Dear Friends,
It is good to be gathered as this community of faith again, as schools return and workplaces reopen for the year. I hope that those of you who have had holidays have been refreshed, and that all are feeling renewed for another year. Johnann and I have had a good holiday, in Wellington and Taranaki, and for the last few days I have been enjoying the sun and the sea on Stewart Island.
We return to a special year for S. Michael’s as we celebrate 160 years of the church in this place. In the Mass we ‘proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes,’ as has been done here for all those years. Our bell, which arrived with the first settlers, will be rung 160 times at the end of Mass. Later we shall meet for the picnic at Mona Vale.
Today we celebrate Candlemas, the fortieth day after Christmas, when according to the Gospel story, Joseph and Mary take their first-born son to be presented in the Temple, and Simeon recognises him as ‘the light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of God’s people Israel.’ The light theme, which is so pervasive in the celebration of Christmas and its associated festivals, is undoubtedly more telling at this time in the northern hemisphere. But of course the light is a universal symbol of all that challenges the darkness of much human experience, and speaks of the hope that there is in Jesus Christ and the Gospel he embodies and proclaims.
Primary schools, including S. Michael’s Church School, begin again tomorrow. Here we shall gather at 8:40 for an assembly, when we shall pray God’s blessing on the new school year. Then as each class goes to its room, it will be blessed with those who teach and learn there. We welcome back our pupils and our hardworking staff.
Next Sunday is our National Day, Waitangi Day. We shall commemorate that at our usual Sunday services. We are fortunate in Aotearoa-New Zealand that, so early in our story, some people had the wisdom to frame and promote a Treaty between the indigenous peoples and the new European settlers. It gives us some bearings today when we have to face what we have become, and the chequered history that has brought us here. And we can be proud that it was the Christian leaders of the day who largely brokered the Treaty. Whatever political issues still surround it today, we can all honour the Treaty on our national day as the expression of an intention of respect and justice towards each other.
The Revd Lynne Horwood is not now teaching in the School, but working fully in the Parish. This is a great gift to us and we are seeking to use the opportunity for growth of the church community. Lynne will also be studying, and involved for about six weeks in intensive Clinical Pastoral Education training.
I hope there may be a few people who wish to be prepared specially for baptism or to renew their baptismal promises at Easter. They will meet throughout Lent in a small catechumenal group. Would any of you, or your friends, like to join this group for your own renewal, or as a ministry to new believers? Please contact me soon.
May God bless you all.
Fr Peter Williams
“A Most Exceptional Parish”
January 1851: The floor of the V-hut was burnt-off ground…, the seats were boards..., packing cases covered with canvas made an altar…
July 1851: In the new temporary church, the congregation “beamed with joyful satisfaction”.
December 1856: Bishop Harper was enthroned in the extended building, which had “a very churchlike appearance within and without”.
July 1861: “…a well-ordered church, with reverent ritual, choir, organ, and a large congregation.”
By 1867: the cohesiveness, sense of loyalty and financial buoyancy of the newly defined parish were such that it was able to contemplate building a new parish church.
Michaelmas 1870: Bishop Harper lays the foundation stone of the new church.
April 1872: Last service in the “quaint old church”.
May 1872: First service in the present church, “without any exception, the finest wooden church in NZ.”
1894: The new vicar, Walter Averill, commends the “dignified” and “reverent” services at S. Michael’s.
Christmas 1897: There were palms, ferns, other pot plants and white lilies and Canterbury bells in the pulpit, and the font was wreathed with evergreens and white blossoms.
1911: Fr Burton told the congregation that “with their help, and by God’s grace, he would, before a year elapsed, light such a flame in that parish and this city that would never go out in the lifetime of those present in that church that night.”
Later: With doctrine and ceremonial went a distinctive style of pastoral care..., and an equally distinctive style of mission. But one parishioner was less impressed, “S. Michael’s is getting higher and higher. We must reach heaven soon.”
Under Fr Gault: It was an impressive show that went on in the sanctuary at the far end of the church, beyond the chanting choir… Clouds of incense rose as the Mass progressed… Processions were grand…
With Fr Raphael: Changes came, designed to show the real meaning of the Eucharist, to involve the people not only in the worship but also in the mission of the Church. The sanctuary was re-ordered; there was renewed vigour and an outgoing attitude.
1968 Fr Philip: “The eucharistic pattern slowly leaves its imprint upon those who regularly and faithfully take part in it. This is the genius of S. Michael’s… It has the power to draw one back again.”
1996 Fr Jonathan: “The parish is burgeoning with new life and initiative.”
January 2001 Fr Peter: “As we offer ourselves again, this day and every day, we pray that this may continue to be a holy place and a caring community…”
As Fr Perry wrote in 1926, S. Michael’s has been
“a pioneer church in more than one direction. God has been with us of a truth.”
(With thanks to Marie Peters for use of material from: Christchurch-St Michael’s)
S. Michael’s bell came out from London in the Charlotte Jane. It was brought from Lyttelton in June 1851 and hung in a simple belfry.
In 1858 it was sent back to England for recasting after developing a crack. “Perhaps its absence had made people more aware of its value to the community, not just as a church bell… but also as an alarm and even more as a regulator of timepieces for the whole town…”
In 1861 the bell was hung in the present belfry. Designed by Benjamin Mountfort and Isaac Luck, the bell tower was considered to be “a great ornament to the town”
January 1851: The floor of the V-hut was burnt-off ground…, the seats were boards..., packing cases covered with canvas made an altar…
July 1851: In the new temporary church, the congregation “beamed with joyful satisfaction”.
December 1856: Bishop Harper was enthroned in the extended building, which had “a very churchlike appearance within and without”.
July 1861: “…a well-ordered church, with reverent ritual, choir, organ, and a large congregation.”
By 1867: the cohesiveness, sense of loyalty and financial buoyancy of the newly defined parish were such that it was able to contemplate building a new parish church.
Michaelmas 1870: Bishop Harper lays the foundation stone of the new church.
April 1872: Last service in the “quaint old church”.
May 1872: First service in the present church, “without any exception, the finest wooden church in NZ.”
1894: The new vicar, Walter Averill, commends the “dignified” and “reverent” services at S. Michael’s.
Christmas 1897: There were palms, ferns, other pot plants and white lilies and Canterbury bells in the pulpit, and the font was wreathed with evergreens and white blossoms.
1911: Fr Burton told the congregation that “with their help, and by God’s grace, he would, before a year elapsed, light such a flame in that parish and this city that would never go out in the lifetime of those present in that church that night.”
Later: With doctrine and ceremonial went a distinctive style of pastoral care..., and an equally distinctive style of mission. But one parishioner was less impressed, “S. Michael’s is getting higher and higher. We must reach heaven soon.”
Under Fr Gault: It was an impressive show that went on in the sanctuary at the far end of the church, beyond the chanting choir… Clouds of incense rose as the Mass progressed… Processions were grand…
With Fr Raphael: Changes came, designed to show the real meaning of the Eucharist, to involve the people not only in the worship but also in the mission of the Church. The sanctuary was re-ordered; there was renewed vigour and an outgoing attitude.
1968 Fr Philip: “The eucharistic pattern slowly leaves its imprint upon those who regularly and faithfully take part in it. This is the genius of S. Michael’s… It has the power to draw one back again.”
1996 Fr Jonathan: “The parish is burgeoning with new life and initiative.”
January 2001 Fr Peter: “As we offer ourselves again, this day and every day, we pray that this may continue to be a holy place and a caring community…”
As Fr Perry wrote in 1926, S. Michael’s has been
“a pioneer church in more than one direction. God has been with us of a truth.”
(With thanks to Marie Peters for use of material from: Christchurch-St Michael’s)
S. Michael’s bell came out from London in the Charlotte Jane. It was brought from Lyttelton in June 1851 and hung in a simple belfry.
In 1858 it was sent back to England for recasting after developing a crack. “Perhaps its absence had made people more aware of its value to the community, not just as a church bell… but also as an alarm and even more as a regulator of timepieces for the whole town…”
In 1861 the bell was hung in the present belfry. Designed by Benjamin Mountfort and Isaac Luck, the bell tower was considered to be “a great ornament to the town”
