Ekalesia Balaclava

Address

35 Yarrum Street, Balaclava, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia

Office Bearer

Minister: Rev. Akatika Nanua
Secretary: 
Secretary Deacon's Meeting:
Treasurer: Papehua Nanua
Representative to CICC General Assembly: Taua Tautu 

Membership

  • 8 Deacons
  • 10 Sunday School Teachers
  • 50 regular Sunday School Students
  • 20 regular Christian Youth members

History

A number of Cook Islanders living in Cairns, being former members of the CICC in the Cook Islands prior to settling in Cairns, got together in 2000 to form a branch of the CICC. They started off in the suburb of Mooroopool. After a short while there, they moved into a premise in Whiterock, hence the former name of the. In 2006 the church was relocated to the suburb of Balaclava, and the subsequent name change. The branch is just 11 years now. Members have plans to undertake a number of fundraising activities to build themselves a new church building and hall.

Administration

The management in the church comprises the Minister as chairperson for all meetings except departmental ones. The overall administrator is the Secretary, assisted by the Assistant Secretary and the deacon’s meeting. The Treasurer looks after the church’s finances and reports regularly to church meetings. The church follows the CICC Manual to guide its administrative functions

Departments

There are 4 departments in the Balaclava branch; Deacons Meeting, Sunday School, Women’s Fellowship, and Christian Youth. Each organization have its own regular programmes and activities which, except for the first, are associated with those at the national level

Meetings

All departments hold regular meetings to monitor the progress of their own programmes. The parish as a whole has a combined meeting at the end of every 3 months. In these quarterly meetings, developments in each of the departments are reported, as well as reports from the Minister, Secretary, Treasurer, and Deacon’s group. Irregular meetings are also convened as and when needed

Protocol

Religion is very much a way of life for most Cook Islanders irrespective of their denomination. Church-goers cherish this a lot and portray it in the way they dress and attend services. On communionSunday, men wear white suits and women wear white dresses. During the actual services, the following are observed:

  • Quietness at all times unless part-taking in the hymns
  • No cameras & video are to be used inside the church, except for special functions (e.g. wedding) which must be arranged beforehand
  • Casual wear (singlets, shorts, etc.) is not preferred
  • After the services, feel free to chat with the Minister and members.

Sermons

The CICC follows the Scripture Union Bible Reading Plan which sets out daily Scripture Readings. It is quite common for all services to be based on the day’s reading. Sermons are conducted in the local language (Cook Islands Maori), unless visitors are present in which case the Minister makes a brief translation of his message in English. No other foreign language is used. Sermons are prepared and presented by the Minister, Deacons and fully ordained members of the church who are talented, through practice and training, to undertake such task.

Whilst in the past only men are allowed to conduct services, women after attaining set standards, criteria and ranks, have recently been allowed to make presentations. Certain types of services and sermons are earmarked for Ministers, Deacons and ordinary members only

Regular Church Service

  • Normal church service - Sunday afternoon 2.30pm, followed by an Uapou
  • Oroa (communion), after the main service on the 1st Sunday of each month
  • Christian Youth service: after the main service on the 1st Sunday of May and October, 6.00pm
  • Christmas/New Year: as per calendar
  • Mothers/Fathers Day: as per calendar

Order of Sunday Main Service

The order of the main service (2.30pm Sundays) is as follow:
  1. Notices and announcements
  2. Sunday School hymn (imene Apii Sabati)
  3. Prayer of confession/Lord’s prayer
  4. Bible Reading Traditional hymn (imene tuki) Bible Reading
  5. Prayer of Thanksgiving/intercession
  6. Traditional hymn
  7. Sermon
  8. Sunday School hymn
  9. Vesper

A normal service of the above order runs for about an hour, with the actual sermon taking from 15-25 minutes. Variations of the above order happen during special services. Functions and ceremonies are also held in the church, for example baptism, marriage, bereavement service, etc

Seating

Seating is arranged in 2 rows; Sunday School and Christian Youth together on one side, and the senior members and elders on the other side. Visitors may sit anywhere

Other Information

The Balaclava Ekalesia is a member of the Australian CICC Council and the North Queensland Council. It complies with the resolutions passed by the CICC General Assembly. The Ekalesia’s future plan is to build a church, Sunday School Hall and a minister’s residence

Contact for more Information

Minister: Rev. Akatika Nanua
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Secretary: Naporoaki Taia
Phone: 07 4033273, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.