Ministering in the hinterland

St Stephen's Presbyterian Church minister the Rev Eric Mattock loves the rural Kurow environment....
St Stephen's Presbyterian Church minister the Rev Eric Mattock loves the rural Kurow environment. Photo by Sally Rae.
From truck-driving to shearing to writing out speeding tickets, Eric Mattock has tried many jobs in his lifetime but these days the no-nonsense former musterer tends a different flock as minister of St Stephen's Church in Kurow, as Sally Rae discovers.

Parishioners attending one of the Rev Eric Mattock's church services in Kurow can expect humour, honesty - and no cliches.

The rural upper Waitaki community likes things kept simple and nonsense is recognised easily, says Mr Mattock, who has been minister of St Stephen's Presbyterian Church for six months.

He holds "confession" in the local pub, which is very well attended, he says, laughing.

"It has been suggested to me that I should hold church services in the pub."

His road to becoming a minister was an interesting one, littered with an array of different experiences and occupations.

He plays the bagpipes and the piano accordion, has run marathons, played representative rugby, wrestled and is a keen climber and tramper. He climbs the hill above Kurow most days, chatting to people in the town on his way home.

Mr Mattock (63) grew up in the Taranaki-King Country area, with a farming - and not church - background.

He left school when he was 14 and went shearing and mustering, before joining the army, and he was later a traffic officer for nine years.

In 1976, he started training for the ministry, attending the University of Canterbury and then the University of Otago.

Through his military experience and as a traffic officer, he was exposed to experiences that were "less than savoury".

"I suppose I was driven to find a better way of living together on this earth, rather than resorting to violence and death."

His first parish was at Richmond in 1979, followed by stints in Tawa (Wellington), the Bay of Islands and North Canterbury.

During a break from the ministry for three and a-half years, he drove for a transport company and did some part-time ministering. Then he found found himself revisiting his calling.

He decided to go to Kurow and give it his "best shot".

It would probably be his last ministry and his aim was to help it express its real potential.

He likes the rural environment and the grandeur of the hills and mountains surrounding the town.

"I love its harshness. Things that grow here really have to be tough to grow.

"I've always liked the hinterlands of New Zealand. Also, it's one hell of a challenge," he says.

His parish stretches as far as the Lindis Pass and Ohau and up the Hakataramea Valley. Kurow is the base with weekly services, while services are also held monthly in Otematata and Omarama.

One of the things the church has to do was realise that over the years there had been "quite a thick invisible barrier" erected between itself and the world in general. The church has to revisit what it is about.

Mr Mattock applies himself very seriously to the issue of preparation for worship. "If you expect people to come to church, you have an awesome responsibility.

"If I'm preparing a service, if it doesn't feel right to me, it won't feel right to anyone else. It's got to have meaning and applicability," he says.

At Mr Mattock's first Sunday service in Kurow, there were 11 parishioners. Now, numbers are in the 20s.

He has his first baptism and first wedding coming up in the valley but has not yet taken a funeral service in the town.

"I don't let the buggers die. I can't afford to lose anyone."

 

 

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