Greetings parishioners and supporters of St Barnabas! Today is the first day we experience life under Traffic Light system 'orange.' I write about our parish policy below, but also mention the joy of recent baptisms and our need for more workers to join our staff team so that our mission under God can be carried forward.

Highlights of the Week

On Tuesday I enjoyed lunch with members of the Children, Youth and Young Adults team at Misceos - we have so many people who work hard and advocate for our younger people! The Wafer Room Christmas Party followed in the Tui Room - 20 or so volunteers celebrated together and honoured Coordinators Shirley-Anne and Charles Collins. What a dedicated team!

Wednesday included lunch with the Daytime AWW group and everyone received a present - thank you Barbara Stanford! I went on to a Medbury Carol service, Cathedral Chapter and Works Team in the evening.

Thursday included lots of preparation and writing, an Archdeaconry meeting learning of the varying responses to the Traffic Light System and a baptism visit in the afternoon.

On Friday I had the pleasure of telling the Christmas story to the mainly music children and this was followed by a special morning tea - saying thank you to our volunteers and to Pip for being the mainly music Coordinator for the last 5 years.

I look forward to the Pageant practice on Saturday afternoon - Christmas is coming!

Traffic Light System

During the week I have been working through the implications of the Traffic Light System for our parish. This has involved sifting through information from a number of sources and working through Vestry and Staff to produce a parish policy. I’m aware that not everyone will be happy that Vestry have decided that entry to all gatherings on our site will be by Vaccination Pass. However a health and safety review revealed that we couldn’t guarantee compliance with government regulations if we went to a mixed approach. I reiterate that St Barnabas clergy are available to discuss any matters of concern or to answer questions.

Baptisms

It has been wonderful over the last couple of weeks to see quite a number of people baptized and welcomed into the family of God. A number of the adults involved have testified to a growing awareness of God in their lives and feeling drawn into the church family. In one case this happened over a long period of time and in another case it was over a shorter period. We believe that God by his Spirit is always at work nudging people and helping them to become aware of God’s love. So let us be aware of God’s activity around us, speak up for our faith when we get the chance, pray and believe that good things will continue to happen.

Staffing

As I said last week we give thanks to God that the roles of Children and Family Pastor and Communications Specialist have been filled and this will help the mission of our parish tremendously. However I invite you to continue praying for a Lifestreams Band Coordinator, Young Adults Worker and a leader for our mainly music group. We have been active in thinking, praying and inviting people to consider these roles but so far have not been successful. If you know of anyone who you think might be suitable for any of these roles, please let Jenny or me know.

Arohanui, Canon Mark