WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 4 May 2014 - Third Sunday of Easter

8.00 am - Eucharist (NZPB 404) Rev’d Anne van Gend

10.00 am - Choral Eucharist Dean Michael Godfrey Preacher: Rev’d Anne van Gend

Ormond Chapel, Napier Terrace: No services

Please ensure all cellphones are switched OFF when in the Cathedral; if necessary, adjust hearing aids to the “Loop” system.

A place of resurrection, life, and hope

The CATHEDRAL KIDS programme is normally offered at the Cathedral during the 10.00am service on Sundays of the school term. Today, the children and leaders are on their holiday break, and will participate in the Choral Eucharist. There are activities available for children on the back table.

PRAYER CYCLES

Anglican Communion

We pray for the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Most

Rev’d Dr Eliud Wabukala, Primate, Archbishop of Kenya

Anglican Board of Missions

We pray for the Anglican Church and people of Papua

New Guinea, the Most Rev’d Clyde Igara, Archbishop

Diocese, Parish and Community

Rev’d Brian Hamilton, Vicar-General; Dean Michael

Godfrey; Regional Deans (BOP, East, HB)

Bishop Victoria Matthews; Waiapu Standing Committee;

members of the Electoral College Planning Committee

Gate Pa Parish, Rev’d John Hebenton, Vicar; Tauranga

Parish, Rev’ds Paul & Dale Williamson, Co-Vicars

Diocese of Polynesia, Archbishop Winston Halapua,

bishops, clergy and people

Justice Department staff - NZ Police, Rev’d Heather Fla-

vell, Chaplain; Prison staff, Rev’d John Flavell, Chaplain

We pray for those who are unwell, awaiting for, or recov-

ering from surgery, or bereaved, especially: Nancy, Pat,

Ian, Chris, Anna, Richard, Helen, Michael, Diana; and the

Medcalf family, Cunningham family

EJP meeting today 2

FREE concert details 2

Sentence, Collect & Readings

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Gospel Comment; Notes on the Creed

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From Your Dean 5

Association of Anglican Women

6

Bible Study group 6

HMNZS Otago Assn 7

Linden Singers 7

Mid-Week services 8

Diary Dates & Directory

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In this issue …

We have low-Gluten wafers (below 20ppm) available - please advise the Presider, or one of the Welcoming team, if this is your dietary requirement.

TODAY …

We extend a very warm Welcome to all who are worshipping with us … especially if you are visiting Napier or at the Cathedral for the first time … you are welcome to join us for morning tea (or coffee!) served at the back of the cathedral following the 10am service.

At 3.00pm this afternoon, the EJP Net-work meet in the Parish Lounge.

RECEIPTS Isobel, our Parish Recorder, has prepared (and now posted out) receipts for those who have made donations to the Parish

through the offertory system (envelopes / direct credits etc) for the

year ending 31st March 2014.

These may be used to claim a tax rebate with the IRD for tax returns.

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PRAYER DURING COMMUNION

A member of the ministry team will be available in the Resurrection Chapel dur-ing Communion at the 10.00am Choral Eucharist service in the Cathedral, for an-yone who wishes personal prayer, or prayer for a specific purpose, and/or anointing with oil for healing (if required).

If you wish to have someone pray with and for you, please go directly to the Resurrection Chapel (at the back of the Cathedral) after receiving communion.

BELL TOWER

At their last meeting, Vestry members re-ceived, considered and discussed the en-gineering report into the state of our building.

There was much to be optimistic about; some areas to be concerned about; and more detailed engineering exploratory work to be completed!

In the meantime, please be aware of new signs attached to the bell tower, which state:

This tower and entrance are earthquake prone as assessed under the Building Act 2004.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK

Thank you

Hawke’s Bay!

To show appreciation for the

many generous donors

and supporters

in our parish & community,

the Waiapu Cathedral Organ

Fund-raising Committee

have organised a

FREE CONCERT by international

Organist & Composer

John Wells.

Sunday 11th May, 2.30pm

Don’t miss this opportunity to

see and hear NZ’s finest

concert organ in action!!

Sentence:

Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2: 38-39

Collect:

Jesus, we believe you; all we heard is true. You break the bread, we recognise you, you are the fire that burns within us; use us to light the world. Hear this prayer for your love’s sake. Amen. Acts 2:14a, 36-41 14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 36 Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified." 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be for- given; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 1 I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. 2 Because he inclined his ear to me, there- fore I will call on him as long as I live. 3 The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. 4 Then I called on the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I pray, save my life!" 12 What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to me? 13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, 14 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones. 16 O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the LORD. 18 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD! 1 Peter 1:17-23 17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. 18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in

Today’s Readings …

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God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. 22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

Luke 24:13-35 13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" 19 He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Naza- reth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early

this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." 25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. 28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

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sical shift of a tectonic plate on a Boxing Day, or when war rips the heart out of African and Middle Eastern and South-east Asian communities day after day af-ter day? Or when my own life is shat-tered by the news of fatal diseases, when loved ones die, or all that I believe

in crumbles and fails?

Certainly if you are the one bereaved or struggling with the enormity of this big-gest question of all, then I will not at-tempt to answer it. Hopefully I, or someone else, will try to squeeze your hand and say something to give you the strength to face another day. But when we are squashed senseless by the weight of suffering, and cry out “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me” it is not the time for rational, intellectual abstractions about the omnipotence (all-

powerful-ness) of God.

Yet it is precisely in the psalmist’s words “my god, my god, why have you forsak-en me” that I find the clue. If God is in Christ (and of course that’s an “if,” but many have lived and died by it) and Christ himself has cried “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” then doesn’t God enter into every human ex-perience of godforsakenness – even a Boxing Day tsunami or the loss of my life or my loved ones’ lives? If Good Friday turns to Easter, then isn’t even death, even suffering, vanquished, though we

cannot see it clearly yet?

God is revealed – by faith – to be “almighty” not in spekky neon light shows but in the extent to which divine love reaches on Good Friday. As Dylan put it “for the countless confused, ac-cused, misused, strung-out ones and worse / and for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe / I hear the

chimes of freedom flashing.”

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Gospel Comment …

As with all the resurrection narratives this scene breaks into realms of super-reality—reality beyond our normal ex-pectations and experiences. This was not unusual in ancient story-telling: the founder of Rome, Romulus, for example suddenly appeared to a civic leader, in-spiring him with a message for the Ro-man people. We should not be shy of this: not only the gospel writers but their God is likely to utilize the best

means available to inspire response.

Luke works hard to interweave the spir-itual and the historical dimensions: he names Cleopas, unknown from any other source, to emphasize the actuality of the story, either a clever technique or a factual reinforcement by naming some-one familiar to his listeners (c.f. Mark’s naming of Simon of Cyrene at Mk 15.31). He weaves in the sense of the spiritual with h i s ve rbs : “as tounded,” “vanished,” “burning within.” He inter-weaves the visual (or “anti-visual,” v. 16) didactic and the sacramental, as the

stranger makes truth known to them.

In part that is Luke’s point: as scriptures are opened and sacraments shared, there the risen Christ becomes known. As we learn to recognize Christ in word and sacrament our lives are turned around—we even begin to walk to the

Jerusalem of faith, not away from it!

The Creed and Crossed Fingers?

GOD… ALMIGHTY

Is it possible to believe in “God al-mighty” as any more than a curse when hundreds of thousands die at the whim-

From Your Dean …

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When I realized that I had a gaggle of

days in lieu owing, and that I had ros-

tered myself largely off for Low Sunday,

I took an unscheduled break with Anne

and the boys. We scurried off to Ngahin-

apouri (Waikato) and Whangarei to re-

charge our batteries, and coincidentally

for me to engage in that most loved of

almost all my activities, driving.

It gave me a chance to worship at the

Cathedral in Hamilton. Hamilton is a

university town, which generates differ-

ent demographics to ours, but there was

much to learn there, and I take my hat

off to the Dean Peter Rickman and his

predecessors for the energies that are

clearly apparent.

Their 10.00 a.m. (equivalent) congrega-

tion is 2½ times the size of ours, with a

highly visible presence of young families

and youth. Their liturgy is perhaps a lit-

tle “higher” than ours (contrary to some

thought this means more “crossings,

candles and genuflections” rather than

more choral input) a salient reminder

that formality and ceremonial does not

frighten young families away. Although

it was school holidays and children’s ac-

tivities were in abeyance there were

still many children present.

In an amusing reminder that I am home,

I discovered that the priest presiding

was Fr Bryan Smyth: Bryan and I were

parishioners together at All Saints’ Palm-

erston North, and were selected for or-

dination training at the same time (for

different dioceses). “Fr,” by the way, is

a common moniker in Australian Angli-

can church circles, outside Sydney,

though far more unusual in the more

evangelical low-church heritage of New

Zealand. Even some women use it. I pre-

fer plain boring “Mike/Michael”!

So I have much to think about. Personal-

ly I would love to see our parish employ

a youth and families worker, and wonder

if steps towards this shouldn’t be high

on our priority list. I realize that this

role came in part under the job descrip-

tion of Jan Tarrant, but that is ancient

history now, and it is God’s future we

are attempting to address. I admit, too,

that this is only a pipe dream, but I

think it is a dream we should explore,

and I would invite any of you who are

interested to commit to pray about this

matter and about ways (far beyond my

ken!) in which we might address it.

Whenever this idea is floated in a parish

there will be some who respond with

horror that the vicar doesn’t care about

older people. To say this is akin to indi-

cating that taking time to prepare a ser-

mon means the vicar (or whoever)

doesn’t care about hymns. There are

few cases of either/or in the ministry of

God’s church. There is however an im-

perative to proclaim the gospel mean-

ingfully. My few days away have left me

with much to ponder.

FROM DEANLY DELVINGS A freight train whistle is one of the lone-liest sounds in the world.

Bill Clinton, cited in John B Gartner In Search of Bill Clinton (2008) 41.

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OP SHOP Thanks to everyone who helped to clear out the Op Shop this week. It was with much sadness that we closed the doors on trading for the last time last Thursday before Friday’s clean up.

The Op Shop has been an important and valued community outreach of the Ca-thedral Parish for over twenty years, providing not only a vital social service but also funding to support the mission and ministry of the Parish.

Until recently, the Cathedral Op Shop was one of a few such places … today there are 37 Op Shops in Napier! The competition is tough, and the economic climate over the past year or two, means that the shop is running at a financial loss which the Parish cannot sustain.

We will be having a “thank you” occasion with the team of volunteers and Rebecca (Op Shop Manager) … date and time to be advised.

THE LINDEN SINGERS first concert for

2014, called Old World versus New World, will be presented in Lindisfarne Assembly Hall/Chapel (Pakowhai Road, Hastings) on Sunday 11th May at 2.30pm. The programme traces musical styles from 16th Century England and Europe through to 21st Century America. Afternoon tea will be served in the inter-val by the students from the Hastings In-termediate School Hospitality Acade-my. Ticket prices, including afternoon tea, are: Adults $20 and students $5. Because catered seating numbers for the concert are limited to 160, individual tick-ets or tables of eight can be reserved via email: the.linden.singers@gmail.com or via phone: 06 8778 344. Limited door sales are also available on the day.

Association of Anglican Women Afternoon Fellowship

Wednesday 7 May, 2.30pm in the Parish Lounge

The guest speaker is Sarah Potter of Age Concern. All welcome.

Contact: Elisabeth, ph 835-4609

Evening Fellowship Monday 14th April, 7.30 pm

in St Paul’s Presbyterian Church Lounge, Tennyson St, Napier.

All Welcome. Contacts for more information: Isobel,

ph 844-8252, or Judy, ph 835-0884.

The Bible Study Group led by Dean Michael, held in Elisabeth Paterson’s home, 102 Kennedy Road, Napier, ph 835-4609, starts again on

Wednesday 7th

May at 10am for tea or coffee, with study from 10.30am-12noon. The group meets fortnightly during school

term time. All Welcome.

We’re looking forward to hosting

members of the HMNZS Otago Assn

and serving members of RNZ Navy for

a service of Choral Morning Prayer,

on Sunday 11th May,

at 10.00am in the Cathedral.

Please note that this is NZ Prayer Book

Morning Worship with the Cathedral

Choir - opportunities to share Eucharist

and receive Holy Communion that day,

Sunday 11th May are:

8.00am in the Aotearoa Chapel

of the Cathedral;

11.00am at Ormond Chapel,

Napier Terrace.

CLERGY:

Dean: Michael Godfrey 835 7862 Parish Mobile: 021 688 227

Assisting Clergy: Dorothy Brooker 843 6779 Graeme Pilgrim 835 6777 Jon Williams 833 6382 Anne van Gend 835 7862

WARDENS:

Dean’s Basil Brooker 877 8344 People’s Marie Knight 844 3578

DIRECTOR OF MUSIC:

Gary Bowler 835 8523

LAY ASSISTANTS:

Elisabeth Paterson 835 4609 Jennifer Harris 845 1108

OFFICE:

Monday-Friday 9.30 am - 3.30 pm 835 8824

Priest-Administrator: Margaret Thompson

Waiapu Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, 28 Browning Street, Napier, NZ Phone 835-8824 ~ PO Box 495, Napier ~ email: office@napiercathedral.org.nz

www.napiercathedral.org.nz

Tuesday 6 May - St John the Evangelist

Wednesday 7 May 10.30 am - Home Bible Study group

Wednesday 7 May 2.00 pm - Association of Anglican Women Afternoon Fellowship meet in the Parish Lounge

Thursday 8 May 4.30 pm - Chorister practice 7.30 pm - Choir practice

Sunday 11 May 10.00 am - Choral Morning Prayer with the Cathedral Choir, and with members of the HMNZS Otago Assn (Eucharist services at 8.00am in the Aotearoa Chapel, and at 11.00am in Ormond Chapel, Napier Terrace)

Sunday 11 May 2.30pm - The Waiapu Cathedral Organ Fundraising Committee invite all supporters to a FREE “Thank You” Organ Recital, with international organist & composer, John Wells

Monday 12 May 7.30 - AAW Evening Fellowship

NEXT SUNDAY - 11 May 2014 Fourth Sunday of Easter

Readings: Acts 2: 42-47 Psalm 23 1 Peter 2: 19-25 John 10: 1-10

Cathedral: 8.00 am Eucharist 10.00 am Choral Morning Prayer with Cathedral Choir

Ormond Chapel, Napier Terrace: 11.00 am Eucharist

COMING UP THIS WEEK … & OTHER DIARY DATES -

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MID-WEEK SERVICES (in the Resurrection Chapel)

9.00am - Morning Prayer - Tuesdays,

Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays

10.30am - Eucharist - Tuesdays

12.30pm - Mid-day Prayer - Wednesdays

5.15pm - End of Week Prayers - Fridays

Sunday 8 June 10.00 am - Day of Pentecost - Parish Eucharist and Baptism

Sunday 8 June 2.30 pm - Concord Strings and Cantare Singers in Concert in the Cathedral; Adults $20, seniors $15, students $10

JUNE/JULY/AUGUST ROSTERS are being

prepared now … please advise Jennifer 845-

1108, or email the Office with any dates you

are NOT available for a rostered duty. Thanks.