2014 06 April 2014 Lazarus 2020 29th March - Commands to Live By 2020 5th April - Palm Sunday 'See your King' 2020 10th April - Good Friday 2020 12th April - Resurrection Sunday 2020 19th April - Emmaus 2020 26th April - He ate the fish 2020 3rd May - Gone Fishing 2020 17th May - One-Anothering 2020 31st May - Pentecost 2020 6th June - Authority in Word and Deed
Tag Archives: Presbyterian
Queenstown, Frankton and Arrowtown Wedding Services.
Guidelines for WEDDINGS within the
WAKATIPU COMMUNITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The 2012 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand declared that it “upholds the historic Christian understanding of marriage as the loving, faithful union of a man and a woman”. This is our understanding of the nature of marriage. Any wedding conducted by our ministers, or within our premises, will be consistent with these beliefs.
Photo by Aspiring Photography.
Guidelines…
- Setting your Wedding Day: All weddings to be held in one of our premises must be approved by a minister of the Church. The couple, or their agent, needs to communicate with the minister in order to seek approval and to reserve the day and time for the wedding and rehearsal. It is advisable to make the necessary arrangements well in advance of the date you desire to be married.
- Celebrant: Wedding ceremonies held within our premises will be officiated by one of our Ministers or their nominee. However, upon request, it may be possible guest clergy or a civil celebrant to officiate. Please discuss this with Rev Carlton Johnstone for Arrowtown and Rev Ian Guy for wedding services at Queenstown or Frankton.
- Christian nature of the service: When a couple asks to be married by one of our ministers or to use our buildings for their wedding service we assume that they desire the blessing of God on their marriage and that they want to begin their life together in God’s sight and in God’s presence. A man and a woman take each other as husband and wife not only as a private act of commitment but also before their community and God. It is important that the marriage service reflects Christian faith and is consistent with the Church’s understanding of marriage. It is advisable to discuss these matters fully with the Minister, or your celebrant, prior to entering into any firm commitment.
- Fees: The fees below apply to all except active, confirmed members of the congregations of the Church.
Current charges are:
- Use of Church building $500*
- Service of the Minister $550* (off site this fee may vary)
- Gratuity for Organist/Sound Operator $150 – suggested
Reimbursement of material costs re Marriage Preparation $65, if used. (varies depending on material used).
*these costs will be invoiced prior to your wedding. Any marriage preparation costs by negotiation and the organist gratuity is normally paid in cash on the day. Where rooms are needed in addition to the church building additional fees will apply.
(Note: fees updated June 2023)
Related Images:
Advent 1: Waiting
Ian's sermon from Sunday 2nd Dec. Readings from Jeremiah 33:14-16, Luke 21:25-36.
December 2nd – my sons 29th birthday – where did those years go?
Just the other day something our youngest son said reminded me of all our children. He said what they and thousands of others have said before him. Can you guess what it was?
4 weeks to Christmas – I can’t wait!
It seems that children look forward to Christmas with an eager anticipation, straining forward as if they can make it arrive sooner; while their adults can’t wait for it to be over.
We spend a lot of time waiting. Continue reading
Related Images:
Transformational Disciplines: Fasting that pleases God
SERMON 3 OF 5 IN A SERIES EXPLORING SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE, PREACHED 04 November 2012. READ Matthew 6:1-18
You don’t hear much about fasting these days, in fact in the worship surveys conducted at the start of the year some here noted that they knew little about fasting and that they have never heard teaching on it.
Well that is about to change!
I guess as we look around our culture we can understand why fasting may be out of favour.
It doesn’t fit!
Seemingly in NZ and much of the world we’ve become conditioned to comfort, excess and instant gratification and that direction is only increasing.
If we want fast food – we want it now, and if they can’t serve us in only a few minutes we complain. Following trends set overseas we increasingly upsize our orders, and at a eat all you can buffet we end up eating more than we need, even more than we should – just because it’s there.
This attitude of having what we want when we want it extends to most aspects of life: texting, FB, entertainment. There is little we have to wait for. And we believe it’s our right to satisfy our desires whenever we want. So excess marks our landscape: and in the busyness of satisfying ourselves where is God?
God of course is where God has always been. Continue reading
Related Images:
Reviving the Flame at GA12
Recently I attended the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New 
Zealand (PCANZ). The biennial General Assembly gathered on the grounds of Te Maungarongo, our national marae, in Ohope for the opening ceremony and worship then continued at Rotorua Boys’ High School from October 4th to 7th.
In my experience Assembly is always a paradox – I enjoy attending, I value the sense of being God’s church, I appreciate conversations (albeit brief) with old friends and listening to contrary opinions, I rejoice in the times of worship – especially when we are stilled.
Yet Assembly is also a place of stress and distress: long days (8:30am to about 10pm), protracted debates, broken relationships, entrenched positions, too few voices, hurried decisions, apathy. This, and more, is the paradox of Assembly, the paradox of being human. We are inconsistent beings – capable of profound love, humility, and insight: and profanity.
We weep – God weeps.
We weep – God swoops to our side and loves us. Continue reading