Susan & Philip Baldwin Retire

Nearly thirteen years ago, my husband Philip and I packed up our belongings (and our dog) in London, Canada and arrived in Darfield, where I took up the position of the Vicar of the Malvern Anglican Parish. We wondered how we’d be received and what it would be like, not just starting work in a new parish, but moving to a whole new country in the Southern Hemisphere. I can remember my first night looking up into the sky. We had a great view of the night sky in Canada, so seeing the Milky Way and lots of stars wasn’t anything new, but the most disorienting feature of the night sky was that none of the constellations looked familiar to us. Orion was there but looked different somehow (upside down of course) and likewise, the orientation of the moon looked different. I think it was on my second day here that I was told about norwesters and it wasn’t long before we experienced the hot, dry winds that were so very new to us. We marvelled that our laundry could be dry in one hour under such conditions (providing it hadn’t blown away!) instead of taking a whole day in the hot, humid summers of Canada. Then we discovered pies! Individual sized meat pies, and oh what a marvellous variety of pies there were to try. I remember the first one I ever tried was a Southern Man pie from the Darfield Bakery. We received such a warm welcome from each of the five congregations in the parish. We explored Darfield on our walks with our dog and little by little we got to know the surrounding communities of churches in Courtenay, Kirwee, Sheffield and Springfield. The sixth church is up in Arthur’s Pass. Our first trip there took nearly three hours simply because we kept stopping to take photos. It was all strange and new to us when we first arrived, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before everything that was new would become the everyday familiar things of our life here in Malvern. I think it took only six months for it to feel like home, but a full year to experience the cycle of events, weather and seasonal changes. A full year after we arrived in Darfield was September 4th 2010, which for most Cantabrians is remembered for the earthquake. Another new experience! But we also experienced the amazing support the community offered to one another, and we were glad to be part of the recovery process and the ways in which all the churches worked together to form what would become the Malvern Hub and the Foodbank. The volunteers in the Fire Service, St John Ambulance and Civil Defence are all to be commended for the incredible work they do. Just as commendable are the ways in which I’ve seen ordinary people of the community work together to offer care, support and practical aid. That was something we became accustomed to seeing over and over again, when our local communities faced tough times and losses. We’ve seen such examples after the Christchurch quake on February 22nd 2011, the wind storm of September 2013, the Port Hills Fire, the horrible shooting at the Mosques, and most recently Coronavirus and the terrible flooding in May 2021. I’d have to say my favourite part of each week for the past eleven years has been my involvement with the Pre-school Music programme, at Trinity Church each Wednesday morning. It doesn’t matter what kind of a week I was having - Wednesday mornings with the parents and pre-schoolers were always a joyful oasis. It’s certainly been an eventful twelve and a half years of ministry in the church here, but we wouldn’t have traded it for anything else. Susan’s husband Philip will also be missed in the community. Philip has been the chair of the Malvern Community Arts Council for the past five years and a member of the Performing Arts Committee of the MCAC for the past eleven years. He volunteered with many organisations in the community: the reader/writer programme at the Darfield High School, the Malvern Youth Trust, the Arthur’s Pass Committee, got involved with the Fonterra hearings when consent was

Philip and Susan at the Harvest Thanksgiving Service earlier in the autumn. Photo credit: Jenny Bassett. being sought for the build, and more recently chaired the Malvern Housing Trust. In his first few years in the community he wrote articles regularly in one of the local newspapers. There will be many more who have never met him, but saw him daily, Tilley hat on head – and walking his two energetic dogs around the township. Now it comes time to retire, and Philip and I look back with gratitude on the time we have spent here. To all the Malvern communities we say thank you. Susan Baldwin.