Marilyn’s birthday today; yes I remembered. Marilyn always says that she never married a Pastor, but after nearly thirty years in ministry she has been an amazing support and encouragement. We have had an incredible journey and are thankful for the wonderful church God has given to us.

We would like to thank you all for your support again this year; it has been huge with the building of our new Junior College Campus. We always feel so encouraged and privileged to be your Pastors.
We are so blessed with tremendous Elders who are so supportive and have always been there to encourage the vision of the church.
Thank you to our staff for putting in so much creative energy into our programmes and pastoral care, and making the church such a fun place to work.

We have again put on a special Christmas Production for you this year and will hold two services on Christmas morning at East. I trust that you can attend and join with us as we celebrate our Lord’s birth.
Have a wonderful Christmas.
May God richly bless you,
Luke and Marilyn

From the sadness of taking a funeral on Thursday to the joy of taking a wedding on Saturday; this is the variety of privilege and emotion a Pastor has. Neena our Young Adults Pastor and Chris had their special day with a service in St George’s Church in Epsom. Neena was so keen she arrived early and had to wait around the corner from the church. They are a great couple and faithful servants in our church.

Yesterday I had my last lecture with our interns at Ministry Training College; first year students have a few more weeks before the term ends. I teach the interns on church health/growth. And then tonight it looks like I will be attending my first ever cooking demonstration. Not really my thing, but one of our Elim College students has invited TV cooking celebrity Annabelle White to demonstrate as a fundraiser for the college Israel trip. Marilyn is hoping I might learn something, but I don’t think you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Saturday night is our staff Christmas party, and then I am back in the East on Sunday after being in the North last Sunday. We are into number four of our series on Forgotten Virtues; this week talking about integrity.

This Saturday is one of the big events on our Calendar when we distribute “Christmas in a Box.” Over $60,000.00 in food will be packed in boxes and delivered to families who have had a tough year. It is not just those in financial need but also those who just need to know that God loves them and that there are people who care. On Sunday we will include in our morning services a time of remembrance for those who are feeling the loss of special people in their life at Christmas.

This time of the year is always one of eating. We have had outstanding weather (if you are not a farmer) which has made end of the year BBQs and staff dinners extra special.

Caleb Murdoch is up from Timaru, staying with us for a couple of weeks. Caleb is taking over from Steve as our Youth Pastor next year. Steve will step up to the Associate Pastor role in the East. Caleb and Steve are in the middle of planning for Solar Camp at Rotorua over Christmas. They usually hire a huge tent for their camps but the company has closed, however a couple in the church donated $10,000.00 so they could buy one rather than hire. Church is full of great people. Caleb spoke at the final Oxygen service of the year on Friday. He has been driving around Auckland and getting lost even with a Navman.

Mike and Liz Griffiths have been up from Dunedin in preparation for joining us next year. They move quickly; they have sold their house, brought another up here, and have enrolled their children in our school. Mike preached for us at our MTC Graduation on Sunday; he was outstanding.
Marilyn took a group of ladies down to Oxford in the South Island. They had a fantastic day at Jo Seager’s cooking class. With cheap fares it was an inexpensive day out.