recycling - anglican priest style!!

What do you do with a wedding dress if you are a female Anglican Priest who likes to recycle, has a thing about symbolism and just really enjoys a challenge???!!! Why, turn it into a chasuble of course!

This raises a couple of questions of course:

What is a chasuble?
It is a poncho looking item that a priest can choose to wear when they are presiding at a Eucharist. See the photo if you can't picture it. One of the benefits of a chasuble is that it is an opportunity to signal the season of the Church year through the colour. For example, purple is used for lent and advent.
One of the downsides is that in Summer it is another layer that you could do without. And if you are doing something a little creative during the service, chasubles can restrict movement!

Why did you get married in red?

Good question. Jokingly, I say that I wear a white dress every week in church so I wanted something different. (The white dress in question is called an Alb. Standard vestment (clothing) with a stole ( priest scarf) that clergy wear. (hmmmm.... we use a lot of jargon in the church don't we?!)
More seriously, red is my favourite colour. Traditionally it symbolises love, the Holy Spirit, and is often worn for ordinations and saint's days. Plus both my parents and Phil my husband's parents were celebrating their 40th wedding aniversaries close to our wedding day. 40th weddings are the Ruby wedding... see, red again. 

What happens if you have a daughter who wants a piece of your wedding dress for her special day?

Got that covered too. I have kept the corset from my wedding dress and scraps of the material....

joy in the simple things!

Yeah, I know that Advent started a couple of weeks ago and is half-way gone, but one of the biggest joys that this new vicar has had so far was creating a giant Advent wreath. So I wanted to share a picture of it with you all. It is made out of things lying around the garage and in my overflowing craft cupboard. I put it together with my mum on a hot spring afternoon. It is very satisfying to create something out of seemingly nothing. And certain members of my household are always pleased when I use rather than add to my collection of "this might be useful oneday" items!
With the perhaps bizzare combination of an interest in crafts and theology, I began thinking about the image of God as a Creator who stood back from creation and admired it saying "It is good!" It led me to the following question:
In the rush of end of year, end of school, end of work craziness - how do you take time to admire the ordinary as an extraordinary thing? Making dinner - it is good! Putting out the rubbish - it is good! Creating an advent wreath out of junk and surplus...it is good!

installation of new vicar completed

As of about 8.30pm-ish on Monday 22nd I became the new vicar of the Anglican Parish of South West Christchurch. The photo above was taken during the service. As most of the service was a blur to me I cannot say exactly what was going on. Except to say that I'm the one on the right, and the Bishop is the one with the fancy shepherd's crook. However what I really want to draw attention to is the beautiful stained glass window in the background. It was designed by one of our very talented parishioners. What I think is quite cool is that it is lit by an electric light behind it. So you can have it lit up even when it is dark. Very cool indeed!

New Beginnings

Kia Ora and Welcome! I'm Reverend Annette Cater the new Vicar at St Nicholas Church on Barrington Street in Christchurch New Zealand. This is my first week and on my (long and optimistic) to-do list was to get a blog up and running. So here is my first post, hopefully the first of many.
I'm a born and bred Anglican with ecclectic tastes and experiences when it comes to worship and how to live out my Christian faith. At 29 years of age, I have just celebrated the 4th aniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. However, this is my first time as the vicar of a parish.
St Nichs doesn't have a website (yet), but I somehow think there is something particularly hospitable about a blog. I look forward to reading your comments and hope that this will be a place of hospitality for all people from all walks of life.
May God bless you, those you love, and those you struggle to love. Amen!