Hakatere Presbyterian Parish
A Day Out February 2021
About 20 Hakatere Presbyterian Parish members gathered together for lunch at the Ashburton Domain. In the afternoon Mr and Mrs Bateman of Wakanui welcomed about 30 parish members to explore their grounds. We enjoyed looking at a huge collection of tractors and wandering the cliff top and down along the beach. Murray Page gave some historical background to the area. The Social and Hospitality Team provided afternoon tea. If you would like to see more photos of our afternoon click Here.
Alpine Presbytery Gathering 19-21 March 2021
The Presbytery Gathering was held at St David's Community Church, Ashburton. People gathered from all over the upper South Island for a small amount of business and a lot of fellowship. We shared experiences of being present in our communities focusing on listening for God's leading. Highlights included: children's ministry in Timaru, new projects in Christchurch and Hanmer Springs, and community ministry with a food focus in Nelson. Rev Dr Bruce Hamill identified common themes and theological underpinning. The gathering finished with a worship celebration and communion.
Fellowship after a Sunday Service
Fellowship after a Sunday Service
Good Friday Service
After reading the story of Joseph of Arimathea placing Jesus' body in a new tomb, we chose cloth to wrap the body and/ or rosemary or flowers for remembrance. We placed them on the cross.
Harvest Festival
Goods donated to mark our harvest festival made a bright display in the church. Afterwards they were given to three local food banks.
On 9th of May Zachariah and Zyrus Selesele were baptised.
During April and May the congregation made lists of all our community connections. People put stickers next to activities or organisations that they are personally involved in and up to three large stickers to mark what particularly excited them. This is a snapshot showing just one of six sheets. This was a visual way of showing us the many connections we have within the parish and the wider community.
Knitters in the parish and the wider community created colourful blankets, hats, mittens and jerseys. they will be sent to Mission Without Borders in Eastern Europe as part of Operation CoverUp. They were blessed in church today.
We prayed today for people doing the 40 Hour Famine and for refugees as Johanna is on day 4 of Operation Refugee Food For Life.
Men's Tea
Men from Ashburton parishes join the Hakatere Parish men for fellowship and a meal. The guest speaker was Bruce Arnst.
Foot Clinic
The Hakatere Presbyterian Parish has established a six weekly foot clinic in Tinwald. Feet are soaked, nails are cut, feet are massaged and there's time for a cup of tea
Craft and Hobbies Day
On Saturday 17th July the Oxford Street hall buzzed with creative work, amazing talent and the varied hobbies of parishioners. Members of the public enjoyed seeing the displays and talking to people about their craft and shared their own memories and talents.
Click here to see more photos of our craft day.
Lunch and games afternoon
The hospitality and social committee organized soup lunch. Scrabble, Bingo and Bananagrams (a word game) were played with gusto.
Pros and Cons of buildings
The church buzzed as we considered the good and not so good points of our three sites, Lagmhor, Tinwald and Hampstead with an eye to future.
 14 |  13 |  11 |  10 |
|---|---|---|---|
 12 |  9 |  6 |  8 |
 7 |  5 |  2 |  3 |
 4 |  1 |  17 |
Blessing of Strengthened Hall
The Tinwald hall has been strengthened and painted. It is now available for community and parish use.
Service at Staveley Campsite
Hakatere Parish and Plains Presbyterian worshiped together at Staveley. Gilbert Donaldson talked about the history of the camp site. After worship and a shared lunch a totara tree was planted and blessed to mark the occasion. The tree came from the QEII Covenant Bush
Christmas Cake Stirring
Hakatere Presbyterian Parish stirred it's Christmas cake during Sunday worship . Everyone present was involved. The cake has been cooked and will be shared on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
To see more cake stirring photos click here
Remembrance Service December 2021
During this short reflective service, open to anyone who wished to join us, we placed flowers in and around an oasis cross on the communion table. Tears, memories and hugs were shared, and many stayed to catch up over supper. The cross remains available for the following two Sundays for those unable to attend on Thursday evening.
Parish Discussion
Hakatere Presbyterian is nearly three years old. We inherited three buildings, two within the Ashburton town boundary and are currently considering how these will support out future mission. On December 12th very lively discussion occurred around the morning tea tables. Written responses to prompts for thought are being collated.
