E NEWS THURSDAY 24TH APRIL 2025
Tena koutou e hoa ma. Well, this is my last E News until I return from Sabbatical on the 1st of August. I am excited being my first ever Sabbatical in 34 years and pray that you will all have a quiet uneventful 3 months whilst I am away.
Well Easter and Holy Week has come and gone; we had a wonderful Passover/Last Supper meal with Te Kakano o Te Aroha on Maundy Thursday. The following day on
Good Friday the Meditations and Prayers that people prepared for the Stations of the Cross were from the heart and so emotional. It adds an everyday reality to the Easter story and what it means for you and I today. Thank you to all those who contributed and participated. For Easter Sunday we had around 70 people attend church a great turn out and it was good to hear the story of the “Hungry Caterpillar” again as a story of New Life and Transformation, thank you Jim Cunningham.
Paul Franken and I had a pre 90th birthday lunch yesterday next door at La Cloche restaurant since I am unable to attend his 90th birthday celebrations on 23rd May next month. I also went and visited our young friend Sir Lloyd Geering. He is still looking fabulous being the 2nd oldest person living in N.Z. at 107 years old.
For those of you who are interested in following my Sabbatical Journey on Face Book please add me as your friend at Fei Taulealeausumai. I will try and upload photos of my travels. My journey begins in Auckland next week on 5th May where I will be the celebrant at the wedding of my God son Alexander Francis-Dittmer, the son of Rev Lorraine Francis and Dr Ian Dittmer. We flatted together in Dunedin and then we happened to be in the UK together for 4 years when Alexander was born and I was his Godmother at his Christening in England. From there I will travel to Suzhou which is 2-hour drive from Shanghai Pudong. I will spend time there with my cousin Ane and Rev Steve as they recover from burying Steve’s sister in Hamilton today. I then fly to London and will be staying at Westminster College in Cambridge until 25th June. In between my stay there I will be visiting 2 Dominican sisters in Dublin who served in NZ until their retirement and have returned to Dublin to spend their retirement. I am planning to go to Rome to the Vatican, but I will wait until things have quietened down after Pope Francis funeral and the Conclave. Glad I hadn’t pre-booked this earlier; I’ve been to Princess Diana’s funeral and the crowds are maddening and I’m not a crowd person anymore (as a result of being there). I had planned to return to NZ via New York but because of the generosity of my brother, he was able to purchase me a Buddy ticket on Air NZ (he manages the Air NZ pilots) to and from Shanghai and I was unable to break the journey. I can do New York another time. The whole of July I am the Writers scholar at Vaughn Park Anglican Retreat Centre at Long Bay in Auckland where I will be writing my thoughts and memoirs on 34 years of ministry as the first Aotearoan born Pacific female ordained in the PCANZ.
Tomorrow is Anzac Day, please see Paul Barber’s notice below re. Anzac Day Peace events. One is ‘Honour the War Dead by Ending War’ ANZAC Day Peace vigil. Friday 25th April 2025, 5.30pm to 6pm in Wellington at the Cenotaph, corner Lambton Quay and Bowen Street. Please bring a candle and a reflection to share if you wish, banners and placards will be available at the vigil. This organised by Peace Movement Aotearoa.
I have prepared a roster for all the Sunday’s I will be away so you will be well looked after, Rev’s Ross Scott and Jim Cunningham will be available for Pastoral Care via the Pastoral Care Committee convened by Maxine Cunningham.
This Sunday’s theme is entitled “Who is this man?” my reflection is entitled “The Many Faces of Jesus”. It remains a work in progress. Please do come and join me on my last Sunday service before I go on Sabbatical. Please take care and be gentle on yourselves. Alofaaga, Fei.
You can read the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/4db974582df6/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-10134362?e=[UNIQID]
