St Stephen’s

Location: 349 Wai-iti Road, Gleniti, Timaru
Denomination: Presbyterian
Website: www.ststephens-timaru.church.net.nz
Church Services: Sunday10.15 am; (at 9.00 at Washdyke)
Groups: Men’s group, Women’s group, Afternoon housegroup, plus apparently lots of family activities

My own visit

Date: 31 October 2004

Service: Sunday Morning Service, 10.15

The building: The church is a white hall-like structure with accessory buildings attached. It is mainly the windows of the porch that are visible from the road. Trees surround the carpark.

The décor: The wooden floor corresponds nicely to the central section of the ceiling where the wooden beams are exposed. The side sections of the ceiling and the upper wall from about head-height are clad in with white noise-reducing panels. Fibreboard covers the lower portions of the wall except at the front where it has been used over its entire height. Paintings, mainly by children, give some colour to the walls. Blinds were open in front of the windows at all sides, allowing plenty of light within the church. In addition the lights were switched on. At the front, the altar stood on a raised platform. Most people sat on steel-frame pews, with a beige textile padding, but red chairs were used around the front.

Smiling face at the door: Morning tea is before church, so there were plenty of people to welcome me and I was soon passed to a man with whom I talked until the service began.

Start of service: The minister welcomed the congregation. They then got into the swing of things with the help of the band singing some worship songs. The worship leader introduced the songs by reading scripture passages that fitted in with the theme of the song.

Congregation (approx) 0-12: 12; 13-20: 10; 20-40: 10; 40-60: 20; 60+: 60

These numbers are very approximate, especially as I only had any decent look once the children were already out for Sunday school.

Liturgy: Liturgy was used during the intercession. As a response the sung line “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me” was used.

Music: A few popular worship songs were sung at the start of the services. During the main part of the service two hymns and a longer song were used. Generally all were singable, if not very good.

Instruments: Band: keyboard, percussion, bass guitar; main service: electric organ.

Children’s Talk: Communication: what do we use? Talking, texting, body language Symbols, such as the cross or Amnesty International candle.
How does God communicate with us? Thoughts, prayer, Bible, one another. God communicates in a similar way to how we communicate with others. Just now we can see so many symbols of God in the world around us. Spring is a symbol of new life.

Sermon:
-Length: over 20 min.
-Method: The preacher stood among the first few pews moving around a bit while preaching. Generally he went through the story of Zacchaeus adding his thoughts to any particular issue that he thought the story brought up.
-Bible reading: Luke 19:1-10.
-Content: Jericho has some of the choicest citrus fruit in the world. A key trading route went through Jericho and Herod made a profit by taxing the traders. Therefore there would be a tax collector there. But in the story, Zacchaeus was much maligned.

He had several obstacles to overcome to see Jesus.

1. obstacle: Stature. But this is not a limitation to meet Christ. Luke drives home the determination of Zacchaeus. The meaning of the name Zacchaeus is “clean”. He is not just a nasty tax collector needing salvation, as we so often hear. Luke says he is a righteous man with a good attitude to life.
2. obstacle: his job. Zacchaeus probably knew what the job of a tax collector implied. It meant social isolation, loneliness, but also material wealth. The question may be asked whether Zacchaeus only makes changes in his life now that he has met Jesus or is he actively giving half his possession to the poor and is recompensing those he wronged? The words are in the present tense. If our work brings us in unpleasant situations, how can we live out our faith? How can I be as Christ in my workplace?
3. obstacle: crowd. The crowd wants us to conform. Similarly in the church, the congregation should not pressure individuals to conform.

Mother Teresa had the outlook to see Christ in every person. Zacchaeus had the longing to see Christ. We should also try to see Christ in every person. We have to take the opportunities given to us to see Christ.

In the second part of the story Christ takes the initiative. It is a picture of God approaching us.

Jesus sees Zacchaeus as he really is: he is not the son of a tax collector, he is the son of Abraham. Apparently 75% if people in New Zealand suffer from low self esteem. But we should see ourselves as children of the living God, not as the crowd sees us.

The challenge Christ was giving to society then is to embrace the generosity of those living among them. Here Jesus takes the grumbles focused on Zacchaeus and takes them on him, challenging the crowd to see Zacchaeus as he really is.

Jesus so often causes us to see things in a different way if we are not hasty in our judgment. To see as Christ sees, is the challenge.

Other Highlights: A report was given on the last family event and the next one announced.

Wrap-up: The offering was taken up and the benediction sung to the tune of Edelweiss.

After the service: Hardly anybody was pausing to sit in their pew and there was a general rush for the exit. Some people stayed to talk in the foyer, I among them.

Quality of morning tea: The morning tea was served before the service and I did not really feel like a cuppa at that hour of the day.

Reflection: Seeing the Zacchaeus story as a challenge to appreciate others and as a statement of God’s acceptance is an interesting angle, rather than interpreting it as a conversion story. It seems the sermon also had some implications for congregational life. People in the church have to really see – with God’s eyes – the others, the people sitting a few metres away from them on Sunday. How can they be embraced, with all they have to give? Of course this concern for others has to flow on to those in other churches and the community in general.

The last day of October is the Day of the Reformers, especially remembering the publication of Martin Luther’s 95 theses. It wasn’t mentioned in the service at all, but maybe the concepts of communication and acceptance picked up some of the core issues the Reformation was about.

Nevertheless, All Saints was celebrated the day before, as an alternative to Halloween. Strange that "All Saints" seems to be more important in this church than remembering the Reformation.

4 questions:

1. How, would you say, is Jesus’ death relevant to our salvation?
   1. Jesus’ death was a ransom to the devil, thus freeing us sinful humans from the devil’s rule.
   2. God is offended by sin. Jesus offered himself on the cross as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. His blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all people.
   3. God judges sin. He took the consequences of sin upon himself in Jesus’ death and reconciled us to himself, showing his justice and love.
   4. In his death Jesus showed solidarity with the oppressed and persecuted of the world, exposing human cruelty and showing another way.
   5. Jesus’ death was just a consequence of his ideas of love and acceptance clashing with rigid Jewish legalism. It inspires us to lead a liberated life, even in the face of opposition.
   
   Tending towards b) and c).
2. Should the ten commandments be an authoritative guide for Christian living today?
   They take all scripture seriously and the ten commandments are a very important part of that. He focuses more on the teachings of Jesus, but these are certainly also based on the ten commandments.
3. How are leadership positions/positions of responsibility allocated in this congregation?
   Elders are chosen by their exemplary life and dedication. They also have to agree to some questions about their believes. In the Presbyterian Church, elders are that for life and deal mainly with the spiritual direction of the church.

   The board of managers deals mainly with property issues of the church. They are appointed for one year, mainly on the basis of ability and willingness.

   People looking after children or other particular areas again are chosen on the grounds of willingness and ability.

4. Would this congregation be happy to bless the union of a gay couple?
   No.