May 1968

Bishop's Letter.

Thank you for the Easter greetings. We were very glad to get them. We spent Holy Week and Easter with Durie Hill and had the privilege of sharing the Services with them, since their new Vicar (Ray White) does not reach them till May.

This year it is our turn to welcome General Synod. The Archbishop has convened the Session in Wellington from April 28; and, after the Synod Service in the Cathedral, the meetings are to be held in St. Mary's, Karori, church and hall. I know the Diocese will be glad to greet the Church of the Province not only in the Cathedral but also in Karori's beautifully enlarged church and convenient ancillary buildings. The Vicar and Vestry have collaborated with the Chancellor's Committee in making admirable arrangements. I intend to take an early opportunity to welcome on your behalf the Archbishop and the General Synod.

The General Synod, which now meets every alternate year, is composed of three distinct Orders, the Bishops of the Province, three clerical representatives of each New Zealand diocese, and two of each Island diocese, and also four lay representatives from each New Zealand diocese, and two each from Melanesia and Polynesia.

The Primate (Archbishop Lesser) is the President). He is assisted in particular by the Provincial Secretary (Archdeacon Waymouth) and the Chairman of Committee, who is elected on the first day.

It is the job of General Synod 'to manage the affairs of the Church'. And what are they? Everything that belongs to human life, because the God we worship and proclaim entered our life when Jesus was born of Mary, never to leave it. But in particular 'the affairs of the Church' refer to the Anglican Church in this Province. And so General Synod will be concerned with the truth about God and the best ways for men to worship Him; with the message of Christ to the Maori people and the mission of the Church to the thousands in New Zealand and the millions beyond who have never recognised His light; with the healing of the divisions in the Church, and the right relation at Christ's table of separated Church members, great questions, heavy with history and alive with new meaning. But also there are questions of the 'parish pump' in which the Synod must seek the mind of Christ, the re-marriage by the Church of people whose marriages have ended in Divorce, and the subjects to be studied by an ordinand.

Let us invite the Holy Spirit to lead us in every matter we tackle at General Synod into the truth.

I wrote earlier to tell the Clergy of Mr. Sprott's impending resignation from the work of Diocesan Secretary which he has done for more than 30 years with a faithfulness and grasp and sympathy of which it is hard to speak worthily. We shall all join gratefully in praying for him in laying down his job after Synod and in taking on whatever further work the Standing Committee asks him to do for us. Pray also please, that the Church may receive the right man to follow Mr. Sprott in leading the Office Staff and serving the whole Diocese.

+HENRY WELLINGTON.

THE VICAR WRITES -

I WANT TO LIVE

"I want to live. You want to live. Everyone wants to live. What a great business living involves! All around us we see the outward signs of man's endeavour to live. This is especially noticeable in cities and towns. Look around you. See the shops, the offices, the factories. What are they for? they are the places where men and women make a "living". So writes J. N. Thompson at the commencement of his book: "I Want to Live."

The question which arises, however, is what it is to really live, especially in this modern age, when the pressure seems to be on to depersonalise human life and to make all men conform to a mould. The fact of this pressure was, I think, from viewing one or two episodes, at least a part of the theme of the T.V. series "The Prisoner". And then a thoughtful teenager asked me recently where the meaning is in modern life.

The Christian answer is that we do not live, so long as we depress and ignore the spiritual and highest part of our life; that part of us which as St. Paul says seeks after God... "yet He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we move and have our being."

There is no creature on the face of this earth other than man which builds a place of worship; worship is man's highest activity and gives him a sense of purpose in living. He who knows God, and renews his awareness of God's presence at least Sunday by Sunday as he worships in the House of God ceases to exist and LIVES instead. This is one of the tremendous messages of this Easter season the fact of the living Christ, and the divine promise: "Because I live, ye shall live also",

"For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain;
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer,
Both for themselves and those who call them friend."

If you agree with this, then fit yourself into the picture below. [Picture of a family arriving at church.]

Your friend and vicar,

V.C. Venimore

YOUR BABY'S BAPTISM.

I am glad you are thinking about having your baby baptised, because I know you honestly want the very best for him in every way. You want the best for him physically, for his body the local clinic will help you with that. You want the best for him mentally, for his mind in time. the local schools will help you with that. You want the best for him spiritually and that is where the Church can and wants to help you.

This means, I am sure, that you will want to take the Baptism of your child seriously. You will want to understand its meaning. You will want to take your own very important part in the Service intelligently We are sincerely anxious to help you and your baby all we can.

THE PURPOSE OF THE SERVICE:

In the Baptism Service we recognise first of all that every one of us, including your baby, is born with a human nature which is not what it ought to be, by a long way. We do not find it very pleasant to face this, but we cannot get very far spiritually until we do.

Because of this, at Baptism we ask God to make your baby all that he ought to be--in other words we ask God to make him A REAL CHRISTIAN. Baptism alone will not make him a Christian. Only God Himself can do it. That is the real heart of the Baptism Service asking God to make your baby a real Christian.

I wonder if YOU are a REAL Christian? It does not make very much sense to ask God to make baby a Christian, unless first you have asked Him to make you one yourself.

THE PROMISES IN THE SERVICE: 

As a very important step towards achieving the purpose of the Service, you will find in it there are THREE PROMISES TO BE MADE

Here they are in everyday language. 

1. I will have nothing to do with what I know to be wrong.

2. I put my trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Saviour of sinners. 

3. I will live my life in God's way and not my own.

These promises set a high standard and you will want to think a lot about them before you come to Church for the Baptism Service and allow these three promises to be made with your consent and in the name of your child..

But Christianity is not only a matter of what we have to do. What God does for us is even more important. The Prayer Book Catechism tells us that there are THREE THINGS THAT GOD PROMISES TO DO FOR YOUR BABY. Here they are in everyday language:

1. To welcome him into His family as His own child.

2. To put him into the care and keeping of the Lord Jesus Christ for the whole of his life.

3. To guarantee a place for him in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

These are wonderful promises, especially when the world is such a troubled place and the future is so uncertain. How very important it is that you show your child as he grows up what the meaning of sincere and real membership of the Church is. He will grow into an understanding of Christian living IF you set him a practical example.

How important that little word "if" is!

With acknowledgements to Falcon Leaflet 22.

CONFIRMATION

By the time this reaches you the first Confirmation will have been held, and preparation classes for local young people will be getting under way. It is good to see the part being taken by an increasing number of active and enthusiastic young people in our parish, including practical activities, such as the two painting projects, reading at the Liturgy (more especially at the 10 a.m. service), the continually expanding attendance at Bible Classes, the vigorous Youth Club, the loyal and keen band of Servers.

Please remember those who are now preparing for Confirmation, that they may continue with others as lively members of the Church.

REPORTS FROM ORGANISATIONS. 

Contributions for this feature should reach the Vicar by the tenth of the month at the latest.

St. Matthew's Ladies' Guild.

There was an excellent attendance at the Annual Meeting of the Guild. The out-going President, Mrs. A. S. Kilsby, presented the review of the year's activities, which included the Guild's participation in the Gala, which proved to be in every way such a successful function. The Vicar congratulated the Guild upon their achievements, and expressed appreciation of the Guild's readiness to assist in so many ways in essential parish activities. The Guild members thanked all those who had held office, with special reference to the leadership of Mrs. Kilsby, who had guided the course of the Guild for several years, and was handing over now to her successor. The following officers were then appointed: President: Mrs. F. Scarr; Vice-Presidents (Active): Mesdames V. Heath, A. S. Kilsby, W. Savill Smith, C. Walker. Secretary-Treasurer: Mrs. V. Richards.

C.E.M.S.

The Vicar was the speaker at the first meeting for 1968 and took as his subject "Christian Initiation". A valuable discussion followed. Mr. F. Scarr, outgoing Chairman, presented the official report of the events and activities of the year under review. The programme had been a varied and interesting one. He referred to the forthcoming Diocesan Conference to be held at All Saints', Palmerston North. It was later decided by the Committee to make this diocesan gathering on Saturday, May 25th, the Branch's official fixture for that month, and to arrange transport for members, so that the whole Branch could attend. Incoming Officers are Chairman: Mr. C. F. Pennefather; Committee: The Rev. F. Saunders, Messrs. R. W. Bennitt, G. Barr, F. Scarr, K. Stone.

District Visitors' Guild.

The Guild's devotional Service in the Chapel and prayers for the work of the Church in the parish was followed by the usual monthly meeting which was well attended. Members reported the names of a number of new parishioners who to a new Guild member, Mrs. R. W. Bennitt.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

St. Matthew's Herald: Mesdames H. J. Bannister $1, I. Wilkinson $1, Bowes 50c, Allingham 60c, E. Barr 50c, Mr. & Mrs. G. Butcher $1, Misses J. and H. Rosson $5, Solway School Jubilee Committee (per Vicar) $2, P.R. (per Vicar) $20, F.V.F. (per Vicar) $10.

for YOUNGER PARISHIONERS

THE DINING-ROOM TABLE.

Twelve miles north of New York City, there is an old house known as Philipse Manor. It was built by a Dutch settler in the eighteenth century and is now a museum. Its rooms contain many interesting things. The slaves of the household used to live in the cellar and tourists can still see the large wooden bowl out of which they used to eat their food. The upstairs rooms are furnished just as they were two hundred years ago.

On the dining-room table, the blue dinner service is laid out. There is one large dish like a soup plate only it has holes in it. It was used for fruits and salads. The juice would drain through the holes into a plate below. Then the people would think nothing of lifting the bottom plate and drinking the juice out of it.

There is another interesting plate which has some Dutch words written on it. The guide translates them as, 'Before you eat, turn me over. On the other side are the words, also in Dutch, 'With eating goes a prayer'. That was a good way of reminding people to say grace before meals.

But what does the word 'grace' mean? It comes from a Latin word meaning thanks'. To say grace before meals is to say "Thank You' to God for all His good gifts to us.

Thank You for the world so sweet,
Thank You for the food we eat....

Grace was an old Jewish custom which Jesus followed. At the Feeding of the Five Thousand, before He gave our the bread and the fishes, Jesus 'said the blessing'. This is simply another word for 'grace'. At the Last Supper also, Jesus 'said the blessing'. So Jesus teaches us that, whenever we sit down to a meal, we should thank God for the food that He has provided for our use. We should ask God's blessing upon the food and upon ourselves.

Remember, then, that old Dutch plate with its two sayings 'Before you eat, turn me over' and 'With eating goes a prayer'.

- Wm. G. Morrice, in "The Expository Times".

THE PARISH REGISTER. 

HOLY BAPTISM. 

"One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism."

March 16:
Andrew Robert Watkin.
Christopher Raymond Elwin.
Darryl John Elwyn,
Andrea Dale Hausman.
Kerry John Robinson. 

March 30:
Peter John Hirst.
Darryl Ross Carmichael. 

March 31:
Andrew James Worthington. 

April 7:
Wynter William Blathwayt. 

April 13:
Stephen Perry Thompson.
Mark Paul Foothead.
Michele Carol Laredo
and One Adult.

IN MEMORIAM.

"I am the Resurrection and the Life."

March 18:
Ian George Gibling. 

April 1:
Ada Phyllis Field. 

April 4:
Ida Marie Russell.
William Frank Bishop. 

April 8:
Herbert Bannister. 

April 11:
Alfred Louis Wills Langley.