WelCom October 2021
This month we visit St Theresa’s Catholic Parish Plimmerton, situated in the northwest part of Porirua City, on SHI about 20 minutes’ drive from Wellington, and adjacent to the main trunk railway line.
Steeped in Māori history and settlement, and surrounded by farmlands, seaside villages and hilltop communities, the parish is always conscious of the sea and the weather. The area extends around Pāuatahanui Inlet and Porirua Harbour, bush-clad hills, and overlooking the rugged coastline south-west towards Mana Island and the South Island, and north to Kāpiti Island. The beautiful bush and beach surrounds and magnificent sunsets over Cook Strait inspire parishioners to actively care for creation, as encouraged by Pope Francis in Laudato si’ – and always mindful of the earth, sea and sky.
Brief Parish History
1844: Ōtaki Mission established.
1850: Catholic families settled in Pāuatahanui area for farming, logging, boat building.
1850: Fr Jean Baptist Comte sm from Ōtaki Mission, performed two baptisms at Pāuatahanui. Small community tended by Marist priests from Ōtaki until 1854.
1854–74: Catholic community under care of priests based in Thorndon, Frs Seon and John Baptist Petitjean sm.
1874–90s: Priests from Lower Hutt and Petone, came on horseback over Haywards Hill bridle track. Mass and Catechism in homes.
1876: Land purchased for church by four local farmers at £5 each.
1878: Small wooden church built in Pāuatahanui, consecrated by Bishop Redwood as Church of The Sacred Heart of Jesus. Accommodated up to 70 people.
1885: Main trunk rail north laid connecting area to Wellington and Foxton opening up area to growth.
1890: First wedding at church, David Bourke and Alice Abbott. Suzanne Aubert stayed at Abbott family homestead ‘The Grange’, during her travels.
1894: Church re-opened by Archbishop Redwood after upgrade and extensions, renamed St Joseph’s.
1920: Fr O’Donnell of Lower Hutt parish, said first Mass at Plimmerton, at State school. Travelled by motorbike, for many years he and Fr Land had driven out by horse and gig.
1922: Catholic community under care of Fr Michael Griffin, Johnsonville’s first parish priest. Plimmerton-Pāuatahanui association formed, until 1936.
1931: St Theresa’s Church Plimmerton built, within Johnsonville parish. Cost £1700. Plimmerton State school previously used as Mass centre.
1932: First Catholic ball in district held at Pāuatahanui Assembly Hall.
1940: St Theresa’s Parish established. Boundaries included Pāuatahanui, Pukerua Bay, Porirua and Titahi Bay – eventually became three new parishes.
1940: Fr Jeramiah McGrath of Ireland, first parish priest, until 1952. No presbytery, slept in vestry.
1941: Presbytery built, cost £1500, helped by Oswald Murphy estate.
1942: Arrival of US Marines during WW2, stationed at Judgeford and Pāuatahanui, swelled congregation at St Joseph’s.
1945+: Post-war prosperity resulted in new subdivisions and settlements, growth in parishioner numbers. Fr McGrath ambitions for parish school.
1949: Parish school built, opened by Archbishop O’Shea. Cost £8000. Fr McGrath welcomed Sr Rose (superioress) and Srs Vianney and Fabian, of Congregation of Congregation of Joseph of Nazareth. Opening roll 51 pupils, quickly increased.
1951: House opposite school purchased for convent.
1963: Planned-giving introduced. Parish built school swimming pool, church hall, connecting foyer, side chapel and new presbytery.
1968: St Vincent de Paul Society established Plimmerton branch.
1975: Schools Integration law passed.
1977: Sisters of St Joseph of Nazareth ended role at St Theresa’s School.
1978: St Joseph’s Church, Pāuatahanui, centenary.
1980s–90s: Pacific Island communities, new ethnic groups and refugee settlers grow multi-cultural parish.
1988–89; 1998–99: Archdiocese Synods, ‘maintenance oriented’; and ‘directed to mission’. Involved and transformed parish.
1999: St Theresa’s School 50th jubilee.
2000: St Theresa’s Parish 60th jubilee.
The Little Ways
Fr Andrew Kim, parish priest
When I was appointed as a parish priest of this community early this year, many people asked me where in Plimmerton St Theresa’s Church is.
I am sure you have passed by this church many times when you travel through State Highway 1. Have you ever noticed a white and well-maintained mid-size Catholic church next to the road when you pass by Plimmerton? A lot of people pass by without noticing it because of other things that might catch their attention – like the junction to Hutt Valley, pedestrian flyover, huge roundabout, and the beautiful Plimmerton beach.
St Theresa’s Church has been in this place since 1940. For the last over 80 years, this faithful community has served the local people from Aotea, Papakōwhai, Paremata, Mana, Whitby, Pāuatahanui, Judgeford, Camborne, Plimmerton, Hongoeka Bay, Whenua Tapu to Pukerua Bay. And now, as these suburbs are still growing, our community is preparing to readily serve the future generation, young families, and new arrivals.
Under the name of our patron, St Therese of Lisieux – the ‘Little Flower’ – this community has the zeal to inherit St Therese’s spiritual treasures, especially her humble missionary spirit. St Therese was born in 1873 in Lisieux, France and died in 1897, aged just 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years. She never went on missions, or founded a religious order, or performed great works. However, she is one of the patron saints of the missions, because of her special love of the missions, and prayers and letters she gave in support of missionaries.
Our parish community is very much like our patron. In the middle of noise with the hustle and bustle of a highway road, this community is quietly serving the needs of our neighbours; keeping the missionary work in the local area as initiated by our impressive Passionist family group movement and the St Vincent de Paul Society, the wonderful St Theresa’s school community and other parish groups who are, in their little ways, working on the missionary zeal inspired by St Theresa.
Over the next 10 years, this beautiful area will expectedly accommodate more people as the government is planning to develop the Plimmerton farms for housing. Our community is excited to have new neighbours and people among us. We believe our little ways to help others by following the footsteps of St Therese, is a work for the Lord that will make God’s kingdom grow and develop in our local area.
‘Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, thereby a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.’ – St Therese of Lisieux
A parish that welcomes all
Jocelyn Bryant, parish secretary
In 2020 we said goodbye to Fr Maurice Carmody who had been our parish priest for five years and in 2021 we welcomed with open arms Fr Andrew Kim. This is Fr Andrew’s first time as a parish priest and he has discovered the gem that is St Theresa’s – an extraordinary parish that welcomes and cares for each other and those around them.
Go, you are sent…to build community
Since the Archdiocese Synod ‘17, we have worked hard at developing a deeper bond with our parish school. Each term at a Pōwhiri Mass, which welcomes new students to the school, the parish also welcomes the children and families and presents each child with kete bag, which has newsletter telling them about parish life, a family prayer book, and a fun Bible game. Each week a classroom attends Mass with Fr Andrew and each week during the school term, there is a parish run Liturgy of the Word for the children. Twice a year we have a combined parish and school Mass, which ends with a shared morning tea and sausage sizzle.
We want to give our elderly a chance to gather to build community, so four times a year, after an Anointing Mass, we put on a parish luncheon. We now average about 80 people at each lunch.
Passionist family groups play a big part in our parish and have been the link for so many people knowing each other, supporting each other and building community. Gatherings based around food and fun have built friendships and given people the chance to be part of a family – even if they are locked out from or away from their own.
Over the recent lockdown our St Vincent de Paul group have met the demand of those on our peripheries with the supply of food parcels and their care of families in need. Young Vinnies from the parish school help in the foodbank and every couple of weeks a class makes food for the foodbank and delivers it to the office.
Go, you are sent…to find leaders
We have successfully found new leaders to run our Sacramental programmes and our Baptismal team. Some of these have come from the ‘Under 55’ dinners held in the hall to encourage younger adults to feel part of the community and see we need their talents.
Our community continues to show its caring spirit especially in times like local floods, caring for Toa the stranded whale recently as well as embracing other faith communities in our area with our shared Ecumenical services. Our community is changing, we will continue to embrace change as we want to know people’s stories and include them in our parish story.
We welcome you to join us anytime you are passing by.
Historic St Joseph’s Catholic Church
Photos: Brian Harmer
Catherine Gibbs
Near Pāuatahanui on SH58, you’ll see a small country church on the hillside opposite the new Transmission Gully interchange. St Joseph’s Catholic Church was consecrated on 28 April 1878 by Archbishop Redwood, placing it into the Hutt parish along with Porirua and Makara. Built with local materials by farming families seeking a way to celebrate their faith in challenging conditions, this sacred place has an interesting history.
Located north of Paremata Inlet in Plimmerton, parishioners of St Theresa’s have connections with this historic church since 1940 – including baptisms, weddings, funerals and burials. Today the ‘Friends of St Joseph’s’ continue to protect and care for this sacred space with regular working bees. Recently they celebrated the Season of Creation with a Reuse, Recycle, Renew day.
Mass is no longer celebrated there as St Theresa’s has been the parish church since 1940 but people enjoy regular liturgies and events such as the annual Christmas carols afternoon. In the last two years St Joseph’s has been opened for interested groups including pilgrims from Wellington honouring the year of St Joseph, and members of the Lower Hutt Probus group interested in the history of the area. With polished native timber walls and renovated attractive glass windows illustrating important figures from scripture, the church is popular as a wedding venue.
St Joseph’s Catholic Church is available for bookings through the Plimmerton parish office and any groups interested are welcome to make an appointment for a look around.
A reflection on St Theresa’s Parish
Fr Maurice Carmody
Photo: Margaret Jorgenson
A lengthy period of illness and unexpected retirement from ministry as parish priest of St Theresa’s Parish, Plimmerton, has given me time to reflect with gratitude on my years as pastor of a warm and dedicated community. The welcome I received from parishioners and my life as parish priest in the years that followed are a source of many pleasant memories and thanksgiving for God’s goodness.
Celebrating the Eucharist, the sacraments and liturgical occasions was always a joy, due to the support and encouragement of so many people involved in preparation, celebration and hospitality. I was inspired by those who cared for the children leading a liturgy of the Word on Sundays, the Sacramental programme and a special weekly liturgy for classes from our school. Through the dedication of all and the participation of the congregation, each liturgical season, daily and special occasions, nourished my own and parish spirituality.
Inspiration and challenge came, too, from Prayer groups and the Retreats in Daily Life offered by the Cenacle Sisters’ Team. I felt uplifted by the Passionist Family groups and the opportunities to share ministry with the teachers and pupils at the school; the St Vincent de Paul Society reaching out beyond parish borders to care for those in need without judgement; parishioners, who called the community to respond on issues of social justice, climate change and ecumenical involvement; those who take care of
St Joseph’s Church.
Lay leadership, in other vital areas also provided welcome support. The parish office, thanks to a most efficient and dedicated parish assistant, was a hub of organisation, practical and pastoral care. Members of the finance committee were there in good times and bad (remember the floods) to make sure matters practical were never neglected.
In a speech delivered to catechists, religious and priests during his visit to Slovakia in mid-September this year, Pope Francis concluded: ‘I encourage you to persevere in your journey in the freedom of the Gospel, in the creativity of faith and in the dialogue that has its source in the mercy of God, who has made us brothers and sisters and calls us to be builders of harmony and peace.’ That is my prayer for the parish of St Theresa in Plimmerton.
St Theresa’s Catholic School
Donna McDonald, Principal
St Theresa’s Catholic School provides a warm, caring, family environment in a semi-rural setting. The Year 1–6 school, situated in James St, Plimmerton, a seaside village 20 minutes north of Wellington, was founded in 1949 by the Sisters of St Joseph of Nazareth. We are fortunate to have the church right next to our school and this, along with the links with our parish, supports a strong Faith community.
Our school and our parish are named after St Therese of Lisieux, and she is our patron saint. St Therese helps us to follow Jesus as she did – by doing the little things well. We too are flowers in God’s garden, and at St Theresa’s School we are growing and blossoming into the people God created us to be.
One of the key ways we promote excellence in life-long learning is our focus on Creativity. Children are taught the skills they need to become life-long learners and take ownership of their learning. This empowers them to take risks, be creative, collaborate and have fun with their learning.
We provide rewarding and successful sporting and physical education opportunities for all our students with a large playing field, a netball court, adventure playgrounds and our own swimming pool.
St Theresa’s School has gained national recognition for its integrated New Zealand Sign Language programme. In 2016 we had a new entrant student start who was profoundly deaf and had limited ability to communicate. We adopted a whole-school approach to learning NZSL and while the major focus was on the new entrant and junior school, where the most support was then needed, we also knew it was important to get everyone involved. All students learn some sign at school; we have a sign language club students can attend.
Our school vision calls us to: ‘Live, learn and love with Jesus, being the best we can be.’
We believe to achieve our vision we need to teach, foster and daily live out our SPARK values at St Theresa’s School: Self control; Positivity; Aroha; Respect; Kindness.
We are a Christ-centred, Catholic school that teaches restorative practice through PB4L, KiVa and our Gospel values.
St Theresa’s is our tuurangawaewae – our place to stand and be proud. We honour our ancestors upon whose shoulders we stand and we look to the future with a bright and positive outlook.
