Margaret Mayman St Andrews on the Terrace’s much–loved trailblazing senior minister Reverend Margaret Mayman is moving to Sydney to be minister of the Pitt St Uniting Church. Mayman made the announcement at the Wellington church yesterday. In a message to the church community and its supporters, she says she is feeling both excited at the thought of a new opportunity and new challenges, and terribly sad about the thought of leaving St Andrew's which she says is the most amazing faith community she has ever been part of. “On one level, I'm crazy to think about leaving such a wonderful community of people, but I also know I have ten years before retirement and that would be too long to stay. And the opportunity of Pitt St will not come up again in my working life,” Mayman says. “We have been through a great deal together over the past eleven and a half years. We have grown as a community and made a difference in the lives of one another and in the city in which we live. We have restored our beautiful church, but more than that, we have made it a place of hospitality and welcome, a symbol of inclusiveness and justice.” Mayman says she has faith in St Andrew’s because of its people, who have a strong sense of community and a strong sense of identity as a progressive church. “I know that you will look after each other and that you will keep being the light on the hill that you are for the Presbyterian Church. And you will find a minister who will accompany you in the next stage of St Andrew’s journey.” Mayman’s partner Clare Brockett will move to Sydney too, as will her son Andrew. The couple promises to return to visit Wellington often, and retire in the capital. Mayman’s new post in Sydney begins in December. Along with being senior minister at the Wellington church, Mayman has been a staunch advocate for equality and GLBTI rights, most recently through her work with the group Christians for Marriage Equality. However while the Presbyterian church in New Zealand is losing Mayman, it is gaining another GLBTI advocate in Glynn Cardy, who is moving from the Anglican St-Matthew-in-the-City to the Presbyterian St Lukes.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 5th August 2013 - 1:29pm