chanel centre day

I haera ā Pīhopa Rīhari me te whānau ō te puka pū ō Chanel, ki te Whare Karakia ō Hato Pētera i Maketū

The Chanel Centre, based in Grey Street Hamilton is made up of many teams, ready to meet the needs of the people in the diocese.  We have our administrative team; schools administration team; schools team; archivists; communications; finance; pastoral staff and we can now say we have a bishop too!  All looking after their own areas of responsibility but working together for one end goal.  Every February, one of the above mentioned teams organise a team building day, a chance to bring everyone together outside of the office to bond, learn and have fun, fostering a sense of unity and synergy within the entire workplace. 

Having read about the rich history of Maketū in the Spring edition of the Kete Kōrero, the request was put to the pastoral team to include this in the day.  Teams were mixed up into two vans, and lets just say, navigation was tested! Arriving (for some, after some unplanned detours) at Maketū and while waiting for Deacon Douglas to welcome us in, we had a quick fire quiz round, it got quite competitive! We have included the questions below, after the photos . You might like to challenge someone too, set the watch to 60 seconds and have fun. 

We received a special welcome from local elders, and then given the talk that was given on the same day on a sunny day in July 2023 for the Catholic Women's League, with one exception.  Instead of Hariata closing with the current parish priests being Fr Richard Laurenson and Fr Matthew Gibson, she mentioned the new parish priest Fr Eamon Kennedy and the reason for the change.  She said, and we all felt the emotion, it was an absolute privilege and with pride, our parish priest, Father Richard Laurenson was ordained Bishop of the Hamilton Diocese. Very fitting that he was dressed very similar to Bishop Pompallier in all his purples, even down to his socks which were a gift from the parish of All Saints by the Sea. 

Pīhopa Richard celebrated Miha Māori for all present, and we prayed for the needs in the diocese.  As with all good team days, we came together at the end for kai and kōrerorero, not forgetting more waiata.  The team building day was a chance for us all to reflect on our whakapapa in our own diocese and those who brought the Catholic faith to Aotearoa. 

Once again, to Deacon Douglas, Hariata, Tania and all Kaumātua of this Church, ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou katoa, ō te Whare Karakia ō Hato Pētera.

Thanks also to our volunteer photographer, Deearn Strawbridge, so our team could relax and enjoy!

60 second quiz where all the answers start with the letter E (because you know … Easter)

1. Just moved from Frankton to the Mount is Father

2. Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Vigil the following day is called the (there are two words first word starts with E and second with T)*

3. Wife of Zachariah, mother of John the Baptist

4. Book not found in protestant bible (also known as something starting with S)

5. Summit and Source of our faith

6. Name for beginning of the prayer when the Blessed Sacrament is placed in the monstrance

7. Known for his extreme piety, patron saint of kings, difficult marriages, and separated spouses and canonised in the 1100’s

8. Is in the first 5 books of the bible

9. Preparing for confession you will probably do a 

10. The disciple Matthew died here

11. We (hopefully) get to spend this with the Lord

12. Paul wrote a lot of these

*full disclosure - also know as two words starting with P and T

Answers

1. Eamon

2. Easter Triduum

3. Elizabeth

4. Ecclesiasticus (also known as Sirach)

5. Eucharist

6. Exposition

7. Edward the Great

8. Exodus

9. Examination of Conscience

10. Ethiopia

11. Eternity

12. Epistles