> PARISH HAPPENINGS

Jul 06 Jun 06 Oct 05 Aug 05 Jul 05

July 2006

Sugarbag Years

A very special thank you to all those who participated in the Sugarbag Years event in the parish on Sunday, 16 July. We heard in worship Bible verses and prayers (previously forgotten or never heard), sang hymns, some not that familiar, and generally recognised much had changed in the intervening years (many think the change is for the better!). We enjoyed a nice luncheon together and had a great old chat about the ‘good old days’.

The Karori Floral Design Club filled the church and hall with flowers from the Constance Spry era and Creative Show-Off generously donated costumes, which were worn at a fashion parade during the afternoon. There was an extensive array of memorabilia for folk to think back on, or for some to wonder – what on earth is this? Clothing, clothes washing apparatus, fountain pens, photos, butter press, books etc. to name but a few.

Brain power and memory were put to the test with 2 excellent quiz sections, one about NZ in general during the time and the other a little more area specific.

There was much fun trying to pick the gorgeous children or dashing young men and women in the “Guess Who” photo competition – some were much harder to guess than others.

We had a good old fashioned ‘sing along’ to end the afternoon and went out into the sunshine after a much enjoyed fun and social time together.

Thank you to all who donated photos, memorabilia, clothing, shared stories etc., or who helped in a practical way – with music, compering, in the kitchen, setting up or unsetting etc. etc. It was a great team effort with lots of people lending a hand – which all resulted in a very positive and fun afternoon! Well done team – great effort!

June 2006

Youth group Karorke evening

What a fun night we had on 18 June thanks to the Chan family’s Karaoke machine. Did you know that Kara Oke is Japanese and means “Empty Orchestra”?.

After a shared meal the young people and their parents sang their hearts out with the help of a microphone which held the tunes of hundreds of pop and folk songs. The text was displayed on the new St. Ninian’s television screen and could be followed easily (once you got the hang of it…).

A highlight was listening to Andrew and his three daughters sing “Sukiyaki” in English, and after that Chiharu and Leina sang the same song in Japanese

October 2005

Trash N Treasure Sale

Another successful Trash N Treasure sale was held on Saturday 2 October. A big thanks goes to Pip Tait and Margaret Pascoe and their team of helpers. We had a huge assortment of books, china, toys, jewellery, furniture, bric brac, linens, cakes, sausages, plants... so many treasures.

August 2005

Film Festival

On Friday 27 August, the St. Nup's Tweens attended the JYM Film Festival at Knox Church in Lower Hutt. The hall was set up like a huge picture theatre and we had popcorn and treats to eat while we watched the films. Youth groups and young people from all over the Wellington Presbytry were in attendance waiting to see their films on the big screen.

Between films we were also entertained by the hosts with quiz questions and spot prizes.

Finally the time arrived for our film to be shown: The Good (Samaratian) Most Popular Girl in the School. It was a great success especially the extra bloopers added at the end.

When it came time for the prizes, we were very happy to recieve an award for the "Best Outtakes" and for the "Best New Entry".

On Sunday morning Maz told the congregation about our success and presented the Certificate to Hui Hsian, the producer of our entry.

Welcome to Maz Allen

On Saturday 20th of August, members of the Parish gathered for a shared potluck dinner to welcome our exchange minister, Rev'd Maz Allen. Parishioners of all ages were present to meet Maz for the first time and to make her feel welcome in her new home church. During the evening Maz and the parish were entertained by the Kidz Church and members of the Ker family. We all joined together in singing the song "Consider Yourself one of the family".

Here is Maz outside St. Ninian's Uniting Parish Church

July 2005

The Hall Was Alive……

with the sound of over 40 children on both Tuesdays of the July school holidays. And what a happy sound it was! Some children arrived 20 minutes early, so keen were they to see what the St Ninian’s team had to offer this time.

Well, the theme for both days was “Showing Love, Care and Consideration for other people”. We started with a new song “The Caring Chain” (by Radha Wardrop) and later made our own paper chains with the names of family, friends and even pets written on the links. We talked about giving people “warm fuzzies” – nice thoughts, sayings or cute gifts that can make others happy. After some more action songs and a story it was time to bake and decorate our own biscuits. Jenn had prepared the dough and provided colourful icing to paint with. After morning tea, which was beautifully presented by our catering team Margaret Harper and Alison Johnston, it was finally time to go into the big hall and start on the crafts.

There were small bean bags to fill (with rice!) which were later sewn up by Helen Ker on the sewing machine. We made bird feeders by rolling pine cones in peanut butter and covering them with seeds.

Thanks to Colin Frampton the children had fun cutting out colourful vinyl offcuts to make their own family flags or even design a new NZ one. At the “Tubes Table” they could let their imagination run wild by creating all sorts of funny creatures out of cardboard tubes, egg cartons and all the other interesting stuff St. Ninian’s folk had donated for this purpose. Before going home, the children could dip into a large barrel filled with tiny polystyrene balls and take out a small toy.

So THANK YOU to all those who provided material and especially to those who were able to organise and help run this programme: Jenn Keenan, Margaret Harper, Hui Hsian and Macy Chan, Anna and Helen Ker, Penny Darwin, Alison Johnston, Jenny Gullen and Neil. I feel that we have a marvellous Holiday Programme team now and all the hard work of preparing the programme is made worthwhile by the smiles and thankful comments of the mums and dads when they pick up their children afterwards.

Christiane Ker

Bible Sunday

New Zealand churches of all denominations gave special recognition to the place of the Bible in their services last Sunday (July 17), National Bible Sunday.

One service, at St Ninian's in Karori, Wellington, began with members of the congregation reading brief Bible passages from the Bible in the language they first knew as children. Readings were heard in Hebrew, Russian, German, Spanish, Mandarin, French, Dutch and English. Different English versions were also read such as the KJV through to the Good News.

Worship leader Mr Barrie Keenan gave a condensed history of the Bible and explained how the Bibles we have today came about. As in some other churches, many of those who attended St Ninian's on Sunday brought their family Bibles to the service to display on a table at the front of the church and parishioners also spoke of their childhood experiences of daily family readings of the Bible. The service also included Bible related hymns and prayers.

This Bible Sunday service was especially memorable because it demonstrated that despite parishoners coming from a variety of different cultures and backgrounds, their experiences, personal growth and journeys with God and the Bible were remarkably similar.