Archive for the ‘News’ Category

After living in the centre of a construction site for the past several months the brothers were pleased to be present at the opening of Te Hurihanga, our nearest neighbour in the Te Ara Hou village.

The formal proceedings began on Monday 23^rd April with the naming and prayers led by kaumatua and tohunga from Ngati Haua followed by speeches and breakfast prepared by Te Ropu Takarangi (a part of Anglican Action).

On Friday 27^th April the Minister of Justice together with Judge Caroline Henwood (the initiator and driving force for the project) opened the new facility with a large crowd of supporters and well-wishers.

The facility will take young male offenders (14-17yrs) in an intensive two-year programme to integrate them into positive community relationships. The first six to eight months will see the young men as neighbours to the friary, and the brothers see themselves very much as supportive neighbours to them. This pilot project is the first of its kind in New Zealand.

The Te Ara Hou site was specifically chosen because of the supportive environment such a Christian social services village can offer. We wish the Te Hurihanga project every blessing.

For several months the brothers of the Province have been seriously reviewing our presence in New Zealand. A variety of reasons has reduced our numbers here to the point where we are now two; Brian and Damian Kenneth.

The Provincial Chapter meeting at Brisbane, 16^th – 18^th April 2007 reports that “both Brian and Damian Kenneth are happy to continue living in the friary as a praying presence, and in fact are already doing so. Chapter affirms them in this and assures them of the support of this Province and that their presence in Hamilton is greatly valued”.

One of the factors in this decision of the Chapter was the impressive volume of support from many facets of the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand for the ministry of the friary. For this support we are truly grateful.

We will be supported in community by our two Companion Brothers, Matua David and Doug Pratt together with the community of Te Ara Hou Village and the visit of other brothers from the Province from time to time. There will obviously need to be some variation to our ministries with the reduction in our numbers and a need to be prudent in the assignments we accept.

It is our fervent prayer that by maintaining our presence in New Zealand that we can provide the opportunity for young men called by God to the Franciscan religious life. The prayers and support of all our followers is essential and we ask you for a special effort in this regard as we move into a new phase of our being here.

Please celebrate with us the affirmation and support of our presence in Hamilton.

Provincial Chapter in 2004 elected Kentigern John as our friary Guardian for a three year term. He has now completed that term and as we write is on his way back to the United Kingdom. This was his second term in New Zealand; he had previously spent two years here while we were at Vaughan Park and when we moved to Hamilton.

During this term he was a caring and much appreciated Guardian. His involvement in voluntary ministry at Anglican Action and the University Chaplaincy is highly regarded. At Anglican Action he supervised the Community Counseling Service; a gold-coin operation using senior counseling students from Wintec, Te Whiuwhiu and the Bible College.  He was a volunteer at the Men’s Night Shelter in the city, involved in inner-city ministry, and a part of the team setting up the ministry at 1190. Kentigern has had a huge impact on the native trees and shrubs planted around the friary during his time with us.

We are most grateful for his willingness to come to the other side of the world to help us with our friary and we wish him well on his return to the UK and the ministry he will take there.

Like the kotuku who comes in a passing visit we have been much blessed by his time with us.

On 3rd October 2006 (the Transitus of St Francis) the friars took part in the ceremony to break the ground to begin the construction of the buildings which will make up Te Hurihanga – the Youth Justice house next to the Friary.

The afternoon began with a powhiri where Ngati Haua and te iwi o Te Ara Hou welcomed senior members of the Ministry of Justice and the members of Youth Horizons Trust, accompanied by the Bishops of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, their spouses and Personal Assistants meeting in Hamilton at the time, and many other local supporters. Strong support was vocalized and pledged during the speeches,

The combined group the moved to the site of the front door of the new building and karakia accompanied the turning of the first sod by Kaumatua Anaru Tamihana of Ngti Haua and Archbishop David Moxon, Bishop of Waikato. Further expressions of support came from a number of speakers.

A group of local residents objecting to the project staged a protest at the front entrance to Te Ara Hou and the Waikato Times showed a photo on the front page of Br Kentigern captioned as Peacemaker (a very Franciscan role).

Of course we then moved to the cuppa!

For assistance with the translation of Maori words we use the Ngata Dictionary.

 Revd Dorothy Brooker was elected Minister General for the Third Order at the recent International Chapter in Canterbury. As a result Revd John Hebenton was elected Minister Provincial for Aotearoa New Zealand, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The photo shows the hand over of the Melanesian Cross at a service at Mount Maunganui in April.

Over a recent weekend 16 young adults gathered at the camp on the Riches farm at Hikumutu, near Taumarunui for time of study, discussion and fellowship.

The Revd Jemma Allen, Ecumenical Chaplain to Waikato University was the discussion leader for the weekend and Wade Aukett the organizer.

Free time was spent on a horse-back trek across the scenic farmland, and the photo shows Wade on Big Red.

A highlight of the weekend was the sumptuous dinner on Saturday night.

The Diocese of Waikato celebrated the eightieth anniversary of inauguration over the weekend of 10 – 12 March 2006. People came from all over the diocese to a weekend gathering at Ngaruawahia. Lord Eames, the Archbishop of Armagh, was the main speaker and preacher at the celebration Eucharist. There was time for old stories and reminiscences, workshops and discussions, bible studies, fun and laughter, a festal dinner and Eucharist on Sunday. Numbers required the Eucharist to be held in the chapel at Waikato Diocesan School for Girls. Archdeacon Kelvin Wright, came from Dunedin to lead the studies; Bishop Made Katib and Dean Aeries came from Kuching (our partner diocese); Bishop George Connor, senior Tikanga Pakeha bishop spent the weekend here at the Friary.

The life of the friary is set within a village of Christian social services called Te Ara Hou.  Like all large communities things are constantly morphing, growing and dying back in the usual way of things.  But we are having an unusually busy period of change at the moment.  The large agency Family Start are moving on to new premises to assist with their expansion, leaving quite a gap; the James Family (which is part of  the Presbyterian church) are having a name change, though I’m not sure what to, and a new manager and it has been agreed that Te Hurihanga will be built here, right next door to the friary.  Te Hurihanga will be a residential community working with teenage boys who are getting themselves caught-up in a pattern of offending behaviour and who want help to ‘turn around’ (which is what the name translates as).  We brothers are very much looking forward to having new neighbours and the sort of work that will be going on in the house resonates with us.  Apart from these changes the work of the other people on-site with us; Anglican Action, Catholic Family Services and Abbeyfield, carry on apace.  The brothers and the members of the community at Abbeyfield share in some fellowship once a month over a cup of coffee, we found that if we didn’t set-aside some time then we could miss each other in our busy lives.  So there is always something new going on here at Te Ara Hou and we brothers hope that our prayers join with the many others in invigorating the village with God’s holy spirit.

During the year each of the groups at Anglican Action make a presentation of their own culture to the rest of the staff.

‘Burns Night’, 25^th January, saw Kentigern and Jean Robertson in a fling of Scottish activity.

The evening began with Scottish country dancing led by Jean and her family with much toe-tapping and hoots of laughter as people were guided round the floor in what was for most an unusual experience.

Following the dancing everyone moved to the dining room where Kentigern had prepared a great feast for the night.

While folk were spared ‘deep-fried-Mars bars’ they were to experience haggis which, for many, was a first.

Poetry and stories from the bard, with a wee tipple of the national beverage from time to time, carried on into the night.

It was a wonderful evening with many heartfelt thanks to Jean and Kentigern for an interesting cross- cultural experience.

Saturday 3^rd December 2005

The culmination of a slow and ponderous journey is near. The process of Brian’s move from Alverna at St Isaac’s Retreat, Opononi to the Friary of the Divine Compassion in Hamilton into an alteration of part of the friary to accommodate a hermitage was completed with a simple service of blessing and naming on Saturday 3^rd November with a small group of friends and the friars including Brothers Daniel (Minister General) and Alfred Boonkong (Minister Provincial).

During the ceremony people moved about the hermitage and prayed and blessed objects and spaces. Br Brian named the hermitage ‘The Little Portion’ and tribute to his many years in Papua New Guinea ‘Lik Lik Hap’.

A barbecue dinner followed with many happy reminiscences and some lively discussion.

A service of dedication of the continuation of Brian’s ministry of prayer and contemplation in the eremitical style was held in the chapel at Te Ara Hou later in the week.