Easter Sunday in Aotearoa

What kind of christian would I be if didn't go to church on Easter? For my first Easter away from home, I found it a little strange going to church on my own, but I was very happy I went and now I can say I have used the New Zealand prayer book lol. I found a very small church that is about 15 minute walk up the hill from my house, St. Michael's. The congregation is very small, but they are the only church in Wellington that caters to University students, with an extra 7pm service on normal Sundays. 

But it was a very nice Easter morning and for the autumn weather we have been having, it actually felt quite spring like...it was probably warmer than it normally is back home! I still found it weird celebrating Easter in autumn, but thats what you get for living on the other side of the world.

The service was a very nice mix of high and low church. There were bells and smells (smells just for Easter), but everything followed the kiwi way and was very informal and relaxed. Throughout the service the Rev. was speaking into the mic, asking the ushers to bring up things throughout the service (I found this very strange lol). He said things like "Can we get some more flowers up here at the front" (we flowered the cross during the peace...it was very nice, everyone was given a flower when they first arrived, and during the peace you went up to the alter and put the flower in some where on a cross covered in chicken wire), he also asked for more wine during communion, no crazy hand gestures or skirts necessary!

The service itself was very familiar to me; it seemed like a normal Episcopalian service, just with the order scrambled. Glory and the creeds followed by the peace, and then the readings with the sermon, followed by the offertory and communion, then the announcements were given from behind the alter, the closing prayer and dismissal. Most of what was said throughout the service was also the same, but with a few words changed here and there. The only other thing that I found very strange was that the hymnal had NO music...so it was very hard to follow along, you had to pay closer attention to the choir. The hymnal really just looked like a book of poems with each verse as its own stanza. But once you got the tune from the first verse not having the music wasn't too bad...I just missed it. 

I really enjoyed the sermon. It was given by a member of the congregation, who seemed to give sermons on a regular basis from his introduction. He made some very interesting connections between the reasons for the gospels' detailed account of Easter morn, and why the authors might not have gone into much discussion about what it all meant. The details support the actual occurrence of the resurrection...showing it actually did happen, allowing us to figure out the importance of it all for ourselves. He also talked about why Mary believes Jesus is the gardener at first. That the tomb and surrounding area has become the new garden of eden and Jesus is it's gardener. All very interesting. 

I stayed at coffee hour for a little while. The people were all very welcoming and nice. Compared to what I have become accustomed to, it was a VERY small congregation, with record attendance of 90 people. But I did meet a few interesting kids my age and they told me about the 7pm service. So depending what I am doing after break I might just have to go and see what it is all about when I get back from Autumn Break. 

At coffee hour, a little girl asked me a very interesting question. She must have been all of six, and I had noticed she had been watching me while we were all in the narthex having tea (but they still call it coffee hour...I don't understand, ANYWAY). So finally the little girl came up to me and said, "are you a movie star?" Of course I, along with the few people  I was talking to laughed a little and I asked why she thought this. And she told me that I looked so nice and sounded exactly like all the other movie stars so I must be in movies! (In her ADORABLE New Zealand accent of course) Well I understood her logic: since Hollywood movies are very popular and most actors in these movies have American accents, all Americans are thereby movie stars....it makes perfect sense! I of course enjoyed the complement and told her I was not a movie star, but was very flattered that she thought I could be.

Ok well enough about church, I need to go and pack for my trip for Austrlia. I have to be ready to catch a cab tomorrow at 3:45 AM.......YUCK! I will be going to bed early tonight!

More to come on the trip later,

Cheers!

~Marjorie