|
150th Anniversary of Devonport Parish by Rt. Rev. John Paterson Bishop of Auckland Sunday 14th May, 2006 I Kings 8: 22‑30; 1 Peter 2: 1 ‑ 10; John 2: 13‑22 “Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. He said, "0 Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand…… But will God indeed dwell on the earth ? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!” I deliberately chose that passage from Solomon's Dedication of the Temple for this celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Parish of Devonport, not because it speaks of David, but because it is a great and noble passage and expands our concept of the God who has been worshipped here for 150 years. So to paraphrase a little, 'the Bishop stands before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the assembled notables from the North Shore, and the Vicar and the Church Wardens and all the assembly of Devonport and says "0 Lord, God of Aotearoa, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your faithful servants of the Devonport Parish and Holy Trinity Church who walk before you with all their heart ‑ but will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built This morning's service rightfully helps us to pause and give thanks for 150 years; for the foresight and courage of our forebears who caused this Church to be built to the glory of God and set apart for the worship of God. But it is more than that. As Anglicans we can be thankful for two millennia of faith, for four centuries of liturgical tradition, for a theology that is more an art form than a law book, for membership of a three Tikanga Church founded by faithful missionary endeavour in the Bay of Islands 192 years ago, for the contribution that this Parish makes to the life of the Diocese of Auckland and the Archdeaconry of Hauraki, for the nineteen priests who have served here as Vicars of this Parish and for the first 25 years of ministry of Murray and Dianne Spackman. And as we pause to give thanks for missionaries and church builders and the example of our forebears, it is interesting to ponder their motives. Why did they work so hard and sacrifice so much and give so generously in order to see that this Parish might flourish and this church might stand here proudly through the generations? Life cannot have been easy for them. I recently came across two little stories that relate to two of the historic churches of this Diocese, but I will not reveal whether they are in fact from Holy Trinity Devonport. In the Bishop's files there is a record of correspondence with one of these historic churches that actually does not reflect well on the office of bishop. There is a letter from the Secretary of a Church Committee in the 1880's requesting that the Bishop issue a faculty for a new chandelier for the church. The reply from the Bishop was short and to the point. 'The answer is "no" for three reasons. Firstly I have trouble in spelling the word. Secondly, you will have great trouble in finding anyone who is skilled enough to play it. And thirdly, what your church needs above all else is better light!' A few years further on there is further interesting correspondence shortly after electricity was connected to a particular church. It was of course in the days of pounds, shillings and pence, and the Treasurer of the day would pay the power account regularly but always with the wrong amount. The Vestry could never reconcile the amounts paid with the amounts charged, until one of the parishioners who worked for the Power Board took it upon herself to investigate the matter. She subsequently wrote a kind little note to the Treasurer saying, 'from now on please pay the amount that I will circle in red on each month's account. Up until now you've been paying the date!' Well, none of that tells us anything about my question. Why did our forebears struggle at the Flagstaff as the area was called, to establish an Anglican Parish, and to build this Church, that has stood so proudly here and been cared for so lovingly for all these years? Well, its partly reflected in Solomon's Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple ‑ the urge, the imperative to set aside something beautiful for the glory of God, for the worship of God, even though we acknowledge that God cannot be contained in beautiful wooden buildings. There is a better clue in the New Testament, in Peter's first letter. "Like living stones, like living timbers, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." Proclaim the mighty acts. That's the real clue. I am quite sure that those who laboured to build this Church knew the reality of the mighty acts of God in their own lives. Supremely of course those mighty acts are centred on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our forebears knew that without resurrection, life has little meaning. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, life has no guide, no plan, no hope. That's why they built. And moreover, that's why we maintain this Church. Holy Trinity Church must continue to stand and to be loved into life by the warming fire of worship as a sign to this harbourside community of Devonport, as a sign to North Shore City, that God lives, that God loves, and that God is to be worshipped here. 150 years ago The Reverend Edward Heywood started work here in Devonport and eventually when a Church was built, that Church was consecrated to the worship of God. For many of those years it has been greatly loved because it is a house of God, a place of worship that has been hallowed by the prayers and services and hymns and sacraments and sermons, by the weddings, the baptisms, the funerals, by the collective and individual acts of worship that have taken place here over all those years. Yes, it is a hallowed place, yes, it is God's space, and its first and primary need is to be used and used well, to be loved and loved well, and the only way that can be done is by worshipping in it. Worship is the priority in the function of church buildings, because a lovely old Church like Holy Trinity is a description of the majesty of God, just as in Solomon's Prayer in the Temple. It is God's house after all, and it is a place of living faith, of resurrection faith. Why else do we maintain it ? Yes, these old buildings can be a burden to faith communities to maintain, but Devonport does extremely well in that regard. The Diocese has a real task in maintaining the large number of historic buildings that our Anglican forebears have bequeathed to us. But at the centre of all mission opportunities and management requirements in Church life, there must be a primary emphasis on worship as the maintenance of regular witness to the sovereignty of God in the world. Indeed it is the worship of God that prevents our Churches becoming empty community halls. Without the warming fire of worship a lovely building such as this will quickly become an empty monument rather than a living temple capable of inspiring the souls of men and women in this community with glimpses of beauty, glimpses of eternity, glimpses of glory, glimpses of God. Why was this Parish founded? It seems to have been a mixture of a desire for a school and a church. But it was more than that. It's that resurrection faith. The encounter with the resurrected Christ that so affects our lives and grounds our faith. There is a story from the time of the French Revolution, not too distant in years from the early days of CMS missionary activity in this country, concerning a man named Talleyrand, previously a Roman Catholic bishop but excommunicated by the Pope for some reason. He was visited by another Frenchman, named Lepeaux, who had been trying to launch a new religion. He thought he could improve on Christianity, and sought to enlist the support of a man he imagined would be a bitter and disillusioned deposed bishop. He was not making any progress and went to ask Talleyrand's advice. The former bishop agreed with him that it was indeed a difficult task to found a new religion, and he did not really have anything to suggest. But after thinking it over for a while he looked at Lepeaux and offered a suggestion: "There is one plan you might at least try. I would recommend that you be crucified and rise again from death on the third day." To this day there is no Lepeaux religion in France or anywhere else for us to experiment with. So, I congratulate the people of Holy Trinity ‑ the Parish of Devonport for the way your Church looks today. Your work is a gift to future generations, just as our ability to admire and to worship in Holy Trinity is a gift to us from generations gone, a sign and a symbol that God's Church founded here 150 years ago, still lives, still thrives, still enhances the life and faith of this community. This great building says to all that Christ is risen, that Christ is risen indeed. In Solomon's words "will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built.” + John Paterson |
