We welcome visitors to Christchurch and to S. Michael’s on this Labour weekend. And we hope and pray that all who are travelling may do so in safety.
On Friday, S. Raphael’s Day, there was a special gathering here of Parish Nurses. They are meeting for a conference over the weekend, and chose to come to S. Michael’s for a service to celebrate ten years of service in various parishes of the Church in Aotearoa/New Zealand. These people are nurses by profession who make themselves available for a particular pastoral ministry, through their parishes, to people in need.
S. Michael’s is important in their story because in 1896 the Vicar (Fr Walter Averill) employed the then Matron of Christchurch Hospital as a Parish Nurse. She was Sybilla Maude, still in her thirties, and a very devout Anglican who had been baptised in S. Michael’s. She went to live with the Sisters of the Community of the Sacred Name in their house in St Asaph Street. From there she visited hundreds of poor households, providing healthcare to those in need. Her work developed into the great district nursing association named after her. This year’s service at S. Michael’s was led by Dean Charles Tyrrell of Nelson, who was himself a nurse. It was he who ten years ago at Nelson Cathedral started the present parish nursing service.
Heritage Week has been quiet, though we had a small and attentive turnout of people for my talks about the ‘1950s Baroque’ reredos in S. Michael’s Church, and the story of the Church and the settlement and the Parish that led to its installation in 1953. I shall deliver it again, at a time when it is more convenient for most of you.
Next weekend we celebrate the festival of All Saints on Saturday morning, and again at Evensong on Sunday. The Saints are those special people, known and unknown, whom the Church honours for their remarkable lives. They are people who are alive to God, more aware of the reality of God than most of us are, and as a result they inspire others to live more richly.
All Souls’ Day falls this year on Sunday, so at both Masses we shall commemorate our faithful departed with love and thanksgiving. The remembrance lists are available again today. These have been shortened, so please check them carefully and feel free to add any other names you would like to have read.
May God bless you all.Peter Williams
