God forgives us.

Forgive others, forgive yourself.

Be at peace.

The reading  - 1 Kings compilation – Part 1

Jamie Clinton-Baker

Remember how my father David wanted to build a temple where the LORD his God could be worshiped? But enemies kept attacking my father's kingdom, and he never had the chance. Now, thanks to the LORD God, there is peace in my kingdom and no trouble or threat of war anywhere.

The LORD God promised my father that when his son became king, he would build a temple for worshiping the LORD. So I've decided to do that.

Solomon's workers started building the temple during Ziv, the second month of the year. It had been four years since Solomon became king of Israel , and four hundred eighty years since the people of Israel left Egypt

Seven years later the workers finished building it during Bul, the eighth month of the year. It was built exactly as it had been planned.

After the LORD's temple was finished, Solomon put into its storage rooms everything that his father David had dedicated to the LORD, including the gold and the silver.

The sacred chest had been kept on Mount Zion , also known as the city of David . But Solomon decided to have the chest moved to the temple while everyone was in Jerusalem , celebrating the Festival of Shelters during Ethanim, the seventh month of the year. Solomon called together the important leaders of Israel .

The priests carried the chest into the most holy place and put it under the winged creatures

Chant

Laudate Dominum,

laudate dominum

omnes gentes

Alleluia!

Sing, praise and bless the Lord.

Sing, praise and bless the Lord.

Peoples! Nations!

Alleluia.           

The reading - Part 2

Simon Clinton-Baker

LORD God of Israel , no other god in heaven or on earth is like you!

You never forget the agreement you made with your people, and you are loyal to anyone who faithfully obeys your teachings. My father David was your servant, and today you have kept every promise you made to him.

When Solomon finished his prayer at the altar, he was kneeling with his arms lifted toward heaven. He stood up, turned toward the people, blessed them, and said loudly:

Praise the LORD! He has kept his promise and given us peace. Every good thing he promised to his servant Moses has happened.

The LORD our God was with our ancestors to help them, and I pray that he will be with us and never abandon us. May the LORD help us obey him and follow all the laws and teachings he gave our ancestors.

I pray that the LORD our God will remember my prayer day and night. May he help everyone in Israel each day, in whatever way we need it. Then every nation will know that the LORD is the only true God.

Obey the LORD our God and follow his commands with all your heart, just as you are doing today.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church

Thanks be to God

Gradual

God of the ages past

we praise your loving care

that circles round this world of ours

at all times, everywhere.

Our forebears travelled far

to settle in this land:

they worked and raised their families

led by your guiding hand.

God of the present day,

your hand is guiding still

our lives, so different from those past,

according to your will.

And as we celebrate

our heritage with pride:

we ask your blessing on us all,

in countries far and wise.

God of the future world,

as we look to the new:

into the unknown days ahead

in faith we step with you.

Our family ties are strong

we build upon their base;

and walk with you our whole lives long,

in truth and love and grace.

The Gospel

Elizabeth Buchanan

A reading from the Holy Gospel of Mark, chapter 12, beginning at verse 28

 
Praise and glory to God
 
This is the Gospel of Christ

Praise to Christ the Word

Sermon

Rev’d Sande Ramage

There’s been a bit of trouble lately in Tinui, just down the road from here.   Some people wanted to shift the old pub further down the valley and give it a new lease on life.   Not everyone was happy about it.   Over the years they’d become attached to the building because of all the community celebrations that had gone on there.   Even though the building may have looked old and tired, somehow it symbolised the life of the community and would have triggered memories for the townsfolk as they passed it on their daily rounds.   So saying goodbye to a building like that is much more than just rearranging the woodwork in another part of the country.   

This moving and renovating business seems to be in our Kiwi blood.   Our varied ancestors have arrived here on waka or sailing ships taking months to cross dangerous seas in search of adventure and new possibilities.   And now that we’re well established, we find any excuse to pack up our gear and fly out all over the world to experience some of that same thrill of adventure that inspired our ancestors.  

But however exciting the traveling is, somehow we return to the familiar, to places where family and memories are strongest, where we feel the most connected.  

Connectedness is what many young people say is most important to them.   Students taking a course on spirituality at La Trobe University in Melbourne report that they want to, ‘connect with themselves or their ‘inner selves’, with other people, with nature and the environment, with the cosmos at large.’

This search for connectedness is not new; it is a vital part of being human.   But we only get occasional glimpses of what real connectedness could be and in some ways this just tantalizes us.   We know it’s there but we can’t quite get a grip on it.  

While some days we might wake up bright and breezy feeling at one with the world, the truth is it’s not like that a lot of the time.   Often we crawl out of bed, prep for period 1 not done, a difficult meeting looms, there’s a speed camera fine sitting in the letterbox to welcome us home, you’ve had a fight with your best mate, your parents still don’t understand you and your girlfriend seems to have eyes for someone else.    

To help us develop this sense of being connected, humans have developed a whole special language, which tries to probe the wonders of what we call the ground of our being and special buildings that we set aside to help us contemplate this depth at the heart of the cosmos.  

Within these buildings we call churches, we act out sacred rituals using special utensils to help us open the doorway from our ordinary disconnected lives so that we can see and experience, even if just for a little while, the intensity of life lived in connection with our own selves, other beings and ultimately what we understand to be God.   

St Martin ’s on the Close is more than a building.   Over the past 100 years it has held within its walls the pain and passion of the Mangaweka community.   Here babies have been welcomed into the world; couples have made promises to one another, arguments have unraveled, relationships have found ways to be healed, loved ones have been grieved over.  

Through this entire panorama of life the search for the divine has gone on through the rites and rituals of Anglicanism, which seeks to hold, sometimes a bit tenuously, the diversity of that search within its embrace.  

Today we gather as two quite different Anglican communities, joined now by this sacred space of St Martin ’s.   Gracious People of the Mangaweka, we recognise that you are entrusting us with the guardianship of a great Taonga, a special treasure.   You have let us take out of your community a building that for 100 years has symbolised the life and death struggles of thousands of people.  

We appreciate how hard it must have been to wave goodbye to St Martin ’s as it sped out of town on the back of a Brittains truck.   Some of those feelings are going to be reignited today and we hope new feelings will be stirred as you see how this beautiful church has been loved back into new life.   

Now, it is our privilege and our duty to hold the memories within
St Martin’s as sacred, while our own unfolding life stories are added to your story.   We commit to ensuring that St Martin’s continues to uphold the generous orthodoxy of Anglican tradition, a sacred space which can hold a myriad of journeys into the divine, that place where we are challenged to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as much as we love ourselves.

Thank you for trusting us enough to hold sacred all that St Martin ’s has been for you and all that it will become for generations of Rathkeale boys and their families.  

The Presentation

Bishop Tom

Let us be still in the presence of God

Let us pray.

 
Earth maker, pain bearer, life giver

source of all that is and that shall be

mother and father of us all …

We give thanks for the beauty of this place we call Rathkeale

and the gift of St Martin ’s within it.

As we enjoy this place we call home,

we pray for the people who have nowhere to call home,

or who are separated from the people and places they love.

In this moment we recognize our enormous privilege of religious freedom,

completely free to explore and believe as we want.  

We are mindful of the millions around the world who do not have this privilege, who are trapped in unjust systems that oppress the life of the spirit.

As we reflect on the need for connectedness

we give thanks for our brothers and sisters from the Mangaweka,

for their lives, their loves, their good times and bad,

all celebrated and commemorated within St Martin’s.

We are grateful for their spirited faith

and pray we may walk humbly in their steps.

We give thanks for our own community of Rathkeale

remembering today all among us who are hurting,

who feel alone, who wish that life was some other way.

May they know the presence of the Divine,

supporting, encouraging and lighting the way ahead.

And now we take some moments in the silence

to pray for ourselves and all that rises to trouble us.

Loving God, in whom is heaven

stay with us awhile,

walk with us in this new journey.

Amen

Chant

E te Ariki kia aroha mai.

E te Karaiti kia aroha mai.

E te Ariki kia aroha mai.

School Prayer  -   led by William Prior

Almighty God,

giver of wisdom and light,

send down upon our school

the gifts of your Holy Spirit.

May true religion, sound learning

and good sportsmanship

here forever flourish and abound.

Grant your guidance in daily life

to all who teach and all who learn.

May we, and all who dwell in this place,

so worship you and serve you

with faithfulness and courage at all times,

that the school may be held in honour

and your holy name be glorified,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Hymn

Nothing is lost on the breath of God

nothing is lost forever;

God’s breath is love,

and that love will remain,

holding the world forever.

No feather too light, no hair too fine,

no flower too brief in its glory,

no drop in the ocean, no dust in the air,

but is counted and told in God’s story.

Nothing is lost to the eyes of God,

nothing is lost forever;

God sees with love,

and that love will remain,

holding the world forever.

No journey too far, no distance too great,

no valley of darkness too blinding,

no creature too humble, no child too small

for God to be seeking and finding.

 
 
Nothing is lost to the heart of God,

nothing is lost forever;

God’s heart is love, and that love will remain,

holding the world forever.

No impulse of love, no office of care,

no moment of life in its fullness,

no beginning too late, no ending too soon,

but is gathered and known in its goodness.                                                                                                                       

The Spirit of God be with you.

And also with you.

Lift your hearts to heaven.

Where Christ in glory reigns.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to offer thanks and praise.

God of justice in community,

from the beginning you are faithful and true.

Praise to you unchanging God!

Your word in every age calls your people to turn

from hatred and abuse, cruelty and oppression,

to reconciliation with one another and with you.

Praise to you, merciful God!

You challenge those who deny anyone

a place at the table.

As we gather for this holy meal,

we rejoice in your love,

which embraces all people.

And so we praise you, as we sing:

Holy, holy, holy:

God of mercy, giver of life;

earth and sea and sky and all that lives.

declare your presence and your glory.

In the face of opposition and rejection,

in the city whose name is ‘Peace’,

in the midst of disloyalty, betrayal and denial

Jesus met to eat with his disciples.

He took bread, when he had given you thanks,

he broke it, gave it to his disciples and said:

‘Take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you;

do this to remember me.’

He took the cup and when he had given you thanks,

he gave it to them and said:

‘Drink this, all of you,

for this is my blood of the new covenant,

which is shed for you and for many,

for the forgiveness of sins;

do this as often as you drink it,

to remember me.

Therefore God of justice,

in the suffering and death of Jesus,

your mercy is revealed.

We lift up the cup of salvation

and call upon your name.

Here and now, with this bread and wine,

we celebrate your your great acts of reconciliation,

ever present and living in Jesus Christ,

crucified and risen,

who was and is and is to come.

Glory to you Lord Christ

your death we show forth

your resurrection we proclaim

your coming we await

Amen!

Come Lord Jesus.
 

Empower our celebration with your Holy Spirit,

feed us with your life,

fire us with your love,

confront us with your justice,

and make us one in the body of Christ

with all who share your gifts of love.

Blessing honour and glory be yours;

here and everywhere

now and forever.

Amen.

 
The Communion

We host an open table here at Rathkeale College and welcome everyone to share in the Eucharist with us.   During this time we also light candles to remember people and moments that are important to us.   Please join us.

Servers:                                            

Bishop Tom, Troy, Luke, Sande, Andy & Matt

Candles:    Mrs Clarke & Mr Greenwood
Candlelighting CD to be played first while servers communicated.  

Piano interlude by Miss Sanson.

come to him and never be hungry.

Eat this bread, drink this cup,

trust in him and you will not thirst.

Jesus Christ, bread of life,

those who come to you will not hunger.

Jesus Christ, Risen Lord,

those who trust in you will not thirst.

Prayer after communion

Blessed be God who calls us together

Praise to God who makes us one people

Blessed be God who accepts us as we are

Praise to God who gives us hope and freedom

Blessed be God who challenges us to do justice and love mercy

Praise to God who is revealed as love

Blessed be God who continues to call us

Therefore we offer all that we are and all that we shall become

Accept O God, our sacrifice of praise

Amen

Accept our thanks for all you have done

Our hands were empty and you filled them.

Blessing

Bishop Tom

Recessional

For all the saints who from their labours rest,

who thee by faith before the world confessed,

thy name, O Jesu, be forever blest,

Alleluia, Alleluia.

The golden evening brightens in the west;

soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest:

sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

But lo there breaks a yet more glorious day;

the saints triumphant rise in bright array;

the King of Glory passes on his way.

Alleluia.   Alleluia.

From earth’s wide bounds from oceans’ farthest coast,

through gates of pearl streams in this countless host,

singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Boys leave through side door

Procession forms behind crucifer and processes through school haka party to St Martin ’s

Guests and boys sing The Millennium Prayer

 
Our Father who art in heaven

hallowed be thy name

thy kingdom come

thy will be done

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread

and forgive our sin

as we forgive each one of those

who sins against us.

And lead us not to the time of trial

but deliver us from evil;

for thine is the kingdom

the power and the glory.

Let all the people say ‘Amen’

from every tribe and tongue.

Let every hearts desire be joined

to see thy kingdom come.

Let every hope and every dream

be born in love again.

Let all the world sing with one voice,

let the people say, ‘Amen’.

 
Guests process into St Martin ’s.

Bishop Tom waits at the door.

Steve Wilton (Chairperson Board of Proprietors), supported by Rob Prior, (Chairperson   Board of Trustees), Neville Duckmanton (Principal)and Rev’d Sande Ramage (Chaplain) present the Petition for Consecration to the Bishop and ask him to consecrate the church.

The Bishop agrees – the Deed of Consecration is read.

 
Prayer 

Bishop Tom

Through the ages, God’s people have been moved by the Holy Spirit to build houses of prayer and praise, and to set apart places for the ministry of Word and Sacrament. With gratitude for the building and restoration of St Martin’s on the Close, we now gather to consecrate it and ourselves in God's name.