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FIRST CHURCH OF OTAGO - WHAT’S ON DURING MAY 2009
WHAT’S ON DURING MAY
Friday 1 6– 8pmYOUTH GROUP Burns Hall Mon 4 1.30pm Mah Jong - McLean
Tues 5 12.15-12.45 Weekly Prayer Stevely Room
Thurs 7 9.30am Craft group meets
Friday 8 6– 8pmYOUTH GROUP Burns Hall
Sat 9 9am – 2pm Elders Retreat at Leith Valley Mon 11 1.30pm Mah Jong - McLean
Tues 12 12.15-12.45 Weekly Prayer Stevely Room
TUES 12 4.30pm Property Committee
WED 13 7.30pm SESSION
Friday 15 6– 8pmYOUTH GROUP Burns Hall Mon 18 1.30pm Mah Jong - McLean
4.00pm Finance Committee meeting
Tues 19 12.15-12.45 Weekly Prayer Stevely Room
WED 20 7.30pm DEACONS COURT
Thurs 21 9.30am Craft group meets
Friday 22 6– 8pmYOUTH GROUP Burns Hall
Sunday 24 12 noon cafe lunch Wig n Pen
SUNDAY SERVICES FOR MAY 2009
SUNDAY MAY 3
10.00am - Morning Worship - The Reverend Tokerau Joseph
12 noon - Cook Islands - The Reverend Tokerau Joseph
2.00pm - Samoan Service - The Reverend Anne Thomson
10am DOOR DUTIES: Elizabeth Bremner (487 9865) Isobel
Napper, Noeleen and Brian Williscroft.Finance: Joyce Dyer
TEA/COFFEE Shirley and Gifford Brown
SUNDAY MAY 10
10.00am -Morning Worship - The Reverend Tokerau Joseph
12 noon Cook Islands - The Reverend Anne Thomson
2.00pm - Samoan Service - The Reverend Tokerau Joseph
10am DUTIES: .Stan Catchpole (471 0633), Ian Mitchell,
Margaret Mitchell, June Evans.Finance: Stan Catchpole.
TEA/COFFEE Maureen and Les Green
SUNDAY MAY 17
10.00am – Morning Worship - The Reverend Tokerau Joseph
12 noon - Cook Islands ` - The Reverend Tokerau Joseph
2.00pm - Samoan Service - The Reverend Tokerau Joseph
5.00pm - Youth Worship - Ben Bates
10am DUTIES: Ian Robertson ( 454 4513) Jenni Elmes, Vicki
Penny, Maara Williams Finance: Tony Stevely
TEA/COFFEE Janet and John Takacs
SUNDAY MAY 24
10.00am -Morning Worship - The Reverend Anne Thomson
12 Noon Cook Islands - Takau Brydon
2.00pm - Samoan Service - N Vaitupu
10am DUTIES: Catherine Todd ( 477 5263) Selina Mulder and
Sina Muliau Finance: Catherine Todd
TEA/COFFEE Ian and Margaret Mitchell
SUNDAY MAY 31
10.00am – Morning Worship First Church Youth Group
12 noon - Cook Islands Family Worship
2.00pm - Samoan Service - T Vaitupu
10am DUTIES: Nineva Vaitupu (455 3375), Russell Duff, Vaine
Metuatai, Les & Maureen Green Finance: Les Green
TEA/COFFEE Isobel Napper and Zena McKie
SENIOR MINISTER: The Reverend Tokerau Joseph, phone 477 7792 cell 027 371 4733
PART TIME ASSISTANT MINISTER: The Reverend Anne Thomson 477 7150 cell 027 467 5488
PART TIME PASTORAL ASSISTANT MINISTER : The Rev John Sinclair (473 9950 or 027 436 9204)
YOUTH WORKER: Ben Bates 021 027 07862
FIRST CHURCH BELL RINGERS - Practice 7.30pm Thursday nights; Contact Phone 498 -0221
WEEKLY EVENTS
Mondays 1.30pm Mah Jong - McLean Room
Tuesdays 12.15-12.45 Weekly Prayer Stevely Room
Thursdays 7.30pm Bells Practice
Fridays - 6– 8pm YOUTH GROUP Burns Hall
WEEKLY PRAYER AT FIRST CHURCH
The weekly gathering for prayer is on
Tuesdays, 12.15-12.45, in the Stevely Room.
We use the Lord's Prayer as a pattern for our
praying. All are welcome.
——————————————————————
ELDERLY EXERCISE EVERY THURSDAY
10.30am-11.30am BURNS HALL FREE
Run by: Otago Peoples Health Trust
Enquiries Contact Tangi Joseph 477 7792
REPORT FROM THE FINANCE COMMITTEE
For the 9 months of the current financial year to end of March Offering income totalled $72,468
being 98% of budget .
Investment Income and donations totalled $89421 being 105% of budget.
Expenditure excluding property maintenance totalled $133207 being 96% of budget.
Property expenditure including maintenance, insurance, power, cleaning and security totalled $84656
being 96% of budget.
The value of investments has fallen as a result of the worldwide financial crisis. This year it will be
necessary to write down values of the church investments.
We thank the congregation for their support both financially and also for the huge amount of voluntary work carried out
by members.
Dear John Sinclair
I would like to thank you on behalf of the year 7 and
8s from Riversdale School. It was amazing to be able
to visit the First Church in Dunedin.
I couldn’t believe how old it was and how hudge the
oragan inside was. It played beautiful music.
I would like to thank you again for taking your time
to give us a brief history of the first church.—
Yours sincerely, Samantha
FIRST CHURCH OF OTAGO
NEWSLETTER - MAY 2009
FIRST CHURCH MISSION STATEMENT: “We are striving to become a truly multi-cultural community, providing a warm, creative and affirming home base, enabling us to
reach out with the Good News to those working and living in the inner-city and beyond.”
Message from The Reverend Tokerau Joseph
Greetings! Tena kotou! Kia orana! Talofa! Malo ni!
Last month had its high and low points. Beginning with the positives, it’s been encouraging to receive affirm-
ing feedback about our Palm Sunday and holy week services. Once again, they enabled us to re-engage with
the Easter story that evoked all kinds of feelings and thoughts of our faith. From the betrayal, suffering and
death of Christ through to the resurrection accounts, we have been challenged to explore the relevance of
these events for us today as individuals and as a church. The one symbol that encompasses and remains at the
fore of this season is the cross. It is the cross that symbolises the paradox of both the curse and salvation of
Christ in which we are drawn. My hope is that as people are drawn here to experience the beauty of our
buildings, grounds and rich heritage, may they also encounter the story of the cross reflected in our own live
experiences as First Church people.
It was also a privilege to have acknowledged in one of our services a special group of people who have made significant contribu-
tions to our ministry here. Again, I would like to convey thanks to Reverends Jenni Elms, Brian Williscroft, Peter Matheson, Ian
Robertson and John Sinclair for supporting Anne and me in leading our various services. The team spirit among our ministers was
further demonstrated in our ―Refreshment‖ time together on St. Martin’s Island last week. It was a glorious day that provided a
wonderful opportunity for us to explore the island and its history while giving time to also share our various life-stories as a way of
edifying our relationships.
Since working in a fulltime capacity, my attendance to various committee meetings has also given me a greater appreciation of the
effort that others put into the life and work of First Church. We are so blessed to have not only the expertise and diligence of folk
to tasks, but also the caring heart that they express in doing what they do; much of which is given little or no mention. I would like
to thank everyone doing their bit in assisting our ministry together. In particular, I would like to mention the enormous effort and
time that Mr. Ian Mitchell has put into the installation of our CCTV system. His service, including that of the many volunteers, has
saved us a considerable amount for which we are greatly indebted. Saying thank you is really not enough, but I, for one, am truly
grateful for his dedication and example of servanthood.
I would also like, at this point, to honour the services of Mrs. Pepe Henry who was recently made a senior elder at our last Session
meeting. Due to declining health, Mrs. Henry has retired from her eldership duties, but is always welcome to attend meetings and
offer her wisdom to the spiritual matters of our church. Meitaki maata and kia manuia mama Pepe.
It was a marvellous opportunity to celebrate with our Cook Islanders community in their Easter celebrations that included, a sports
day (Edgar Centre), evening social (South Dunedin Town Hall), worship service, uapou (First Church) and picnic at Woodhaugh
Gardens. Well done to our own folk Mr. Ioaba Dean, Mr. Ben Bates and Mrs. Tangi Joseph representing our leadership. Congratu-
lations also to our youth group for another successful representation and achievement at the sports tournament run by the Otago
Pacific Peoples’ Health Trust during the school holidays.
On an unhappy note, it was very sad to have lost two members and elders in Mrs. Dorothy Leffly and Mr. Martin Hosking. We will
miss them dearly and our thoughts and prayers go out to their families. Thank you to all who showed their support to both families
in their time of need. May the Lord continue to be with us all. Tokerau
C C T V Installed in First Church Closed Circuit Television is being installed at First Church. Lately we have had a number of incidents in the Church and grounds so
we are attempting to deter these events. The aim for this is to discourage people from stealing or vandalizing our property either
inside or outside. We prefer the cameras would work as a deterrent but in the event of something happening we will have the
evidence on record to be used by the police.
Dunedin City Council say that there will be more cameras installed in the Octagon – George Street area. History shows that when
the D.C.C. install security cameras we get more troublesome people using the Church property for illegal purposes.
The aim is not to embarrass the congregation; our main concern is when there are no services on in the
Church. When there are services the recording would normally be fast forwarded and deleted.
The cameras are motion activated and will be operating 24/7. This will provide a safer environment for
people in the Church and Heritage Centre.
Management of the C.C.T.V. will only be done by myself, Rev. John Sinclair and Malcolm West.
Ian Mitchell –Property Management Convener
Dear First Church folk,
It has been good to share Easter with you this year, from Palm Sunday through the evenings of
Holy Week, at the foot of the cross on Good Friday, and then the joy of Easter Day. And now we
continue to live in ―Eastertide‖, the period of anticipation before Pentecost. Remember Jesus' words
to the disciples: ―Stay here until you have been clothed with power from on high‖ (Luke 24:49)
Pentecost this year is May 31, a 'fifth Sunday' when the youth group will be leading the 10 am ser-
vice. I would like to encourage those who are coming to worship at 10 am to wear something red.
Red is the liturgical colour for Pentecost, reminding us that the Holy Spirit rested on each of the
disciples in 'tongues like fire', and the colour of celebration. Pentecost is often described as 'the
birthday of the church', the day when God's power was given to the assembled believers so that
they could proclaim boldly, in their words and in their lives, the love and power of God at work in
Jesus Christ.
There are a number of things going on in the next month that may form part of our 'waiting' before
Pentecost this year.
Session is having a retreat day on Saturday 9th. We will be led for part of that time by Lynne Baab, a lecturer at the The-
ology Dept, who carried out a survey of elders in the Synod area three years ago. She will help us consider the roles and
responsibilities of eldership.
The 'Bible with Attitude' study group will be meeting from 13 May till the end of June. I hope that later in the year we will
be able to run a second group, meeting in the evening. Please let me know if you would be interested in that.
Spiritual Growth Ministries are offering a guided retreat on 22-23 May – the details are in the notice in the newsletter.
And then there's regular Sunday worship, and our own personal devotions, and all the ways in which God meets us, speaks to us,
moves in us day by day. I pray that over this coming month we will be aware of God's presence in our lives individually and as the
people of God here at First Church.
Anne Thomson
MESSAGE FROM THE REVEREND ANNE THOMSON
NEWS FROM THE YOUTH GROUP
On Sunday the 5th April three of our young people helped with the bed pushing at the hospital while some of us were involved in
singing during our morning service. During the family service of the late Mr Martin Hosking the youth were privileged to take part
in singing a couple of songs. We will miss our Papa. Our prayers and thoughts go to Mama Vaine, the children and the families.
We also enjoyed being part of our Good Friday service which I thought was well presented. Thank you to all the young people who
were involved. We have received positive feedback from our congregation.
On the 23th & 24th April we were involved
in Otago Pacific People's Health Trust
sports tournament for the Pacific commu-
nity in Dunedin. We played netball on
Thursday and volleyball on Friday at Edgar
Centre. There was a good turnout with 24
netball teams and 27 volleyball teams. We
had one primary/Intermediate team, one
high school team and two adults' teams. In
the netball competition, adult A team came
first runner up, adult B team came first run-
ner up for good sportsmanship and the high
school team came first runner up. Our pri-
mary/intermediate team came first in the
volleyball tournament, and brought home
the trophy – our congratulations to those
players. It was a good effort overall by eve-
ryone who played. Thank you to those who
joined our teams on the day and also for the
support of our parents. We look forward to
our next tournament on the 9th & 10th July.
Youth group continues to meet every Friday night 6-8 pm in Burns Hall. The youth will lead an evening service at 5pm on 17th
May and the 10 am service on 31st May. All are welcome!
Please get in touch with me if you want to know anything about what the youth group are planning and how to be involved.
Ben Bates 02102707862(Mobile) 455-5278 (Home)
APW NEWS At the recent APW meeting held on Tuesday 21 April, a good attendance listened to a talk by Mrs Marion Rae, who
had spent five months last year in Indonesia. This opportunity arose when her husband the Rev. Simon Rae was seconded
by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to teach at the Gadja Made University at Yogyakarta, (Jogja) Indonesia. He was to
teach at the Centre for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies. The University has 53,000 students in a huge campus. As
all of the studies are Masters Studies, the students are required to already hold a recognised degree, as a condition of
entry into the University. All courses are taught in English. Students are expected to finish all courses and thesis work in eighteen months. Core
courses include, World religions, Philosophy of Religion, Indigenous Religion along with elective courses. Students don't
flat.......they hire a room and eat at one of the many roadside food stalls. This very interesting talk was enhanced by the viewing of
many photographs, that were passed around. Members were reminded of our next meeting on Tuesday 16 June, and the next meeting of Presbyterial on May 26th in the
McLean Room.
Fair Trade Fortnight
APW will again have Trade Aid goods for sale and provide ―Fair Trade Cuppa‖ for morning tea on Mother’s
Day 10th May. A record number of churches took part in last year’s Fair Trade
Fortnight and reported a keen interest from parishes wanting to make a difference for the small producers who
benefit from Fair Trade sales.
Association of Presbyterian Women/ Methodist Women’s Fellowship - Special Project for 2008/09
“ Here and There‖ will support the Hearing Association New Zealand, which has 32 member associations throughout new Zealand
and is the oldest and largest organisation working in the hearing disability sector in this country. Its role for 76 years has been to
make an invisible disability visible
The overseas project is the Women of Lauru the women’s programme of the Lauru Land Conference of Tribal Communities,
which seeks to improve women’s role in decision-making and sustainable living. Women are brought together on a regular basis to
identify the issues of importance to them and develop a plan of action. Activities have included the preservation of traditional crafts
and training in new skills to give women income-generating opportunities.
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR BIBLE STUDY - THE BIBLE WITH ATTITUDE
Wednesdays at 2pm McLean Room FROM 13th May
―The Bible with Attitude‖ is a seven-part series which links the Bible's stories with our own stories, asking how the Bible is rele-
vant for our life today. The seven sessions will have two foci. The first half will explore some aspect of our own life/faith journey.
The second half will explore the Bible, seeking to gain insight into our own stories. The purpose of this approach will be to discover
the Bible's relevance for our lives today.
The 'Attitude' with which we approach the Bible shapes the understanding we gain. It is possible for us to encounter the dynamic
living God, in whom we live and move and have our being, through the stories and traditions of the Bible.
PLEASE give your name and phone number to Anne Thomson by 5 May if you intend to join the Bible with Attitude group
beginning on 13 May
REPORT FROM THE SESSION CLERK
I trust you enjoyed the warm weather. Easter Services moving special thanks to Ministry team and eve-
ryone that helped.
The Cafe lunch for April was at Mitchells tavern and 20 people enjoyed the fellowship and surprised John
Takacs on his birthday.- The next lunch is at the Wig "N" Pen on 24 May at 12noon
names to Catherine 477 5236 hank you.
The Harvest Festival service was taken by Anne and a special thanks to Maureen Green for the lovely dis-
play and to all who contributed food for PSO foodbank.
It was with great sadness we learned of the death of Dorothy Leffly. a member and friend of many.
Our Elder Martin Hosking also died recently . Martin was interred in the Cook Islands . He gave great
service to the Church and Session and is sadly missed. Our prayers are with Vaine and family at this time.
An Elders Retreat to be held at Leith Valley on Saturday 9th May 9am—3pm.
Catherine Todd, Session Clerk
FIRST CHURCH INDOOR BOWLING CLUB NOTICE
A bowls afternoon will be held on MONDAY MAY 12
commencing with a meeting of members at 2.00pm. Future plans for the year to be decided