The Messenger 
December 2011 St John’s in the City Presbyterian Church 
Christmas time is almost upon us. We 
are about to enter Advent; actually by the 
time you read this we will be in the season 
of Advent. You know you are close to 
the 25th of December when Chrisco ads 
start to appear on the Television and Coke 
becomes synonymous with Santa Claus. 
We are led to believe that Christmas is 
a time of good cheer, joy and happiness, 
which for many people is true. However 
for many people in New Zealand it is a 
time of loneliness, grief and stress. For 
many people in other countries Christmas 
day is just another day to survive. 
!e latest ‘Tear Fund’ Christmas appeal 
sent to St John’s stated that more than 
500,00 women die in pregnancy or childbirth 
every year in the developing world 
due to lack of proper care. About 70,000 
who die are aged 15 to 19. 
I recently watched the documentary ‘Inside 
New Zealand: Child Poverty’, which 
explored the poverty within our own nation. 
!e documentary pointed out that 
many children were becoming seriously ill 
due to poor housing and overcrowding. 
Bryan Bruce has spent the last six months 
investigating why the current state of child 
health in New Zealand is so bad and what 
we can do about it. 
Bruce begins his journey in East Porirua, 
which has the highest rate of rheumatic 
fever in the country - a disease of poverty. 
After interviewing teachers, parents 
and local doctors, Bruce discovers what 
the free market economy has done to the 
health of children living in lower income 
families. Skin infections and respiratory 
illnesses he found are rife. 
“And it’s not because their parents don’t 
care. !ey do. !ey’re just poor. Typically 
they can’t afford heating so they huddle 
together in one room and in large families 
that’s how diseases such as tuberculosis, 
meningitis and rheumatic fever are 
spread,” he explains. 
!ese are just a couple of stories of people 
struggling. !e question, we as God’s people 
need to ask, is “how are they going to 
experience Christmas this year?” 
How should we respond at Christmas to 
those around about us who find this time 
so hard? What can we do as God’s people 
to make Christmas relevant to those who 
live from day to day? How can we once 
again make Christmas synonymous with 
Jesus? All of these questions can only be 
answered by revisiting the reason for the 
incarnation. ‘What was the purpose for 
Jesus being born?’ Was it so we could have 
a party once a year; eat what we want; and 
think only of ourselves? 
Many Christ Mass 
continued inside... 

Session Update 
Editorial - Christmas Far Away From Home 
Celebrating Christmas away from home is an 
interesting experience. Last year our family 
spent Christmas in London. On Christmas 
Eve we met up with Natalie Gyles, daughter 
if Robyn and Roger and attended a carol 
service at St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar 
Square. Following the service we adjourned 
to a nearby pub for a celebratory drink. There, 
we rang Roger and Robyn to wish them a 
Merry Christmas. They were about to leave 
for the Christmas Day service at St John’s, no 
doubt to sing some of the same carols that 
we had just been singing at St Martin’s. 
A few days previously we had visited 
a place where people had experienced quite 
a different Christmas. On a snow covered 
.......................................................................................... 
memorial commemorating 
the Christmas 
Truce of 1914. For 
at Christmas in 1914, 
along parts of a desolate 
landscape that 
became known as the 
Western Front, soldiers 
from opposing 
.......................................... .. 
their generals, simply 
put down their arms 
and celebrated Christmas 
with their enemies. 
It is not hard to understand why. In the days 
leading up to Christmas the young men of 
Europe must have contemplated spending 
Christmas far away from home. Cold, scared, 
homesick, their minds must have drifted to 
past Christmas’s spent in warmth and comfort, 
surrounded by friends and family. They 
.................................................................................... 
.... .......................................................................................... 
by Christmas.’ In the midst of the insanity of 
.......... ........ .... ................ .............. ........ ................ .... .. 
Christmas of ‘peace and goodwill towards all 
men’ was made manifest. The warring governments 
had sadly declined the Pope’s request 
for a Christmas Day truce. But, what 
the Governments would not do, ordinary 
people could and did do. 
An old soldier recalled the event decades 
later: “Christmas Eve 1914 was a still, frosty 
night with a clear half-moon. For once it 
wasn’t raining. As we looked over the sodden 
rows of sandbags we could easily see the German 
barbed wire not 100 yards away, across 
the slimy, churned up morass of no-man’s 
land. A body or two lay out there. Everything 
was still. In my own 
strip of waterlogged 
trench a chilled sentry 
stamped his feet 
and beat his mittened 
hands. Suddenly, we 
saw a group of glistening 
lights appear on 
a Christmas tree-a tree 
with candles. Then we 
heard a sound new to 
the Western Front. We 
heard the unmistakable 
tune of ‘Silent Night’. 
Further along the line I could see other 
Christmas trees sparkling. A distant German 
voice shouted, “Tommy, Merry Christmas.” 
Wherever you spend Christmas 2011 may 
you experience ‘Peace and Goodwill to all.’ 
Rob Anderson 
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge 
three people who all share at 
least one thing in common: they have all 
served – or are about to serve! – the church 
as Session Clerk. 
In August, Rob Ewan retired from Session 
after 21 years and was appointed an Elder 
Emeritus. We are very appreciative of all 
that Rob has done, both as an Elder and as 
Session Clerk, and for his support of Muriel 
as she continued in this role (Rob and 
Muriel were first appointed as joint Session 
Clerks in 1998). 
In September, Lynn Pollock died. Lynn 
was a serving Elder and, before that, was 
the last Session Clerk at Kelburn Presbyterian 
Church prior to its amalgamation with 
St John’s. Lynn was a woman of great faith, 
and was always actively involved in and supported 
a wide range of church activities. It 
is also important to acknowledge and thank 
all those who cared for Lynn over many 
years. !eir love and support enabled Lynn 
to retain her independence while battling 
the effects of Parkinson’s disease. 
Finally, in October, David Galt was appointed 
as our new Session Clerk. David 
has been an Elder since 1991 and, as well as 
being a familiar face in the Choir, has served 
on the Finance Committee for many years. 
Together with his wife, Margaret, they also 
host the Monday Night House Group. I 
will be stepping down at the end of January 
when David takes up the role. 
David’s appointment was announced at our 
Annual General Meeting later that month. 
!is meeting is chance for us to pause and 
reflect on all the achievements of the past 
year, but on this occasion we also took the 
opportunity to talk about what kind of 
church we would like to be in the future, 
and what we may need to change to achieve 
this. It was a really worthwhile with lots of 
ideas and observations, and we look forward 
to continuing this discussion in the New 
Year. Please let David or me know if you 
have any further thoughts or suggestions. 
On behalf of Session, may Christ be at the 
heart of your Christmas and your guide in 
the year ahead. 
Paul Ramsay - Session Clerk 
Jesus said concerning his incarnation 
“!e Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has 
anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the 
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to 
set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the 
Lord’s favour.” 
We celebrate Christmas because of Jesus. 
We celebrate Christmas because of what 
Jesus has done and does in the power of the 
Holy Spirit through his people. Christmas 
is a time of celebrating our freedom in 
Christ. It is the time to shout out God’s 
‘YES’ to justice and the end of oppression 
and God’s ‘NO’ to poverty, cruelty and injustice. 
It’s not just about how many presents 
we have under the Christmas tree. 
Many Christ mas 
Stuart Simpson 
...continued from cover 
Christmas Truce Memorial, Flanders

A Guide to Worship at St John’s 
Do You Have a ‘Plan B’ this Chirtmas 
!e Story of Silent Night 
On Christmas Eve 1818 young priest 
Joseph Mohr visited the home of the local 
teacher and church 
choir director, Franz 
Gruber. Gruber lived 
above the school 
house in the Austrian 
village of Armsdorf. 
Mohr gave his friend 
Gruber a poem he 
had composed and 
asked him to add a 
melody line and guitar 
accompaniment that 
could be sung that 
night at midnight 
mass. !e reason for 
writing the carol in 
such haste is unknown. 
Some speculate that 
young priest who dearly 
loved guitar music was 
slightly rebellious and simply wanted a new 
carol for Christmas accompanied by the 
guitar rather than the organ. Fair enough, 
but why wait until just prior to the service 
to compose the music? 
Others speculate that the church organ had 
broken down. It was common for church 
mice to eat through the bellows rendering 
the organ useless. !is may have necessitated 
the guitar accompaniment. Whatever 
the reason when Father Mohr and Franz 
Gruber stood in front of the main alter in 
St Nicholas church in the Tyrol and sang : 
“Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!” for the first 
time they couldn’t have possibly imagined 
the impact that their composition would 
have on the world. 
By the mid Nineteenth Century when 
the song became famous throughout 
Europe Joseph Mohr had died and Franz 
Gruber was unknown. 
Authorities refused to 
believe that the music 
was the work of a 
humble school teacher. 
It was widely assumed 
that the melody was 
the work of Haydn, 
Mozart or Beethoven. 
!e controversy was 
put to rest when a 
long lost arrangement 
of ‘Stille Nacht’ in the 
hand of Joseph Mohr 
was authenticated. In 
the upper right corner 
of the arrangement 
Mohr had written: 
‘Melodie Fr. Xav. 
Gruber.’ 
!e song has won a place in the hearts 
of people throughout the world. Now 
translated into hundreds of languages it is 
sung by untold millions every December 
from humble chapels to the great cathedrals. 
As Christmas carol historian Bill Egan 
muses: “Perhaps this is part of the miracle 
of Silent Night. !e words flowed from the 
imagination of a modest curate. !e music 
was composed by a musician who was 
not known outside his village. !ere was 
no celebrity to sing at its world premiere. 
Yet, the powerful message of heavenly 
peace has crossed all borders and language 
barriers, conquering the hearts of people 
everywhere.” 
Rob Anderson 
Christmas Quiz 
1. What is the Christmas carol, Adeste Fidelis 
popularly known as? 
2. Which royal introduced the Christmas tree 
to Britain? 
3. Which carol traditionally starts the 
Christmas Eve service at King’s College 
Chapel, Cambridge? 
4. What place in Australia was devastated by 
Cyclone Tracy on Christmas day 1974? 
5. In which city was Handel’s Messiah first 
performed? 
6. Who conducted the first Christmas service 
held in New Zealand? 
7. Which Scandanavian country donates a 
Christmas tree to the people of Britain each 
year which is placed in Trafalgar Square? 
8. In the Christmas song, ‘Twelve Days 
of Christmas’, how many ‘geese were 
laying?’ 
9. In the British Army what tradition 
is followed in the mess for Christmas 
dinner? 
10. To what news did New Zealanders wake 
up to on Christmas Day 1953? 
How did you go? See back cover for answers. 
When you fly on a plane, do you always 
read the safety briefing card in the seat 
pocket in front of you, or do you think you 
know all there is to know? You might flick 
through it if bored. After all, needing to 
know what to do “in the unlikely event of 
an emergency” is an uncommon experience 
– thankfully something most of us will 
never experience. 
A much more common experience 
is our weekly pattern of 
worship. Although they do not 
have the same urgency factor as 
an evacuation from an aeroplane, 
our worship can certainly 
be regarded as life-giving; having 
sustained Christians for 
centuries. 
But traditional services of worship 
can sometimes seem far 
from stimulating, let alone life-giving! 
At St John’s we treasure the meaningful 
traditions that help shape our life of worship. 
And, not taking them for granted, we 
want to better grasp their meaning as we 
grow our understanding and appreciation. 
Entering into the richness these patterns 
of worship offer us, we anticipate learning 
from the Spirit of God as we live them, are 
shaped together, and grow in our faith. 
Children are so important in our worship 
together. And we also recognise the special 
commitment we have to nurture them; a 
commitment we promise as a community 
at the time of baptism. 
So we developed this resource ‘Guide to 
Worship’ as a regular reference for understanding 
why we do what we do. It’s 
designed to sit in the pews for people to 
pick up and refer to anytime. We hope it 
will be of interest to people who are new 
to St John’s or the Reformed tradition, but 
most importantly we wanted it to be of 
interest to children. Two specific things we 
did toward this. 
Working with the Children and Families 
workers, Anna and Heather, the written 
content was developed to be brief, clear, 
and engaging. We pitched the language so 
as to be easily read by an 8 year old. 
Once the written content was 
refined, we needed it to be 
presented in an attractive way. 
Aspects of design were discussed 
with Shane, a creative 
young graphic designer in the 
congregation. What he has 
produced can only be described 
as ‘bold and beautiful’! 
!e graphics and cartoon-like 
figures jump out and give the 
Guide to Worship a very kids 
friendly feel. 
Whilst it is clearly a resource indigenous 
to St John’s, with strong reflections of the 
buildings (both interior and exterior) we 
are offering this design as a template for 
other churches who may wish to develop a 
similar resource for their context. 
Rev Allister Lane 
Organ, Sausages, Cakes and ‘Stuff’ 
It all adds up to a great day raising around 
$2,800 for our friends working overseas. 
Originally the garage sale was going to be 
held in David Ensor’s garage in Karori - a 
nice little affair organised by the Monday 
night housegroup. But no sooner than the 
request for contributions made than it 
became clear that there would be nothing 
little about it! So we ended up moving to 
the garage under the hall (because there 
was a polling booth in the hall) and the 
“Monster Garage Sale” was added to by 
a sausage sizzle organised by the Men’s 
prayer breakfast, and a cake stall jointly 
organised by the Women’s Association 
and the Young Mothers group. !e most 
unique extras were the “guess the weight of 
our Minister” entered into with great grace 
by Allister Lane and won by Penelope 
Ballinger, and the chance to play the organ, 
with the help of Evan Dumbleton, an 
activity that quite a few entered into with 
some trepidation, but which everyone who 
did it came away feeling it was the highlight 
of the day! 
!ank you to all who contributed “stuff ” 
and cakes, who came and set up on Friday, 
or who helped on Saturday. It was a busy 
but exciting event for a very worthwhile 
cause. 
Franz Gruber composer of ‘Silent Night’ 
Congratulations 
Geoff Troughton has had two books published 
recently. !e first of these is: ‘New 
Zealand Jesus: Social and Religious Transformations 
of an Image, 1840-1940.’ !is 
book examines ways that New Zealanders 
thought about Jesus during a period 
of significant change and modernisation. 
!e cover of the book has an image which 
should be familiar. 
Along with Hugh Morrison, Geoff has 
also edited, ‘the Spirit of the Past. Essays 
on Christianity in New Zealand History.’ 
!is collection of essays offers fresh insight 
into debate about the role and influence of 
Christianity in New Zealand History. 
!e New Zealand Jesus is not yet available 
in bookshops, but you can make enquiries 
through Geoff. !e Spirit of the Past is 
available in Unity Bookshop and Vicbooks. 
Congratulations to Geoff on these major 
achievements. 
Cover image of ‘New Zealand Jesus’ 
!e light of the Christmas star to you 
!e warmth of home and hearth to you 
!e cheer and good will of friends to you 
!e hope of a child-like heart to you 
!e joy of a thousand angels to you 
!e love of the Son and God’s peace to you. 
Joy 
Love 
Hope 
Peace

What’s happening at St. John’s 
December 
Sunday 11, 
Quarterly Communion 
Wednesday 14, 
Property Committee Meeting 
Saturday 24, 6pm 
Christmas Eve Service 
Sunday 25, 10am 
Christmas Service 10am 
January 
Sunday 1, 10am 
Sunday Service 
Sunday 8, 
Epiphany 
Sunday 15, 10am 
Communion 
Friday 27 - 30, 
Parachute Music Festival 
Monday 30 - 5, 
Going Further Discipleship 
Camp 
February 
Wednesday 1, 
Session 
Monday 6, 
Waitangi Day 
Wednesday 8, 
School Year Starts 
Wednesday 8, 
Finance Committee 
Meeting 
Wednesday 15, 
Council Meeting 
Tuesday 21 - 26, 
Passion Fest 
Wednesday 22, 
Lent Begins 
!ursday 23, 
Outreach Meeting 
Tuesday 28, 
Women’s Association 
Meeting 
St John’s in the City 
Presbyterian Church 
Corner Willis & Dixon Sts 
p: 385 1546 
e: info@stjohnsinthecity.org.nz 
www.stjohnsinthecity.org.nz 
Views expressed in 
The Messenger do not 
...................................................... .. 
St John’s in the City. 
Weekly Events 
Sundays 
10:00am - Morning 
Service 
5:45pm - Evening Service 
In term time only 
Mondays 
5:45pm - BB Juniors 
6:30pm - BB Seniors 
Tuesdays 
Girls’ Brigade 
Fridays 
6:30pm - Epic 
6:30pm - !rive Youth 
Quiz Answers 
1. O come All Ye Faithful 2.Prince Albert 3.Once In 
Royal David’s City 4. Darwin 5. Dublin 6. Samuel 
Marsden 7. Norway 8. Six 9. !e officers serve the men 
10. News of the Tangiwai rail disaster