In a world gone mad, politically and militarily, there was a small but steady beacon of light at First Church last month. Jim Veitch our minister and mentor reminded us that since 1933 starting in the US, an ever growing circle of church congregations (now worldwide) decided to celebrate the Last Supper Communion together on the same day.
The respective breads and wine may be different, the underlying ritual the same. Central to the great, good value of this celebration was, and is, the sense of community, sharing and inclusion that the breaking of bread produces in the participants. World Communion Day – long may it prevail, prosper and inform the decision makers in the Middle East, Ukraine and all war-torn regions.
Now for something a bit lighter. Most baby boomers would observe that modern life is less structured, more informal, even permissive than the home environment they inhabited. One example of this was the role of the church and the Sunday ritual of church attendance. Of course, this doesn’t guarantee piety but it’s a reasonable start. One of the still existing old school First Church attendees recalled the tone of those services in the 1950’s. With a decent congregation filling the church there was a well ordered and brutally executed pecking order when it came to which pew one was permitted to occupy. Woe to the unsuspecting newcomer who, arriving early settled into Row eight – reserved for the last twenty years for the Fraser clan. Within minutes of Grandfather Fraser’s arrival his fiercely narrowed gaze and use of elbows indicated that you were, a hapless interloper and should move to a friendlier part of the church.
Of course with the recently released info that in NZ these days, less than half the population acknowledges religion as a legitimate topic, there’s now plenty of room in all the pews. Attendance at church, then, as now doesn’t mean paying attention. Easy to understand if, as with the Catholic tradition, things were conducted in Latin. But even the kiwi version can be repetitive and the sermon impenetrable. The idle mind then inevitably turns to more immediate topics like what’s for lunch and will there be a succulent Yorkshire pudding to with the roast lamb and gravy. So that’s the mind wandering away from topic. But the fingers don’t remain stationary either. My informant remembers an occasion at 1st Church when the vacant visage of Mr Harry McGarry was matched his wandering and ill-disciplined hands. Those were the days when true sartorial elegance in the trouser department meant cuffs around the ankles. These were never functional, and over time housed a rich horde of bric a brac from a renegade sixpence to grass clippings and a long-lost car key. McGarry teased them all out well before the final hymn was announced. And he got more than a good talking to from his wife when he got home. No Yorkshire pud for McGarry that Sunday.
Upcoming Events:
Saturday 23 November – Summer Fair in the Church hall Weld Street, Martinborough from 10am till 2pm
Saturday 30 November – Book sales in the Church hall, 1.30 – 4.30pm
