11 Christchurch
ST PAULS LUTHERAN CHURCH ŌTAUTAHI | CHRISTCHURCH
When you check out our website and our Facebook page, and look at the cover of our Sunday worship booklet, you will see these words –
Nau mai haere mai
Welcome
St Pauls is located on the beautiful whenua of Ōruapaeroa in Burwood
We worship on Sundays at 10am
We are a small, friendly church growing in relationship with God
and in our calling to be a blessing in and to our community
It’s an amazing blessing to be part of the Lord’s Church in this location and at this time. St Pauls Christchurch is certainly on te hīkoi haerenga ki a Hēhu, an exciting adventure with Jesus. It’s an adventure of rediscovering our call to be the presence and the love of God in Burwood, Ōtautahi Christchurch and beyond.
1600 years ago the Travis Wetlands, part of Ōruapaeroa, and right next to St Pauls, were one of the mahinga kai (a place for gathering food and other resources) used by Waitaha, Kāti (Ngāti) Māmoe, and Kāi (Ngāi) Tahu. Eel, fish, kereru, raupō seeds, and other wildlife were in abundant supply. Harakeke was used for weaving baskets, clothing, and roofing, and raupō was used for thatch.
It was a location that fed and sheltered community, a location of care and blessing. How wonderful that we at St Pauls can be inspired by our location, a location that invites us to be a place and people of care and blessing, reaching out to feed and shelter our community with the aroha of Christ.
Over the last almost two years we have been blessed with a renewed vision and hope. Through intentional conversations with our community – the City Council, a local Community Services Trust, Busy Bees (the early childhood centre over the road from us), local churches, and our neighbours – we have a renewed sense of belonging and usefulness in and for our community. The Wainoni Avonside Community Services Trust (WACST) now offer all their community programs from St Pauls. There are up to 230 registrations – i.e., people coming into the church – Monday to Friday each week. We have formed a very warm friendship with many people who attend these programs, and some have also started worshipping with us and attending our Men’s Breakfasts and Whānau Fridays.
We are working on creating a community ‘bumping space’ out the front of the church (fruit trees, picnic tables, park benches, oversized and outdoor games), a cooperative effort between Church, City Council and Busy Bees. There is also interest from the local primary school in working with us on establishing a community garden. A new Sharing Shed has been built in our carpark, enabling us to partner with our neighbours in making food available to the community.
We’re also working hard to spruce our place up and are grateful for the support of Gateway funding. The kitchen has had a makeover, digital locks have been installed on some doors, the carpark has been resealed, and we are installing lighting and tidying up the garden areas. Through one of our Council connections, we hope to bring in some food vans for our Whānau Fridays, and we have plans to host community events together with the Community Services Trust (pre-Christmas, market days, car-boot sales, etc.). We are continuing to explore establishing a music ministry based on the theology and heritage music of the Lutheran Church, especially the music of J.S. Bach.
A new Ministry Matters team works alongside the Leadership Team to ensure that we maximise the ministry opportunities God is blessing us with. Our people live throughout Christchurch and beyond, and so we have used online technology to meet for midweek Lenten devotions and plan to use it for Youth Alpha (confirmation ministry) and small group ministry.
We have a plan to gather each year with members of the Roman Catholic community in Christ the Redeemer parish to celebrate our belonging to each other through baptism into Christ. We use the joint statement prepared by the LCNZ Roman Catholic Lutheran Dialogue Commission, Baptised together into Christ, to guide our worship and conversation together. We also participated in a joint (Roman Catholic – Anglican – Lutheran) Ash Wednesday service this year.
As the Spirit blesses us with a renewed hope and vision for the future, the Lord has blessed us with new members to share this hope and vision. Our worship attendances on average have doubled over the last 18 months, and while we’re not fixated on numbers, it’s got to be an indication that God’s up to something exciting. We love being together for worship and fellowship, and our guests and visitors appreciate the warm welcome they receive.
A waiata for Ōruapaeroa includes these words –
Ōrua Paeroa – he wāhi tapu, he kete taonga
Travis Wetland – a sacred place, a basket of treasures
He aha rā ngā rawa? He aha rā ngā hua?
What are the riches here? What are the fruits here?
He kai, he kai, he kai
Food, food, food
St Pauls is a sacred place, a holy people, and through the grace of God, we have the taonga, the treasure, the rich fruit, the food of his love to share and give away.
Scripture inspires us –
God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance,
so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.
As it is written, “He scatters abroad; he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us.
2 Corinthians 9:8-11
Mark Whitfield
Pastor and Acting Chairperson
Financial Report
Otautahi Christchurch: https://lca.box.com/shared/static/xmrdycvz6wsl14fk8ttgqk84a2bmj5ib.pdf
