Ashburton Courier: November 17, 2022

www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Mid Canterbury’s Archdeacon
DANIEL.TOBIN
@ashburtoncourier.co.nz
The AshburtonAnglican parishwill
welcomethe newArchdeacon ofMid
Canterburyatan induction service this
Sunday.
The VenerableIndreaAlexanderis
taking up therole afterbeing theVicar of
Waimate foralmost10years.
RevAlexander saidshe waslooking
forward to coming to Ashburtondespite
notbeing familiarwiththe area, ‘‘soI
look forward to getting to know the area
and the people in thechurchesand the
wider community.’’
She ispassionate about connecting
churchand community.
‘‘I am alwayslookingatwhatare the
needs of the community, what can the
churchoffer, Ifeel we very much exist to
serve in ourcommunity.
‘‘Oneofmypersonalpassions is ingrief
support,Ihave beeninvolvedwithgroups
providing grief support forchildren and
for adults, so thatmightbesomethingthat
is helpful in the community.
‘‘Initially Iamgoingtobelearning what
Ican andseeing whatmakessense,’’ she
said.
RevAlexander believes oneofthe main
functions of thechurchistoserve their
community andprovide support in
difficult times,whether personally or
community wide.
‘‘I think thegospel of Christ is still
relevant in every age so one ofmy
greatestjoysiswhenpeople discover
God’s lovefor themhowever broken or
messytheir life, Godloves them, that’s
thebottom line,westill carrygoodnews
for thecommunity.’’
The Ashburton Anglicanparish hastwo
churches in Ashburton;StStephen’s (on
ParkStreet) and St Andrew’s (in
Tinwald).
Rev Alexander’sinduction servicewill
be led by Diocesan Bishop Peter Carrell
at St Stephen’s ChurchonNovember20at
3pm.
Rev Alexander enjoys walking and
cyclingbut she is alsokeentofind
another cellistsoshe canplaycello
duets.
Indrea Alexander
NEWS
Ashburton Courier, November 17, 2022
PHOTO SUPPLIED
She is moving to Ashburton with her
husband Neville whoisretired, ‘‘soheis
quite flexible, and he isakeen indoorand
outdoor bowlersohewillimmerse
himselfinthe community pretty readily.’’
Buckets of blessings spread joy
Presbyterian Support USI Mid Canterbury
collected Buckets of Blessings from the
Ashburton New Life Church this week.
The buckets are packed to the brim with
personal care items and treats for
Christmas and will be offered to families
and others who connect in with their
Family Works, Enliven and budget
services.
People who receive the Buckets of
Blessings express asense of joy and
acknowledge the generosity of Ashburton
New Life.
19
Blindcaps
withdraw
from
World Cup
Donna McCaskill
The NewZealand Blindcaps
have withdrawn from attending
the Blind Cricket World Cup in
India.
New Zealand Blind Cricket
Association board chairwoman
­and player­Donna McCaskill,
of Ashburton, said it was oneof
the hardest decisions the board
had to makebut due to alack of
sponsorship and other factors
there was no other option.
She said the association had
faced with some difficulttimes
recently withthree players
havingtowithdrawdueto
healthreasons and it was not
realistic to replace three
partially sighted key players.
They had also recently lost B1
player Parveen Shankar who
passed away unexpectedly,
which was ‘‘another loss that
has mentally and emotionally
effected players’’, she said,
notifying Facebook followers.
“Taking the players on a
demanding tour of this levelwheretheywouldbetravelling
to multiple citiesacross India ­
often immediately after playing
international matches, would
be to much to add to many
players who arealready
emotionallydrained.
‘‘We would not be presenting
our strongest or most
competitiveteam,’’ she said.
McCaskill had played
alongside Shankar since his
selectionbackin2006. “We
need time to healand then
move ourfocus to next year’s
WorldBlind Games.”
The Board will meet in the
coming weekstodiscuss a
training plan to getthe players
back on track.