The Anglican Parish of the Upper Clutha Contacts Vicar: The Reverend John Murray Office and Vicarage: 186 Brownston Street, Wanaka 9305 Postal address: P.O. Box 254, Wanaka 9343 Tel: 03 443 2440 Email: ucang@xtra.co.nz

The Reverend Barry Entwisle 027 426 5539 The Reverend Boyd Wilson 03 445 4586 The Reverend Doreen McKinlay 03 445 4036

Bishop’s Warden: Rachael Ashby 03 443 5765 People’s Warden: Noeline Watson 03 445 1157 Parish Administrator: Pip Lowther (Tues & Thurs 9—1.00 p.m.) 03 443 2440

St. Columba’s Church , Cnr Upton and McDougall Street, Wanaka Sunday 9.30 a.m. Eucharist Wednesday 10.00 a.m. Eucharist and informal discussion. St. Columba’s Warden Joan Nolan 03 443 7778

St. Andrew’s Church, Blyth Street, Cromwell Sunday 9.00 a.m. Eucharist Tuesday 10.00 a.m. Eucharist and informal discussion. St. Andrew’s Warden Jean Cox 03 445 3356

Tarras Community Church, Church Lane, Tarras 2

nd & 4th Sunday of the month 11 a.m.

Tarras Contacts: Margot Kain 03 445 2166 Spin Lucas 03 445 2885

PLEASE ADVISE OF ANY ADDRESS CHANGES—Phone Parish Office on 034432440 Tue & Thu 9am-1pm Or email ucang@xtra.co.nz

Return Address: PO Box 254, Wanaka, 9343

UPPER CLUTHA ANGLICAN PARISH

Christmas 2011

St Columba’s Wanaka - St Andrew’s Cromwell - Tarras Community Church

One final note from the Vicar

It‘s been a busy few days as Ngaire and I come to the

end of our days here in the Upper Clutha. I‘ve finally

got my study sorted and packed much to Ngaire‘s

delight and now it‘s only a question of trying to fit all

the last minute ‗stuff‘ into our cars, catching the cat

and then we are off on our new journey.

At our final service on Sunday we had the opportunity

to speak to many people and yesterday as John

(Murray) and I drove around the parish from Wanaka,

to Cromwell and Tarras and met with more of the

‗family‘, I was reminded again of the warmth and

generosity of spirit that is such a hallmark of the

people of this parish.

On Sunday Ngaire (photo) used the quote

from John Ruskin ‗the highest reward for

man / women’s toil is not what he gets for

it – but what he becomes by it’.

We like to think we leave the Upper Clutha Parish as

bigger and better people because we‘ve shared our

lives with each other and we‘ve grown together.

Thank you to you all. It has been a tremendous

privilege to spend the past five years with you and you

can be sure as we take a new path, we will follow

with interest and affection the future of this precious

part of God‘s world.

Denis

The Dreamer Read by The Rev‘d Denis, at his combined farewell

service St Columba‘s Church Wanaka November 27 2011

And the Lord said.....

I myself will dream a dream within you.

Good dreams come from me, you know

My dreams seem impossible,

Not too practical

Not for the cautious man or woman

A little risky sometimes,

A trifle brash perhaps.

Some of my friends prefer

To rest more comfortably

In sounder sleep,

With visionless eyes.

But, from those who share my dreams

I ask a little patience,

A little humour;

Some small courage,

And a listening heart –

I will do the rest.

Then they will,

Risk, and wonder at their daring,

Run, and marvel at their speed,

Build, and stand in awe at the beauty of their

building.

You will meet me often as you work,

In your companions, who share the risk,

In your friends, who believe in you enough

To lend their own hands

Their own hearts

To your building

In the people who will stand in your doorway

Stay awhile,

And walk away knowing they, too, can find a

dream.

There will be sun-filled days,

And sometimes it will rain,

A little variety,

Both come from me.

So, come now, be content.

It is my dream you dream,

My house you build,

My caring you witness,

My love you share,

And this is the

heart of the matter.

Charles Peguy

Our intrepid vicar The Rev’d

Denis, Wanakafest parade 2011

Below

The Rev’d Denis Bartley (left),

locum The Rev’d John Murray

(middle) and Ngaire Bartley

(far right) at the Eucharist

ceremony on the Bartley’s very

last day Wednesday Nov 30 ‘11. PARISH MEETINGS

St Andrew’s Committee Meetings—

2nd Tues of even months 7.30pm Cromwell

St Columba’s Committee Meetings—

2nd Wed of the odd months 7.30pm Wanaka

Vestry Meetings—4th Tuesday of every other

month at Cromwell, Tarras or Wanaka.

CHRISTMAS HAMPERS If you know of any families or individuals who could do with a Hamper for Christmas please contact Barbara - Barbara Jungen Heartland Services Coordinator www.communitynetworks.co.nz

Community Networks Wanaka 73 Brownston Street Wanaka 9305 Phone: 03 443 7799

September—December

Baptism Lillian Grace Lake

Jessica Olivia Groves

Tomas Colin Littlejohn

Amber Rose Littlejohn

Olivia Kate Pledger

Christian Burial

Nancy Williams

Holy Matrimony Julia Milsom & Rick Harvie

Anna Sidey & Ross McCulloch

Angela Avila & Robett Hollis

Alicia Graham & Nathan Nicholson

Christmas 2011 All are invited

December 11 The Messiah Presbyterian Church Tenby Street Wanaka 7pm December 16 Christmas Lunch at Lake Hawea Hotel (ring Jill Millar to make a booking 4439379) December 17 9.30—11am St Columba’s Church Clean-up December 17 5pm Wanaka Christmas by the Lake 5pm December 18 Carols on the Greenway Cromwell 6–7 pm December 18 at 7.30pm ‘Nine Lessons and Carols’ at St. Columba’s with a Christmas supper afterwards

Christmas Eve Saturday 24th December

7-30pm Tarras Community Church 11-00pm St Andrew’s Cromwell 11-30pm St Columba’s Wanaka

Christmas Day Sunday 25th December

10-00am St Andrew’s Cromwell 8-00am St Columba’s Wanaka

10-00am St Columba’s Wanaka

From the Parish Registers

Anne-Marie Lake at Lillian Grace’s baptism.

Wanaka Christmas by the Lake,

Saturday December 17, 5pm, Dinosaur Park

The sights, sounds, and smells of the first Christ-

mas are coming to the Dinosaur Park in Wanaka!

On Saturday, December 17 at 5pm the Combined

Churches of Wanaka, along with QLDC, invite you

to Christmas by the Lake: Wanaka’s Community

Christmas. This is the annual Community Carols

event, featuring the songs everyone loves to sing

and so much more. This year‘s event will include:

A traditional telling of the Christmas story

starring local personalities and live animals

Your favourite Christmas carols, led by

Wanaka‘s Travelling Carollers

A costume parade for the children, who are

invited to dress as their favourite Christmas

character (shepherd, angel, wise man,

donkey, sheep, etc.)

A lakeside backdrop for a huge community

picnic!

The programme will kick off with a nativity play

that will bring the first Christmas to life… kids get

a front row seat for all the action. Jen Anderson‘s

merry band of carollers will lead the crowd in

singing traditional Christmas carols interspersed

throughout the drama. Children then get their turn

at centre stage during a costume parade, and we‘ll

sit down to a bring-your-own picnic, sharing food

and fellowship as we get in the Christmas spirit.

―Christmas by the Lake was a big hit last year, with

the combination of a lively nativity, wonderful

music, and a picnic by the lake. People of all ages

can feel welcome again as we bring the community

together to celebrate Christmas,‖ says Kathy Dedo

of the Combined Churches committee which is

organising the event.

Come join the fun, bring food and a picnic rug, and

celebrate community and the joy of Christmas. A

postponement date of December 18 at 5pm is

planned, and the Lake Wanaka Centre is a backup

location in case we just can‘t manage being out-

doors. See you there!

CONTACT for Combined

Churches of Wanaka:

Kathy Dedo (443 5364 /

021 130 6276 /

kdedo@yahoo.com) or

Karen Wells (443 2793 /

kaikawaka@xtra.co.nz)

7 pm Dec 11 Presbyterian Church, Wanaka For information phone

Marjon Gilbert 443 4921

wanakamessiah.blogspot.com

CAROLS ON THE GREENWAY

SUNDAY 18TH DECEMBER 6PM

On the greenway adjacent to the

Presbyterian Church, Elspeth

Street Cromwell.

A community Christmas celebration,

including barbecue (free sausages),

traditional carols, & Christmas themed

entertainment.

All welcome – bring your own picnic chair/rug – hot water available.

It‘s a great privilege for Diane and me to come and be

part of your parish from now until Easter. Already

you have welcomed us warmly into your midst and

we shall rapidly feel ourselves part of Upper Clutha.

The advantage of being a ―locum‖ (temporary) vicar

is, of course, that people will put up with your more

irritating characteristics because, after all, you‘re not

going to be there very long. The drawback is that, just

when you‘re getting to know everybody and to be-

come very fond of them, you have to up sticks and

disappear back home.

This is our fourth locum since I retired as Anglican

Chaplain in Strasbourg, France. The other three were

in the far-flung Diocese of Europe, that rather

improbable extra-territorial diocese of the Church of

England. So we have ministered in Tangier, Morocco

(yes, for the church, Morocco is part of Europe!), a

wholly Muslim society apart from a few expats; in

Milan, the economic capital of Italy; and in Brittany,

a parish the size of Wales with a surprisingly large

number of British settlers. And now we spread our

wings to New Zealand.

For Diane this is not quite so new as it is for me. She

was brought up to a large extent in New Zealand and

still feels very much at home here. I have only been

here as a tourist, but this has been enough for me to

discover what a beautiful environment you enjoy and

what an attractive society you have built. Indeed, it‘s

often difficult to make people understand that

spending the summer in the Wanaka area is not an

extended holiday but work.

As I said in my first sermon at St Columba‘s, I hope

this is going to be a mutually enriching time for you

and for me. It will certainly add something new,

challenging and thought-provoking to my

experience of ministry. I hope that you will enjoy

having a vicar who brings with him the somewhat

different experience of being a Christian in the

old and rather tired society of Europe, and of

being an Anglican on the continent, where we are

a tiny and somewhat puzzling minority.

Despite the differences between Europe and New

Zealand, it seems to me, however, that, as

churches, we all face many of the same problems

and challenges. We live in societies where the

majority of people are pretty comfortably off, but

where more people are hard up than used to be

the case, while the old traditions of solidarity and

mutual support are not as strong as they were.

Comfortably off people tend not to be so

interested in religion (see what happened to the

Israelites when they got too comfortable in the

land of Canaan) and so we see a sharp decline in

religious practice, particularly in the more

traditional churches such as ours.

This should not lead us to panic (the Church has

had so many ups and downs in the past and some-

how the Holy Spirit always stirs things up again)

and it should not lead us to throw out all our

traditions in an unconvincing attempt to be

trendy. But it should certainly lead us to ask hard

questions about the culture and society we live in

these days, about what the gospel really has to

say about that culture and society, and about

where God wants to lead us in this situation.

I hope that, together, we‘ll be able to address

some of these questions over the next few

months.

From your locum vicar, the Reverend John Murray

The Rev’d John

and Diane Murray

settling in at the

St Columba’s vicarage

for their summer locum.

And now….

who is John Murray?

I grew up in Manchester, England

and studied Geography (no, not

Theology!) at Oxford University. After three years

as a research assistant in Geography at Durham

University, I moved to Strasbourg in the east of

France to work for an international organization

called the Council of Europe. I served as Secretary

of various committees of civil servants from the

member States in the area of social affairs and mi-

gration. It was fascinating to work with people

from all over Europe (the Council of Europe now

has 47 member States covering virtually the whole

of Europe, including Russia).

While still working as an international civil

servant, I studied for ordination. I was ordained

Deacon in 1982 and Priest in 1983 to serve in the

Anglican Chaplaincy of Strasbourg, which is part of

the Church of England‘s rather curious extra-

territorial Diocese in Europe. The Chaplaincy

serves English-speaking people mainly from the UK

and Africa plus a sprinkling of people from every-

where else. We even welcome the occasional New

Zealander.

In 1986 I finally had the good sense to marry

Diane. This had the added bonus of bringing me a

large step-family, which has since expanded into the

next generation.

Until 2006 I was what we call a ―non-

stipendiary‖, combining my ministry in the

Chaplaincy with my full time employment. I then

resigned from the Council of Europe in order to

serve as Priest-in-charge in Strasbourg from 2006

until 2009.

While I continue to assist in Strasbourg I have

also been enjoying doing locums in different parts

of our extensive Diocese: Tangier (Morocco), Milan

(Italy) and Brittany (France). And now Upper

Clutha, New Zealand. Diane and I are both greatly

looking forward to our time with you.

We just hope you will make sure we don‘t

make too many mistakes or tread on too many kiwi

toes as we adjust to the different expectations and

traditions of another part of the Anglican

Communion.

And who is…

Diane Murray?

I was born in England but

emigrated with my parents and brother to New

Zealand where we lived in Christchurch for nine

years. I attended Avonside Girls‘ High School

and was a student at the University of Canter-

bury. After nine years I left New Zealand to live

in Cambridge for several years, where I was the

librarian of the University of Cambridge School

of Veterinary Medicine.

I then moved to France, where with brief

pauses, I have lived ever since. Although away I

have, however, maintained close links with

friends in Christchurch and elsewhere in NZ;

e-mail has been a blessing. I had four children

born in three different countries with my first

husband. They are all now married and living in

Scotland, England, Alsace and the French Alps.

There are ten grand-children, so keeping in touch

with them all is a major occupation – and a great

delight.

I, too, worked at the Council of Europe,

first as a librarian; and then in intergovernmental

cooperation in the areas of youth, equality

between women and men, and sport as a social

phenomenon. My most challenging job was to

run a programme to expand teaching of disabled

sport in Bosnia after the war which left 350,000

amputees. At the time the country was riddled

with landmines and someone stepped on one at

least once a week, with dreadful consequences.

I am very happy to be coming back to New

Zealand for a longish period. I have always

thought that my attitudes and ideas of how a

society should be organised owe a great deal to

this beloved country.

Advent/Christmas Psalms Reflections by Boyd Wilson

8. Glory and humanity

1. You are just so wonderfully awesome in your holiness! Everything and everyone is able to reflect your glory. 2. The tumbling waters of a creek, the chortling of newborn babes and the excited laughter of children at play sing out your joy in creation. 3. When I look at the infinity of the night

sky, all of your doing and indwelling, I’m amazed and humbled by the knowledge that you care personally for us humans.

4. We – women, men and children – fall far short of your holiness, but we come closer and closer as we open our lives to your glory.

5. Within all life on earth, you gift our

species to witness to the essence of your being, husbanding your living creation in your holy name.

You are just so great in all creation.

46. An ever-present helper

With you with us as refuge, strength and guide we would not have cause for dismay even if our world was crumbling around us.

Witness to the presence of the Holy One is not only in our little lives. Also, your whole creation sings its joy.

May all people open hearts and lives to you whose power is shown in peacemaking.

May we pause from all distractions; be quiet in a listening stillness and ex-perience you in person.

76. Known to the faithful, present to all

1. You have become known in growing depth and breadth through the generations within familiar communities of faith. 2. But your saving, calling presence is not confined to particular cultures, religions and places. 3. As we celebrate our survival in the face of threats to life and integrity we acknowledge you as the One who seeks to save all oppressed people. Those driven by greed and anger will in the end be converted to your ways of peace. Humility, in your reign of love, will become the most powerful force on earth.

147. Thanksgiving

1. Thank you for your loving goodness. 2. Thank you for building up the community of faith, healing those wounded in body and spirit. 3. Thank you for the sense of awe at your transcendence as I gaze into the night sky. 4. Thank you for the gifts of wisdom and music, for providing for all your creatures, for delighting in all who love you. 5. Thank you for the blessing of children. 6. Thank you for your gift of deep, disturbing peace. 7. Thank you for your living word in continuing creation, in scripture and in prophetic expressions today. Grant me, first and always, a thankful heart. Alleluia!

Boyd’s profound poetry and reflections on the psalms can be found at this website:

http://earthedspirit.wordpress.com/psalms-

reflected-in-prayer/

BOOKS…

Ethics in the Presence of Christ (London: T&T

Clark) by Christopher R.J. Holmes, Senior Lecturer

in Systematic Theology, Te Tari Matauranga Whaka-

pono, University of Otago.

This book is all about the contemporary ministry

of Jesus Christ, and the difference this makes for moral

and ethical life. One can place pre-orders on Amazon

($23), the official release date being Feb 2 2012.

Email: christopher.holmes@otago.ac.nz;

web: www.otago.ac.nz/theology.

Choices for change It’s not too late: a field guide to

hope by Bob Sitze, ©2010, Alban Institute

(weekly@alban.org)

A field guide is a small, pocketable book that

accompanies you on an adventure or journey. It’s Not

Too Late is a field guide to hope, sized so that you can

carry it along with you on your daily journey of faith.

The entries in this book will help you find hope,

whether it‘s right in front of you or it remains elusive

despite your searchings. The following is an extract:

―Presuming an affirmative answer to this question,

How willing are you to change your thought patterns

toward basic hopefulness? you will have already begun

to increase hopefulness.

To increase your ability to change behaviours, try the

following:-

Imitate people whose hopeful behaviours you

admire.

Listen to the words you use, or reread what you

write. What words get in the way of hopefulness,

and what words act like sparks of hope?

Give names to your hope-actions, e.g. change

gossip into appreciation or seeing the big picture.

For at least one day, act as

if your problems were actually

opportunities. In difficult

situations, ask yourself, What’s

useful here?

During end-of-day prayer

time, review significant

decisions made that day.

Look for patterns you want to

change or strengthen.‖

Waiting for Christmas

The time leading up to Christmas can be a special time of

anticipation. It is sometimes called Advent, literally

‗coming‘ – the coming of God in the birth of Jesus.

There are many traditions surrounding the Christmas

festival. Re-living them can enrich our sense of celebra-

tion and link us with the long history of this day. A NZ

Christmas can have its own special traditions too, and the

process of creating them belongs to us. Old and new,

winter and summer weave together to bring it fresh life

and meaning.

- A Christmas pudding, rich with fruit and

spices like many festival dishes, is often made

several weeks ahead to allow it to mature.

Every member of the household should stir the

mixture, and make a wish at the same time. It is

an old custom to bury a silver coin in the mix-

ture, with a ring and a thimble. They used to say

whoever gets the coin will have wealth, the ring

a marriage, and the thimble a happy life.

- The original legend of St Nicholas (Santa

Claus) tells of Bishop Nicholas who, hearing of

hunger and poverty in a distant town, sailed

there with a shipload of food and gifts from his

own people. Baskets of wheat and

fruit were left at each door by an

unknown visitor who knocked and

then slipped away. Children can

play Santa for a night by delivering

Christmas goodies to a needy

neighbour without being seen.

- Take time to plan the gifts you

will give. Slowly consider one person at a time.

How many gifts can you make? Wrap them

slowly, thinking of those who will receive them.

- Plan what shopping has to be done. If you

can, remember your gift to a Foodbank, or an

organisation that helps the unemployed.

- Choose a carol service to attend, or set aside

some time to listen to some Christmas music,

and maybe invite friends to join you.

- If possible, amid the busyness, set aside some

times for quiet reflection and peacefulness.

- Planning Christmas food… combine old and

traditional with new and fresh: use an old family

recipe, take advantage of the abundance of

summer fruit and vegetables.

- Decorate your tree. The Christmas tree is an

ancient German tradition. St Boniface is said to

have first put candles on it as a symbol of the

light Christ brings.

- Let us remember the lonely and anxious

among us, the old, the homeless and the hungry,

the despairing and those in pain, the bereaved

and dying. They could be just next-door.

- Celebrate. ―Love came down at Christmas.

Love all lovely, love divine. Love was born at

Christmas, star & angel gave the sign. Love

shall be our token. Love be yours and mine.

Love to God all men. Love and gifts the sign.‖

(From an old advent calendar re-discovered

when packing up by Ngaire ...)

Denis has often been acknowledged for his gentle

relationship with babies and children at Baptisms.

It was an affirmation of his popularity that in the

last two weeks here, he baptised Russell and Anne

-Marie‘s daughter, the two children of Jenny

Littlejohn and the daughter of Jayne and Greg

Grove (Bob and Shona Wallace‘s granddaughter).

In so many ways, their thoughtfulness has touched

our hearts. As a parish, we give thanks for our

journey together and now that our paths have

divided, we pray that God will richly bless Denis

and Ngaire and their family in the future.

Wanaka Words... Joan Nolan

Paying tribute to a terrific team

The farewell service on November 27th at Wanaka,

conducted by Bishop Kelvin, was a celebration of the

involvement of Denis and Ngaire in our Upper Clutha

Parish over five years. Over 120 people attended from

Tarras, Cromwell and Wanaka—a tribute to two people

totally commited to the life and worship of their parish.

Denis‘s listening skills, his way of making everyone feel

at ease, his sense of humour and his kind, caring heart

were complemented by Ngaire‘s administration skills,

her production of special services, her singing and

preaching ability and those clever hands so proficient at

making preserves, gardening, baking, pottery, card-

making and sewing. Those sewing skills have produced

a gorgeous set of nativity costumes looking forward to

the time we have children to use them. Together they

opened their home and extended a warm hospitality to

locals and visitors.

While vicar here, Denis has worked passionately to

implement our Mission Statement—Growing Faith in

Community. Both he and Ngaire have worked as

volunteers in our community, raising the profile of St

Columba‘s. The project committee and Denis are

working to establish a trust to develop a community hub

for social service agencies in Wanaka and at present due

process is continuing.

Thanks to Ngaire‘s expertise, we now have the option of

a new Baptismal Service and Great Thanksgiving, and

Elmslie residents have a greatly expanded hymn book.

Her creative skills leave lasting memories in St

Columba‘s in the beautiful songbook covers and baptis-

mal banner. At different times the Mission table featured

baby bandanas, felted bootees, and marmalade, and who

but Ngaire could make the annual Christmas church

springclean into something special by attaching the jobs

to handsewn Mother Claus, Owls and pottery angels!!

Ngaire has a sensitive and loving heart and we were

privileged to be involved as a church when she and Denis

opened their home to a group of physically and mentally

challenged children and their carers for a few days.

As a church family, it has been a special pleasure to be

included in many Bartley family celebrations. On 2nd

January 2010, Jessica and Jasyn were married by Denis,

with the wedding party walking from the vicarage to the

church. Michael and Carys had

their wedding blessed in St

Columba‘s and in October this

year, Denis held his grandson,

Dylan John Bartley, as he led a

Thanksgiving and Blessing

service for him. Sarah flew from

Auckland to be with her parents

at their final service and has

helped with Christmas and St

Francis services over the years.

Sarah (r) with Ngaire

at the farewell.service.

A light moment after the farewell ceremony: l—r,

Doreen McKinlay, Ngaire & Denis, Bishop Kelvin

Wright, Noeline Watson, and Joan Nolan

Bishop Kelvin

giving the

farewell sermon

Freda Ryder

with Ngaire

and Denis

on the

last day.

The combined farewell

luncheon table!

One side is to show God's creation and in particular our small part of it - our four seasons. The music is the last line of the Agnus Dei. The other side is a personal one. The three circles are Doreen and her families. The top one is Peter (with the McKinlay tartan). The lower one is Doreen's son, his wife and their children. Doreen is the centre circle and links the family together, the three crosses also depict the Trinity. Below is Doreen's mission-- the needy children, complete with the ball of wool and the knitting needles. There is also a Celtic Cross on each side and on the back the cross of St. Andrews.

Back: Annette Whitmore, Gill Prestage, Noeline Watson, Roy Simmons Front: Kaye Moore, The Rev. Doreen McKinlay, Jean Cox, The Rev. John Murray

Doreen’s Stole....

Cromwell Comment Jean Cox

At the beginning of this month the ladies of St Andrew‘s

went to Bonnie and Susie Miller Perry‘s place for morning

tea. This was the first of our farewells for Denis and

Ngaire. In beautiful surroundings we were able to relax

and have a good time of fellowship and eat a lot of

wonderful food.

In recent weeks we have had three of our congregation

leave us for life in rest homes and to be nearer family

members. They are, Hazel Wilson who is now in Dunedin

and Ken and Dora Moore who have moved to Oamaru.

These people have been long-serving members of our

church and we appreciate their contribution. We hope to

keep in touch with them.

Ken and Dora Moore have donated their wood-pile to the

church as a fund raiser. We intend to sell raffle tickets at

New World on December 15th.

Sunday 22nd November we had our second farewell for

Denis and Ngaire. Denis took his final service in St

Andrew‘s then it was followed by morning tea in the hall.

There, Denis and Ngaire were presented with a framed

pencil drawing of our church, drawn thirty years ago by an

aunt of Noeline Watson. Book and garden vouchers were

also given.

We have appreciated all the travelling that Denis has done

in order to meet our spiritual needs here in Cromwell. He

has done this in a quiet, compassionate and conscientious

way and with a sense of humour. Ngaire too has been a

tireless worker for the parish and supporting Denis in all

he has done. We will miss them both. As Dunedin is not

too far away we hope to keep in touch. Thank you both for

your dedication to us.

Denis & Ngaire with the

drawing of St Andrew’s

given to them by

Cromwell parishioners.

Noeline Watson from St Andrews’s presenting Denis &

Ngaire with a bouquet at the combined farewell Nov 27

A copy of a letter sent by a grateful

American traveller...

Dear Parishioners of St Andrew’s

I was backpacking in New Zealand last year,

and I was in Cromwell for a few days near

Christmas. You made me welcome in your

church, and one lady, Ida, even took me to a

Festival of Lessons and Carols in a nearby

town. The next day, someone else from the

church was kind enough to invite me to tea.

I met many friendly people in New Zealand,

but Cromwell stands out in my memory as an

exceptionally welcoming place.

I was told that during Advent it was your

custom to decorate a Christmas tree at the

start of the service, with each person in

attendance adding an ornament to the tree.

So I am sending you an ornament for your

tree, to the glory of God and in thanksgiving

for your kindness to me.

Meredith Dixon

Tarras Talk Spin Lucas

On the 12th November, at Denis‘s last service,

we had the blessing of Olivia Kate, daughter

of Kate Pledger & Fraser Anderson, who have

returned from Perth to make their home in NZ.

This was followed by a lovely lunch at Charles

and Margo Kain‘s garden to farewell Denis.

Unfortunately, Ngaire was unable to attend.

A fund raising opportunity has arisen to

purchase 2 newly published books

―Tales of the Back Country 1‖

―Tales of the Back Country 11‖

These cost $10 dollars each and the retail price

is $25. It tells of dogs & other related tales

from farmers around NZ

and is for the benefit of

charitable organisations

and contains

magnificent photographs.

Local farmers include John Aspinall, Phyllis

Aspinall,& John Perriam.

Jill Millar and Mike Horder

at the retreat day Oct 19.

Pete’s Page—Summer 2011

It was a perfect day early that November morning,

sunshine, blue skies and no wind. The aroma of the

hawthorns‘ blossom from the magnificent tall hedges

beside the road wafted through the open window of my

car as I journeyed along the country lanes to Anne and

Bernie McNeill‘s beautiful property at Mt Barker.

I always enjoy visiting, they are always so hospitable

and caring. The garden is usually immaculate, and

was no exception that day. The lawns, the flower

beds, and the vegetable potagers looked superb and

above all, the peace that one felt meandering from

place to place really put one‘s spirit close to God.

Denis and Ngaire thought we should have a special

retreat before they left Wanaka. The retreat was led by

the Bishop‘s Chaplain, John Franklin. A quiet time in

the various parts of the garden was spent by us all.

I chose to sit overlooking the olive grove and the

panoramic view of the farmland, lake and mountains.

My thoughts went back to the special times with Denis

and Ngaire over the past five years and the period

ahead for our lives and the church. It was a time

without noise, no interruptions, just God and I.

Now and again, a skylark would soar into the sky

singing as it went.

We had a scrumptious lunch, and sharing with others -

ending with Eucharist later that afternoon which

concluded our retreat. We felt all the better for the day.

We now look forward to getting to know John and

Diane during the next few months. I hope the time

doesn‘t pass too quickly.

In conclusion, I pray we will grow stronger in our

faith, remembering the true meaning of Christmas and

sharing God‘s love with those we meet. Bea also

thanks you all for the prayers for her health.

God bless,

Pete Chamberlayne

St Columba’s— Community House Project

A meeting was held at Community Networks on

Saturday the 26th November to consider the future

of the Community House proposal. The decision

was made to proceed with the project. A new Trust,

The Wanaka Community House Charitable Trust, is

to be set up. The Trust Board will initially comprise

Bishop Kelvin Wright [representing the Anglican

Church]; Sukhi Turner [for Community Networks];

Peter Southwick [for Wanaka Combined Churches]

and Dr. Nick Brown [representing the wider

Wanaka community].

It is anticipated the new Trust will be

registered with the Charities Commission within the

next week or two. The new Trust‘s priority, once

registered, will be to look at planning and funding

issues.

Rev Denis was formally thanked for his

vision for, and dedication to, the Community House

proposal.

Marion Barnett &

Anne McNeill during the

quiet day.

THOUGHT:

Jesus promised those who would follow his leadings only three things:

That they would be absurdly happy, entirely fearless, and always in trouble.