Talk about a church that’s in touch with the grass roots of its community…

When Fr Mark Beale first ventured on to the site on which St Elizabeth’s Clendon now stands, way back in 1987, he was wandering around in waist-high weeds.

The only structure on the site was a tumble-down cowshed. That had a pristine rural view to the north-west, over paddocks, stretching all the way to Auckland’s international airport. 

Last Sunday, November 17, 2013, maybe 350 people jammed into St Elizabeth’s to celebrate its silver jubilee – and to rejoice in 25 years of remarkable service to the communities of Clendon and Weymouth.

If you’d stepped outside from St Elizabeth’s last Sunday and looked toward the north-west… all you would have seen are dozens and dozens of low-cost houses, stretching to the horizon.

Things do indeed look seriously different out that way now.

But the thing is, St Elizabeth’s was there from day one.

Pretty much from the day the first folk moved into the new neighbourhood.

More than that, St Elizabeth’s has been an anchor for the place.

“This church,” says Fr Mark, “has played an integral part in the development of the community here.

“We were advocates for a community centre. We were advocates for a library. We’ve been advocates for a lot of the facilities in this community.

“The church has had that key part to play as an advocate for the community – as well as being a place where the community can gather for worship.”

Fr Mark conducted his first-ever service in Clendon, on August 7, 1988 – in the granny flat attached to the prefab home they’d had trucked in to the Finlayson Ave site where the church, the hall, the offices, vicarage and sundry buildings now stand.

Ten people showed up for that first service in the granny flat – and the Beale clan made up six of them.

On November 17, 1991 – just three years after the Beales had arrived in Clendon, the late Bishop Godfrey Wilson opened the new church they’d built next door, and consecrated it to the honour of St Elizabeth, a 13th century Hungarian princess who’d made her castle open to all.

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Open to all…

That’s part of the DNA at St Elizabeth’s.

And one of ways they do ‘open to all’ is to provide a spiritual home to folk who’ve spent time behind bars – including a number who’ve done time at the nearby women’s prison.

Fr Mark and his team have been faithfully visiting inmates there, week-in, week-out for years.

Then, when they’ve served their time, the crew at St Elizabeth’s has helped some of those ex-inmates find suitable housing and jobs… and helped them in the 101 other ways that prisoners desperately need help if they’re ever going to have a hope of re-integrating into normal life.

That prison ministry has borne fruit, too.

Lives have been changed.

In the prayers of the people last Sunday, for instance, we heard from a couple of women who’d travelled from far afield to be at St Elizabeth’s on its silver jubilee day, and wanted to give thanks for the work done in prisons.

They prayed with feeling.

They knew of which they prayed.

Because they’d been on the receiving end of such help.

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They’re a colourful bunch at St Elizabeth’s.

“We’re one third Pacific islanders,” says Fr Mark, “one third Maori – and a third everything else. South Africans, Assyrians… we’ve even got a few New Zealanders in there.

“We’re probably the only genuinely three tikanga parish in the country. Genuinely three tikanga. I’m not talking about a theoretical thing that sits with the bishops and doesn’t go anywhere else.

“We are multi-ethnic, multicultural. And very intergenerational – there are an incredible number of young people in the place.

“We do liturgy with a lot of life, and there’s a real sense of God’s presence here. That speaks across generations and across cultures.”

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Last Sunday was the chance, of course, for the folk at St Elizabeth’s – and for friends from near and far – to celebrate the journey thus far, and to give thanks to God for all that’s been.

So: what does Fr Mark see ahead now?

Well, if you’re talking formulas – he hopes there’ll be precisely no change to the one that’s worked for St Elizabeth’s throughout its first 25 years.

“We must stay focussed on the centre of our mission – which is to be a multicultural family church, which is Christ-centred in every aspect.

“Our worship has to be God-focused.

“And our mission has to be community-focused.

“And we serve the community fully by helping them come into a life in God’s presence.

“This church has to demonstrate the love of God. It can’t be mere words.

“It’s got to be reality in action. We’re not just talkingabout: ‘Love your neighbour.’”

“We’ve got to do the hard, nitty-gritty things that prove that love.”

At the same time, says Fr Mark, St Elizabeth’s mustn’t become a glorified social agency.

“That’s not what we are called to be,” he says. “We’re called to be God’s representatives here, in the community.

“As long as we keep doing that, this church will thrive.”

Twenty-five years in the same church – that’s a mighty long stint in the one place.

So does Fr Mark ever feel like upping stakes and moving on?

He grins, in his impish way:

 “All going well,” he says, “in 25 years, I’ll be celebrating at our Golden Jubilee service from my Zimmer frame.”