Church at St. Columba's

Sunday, January 15, 2012

What's a Lutheran to do when there are only 13 Lutheran congregations in New Zealand and the nearest is five hours away in Christchurch?  We chose to attend a church close to our hotel and we came away blessed in more ways than one.  

Sandra at St. Columba's, Wanaka

The Diocese of Dunedin (a city on the east coast) includes the Anglican Parish of the Upper Clutha (a river) meeting in three separate locations at different times and served by the same vicar.  The locations are Cromwell, Tarras and Wanaka.  The church here is named St. Columba's and the faithful meet in a rather quaint little church building near the downtown park.  

Beautiful windows over the altar

On this Sunday the big event in town seemed to be the Challenge Wanaka Triathalon Festival which attracts the best ironmen and women in the world for a swim, a bike race and a run into the heart of the town for the finish. Traffic was diverted right past St. Columba's but that seemed to have little effect on attendance.  We were greeted at the door and welcomed as visitors.  "Oh yes, Oregon.  Isn't that where you have a lot of rain?"  Actually, the weather here in Wanaka as been much like the Oregon we left last week.  And it's summer here!

Worship has ended - where is the coffee (and tea)?

The worship was very liturgical with the interim vicar delivering a message about acceptance of others much as Jesus reached out to disciples of various backgrounds.  A warden or elder assisted and two others led prayers and assisted with distribution of the Eucharist.  What concerned us was that we were some of the younger attendees out of the 50 or so in attendance.  The future of St. Columba's appears a bit shaky.  Perhaps the new vicar can attract some younger members.  We spotted one child and he was in the arms of his grandmother.

After worship we were invited to stay around for tea and coffee.  Winton Bailey was particularly friendly to me and we had a good conversation about New Zealand and Lutheranism.  It turned out he is a retired vicar who served as police chaplain in Wellington before coming to Wanaka.  He's been here only two months, so he knows what it is like to be a visitor.  Next Sunday, he will be delivering the message at St. Columba's.  Others were not so welcoming as they gathered in small circles to share the latest news with one another.

Beautiful view from the back door of the church

I'm happy to report that I did hear the Gospel message of salvation in Jesus Christ.  And I enjoyed singing some of the familiar hymns and then being invited to join a community choir by an elderly gentlemen who sat in front of me.  He's been a member for some 40 years.