Rimutaka 
Pastor Murray Gordon
In December, January and February we shared in the wedding celebrations of three young couples who are part of our church family – Eric and Anna Mailau, Rebecca and Richard Renfrew, and Jayde and Manu Ma’a. On a sad note, one of our treasured members died suddenly.

Susan Garwood played the piano at worship services for many years. She is missed. In January we enjoyed our traditional weekly barbecues at members’ homes. The youth had ‘Hire a Youth’ day to raise money for Easter Camp. Many of them also attended Parachute. Bruce Patrick visited for a weekend meeting with the leadership team, conducting a workshop on ‘Sharing your faith’ and preaching on Sunday morning. On Faith at Home Sunday, all families were given Mark Holmen’s book How to Incorporate Prayer into Family Life.  

Blenheim 
The church is doing well under team leadership of two retired pastors and the youth pastor as well as elders and ministry team leaders. Forty-six youth, including nine leaders, joined 4000 other South Island youth at Spenser Park Easter Camp. Men’s breakfasts continue, with a combined churches breakfast at the Salvation Army recently to hear special guest speaker Danny Wallace. Women’s Networx has regular Monday evening events and EmpowerHer Cafe Connexions meets at a local cafe monthly on Saturdays to build relationships in the community. Preparations are continuing for Women of Influence Conference late July. At Easter, the Creative Ministries team focused our thoughts on the message of the cross through song, dance and drama. The Mitchells have established a home cinema, which is well used by rest home residents and gives opportunity for prayer ministry.