Anglican Church

ST MARY'S GEREHU:

This parish is on the edge of the city in an area that is considered to be lawless and the home of many criminal gangs. It began as a parish with a group of people coming together and asking the Bishop to provide them with a priest for regular services. Over the years it has grown under a strong lay leadership and from the generosity and enthusiastic commitment of its people. They have built a priest's house and a large permanent material Church (opened and consecrated in 1999). There are now plans underway to build a community centre to provide ministry for young people and from which training programmes can be run for the people of the area. This is a most important project given the many problems facing the people of Gerehu.

This parish too has benefited greatly from the Pentecost 2000 programme and they have already indicated that they wish to start it all over again and go back over the sessions in more detail to make sure that the insights they have gained continue on through the rest of the year. They have a strong MU group and a very active youth group.

The priest in charge is Fr Denny Bray Guka who is also one of the two Diocesan Archdeacons. Fr Denny is at present down in Melbourne working in parishes to gain some broader pastoral experiences. He has been active in the parish helping with the development of a pastoral vision and a pastoral programme to help the Church address some of the social problems that are causing so much pain and suffering.