Merry Milestone - Christine's Joy To The World

Come Christmas Eve, Auckland Music Teacher Christine Russell (68) Will Lead Worship On The Organ At Her Local Church, A Role She Has Played For More Than Half A Century

“It’s 51 years since I started playing at St Jude’s Anglican Church. I fell into it, really. My parents and I shifted to Auckland in 1967 and I needed to find a church to belong to. We came along to the local parish and we’ve been there ever since.

The church organist at the time knew I was a musician and asked if I’d do a few services for him, and then promptly left! That was at the beginning of 1968. A couple of times I’ve tried to get somebody to take over because it’s quite challenging to be there all the time by yourself.

There have been a few others who have filled in for a while –when I got married, we had a proper organist who wanted to play for services but then he moved to Christchurch and I was back on Sunday duty again!

Our previous organist was 59 years in the job – I’m trying to beat her record!

My day job is an itinerant piano and violin teacher at King’s School in Remuera. I’ve got a double degree in arts and music, and a master of music as well as a secondary teaching qualification. I play piano, violin, organ, and dabble in clarinet and flute. I picked up the flute about four years ago, and only touch it once a year to give a little demonstration for our Mainly Music group.

Planning for the Christmas Eve service starts many weeks before it takes place.

The church altar is turned around and we have a nativity scene set up at the front of the church.