Author Archives: Anna

Sunday 20 October 2024

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Here’s our Zoom link –

Topic: St Martin’s Sunday Worship. To Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81508696154?pwd=cnErZFM5VG5OQVhsZkxYc0dxOHdvUT09

Meeting ID: 815 0869 6154
Passcode: 712158

A very warm welcome to all who worship with us today. Please stay for morning tea following the service.

We give thanks for the life of Jean Carmichael who died on 6th October, aged 85, and pray for her family and friends as they mourn. Rest eternal grant unto her, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon her.

Fireside: Fern will speak about some of her travels on Monday 21st October from 2pm in the parish lounge.  We welcome women of the congregation and their friends to join us for this or other meetings.

Wednesday Walkers 23rd October: meet 9.30am in Stourbridge St near Therese St for a walk around Spreydon.  Coffee at London Canteen (Oderings). All welcome.  Marilyn 027 3631642.

Movie Night Saturday 26th October from 5.15pm: “STAR” – Oscar winner Julie Andrews stars as the irrepressible Gertrude Lawrence, who rises from English chorus girl to world renowned diva. Her hilarious sidekick Noel Coward (Daniel Massey) provides Lawrence with an ongoing commentary on her life while she searches fruitlessly for suitors whose adoration equals what she gets from an audience. Andrews is a knockout in numbers by Coward, Cole Porter, the Gershwins and more in this funny, dazzling musical that ranks among Hollywood’s finest. BYO takeaways for tea, hot drinks provided. Note that the movie screening will begin at 6pm. Any queries – see Irene.

Population – Week 3

This subject is so important, so fundamental and so controversial that it demands additional discussion. In many societies it has been blocked. The common responses are that population reduction will mean that there will be no one to look after the elderly or that it will ruin the economy. Read into the latter – it will make the rich poorer. As for the former argument, a collapse of civilisation will be disastrous for everyone, not just the elderly.

Over-population damages every single metric on which society is built on; not just climate. The sustainable population is 2 billion, the population of the 1950s. We are at 8b heading for 10 billion. It is actually too late to avoid many calamities, but at least the world must be made more aware of the issues. Discuss with friends and family. warren.pettigrew@raztec.co.nz

Donations: if you would like to support the ministry at St Martins our bank account is: 03-1598-0011867-00. Please include your name as a reference.

THIS WEEK AT ST MARTINS                                    

Monday 2pm                  Fireside (lounge)  

Tuesday 10am              South Elder Care (lounge) Jeannette 332 9869

Tuesday 7.15pm           Meditation Group (lounge) Dugald 021 161 7007

Wednesday 9.30am      Walking Group: Spreydon Marilyn 027 363 1642

Wednesday 7-9pm       Cantabile Choir (lounge) Rose 027 254 0586

Thursday 10am             Crafty Crafters (lounge) Sally 332 4730

Thursday 1.30pm          Sit & Be Fit (church) Anneke 021 077 4065

Saturday 5.15pm           Movie Night (lounge) Irene 332 7306

Sunday 7-11pm             Private Function

Update from the Parish Council Meeting – Wednesday 16th October

First meeting of the Parish Council meeting since the AGM. Welcome to everyone – Catherine, Keith, Warren, Allison, Barry (apology), Sue (secretary), Irene and Dan.

The Minutes from the AGM were approved.

Minister’s Report – Dan to meet with the new Vicar at St Mark’s Anglican and is in regular contact with other local clergy. He had attended a Pathways meeting and was impressed with the excellent discussions within. Dan commented on the Seniors Service, said it was a valuable investment of time and thanked everyone who was involved in making it happen. Another service will be held on Wednesday 11th December. Dan has made visits to several congregation members and had received quite a few ‘drop ins’ to the office when he was in.

The Executive had met and had reviewed the overall plans for the end of the year.

Solar panels are to be fitted this coming Tuesday (22/10/24). Warren had painted the area of roof that they are to sit on – and will finish the roof when he has more ‘puff’!

Consideration was given as to ‘who does the banking’ (decision – Catherine will do this) and discussions with other groups within the church framework will be had as to how they might also contribute to streamlining this function.

There are many roles within the church and the concern was that many members are slow at stepping forward and offering their help and support. We need everyone to contribute – not just a few. Remember the story of the Little Red Hen!

Door duty – please note the additional duty requirement. Please check the noticeboard in the foyer.

The next Parish Council meeting will be on 11th December at 7.30pm.

Joan Mac has agreed to carry on the important function of overseeing and purchasing items used in the kitchen and toilet areas – thank you so much Joan.

Sunday 13th October 2024

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Here’s our Zoom link –

Topic: St Martin’s Sunday Worship. To Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81508696154?pwd=cnErZFM5VG5OQVhsZkxYc0dxOHdvUT09

Meeting ID: 815 0869 6154
Passcode: 712158

A very warm welcome to all who worship with us today. Please stay for morning tea following the service.

If you do not wish to receive the Alpine Presbytery newsletter, please email Irene and let her know. Please do not click on the unsubscribe link in the Newsletter itself. A paper copy is available to read in the pink folder in the foyer.

THANK YOU for your support of Your Sisters this morning. If you wish to donate online, please use the parish account with “Orphanage” as reference (see bank account details on next page).

Wednesday Walkers 16th October: meet 9.30am at the Bus Exchange to wander east of Colombo Street. Morning tea downstairs at Ballantynes. All are welcome. Sue 960 7657.

Movie Night 26th October: “STAR” – Oscar winner Julie Andrews stars as the irrepressible Gertrude Lawrence, who rises from English chorus girl to world renowned diva. Her hilarious sidekick Noel Coward (Daniel Massey) provides Lawrence with an ongoing commentary on her life while she searches fruitlessly for suitors whose adoration equals what she gets from an audience. Andrews is a knockout in numbers by Coward, Cole Porter, the Gershwins and more in this funny, dazzling musical that ranks among Hollywood’s finest.

CONSERVATION – Week 2.

This is never discussed but the elephant in the conservation room is that there are far too many of us. Like five times too many for the planet to sustain and this number is dropping as we consume its resources. Our population exploded when we took to using oil and coal for energy, growing food and just about everything else. Like any plague, populations rapidly grow then collapse. If we desire a “soft landing”, urgent education is essential although I fear that it will be too late. Some first-world countries already have declining populations but catastrophic temperature rises are expected within 30 years. A powerful start is to empower women. What can you do? Discuss this with friends and family. warren.pettigrew@raztec.co.nz

Donations: if you would like to support the ministry at St Martins our bank account is: 03-1598-0011867-00. Please include your name as a reference.

THIS WEEK AT ST MARTINS                                    

Monday 1-4pm              Foot Clinic (lounge) Janette 021 075 6780

Tuesday 10am              South Elder Care (lounge) Jeannette 332 9869

Tuesday 7.15pm           Meditation Group (lounge) Dugald 021 161 7007

Wednesday 9.30am      Walking Group: City Sue 960 7657

Wednesday 7-9pm       Cantabile Choir (lounge) Rose 027 254 0586

Wednesday 7.30pm      Parish Council meeting (office)

Thursday 10am             Crafty Crafters (lounge) Sally 332 4730

Thursday 1.30pm          Sit & Be Fit (church) Anneke 021 077 4065

Sunday 6th October 2024

Posted on by

Here’s our Zoom link –

Topic: St Martin’s Sunday Worship. To Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81508696154?pwd=cnErZFM5VG5OQVhsZkxYc0dxOHdvUT09

Meeting ID: 815 0869 6154
Passcode: 712158

A very warm welcome to all who worship with us today. Please stay for morning tea following the service.

Reminder: This month’s Communion service is on 13 October.

Tanzanian Orphanage Appeal Next Sunday 13th October. Any contributions gratefully received. A brief update on the girls from the Your Sisters Orphanage will be given during the service. Any questions – see Rob & Barb Meier

Wednesday Walkers 9th October: meet 9.30am in Armstrong Ave for a walk around Hansen Park. Coffee at Cocoa Black (formerly Fava). All are welcome. Joan Mac 022 081 4088.

If you do not wish to receive the Alpine Presbytery newsletter, please email Irene and let her know. Please do not click on the unsubscribe link in the Newsletter itself. A paper copy is available to read in the pink folder in the foyer.

CONSERVATION – Week 1.

Each week from now on I will supply a paragraph for the pew sheets describing what each one of us can do to help save our civilisation from many threats resulting from ecological overshoot with global warming being just one. Some won’t seem intuitive. Many you won’t like. The world is making absolutely no progress with CO2 emissions and associated global warming. In fact, we are accelerating backwards, so much so that it’s us that are being affected now, let alone our children and grandchildren. Wind and solar farms, electric cars, batteries etc, will help but won’t be near enough. The whole world population must change the ways in how we live, or nature will change them for us as it is already doing for many. This is by far the most effective means to address ecological overshoot. (Google for a full description). Watch this space. I welcome discussion.  Email: warren.pettigrew@raztec.co.nz

Donations: if you would like to support the ministry at St Martins our bank account is: 03-1598-0011867-00. Please include your name as a reference.

THIS WEEK AT ST MARTINS                                    

Tuesday 10am              South Elder Care (lounge) Jeannette 332 9869

Tuesday 7.15pm           Meditation Group (lounge) Dugald 021 161 7007

Wednesday 9.30am      Walking Group: Hansen Park Joan 022 081 4088

Wednesday 7-9pm       Cantabile Choir (lounge) Rose 027 254 0586

Thursday 10am             Crafty Crafters (lounge) Sally 332 4730

Thursday 1.30pm          Sit & Be Fit (church) Anneke 021 077 4065

29th September 2024 ~ Rev Dan Yeazel

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“Let Us Pray”  (James 5:13-20)
Intro:  James is one of the shortest books in the bible.  He is most direct with his words and his chief concern is not how to become a Christian, it is how to act like a Christian.  Our reading this morning is the concluding part of his letter and he speaks of prayer.  Let us listen for God’s word to us.  (READ) ///

You may well have heard this story before, but it bears repeating, there is a tale told about a pastor and a cab driver who’ve died and both were standing at the Pearly gates.  St. Peter came out and bowed to the cab driver and ushered him right in.  The pastor was told to wait.  “Why am I told to wait?” asked the pastor, obviously disturbed,  “I’ve preached the gospel faithfully to people all my life.  The cabby’s done nothing but drive people around town.”  St. Peter returned and said “you preached and people slept, he drove and people prayed”. 

The funny part of the tale is the sad truth that like the cab driver’s passengers, for some people, we only turn to God when we are vulnerable and feeling helpless.  Those are of course, good moments to turn to God – for comfort and reassurance, but James is calling us to be at prayer in all seasons of our lives.  When we’re suffering or when we’re sick but also when we’re cheerful or when we need forgiveness.  Elsewhere is scripture we’re encouraged to pray and praise God with every breath. 

John Calvin describes prayer as expanding our hearts before God.  I have always loved that definition and often use it when inviting others to pray with me.  There is something different about praying in public, because as we do, we share with others a glimpse of that most personal and intimate relationship we share with God.  We reveal something about ourselves as we pray while others can hear.  As a parent there is nothing to compare with the first time you hear your child praying on their own, when they are just talking with God.  They might pray, “bless mommy and daddy”, or “take care of my friends, thank you for my teacher, or help our dog get better.”  It could be anything, but in that moment we see them in a different way, once we’ve heard them pray and had that glimpse of what they care about.  (Any time that there is prayers of petition)

As a community of faith,  we are a community that prays together.  In fact, our worship service is full of prayers – Prayers of thankgiving, confession, prayers of the people and decication, paryers of invocation and Hymns themselves are sometimes prayers

Some people say prayer is kind of like flossing.  We know it is good for us, that we should do it everyday and it shouldn’t hurt, but still many of us aren’t quite sure how to do it, or how to make it a regular habit. 


I think “why” we pray and “how” we pray are influenced by what prayer is to us.  For many we pray when life isn’t going well, but we can forget to give thanks and bring God into our celebrations. We pray when we are devastated and wiped out by tragedy but seldom do we sing songs when a dream comes true.  At times we pray because we think we should or ought to or must. That’s OK, but we all can tell when somebody’s heart is in what their saying and so, too, can God. 

When we do pray, I suspect at some level it is because there is a hunger, a longing deep within our lives to be in touch with, or connected with God. If asked can you say, why you pray?  You don’t really have to answer me out loud, but do think about the times you tend to be in prayer and consider are there other occasions you might turn to God in conversation? 

Each one of us prays in our own way, at our own times, for our own reasons.  But I suspect that each one of us shares a desire similar to that of the first followers of Christ. We know that somehow there is something to being connected with God.  We know that prayer is part of that connection and so we want to pray or learn to pray because deep down, no matter what our needs, no matter what our circumstances, what we really want is God.

Prayer is communion with God, it is communication with God.  It is involves sending and receiving messages. As humans we are especially adept at sending but not so good on receiving. Perhaps there is a parable in the way our bodies are made. We have one mouth and two ears. Perhaps we should listen twice as much as we speak in all relationships, especially in the area of communing with God. Often, as Paul suggested, prayer can be moanings and groanings – too deep for words. As on hymn puts it “Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, unuttered or expressed.”

In the Lord’s prayer we bid that thy will be done.  But sometimes we may approach prayer as a way of getting what we want done.  At times our prayers seem to go unanswered, then what do we do?  Country singer Garth Brooks expressed a sentiment in one of his songs, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” I think what he is getting at is that we often have requested of God our immediate wants rather than our needs. Prayer is about moving closer to each other and closer to God.  That is what God wants.


At times our praying and living are inconsistent. We pray for peace but work for war. We pray for those who are hungry but continue policies that make it impossible to get food to people who are hungry. We pray for people in need but continue to enjoy, support, and benefit from systems that help the rich get richer and the poor become poorer.  And the gap widens.

Prayer is conversation with God about the state of our lives and the state of the world. One description of prayer it that prayer is a trilogue where our best self and our worst self talk to each other and God is an active listener and participant. I like that because as my best self and my worst self converse with each other in the presence of God, God is able and willing to get my two selves together to love God with my heart, mind and soul and to love others as I love myself.   We are changed through prayer.

When I was training as a chaplain, there was a woman in the hospital whose body was filled with cancer.  Each day we prayed for her healing and each day the expression of disappointment at not being healed could be seen in her face. One day she said, “Today let’s not pray that I’ll be healed. God knows that I hate this illness. God knows I want to be healed. Let’s pray that, whether I’m healed or not, I’ll feel close to God because even if I’m not healed, especially if I’m not healed, that’s what I really want–God.”  She was not cured but she was healed. 

That’s what we all want, isn’t it? Isn’t it God that we want when we pray? We want to know that God is there. We want to know that God is with us. We want to know the truth of the promise, I will never leave you or forget about you.”
Is it true with cancer? Is it true for people facing starvation? Is it true in drought? Is it true during war?  Is it true if I’m part of ME TOO? Is it true if my best friend dies? Is it true in every circumstance in life–no matter what happens, no matter what occurs in our lives, that God is there? That’s what we really want. That’s what prayer is all about–knowing, being assured, experiencing God with us, no matter what. When we pray with what is on our hearts, when we pray what matters most, what transpires is amazing, surprising.

We often conclude a prayer with the phrase “in Jesus’ name.” Why do we do that? Is this a magical phrase? Is this a formula we add to a prayer to make it work? This is not a required phrase we tack on to the end of a prayer to make it orthodox. It is not a phrase we add to guarantee God will hear us or grant our requests. To pray in Jesus’ name is to say we want to look at life like Jesus did.  It is to say we are not standing above those in need, those who are poor, those who are sick, those who are lonely. It is to say we are standing beside them. They are our brothers and sisters and if we keep at it, this praying for them in Jesus’ name, Prayer changes things–sometimes even us! As this happens prayer becomes living and living becomes a prayer. 

Every prayer should also include silence, to give that wind – God’s breath – a chance to blow through our open hearts.    Learn to pray, James would urge us, for in our prayer we will find sustenance for our souls and hope for the future, as we commune with God. 

Amen. 

Sunday 29th September 2024

Posted on by

Here’s our Zoom link –

Topic: St Martin’s Sunday Worship. To Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81508696154?pwd=cnErZFM5VG5OQVhsZkxYc0dxOHdvUT09

Meeting ID: 815 0869 6154
Passcode: 712158

A very warm welcome to all who worship with us today. Please stay for morning tea following the service & Annual Meeting.

REMEMBER Daylight Saving starts this Sunday – don’t forget to change your clocks forward!!

Dan is not in the Office on Tuesday this week and Anna won’t be in on Wednesday.

Unused tools: do you have any garden tools you no longer need? The Presbytery Iona Project in Aranui urgently needs garden tools (hand saw, spade, fork, rake, secateurs, hand tools, hoses etc…). If you leave tools in the Office or at the MenzShed Dugald will arrange transport to Iona. Thank you.

NEXT Sunday 6th October –a “Spring Sing”. Please let Irene know your favourite ‘spring’ hymn to add to this lovely morning of singing. (As Dan will be away, Communion will be celebrated the following week).

Wednesday Walkers 2nd October: meet 9.30am at Caversham Rest Home  carpark for a walk around Regents Park.  Coffee at the Caversham Rest Home Cafe.  All welcome.  Gerard 021 051 3535 and Thea 027 351 5679

Tanzanian Orphanage Appeal Sunday 13th October

Any contributions gratefully received. A brief update on the girls from the Your Sisters Orphanage will be given during the service. Any questions – see Rob & Barb Meier

Sister Eveleen Retreat House may need you!! – Vacancy for a Live-In Host Interested in serving God through the gift of hospitality?? We have a vacancy for a Live-in Retreat House Host (RHH), paid 10 hours a week, accommodation provided. The RHH works with the Director to provide a hospitable welcome to guests  and a presence at the house when the Director has left for the day. Please see our website for more info or get in touch with us enquiry@sistereretreat.com

Donations: if you would like to support the ministry at St Martins our bank account is: 03-1598-0011867-00. Please include your name as a reference.

THIS WEEK AT ST MARTINS                                    

Tuesday 10am              South Elder Care (lounge) Jeannette 332 9869

Tuesday 7.15pm           Meditation Group (lounge) Dugald 021 161 7007

Wednesday 9.30am      Walking Group: Regents Park Gerard 021 051 3535

Wednesday 9.30am      Port Hills U3A (whole complex) Joy

Wednesday 7-9pm       NO Cantabile Choir (lounge) Rose 027 254 0586

Thursday 10am             Crafty Crafters (lounge) Sally 332 4730

Thursday 1.30pm          Sit & Be Fit (church) Anneke 021 077 4065