Introduction

Welcome to our parish profile and thank you for taking the time to read through it. We hope it will give you the information you require to prayerfully consider whether God is calling you to lead us.

In the following pages we seek to give you a taste of life at St Michael & All Angels, what our core values are, our aspirations for the future and how we strive to make a difference in our community through seeking God’s Word and applying it to everyday situations.

We are a small church family, but we have some big, exciting plans to make a difference in our community. We are praying for the right person to be both our spiritual lead and to share our heart for mission and outreach in the wider community.

Our Vision

Simply put: Being and building Community.

The Role

St Michael’s has a strong vestry and other leaders who all assist with the day to day running of the parish. There are lay leaders who can help with preaching, prayer ministry, leading services, pastoral care and other duties. This means we assist the 0.7FTE Priest-in-Charge so that they can focus on things like:

• leading our continued spiritual growth, enabling parishioners to be disciples who link into our community

• working with and supporting the parish in achieving our plans to use our property assets to greater effect in the community.

• making connections and discovering opportunities for the parish to serve in our community.

About St Michael & All Angels

St Mike’s (as we refer to ourselves) is situated at 196 Newlands Road, right next door to Newlands Primary School and near the local shops.

The people

The parish is a mix of long term and newer members. There have been recent departures as people move into retirement homes elsewhere. However we have also had newcomers to the suburb join us recently.

Our parish roll stands at 55 regular parishioners and the average attendance at Sunday Eucharist over the last two years has been 31 people. We are a multi-cultural mix of people with a range of ages. We currently have two families with young children attending semi-regularly.

The movement of parishioners is similar in nature to the general population of Newlands, which has in the past been a very transient suburb. But its character is changing with some fast growing subdivisions. According to the 2018 census the Newlands/Paparangi area had a population of about 14,000 people, but subdivisions like Woodridge, Bellevue Estate, Spenmoor Heights and Grenada Village are growing fast, and the Council’s district plan allows for another 40,000 people to reside in the area over the next decade. This is expected to bring people to the area looking to settle.

We know we need to grow to be more sustainable, but our focus is not “bums on seats”. We would rather be a place people come to because of the impact we make.

Prayer is an important aspect of our life together as we seek God’s guidance for us here in Newlands.

Wardens

People’s Warden: Sue Corbett

Vicar’s Warden: Liz MacLean

Vestry

Jan Robertshawe, Treasurer

Martin MacLean, Secretary / Manages Facebook and IT

Wayne Renalson, Property Manager

Liz MacLean, Bishop’s Warden

Sue Corbett, People’s Warden

Paul Stone / Manages the Website, (Seconded while working as a nominator)

Nominators

Wayne Renalson, Liz MacLean and Paul Stone.

Ordained and Lay Colleagues

We are fortunate to have amongst us the Rev. Hera Whitehead, a self-supporting Priest whose calling is in prison ministry at Arohata Women’s Prison in Tawa.

A parish office manager works for 8 hours a week in the parish office.

What we get up to...

Worship

We have a regular 10am Eucharist service on Sundays for worship followed by fellowship over morning tea in the hall.

House Groups

Study groups based in peoples’ homes are formed during lent and can continue throughout the year using diocesan study resources, depending on interest.

A house group gathers at Bruce and Shirley McLennan's home fortnightly on Friday mornings throughout the year

PINTS

PINTS (People in Newlands Talking Stuff) is an informal gathering at the local pub (the Newlands Arms) where parishioners, along with anyone else that wants to join in, partake in hearty debate over a drink. Topics range from deep philosophical questions, moral dilemmas, current affairs, to just random things on peoples’ minds they wish to test out with others. It is a safe place to speak your mind, think and learn from others about applying our ‘christian values in this complex world we live in.

Suicide Bereavement Support Group

This group was formed in 2018 in response to a community meeting organised jointly by Victim Support and St Michael’s. There had been losses due to suicide in the community and the theme of the community meeting was resiliance.

The group meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month allowing members to:

• share their thoughts and feelings about what has happened

• discuss how suicide has affected them

• gain ideas and information about how to look after themselves and others, and ways to manage their grief after a suicide.

The facilitators are Nerys Foster, Shelley Brunskill-Matson and Liz MacLean. Nerys and Shelley are leaders in the field of suicide and are not parishioners. Liz attends bringing baking from the parish and as a gentle presence in the name of the church.

Community Centre Lunches

Every second month St Mike’s volunteers to provide food and help serve at the weekly Friday lunch at the Community Centre (largely attended by the elderly in our neighbourhood).

Community House Committee

The parish is represented on the Committee of the Newlands Community House by Jan Haines, and Ray Good chairs this committee. The Newlands Community House is a group within the Newlands Community Centre which runs the Food Bank, arranges Friday lunches, organises weekly activities for older people and gives them support. This helps us to link in with what is going on and to be seen, and to be involved in initiatives through the Community Centre.

Tikanga Maori Service

The parish has a relationship with the local Tikanga Maori Church. They gather at St Michael’s Church for their monthly services (at 11:30 on the 4th Sunday of the month).

Alpha

The parish teams up with other local christian churches to host Alpha courses on a periodic basis. Peter Corbett leads us in this initiative.

JNOC Yoof

The Parish contributes financial and administrative support to the Northern Cluster (Johnsonville, Newlands, Onslow and Churton Park parishes) youth ministry to young people across the cluster that is held at Johnsonville’s church hall. The younger group (10-14 years) meet on Friday evening and the older teens meet on Tuesday

JNOC is a positive, high energy and fun place for our young people to learn and grow in their faith.

AAW

The St Mike's women have combined with the Association of Anglican Women's (AAW) group at St John's Church, Johnsonville (in the Cluster). This AAW group meets at St John's on the first Thursday afternoon of each month to listen to talks or go on outings.

Vege Co-op

The parish supports the local Vege Co-op by providing a distribution venue and volunteers.

Uniform sale

The parish runs an annual community college uniform sale to facilitate access to affordable used uniform items.

Finances

The parish can currently afford a 0.7 stipend (plus allowances and provision of accommodation at the vicarage). It is hoped we can provide for a full stipend again in the near future, but this will require some growth after a number of recent departures to retirement homes in other locations. Given the history of expansion and contraction in the parish, it is a reasonable expectation.

In addition to regular tithing, the main source of regular income is rental. This is supplemented by occasional fundraising activities and koha for use of the hall.

Property vision

Vestry have been working for some time on a plan to replace the old cottage with new genuinely affordable housing for people in need. Vestry are collaborating with the Diocesan Property Office who in turn are working with the government on a number of such opportunities for housing around the Wellington Diocese.

The parish hall is currently “yellow stickered”. It needs work to reach the required earthquake standard over the next decade. So over the next few years we have the opportunity to rethink what role the hall plays, not just for the parish, but for the Newlands community. The hall is right next to the planned housing development, so there is potential to consider how we can configure a new hall to add to the housing development in some way that could foster a sense of community for residents.

So it is an exciting time for the parish, and there is a chance for us to make a real and positive contribution to a major challenge in our society at the moment.