ST MARK’S NEWSLETTER
www.stmarks.net.nz
2010
Mother’s Day
Breakfast –
Sunday 8 May
It is time to celebrate Mothers again
and we will be having another great
breakfast this year at 8.15am.
All women are invited to dress up and
wear something special.
$5 for adults and $12.50 for families –
any profits will go to the Christchurch
Earthquake Fund.
MAY 2011
WINTER POT LUCK
DINNER
Saturday 18 June
The Reach Out Team is
planning ahead. Mark this
date in your diary now to
come and enjoy a great pot
luck dinner and some mid-
winter activities. There will
be prizes for the lucky
winners.
Further details will be
Camp Alternative Picnic at
St Andrew’s Presbyterian
Church, Pound St, Amberley
on 3 April
Left to right
Julian, Alyssa, Ella-Rose and Kerry
Murphy, Sandra Wright-Taylor, Chris
Lawrey, Natasha Fox, Peter Lawrey,
Gay Balch, Colin White, Ken Balch,
Charlotte Wright-Taylor, Amanda Yang,
Jill White. Johnny Lawrey was there,
too, but he ran away from the photo.
 2
MINISTER’S MESSAGE
The Importance of
Questions
and Debate
Our heritage as Presbyterians is I
believe a very honourable one. Our
roots lie in someone asking questions.
That someone was a young trainee
priest called Martin Luther back in the
middle ages. (He was not alone in
asking the questions, but he was one of
the most prominent questioners). In
1517 he dared question the issuing of
indulgences, a procedure by which
Church officials accepted generous
donations and promised those giving
the money that their loved ones would
get an early release from purgatory to
be in heaven. Luther could find no
scriptural support for this “Get Out of
Jail Free” card and said instead we are
all dependent upon God’s grace.
It may seem a trivial question to us but
Luther soon found himself facing the
might of the Church, especially when he
widened his questions and nailed 95
Statements (or Thesis) to a church door
in Germany asking for people to gather
and debate the issues. His call to
debate together was welcomed by
some but rejected by the Church
leaders. They saw their authority and
standing being lost as traditions and
beliefs they held dear were questioned.
They feared chaos as the security of
fixed beliefs and understandings were
put under the spotlight.
What emerged was a new movement
called the Reformation. Based on the
ideal that we can freely debate and
search for truth, the new protesting
movement gave birth to new churches
including the Presbyterians.
These new churches called the
Protestant Churches stood in opposition
to the established church. In time the
remnant church had its own reformation
movement and grew into what we now
know as the Roman Catholic Church.
Luther and other reformers took the
scriptures very seriously which, with the
advent of printing presses, were
becoming available for the first time to
everyday people. The reformers believed
men and women had been given brains to
interpret the writings, particularly in light
of the new discoveries of science.
The founder of Presbyterian churches,
John Calvin, developed a new system of
authority in churches based not on
bishops and popes, but on elders and
church councils where issues could be
questioned and debated. A key feature of
the new system was that clergy no longer
held absolute power. Another key feature
was that the churches like our own that
emerged were called Reformed or
Reforming Churches because they
continued to debate and change.
Over the next couple of months I want to
look at some of the questions we have in
2011. I hope we can feel free to debate
these questions (and even disagree with
each other) and trust that in our
searching the Spirit of God will speak to
us.
Dugald
 3

News and comment

from St Mark’s Worship Team

Alex Aitken (chair) Alex Wilson, Max

Robertson, Dugald Wilson, Kim Scott,
and David Wright, meet regularly to
discuss how we can make the service
of worship each Sunday relevant and
meaningful to the congregation and
community of
St Marks.

During the last few months we have

planned and budgeted to upgrade the The office door now has an
visual part of the songs/hymns on the automatic door closer to keep
screen in the worship centre. In early the office staff warm in the
May we will have a computer and winter months. You may find it
monitor housed in a cabinet joined to a little harder to open.
the existing sound desk. This will be Our thanks to Bruce Coppard
connected to our data projector. A for undertaking this work.
number of people will be trained to
programme and operate the system.
Visual images have become an
important part of our worship.
ST MARK’S CHURCH FAIR
The worship team also rejoices in our is to be held on
Friday 28th October at 5.00pm
choir and we acknowledge the
dedicated service of our choir leader,
If you have any ideas for new
Moira Forsyth.
stalls or some suggestions for
We make sure the seating, lighting and
goods for existing stalls,
heating along with banners and stage
please contact the
furniture in the worship centre are in
Fair Convener, Colleen Smith,
place and working.
phone 358-8414
Alex Wilson has announced his
retirement as one of our musicians.
Alex has shared his talent with us for
the past 29 years. We are fortunate to
have a fine team of talented musicians
and Moira Forsythe has offered to play
regularly again. If you know of
someone keen to learn the organ,
funding could be available within the
Presbyterian Church for professional
tutoring.
 4
The North Lounge is alive
with activity on Thursday
mornings when the Craft
group meets to work on
their craft, share and learn
new skills, and make new
friends.
If you’re looking for
company during the winter
months, why not come
along between 10.00am
and 11.30am.
Contact Jess Glading,
phone 358 5172 who will
answer any queries.
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
- Mary Oliver, from her poem "The Summer Day"

HOW ABOUT HELPING US

KYOKUSHIN KARATE ON SUNDAYS!
This new activity has started in
St Mark Sports Hall - Myra in the Church Office will
Juniors: Thu & Fri 5.30-6.30pm soon be making up new rosters. If
Seniors: Thu 5.30-7.30pm & anyone would like to be included on
Fri 5.30-6.30pm
these, i.e. bible reading, prayers,
To increase fitness, door duty, welcoming, OHP or
self-defence and morning tea, please phone or email
confidence. the office.
Friendly and Descriptions of the duties
internationally required are available.
certified instructors
If you wish to come off a roster,
please contact Myra before the
Contact:
Sonia, phone 3651366 or
end of May.
www.TheStrongestKarate.co.nz
"Prayer might not change things, but it will change my perspective of
things. Prayer might not change the past, but inevitably, it changes
the present."
- Margaret Feinberg
 5

Hi, Kids! Here is your part of the Newsletter! If you have any pictures, photos,
stories, activities, book/movie reviews, jokes, questions or anything else you’d
like to share, then let us know. We’ll do our best to fit them in! We’d also like to
know what you think of the ‘KidzStuff’ newsletter. You can talk to a Kidzone
leader or you can contact us through the St Mark’s website on...
www.stmarks.net.nz.

What can I do that's special this Mother's Day?

1. Take Mum to St Mark’s for breakfast

There will be a special Mother’s Day breakfast at church at 8:15am with a
suggested donation of $5 for adults or $15 per family. You are invited to dress
up for Mother’s Day and wear a special outfit that you don’t wear very often.
2. Make a card for Mum
Make a card or a drawing for Mum instead of buying one.
3. Hold a Mother's Day picnic
Get your brothers and sisters and Dad to help. You can go somewhere special
or just your own backyard (or a rug on the floor inside if it’s raining!).
4. Spend some quiet time together
Just spend some time being with Mum and perhaps play a quiet game together,
read a book together or just talk about your highs and lows and get Mum to
share hers, too.
5. Have a special Mum outing
Whatever Mum's interests are, follow them for the day. Find out if there's an art
exhibition she wants to see, a garden she'd like to visit, a musical performance
she's been wanting to see. Surprise her with a thoughtful outing that's all about
her. If you've got a mum that is so busy all the time and all she needs is an at
home mini-break, something as simple as picking up a DVD that she loves will
show her that you appreciate her.
 6

Who’s Who @ Kidzone?

How well do you know the Kidzone members?

Can you name these people?
If not, can you find out who they are?

Who are the JD’s? What does J.D. stand for?

Who haven’t been coming to Kidzone very long?

Who has been in the Christchurch Music Festival special choir?

Who loves playing football (soccer)?

Who loves playing netball?

Who loves playing hockey?

Who is a record-breaking athlete?

Who loves kicking through autumn leaves?

Who spent some time at school in Auckland recently?

What age/year at school are the X-Plorers? Who are they?

Who are the Noah’s Arkaders?

Who is going to become a big brother later in the year?

Who has been wearing red and black Bands 4 Hope?

Who got a baby sister in January?

Who goes to play centre?

How many can you name? Open to adults as well as children.

See Jill with your answers!
 7

Who is this?
Read about him in Genesis Chapter 37. Verse 3 will tell you how to colour
this picture!
 8

Joseph and His Brothers

Genesis 37 (NIV)

Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, had twelve sons. He showed special
favour to Joseph who was one of his youngest sons. Read about Joseph and
what happened to him in Genesis 37. Unscramble the word to fill in the blanks.
RILSEA
__ __ __ __ __ __ loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. (verse 3)
OREB
Israel made a richly ornamented __ __ __ __ for him. (verse3)
TEHDA
When his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than any of them they
__ __ __ __ __ him. (verse 3)
REDMARE
Joseph brothers called him a __ __ __ __ __ __ __. (verse 19)
LFCSKO
Joseph’s brothers had gone to graze their father's __ __ __ __ __ __ near
Shechem. (verse 12)
UBRENE
__ __ __ __ __ __ tried to rescue Joseph from his brothers. (verse 21,22)
ICSETRN
Joseph's brothers threw him into a __ __ __ __ __ __ __. (verse24)
ISLEVR
Joseph's brothers sold him to Midianite merchants for 20 shekels of
__ __ __ __ __ __ (verse 28)
GEPTY
The Midianites sold Joseph in __ __ __ __ __ to Potiphar. (verse 36)
 9

2011 ALCOHOL LAW REFORM

It was good that two of our members made the effort to present an oral submission to
the Parliament Select Committee on the Alcohol Reform Bill (ARB). It takes
conviction and guts to appear in person. At least 20 others made a written
submission. Congratulations to everyone for such a fantastic effort in contributing to
the 9000+ submission tally. The Committee will now deliberate on all of this feedback
for the next few months.
Sadly the Land Transport Amendment Bill (2010) has been rushed through under
urgency. There was no change in terms of reducing the adult drink driving limit from
0.08 to 0.05, so legal drunk driving remains. Remember that most of the developed
countries of the world have already set a 0.05 limit and many are considering
a further reduction to 0.03 or 0.02.
What to do now? If you want the laws to change the focus now needs to be on our
MPs either by email or letter, but even better, face-to-face. Our Parish Council is
setting up a small group to visit local MPs. Our key message remains…
1. Introduce a minimum price per standard drink to end ultra-cheap alcohol
2. Restore supermarkets to being alcohol-free
3. Ban all broadcast alcohol advertising and all alcohol sponsorship
4. End legal drunk driving by reducing the BAC for adult driving from 0.08 to 0.05
or lower.
In order to help you keep the issue before MPs, we have postcards and a
questionnaire available from the church office. Remember to check out the very
helpful website www.alcoholaction.co.nz

The Craft Group are working hard on

another Community Project to provide
children in the eastern suburbs of
Christchurch with “Bedtime Beanies”
– a soft and comfortable bed hat to
wear at night. A lot of body heat is lost
through the head.
If you can contribute to this Project by
knitting a comfortable hat made of soft
fibre, please contact
Dawn Ph 342-7080 or
Jess Ph 358-5172
 10

PRESBYTERY Free Book Give Away

Due to the earthquake problems at
Knox Church, the Presbytery
business meetings and some of the
Presbytery sub-committee meetings
will be held at St Mark’s in the
meantime.
OUR FOOD BANK IS IN NEED…
There is a continuing need for food
for Aranui so please keep up the
good work of providing non-
perishable items for our food bank
each week.
The amount of food donated lately
has been magnificent and is much
appreciated.
"Whatever I had read as a child about
the saints had thrilled me. I could see
the nobility of giving one's life for the
sick, the maimed, the leper. But there
was another question in my mind. Why
was so much done in remedying the evil
instead of avoiding it in the first place?
Where were the saints to try to change
the social order, not just minister to the
slaves, but to do away with slaver.
- Dorothy Day
Rob Bell has been called the next
Billy Graham and one of the most
important 21st century Christian
leaders. From an evangelical
tradition and with a deep respect for
scripture Rob has an open mind to
face hard questions. Some of us
have come across Rob Bell in the
Nooma video series. He has recently
released a book that is causing a bit
of a storm in the USA called “Love
Wins”. It is a book about God’s love
and God’s judgment.
Rob understands that many
Christians are troubled by the
possibility that God has created
billions of people over the years only
to select a few to go to heaven while
everyone else is destined to suffer in
hell. He faces us with the question
that this is not what the Bible teaches,
and asks us to look more closely at
what Jesus meant by heaven, hell,
and salvation. You may have heard
some similar thoughts from the
minister at St Mark’s!
If you want to go into the draw to
win a free copy of the book email
office@stmarks.net.nz with “Rob
Bell Love Wins” in the subject line
or leave a note with the office.

SENIORS CORNER…Joce is doing a course of study on spiritual well-being of

the older person. Questions such as: “How do you nurture your own spiritual
well-being when getting out and about is now difficult?” “If your living
circumstances have changed, are you still able to enjoy worshiping with others,
listening to music or enjoying the environment in some way?”
There are many more aspects to think about and Joce welcomes anyone able to
share what spiritual well-being means for them. She is especially interested in
hearing about what people are longing for. Contact Joce 358-5458.
 11

MOVIE NIGHT
'Vision' is a movie about the renowned medieval mystic
Hildegard Von Bingen, who was a nun in the Benedictine
Order in 12th century Germany. It is an award winning movie
about her life and practices. From an early age she saw
visions which surprisingly were recognized by the church
authorities as being of God and Hildegard became a
respected leader in her community. She was also known as
a healer and mystic. She discouraged severe ascetic
practices, believing that God intended humans to live fulfilled
spiritual lives of hard work, charity and contentment. She
became the 'magistra' of her order and eventually founded
two convents, writing books on medicine, composing music
and teaching her own method of contemplation.

We’ll be showing the movie on Sunday 29th May at 6.30pm at St Mark’s

CHURCH FAMILY NEWS

Nicholas Amponsah has recently
completed his defence of his Ph.D at
Lincoln. Nicholas is now working with
the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
as an advisor on bio security risks with
plants.
Wasn’t it wonderful to have Margot
Holcroft singing at church on Easter
Sunday. We have 9 CD’s of Margot
singing to give away. See the office.
Margot is also expecting their first baby
very shortly.

Judy Firestone has celebrated the

graduation of her son Issac from
Canterbury University and also his
engagement to Amanda Leggat.

Paul and Mary Jo Murphy have found

a new home in Pegasus after the
earthquake destroyed their inner city
apartment.
Charlotte Wright-Taylor and Catlin
Wright enjoyed an Easter break in
Auckland as part of a group of young
people from Christchurch sponsored by
Auckland churches.
N E X T WORKING BEE
Saturday, 21st May
Bring tools for a big garden cleanup,
cleaning windows, general kitchen
cleaning and high dusting.
 12

SUNDAY SERVICES BEGIN AT 9.30AM

May:
1st Worship
th
8 Worship – The Importance of Questions - Mother’s Day
th
15 Worship – Why do bad things happen?
nd
22 Worship – The Old Testament leaves me cold…
th
29 Worship – What is marriage these days?
June:
5th Worship – What is so different about Presbyterians?-
Queens Birthday Weekend
th
12 Worship – Communion – Pentecost Sunday

GROUPS YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN…

 Kidzone & JD’s - Contact Sandra Wright-Taylor Ph. 358-5458
Every Sunday at 9.30am during worship.

 Musical Moments Playgroup - Contact Sandra Wright-Taylor Ph. 358-5458

Tuesdays 9.30-11.30am - Music session, play and parent support, morning tea.
$20 per term donations.

 Midweek Worship - Contact Joce Yearbury Ph. 358-5458

Wednesdays at 11.30am, especially for seniors, followed by lunch.

 Craft Group – Contact Jess Glading Ph. 358-5172

Thursdays 10.00-12 noon. Time to talk, enjoy fellowship and keep fingers busy with craft.

 Ladies Home Group - Contact Joce Yearbury Ph. 358-5458

1st & 3rd Tuesdays monthly 10.00-11.30am in private homes for friendship
and easy faith study questions.

 Evening Home Group - Contact Anne McHaffie Ph. 342-8981

Informal fellowship Thursdays 7.15-9.00pm in private homes.

 Choir - Contact Moira Forsyth Ph. 358-2775

Practice Thursdays 7.30-8.30pm in the Church for those who enjoy singing.

 Music Worship Group - Contact Kim Scott Ph. 349-9477

Practice on 4th Saturday each month at 4.15pm in the church in preparation for leading worship
Many Community Groups also meet here –
collect a copy of the “What’s on at St. Mark’s” brochure from the foyer

Your Parish News is delivered by ……………………………………….…Phone…………………….

For the next Parish Minister: Rev. Dugald Wilson, Ph. 358-5670,
Email: dugald@stmarks.net.nz
Newsletter Faith Educator: Rev. Sandra Wright-Taylor,
Copy Deadline Ph. 358-5458, Email: sandra@stmarks.net.nz
Wednesday, 18th May Seniors Pastoral Worker: Joce Yearbury, Ph. 358-5458
Digital photos can be emailed to Parish Office:
office@stmarks.net.nz 150 Withells Road, Avonhead, Phone 358-5443
Folding Email: office@stmarks.net.nz
Friday, 27th May Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9.00am to 12 noon
Distribution Web Site: www.stmarks.net.nz
Sunday, 29th May