Matariki celebration at The Tribe Church

Story contributed by Anna Baird, The Tribe Church Masterton.

Over the last month, church communities across Aotearoa have celebrated Matariki in creative and meaningful ways. In this story, Anna Baird shares how The Tribe Church in Masterton embraced the season with a celebration that brought people of all ages together — connecting with one another, and with the wonder of God’s creation across the night sky.

Matariki provides the perfect time to host an event that connects the congregation with creation and our unique faith story in Aotearoa. This year was particularly special as we remembered a dear member of the church who passed away earlier in the year.  After a shared dinner, we gathered outside to plant a totara in his memory.  As we gazed up, the clouds cleared briefly to reveal the stars, and we reflected on the majesty and vastness of God as well as the individual love he shows us; knowing each star and each of us by name.  We have some keen astronomers in our church so we even got to have a peak at some of the stars up closer. 

Part of our goal as an Eco Church is to give opportunities to experience the wonder of Creation.  It’s good to balance all the invitations to care for creation with opportunities to get outside and experience and enjoy it.  As Steven Bouma-Prediger says in For the Beauty of the Earth: 

“We care for only what we love. We love only what we know. We truly know only what we experience.”