our musician today