On Wednesday 6 March nearly 60 people gathered at the church of St Alban the Martyr to hear the scriptures, pray and sing carols for a special Christmas Service in St Bathans.

Watch the video here

This must be one of the few places in Aotearoa-New Zealand that has a church dedicated to one saint (St Alban) in a town with the name of another (Celtic) saint, St Bathan (or Baithin or Buadan), an Irish Monk. He was one of St Columba's followers who accompanied him to Scotland around 563 and was the first successor of the abbacy of Iona.

Bishop Steve noted that this was the first service he had conducted at St Alban the Martyr church - and that it was the first one there for a number of years there (although some present mentioned they had attended services here in their youth).

This Church has interesting origins: it was prefabricated in Britain, and erected in St Bathans in 1883 after a couple of earlier versions came down during severe weather. Absentee runholder Frederick Dalgety, founder of the former stock and station agency Dalgetys, arranged for its prefabrication in wood and iron, donating the Church for the benefit of his employees and the wider community. It continues today to be the "first Church" of St Bathans, and although rarely used it is very much "owned" by the community as a sacred space. 

A new role this summer for the church is to be part of the Central Trail church mice trail, where distinctively crafted creatures for this location (all called "Albie Mouse") are available to collect. There are also bookmarks that give more information about the inspirational Saint Alban that the church is named after. 

On this particular mild evening, there was a noticeable buzz as people gathered to worship, the service starting off with (the traditional) first verse of Once in Royal David's City sung by Felix Hilliard. Eight more traditional carols and readings followed, finishing with Hark the Herald Angels Sing. 

Bishop Steve spoke to the congregation about when he trained to be a doctor of medicine, at one point he delved deep into embryology, the science of what happens to us all from conception to birth. Fast forward to today, where, as a grandfather (yet again in the past few days), he was reminded of the joy of holding a new born baby. It's a different kind of "real" to that of embryology (head knowledge) compared to a brand new person (heart response), and how important it is for us to move from our head to our heart when it comes to our relationship with God.

The Bishop also said that for him, poetry, art and music were all ways of responding to God with heart, but, music (for him) had a particular impact. This is especially so in carols such as "O Come O Come Emmanuel", which start in a minor key but resolve into a major note. For him, this represented how the Christ Child holds all the promise of moving from the difficulty and pain of life, towards happiness and joy: at the end of it all, we are all held and loved by God. 

So, after all of the readings, carols and prayers that are part of any nine lessons and carols service (attached below), many in the congregation went to one business in the village that still survives, the Vulcan hotel, for refreshments...

It was good to be there and significant to have the first Christmas service in the Diocese in this particular sacred space. 

Thanks to all who helped make this happen - the local community, musicians (in a no electricity environment), readers, the Maniototo, Dunstan and Wakatipu Parishes, along with everyone else who came to participate and support.