St Mary’s
Location: The main church of Timaru,
right in the city, near library and business district.
Denomination: Anglican
Website:
www.anglican.org.nz
Church Services: Sunday 8am and
10 am; Wednesday 11am; Friday 12noon
Groups: Home group, Scrabble Groups;
My own visit
Date: 26th September 2004Service: Sunday 10 am
The building: Grey and white stone building in English Gothic style. The square tower stands out over rest of Timaru. Side aisles run alongside the high nave. The tower is at the north side of the nave, forming the transept. The very large apsis faces the city centre prominently. The whole church certainly looks old and firm, but major restoration work is in fact due to begin.
The décor: The walls are formed by whitestone blocks. Shiny columns of marble (?) support the roof in the nave and go over into whitestone main structure near the ceiling. The floor and ceiling are out of wood. There is carpet in the aisles. Wooden pews with long cushions fill the main part of the church. The altar is quite simple and stands on an elevated platform before the chancel. Choir stalls line the sides of the sanctuary where the organ is also prominent, thought the organist sits on the side in the nave. There are some memorial plaques on the side walls. Because of the small stained glass windows and dim lighting it is quite dark in the church. The lights also appear very simple and the church overall has a very medieval look. The worshippers all sit in the central section, not on the sides.
Smiling face at the door: Somebody welcomed me when I entered the porch and opened the door to the church for me. I was then handed the prayer book and the newsletter with a smile.
Start of service: Announcement of worship leader and preacher and of first hymn “All our hope in God is founded”. The choir processed down the aisle during the opening hymn.
Congregation (approx) 0-12: 7; 13-20: 2; 20-40: 12; 40-60: 15; 60+: 60
Liturgy: Full liturgy according to the New Zealand Prayer Book. Some responses were sung by the choir. The “Our Father” was sung.
Music: Mostly traditional hymns led by the choir. One more modern, but very tuneful hymn was sung as well. Just before the children went out a children’s song with actions was sung. An anthem and a piece during communion were sung by the choir. The choir was actually in the sanctuary. Their sound was picked up by microphones and amplified by loudspeakers in the main part of the church.
Instruments: Only a pipe organ was used. But it is a fairly large and very visible organ.
Children’s Talk: None. The Children went out after their song, but also came back later on to report on what they had done during the “Rainbow Club” time.
Sermon:
-Length: 17 min
-Method:
The preacher started off with a little humorous
incident. He drew on the readings, but mainly to get some
points out of them for what he wanted to say. He really used them
as a sort of spring-board to launch into his message.
-Bible reading:
1 Timothy 6:11-16;
Luke 16:19-31
-Content:
Jesus was a story-teller. The Lazarus narrative is a
typical story of the Middle East. The Pharisees were watching
whether Jesus would compromise the faith. They were critical
and self-righteous and had the monopoly on knowledge. The dressed
and acted as if they were superior. They also believed in
resurrection.
“Even if somebody would come back from the dead, they would not listen.” This sting in the tail was aimed directly at the Pharisees. Christianity is very different from religion of Pharisees. It does not judge. It is an inclusive religion.
The preacher then reflected on the Insight programme on TV for a while. There all sorts of “families” were represented, such as the classical family, homosexual blended families, families going right through the generations. At the end a TV poll was taken and 66% concluded that a same-sex family is not a real family. This is similar to the position taken by the Presbyterian Church in the past week. It makes others very uncomfortable.
We should not judge others, but follow Jesus. We should always ask, “what would Jesus do?”
Early in life Paul (Saul) suppressed and murdered Christians. Then Christians were under the microscope because they were different. It was a religion for all unlike the old exclusive Jewish religion whose followers considered themselves superior to others.
In his letter to Timothy, Paul admonishes Timothy to have an inclusive Christ-centred faith. Paul is saying that to live the Christian life is to align ourselves with God. Faith is the utter essence of Christian life. Faith cannot prove the outcome, but can only prove that we are following a person. Faith is a relationship. It is not a proof. We need to be inclusive and enter into life in all its fullness. Only then can we know what Christianity is all about.
We can be God’s people in a confused world. The attitudes we have show our faith. If we become exclusive, we say that some people are outsiders and not welcome. This is a dangerous position for the church.
We need to follow the way of the cross: Jesus took on the cross rather than fight and be exclusive. God will change our vulnerability into strength.
Grace and mercy are God’s gift by the spirit. Judgment is in the hands of God, not left to us. We have a person to whom we can relate: Jesus, who walks with us, talks with us and call us to be his witnesses in the world.
Other Highlights: Eucharist: The full prayer of thanksgiving was said. The choir sang during the Eucharist. People came forward and took communion one by one standing round the altar.
Wrap-up: Blessing. Then the children reported back. In this case they had talked about pets and animals. Some of them had drawn animals and showed the pictures. They had learned a song and said some of the words (Benedicite Aotearoa). The congregation responded by giving them a clap.
The choir processed out during the final hymn.
After the service: The congregation filed out fairly promptly. We had morning tea in the hall. I was standing there for quite a while . looking lost, until a woman approached me and spoke with me. She then got the vicar, with whom I spoke at length.
Quality of morning tea: The tea was served in nice cups. It was just right, but nothing special. The biscuits were of the dry out-of-the-pack variety.
Reflection: Good old traditional Anglican service in traditional church with a good choir and some of the pomp and ceremony. The theology nevertheless seems to be modern, stressing the personal relationship with Jesus, though.
The preacher’s observations about Pharisees were fairly stereo-typical and do not represent current theological and historical understanding. After the service I also heard a few fairly critical voices about the sermon, saying it was certainly not about the Bible text. But it seems these women left the scene fairly quickly, not going to morning tea. Though nothing was said, it just appeared as if there was some discontent among some members with the direction the congregation was heading. To some degree it seemed that for some it was the traditional place to go and they just kept coming, but were not overly enthused by it. Nevertheless, I think, it is very hard for us all to let go of a church. Certainly we should try to stick with it and not go our own way at every little sign of disagreement.
As I have found in so many churches, a stress on “inclusiveness” tends to alienate many people, rather than bringing them in.
I also spoke to one “Rainbow Club” leader. Apparently it is a team approach with some younger people as leaders. Some of them are involved in Sunday school as part of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme. Teaching the children is recognised as “service”.
4 questions:
Minister: Doesn’t think the questions are theologically
very sound.
Certainly a) is incorrect. There is some truth in
the other positions.
b).Now the church says that Jesus’
death was a living sacrifice, but that is not what Jesus
would have thought.
c) sin is contrary to God, in so far this position seems to be
correct.
d) yes, Jesus did show solidarity with the poor.
e) this is true (except maybe for the word “just”). Jesus does
show us a new way, if we follow him. It is a way of acceptance.
The Hebrew Bible is part of the scriptures. But Jesus included this all under the new commandment of love. Love should inform all our decisions.
God leads some in the congregation to leadership positions. The minister looks at the qualities people display in the whole of their life. Some of the characteristics of church leadership are:
- Committed to Christ
- a life of devotion that is lived out
- display the gifts of the Spirit
- Prayer is an important component of their life
- Participation in the church, eg. Home-group
- Excellence in minor leadership positions (then given more responsible roles)
The vestry is elected by a democratic process. Some people there are very involved in the congregation and lead by example. Others have other gifts to offer, such as their business skills.
People in a long-term loving relationship would be accepted. Who are we to judge? The church has to be open. Homosexuality is not a sin, it may rather be seen as an imperfection.
There are many ways of living together. Some people live together for a long time (such as two women) but they are not actually sexually involved. The church and the vicar should not enquire into people’s sex life and then make a judgment.