As with any organisation, we simply could not exist without the generosity and countless hours of dedication from our staff, congregation and amazing volunteers. Meet some of our people below:
The Venerable Archdeacon of South Canterbury
Ben Randall
Ven Ben Randall, joined us at St Mary’s in 202 and was one of the youngest clergy to take up the position of Vicar in the country. Just 3yrs later he was promoted to Archdeacon of South Canterbury and has been very busy in that role since.
Ven Ben has been working at the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral since 2016 first as an assistant curate and in the past two years as assistant priest.
Arriving to Timaru in late March 2020, Ven Ben had completed one full service at St Mary’s before going into lock-down but did a wonderful job of uniting the parishioners with regular video’s and implementing the online Pew News which remains today.
This is certainly an introduction to his new Parish he won’t forget but we are thrilled to have him here.
Parish Administrator: Sharleyne Diamond
Sharleyne joined St Mary’s as our part-time administrator in 2019.
Sharleyne has been a local entertainer since her family’s return from Perth, Australia in 2016. She currently sings in 6pc band The Soul Agency, vocal trio The Drama Queens, plays ukulele and sings in The Polkadots and is also the Manager at The South Canterbury Drama League.
In her role at St Mary’s, Sharleyne is administrator for our Finance, Trust, Restoration and Vestry committees, does the daily administration for the church, organises the entertainment for the Heritage Day and often takes photos at special services.
“I welcome the variety of work I do at St Mary’s and have learnt so much in my time here.”
The St Mary's Choir
St Mary's has long enjoyed a choral tradition and the congregation puts great importance on continuing that tradition. The choir sings every Sunday morning throughout the year except in January, and also offers concerts and other special events. They also lead the Choral Evensong held the first Sunday of the month at 5pm.
St Mary’s Children’s Choir - (Junior Choir)
The St Mary’s Children’s Choir is under the tutorage of our Director of Music, Catherine Anderson. The children’s choir meets once a week and join the congregation for one service per month as well as performing for any other events that the church hold. We welcome new members to the choir with no auditions to join just a willingness to learn and have fun.
Heritage Day 2020 - Left to right - Parish Administrator, Sharleyne Diamond, Desley Hayward, Ray Bennett, Val Woolf, Heather Bailey, The Reverend Ben Randall.
Images shown above are courtesy of Sharleyne Diamond