Newsletter 28: Friday 10 July 2026

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HEATPUMP

The heatpump (air conditioner) has been left on several times recently, which doesn't do our power bill any favours. Please ensure it switched off properly - watch to see that it closes - it may be a bit slow, so don't press the switch a second time, as that might re-open it or turn it on again.

Thank you in anticipation.

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Our Society’s Constitution.

Forming a society provides a formal legal structure for a community group, which plans to operate socially over a long term.

The main reasons to form a society include:

• Legal Protection: It creates a distinct legal identity. This means individual members and committee officers are generally not personally liable for the society's debts, contracts, or financial obligations.
• Asset Security: Any property  ( the Anthroposophical Centre), funds, library or equipment belong to the society as a whole, not to any single individual.
• Independent Existence (Continuity): The organization continues to operate smoothly even if members, volunteers, or committee leaders change over time.
• Financial and Operational Freedom: As a standalone entity, the society can easily open its own bank account, hold leases, hire staff, apply for funding grants, and enter into contracts.
• Credibility: It builds trust with funding agencies, donors, and the broader community by demonstrating structured, transparent governance.

For us here in Hawke's Bay, the Anthroposophical Society is threefold:

Global: General Anthroposophical Society (GAS) [Allgemeine Anthroposophische Gesellschaft] is based at the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland and is run by a Vorstand.

Country or national: Anthroposophical Society of New Zealand (ASNZ) run by a Council with a Representative who regularly visits centres around NZ and also attends meetings at the Goetheanum on our behalf.

Local: Anthroposophy Hawke's Bay (AHB) owns the Centre at 401 Whitehead Road and is run by a Committee (responsible for maintaining its assets to a good standard for use by members) and Trustees.

There are two legal forms for Societies in New Zealand:  Incorporated and Charitable.  Our society was originally formed in 1990 as a Charitable Trust, which it still is.  We report annually to the recently reformed Charities Commission, which has an overseeing role that is carried out by Charities Services (Ngā Ratonga Kaupapa Atawhai), a business unit within the Department of Internal Affairs.  Its primary function is to regulate the charitable sector and promote public trust and confidence through transparency and accountability.

The Commission has asked all charitable organisations to review their Rules or Constitution to ensure that they are fit for purpose.  The ASNZ has totally rewritten its Constitution, which was adopted, after regional consultation meetings, at a SGM on 13 June.

It is now time for us, AHB, to improve our local constitution, which was written in 2008.  Our AGM is scheduled for Saturday 25 July, about 5 weeks away.  Revising the Constitution is on the Agenda. 

As this process is complex, the Committee will have a
Consultation Meeting Saturday 4 July from 3 pm to 4:30 pm at the Centre. 

Some of the issues are:

• How membership is determined and managed;
• How financial support is handled;
• The roles and responsibilities of Trustees and Committee members.

The aim of this Consultation Meeting is to recast the current Constitution into a form that can be simply adopted as a whole (as was done by the ASNZ) at our AGM on 25 July.  You can read Proposals for change so far, along with a commentary on them - print them off and write your suggestions on them and bring them with you.

We call on all those who have an interest in these matters to join us on Saturday 4 July at 3pm.

SEE YOU THERE

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The Foundation Stone Meditation

given in Dornach at the site of the burnt-out First  Goetheanum.  This FSM was laid by Rudolf Steiner into the hearts of members, making it a significant moment in the evolution of the Anthroposophical Society.  It  took place at the Christmas Conference of 1923/24 and was attended by a large group of members of the Society.  It was the last Christmas Conference Rudolf Steiner attended.  The following year he was bedridden and unable to attend.

How significant was this occasion in reality?  Views will differ from member to member.  Sergei Prokofieff was sufficiently convinced of its importance to write three large books, “Rudolf Steiner and the Founding of the New Myasteries”,  “May Human Beings Hear It”, and “The Foundation Stone Meditation”.  I have read all three of these books [twice] and have found that he has invested a lot of time and thought to the texts.  Amazingly, in the course of some more than two thousand pages he doesn’t repeat anything, unless it is to illuminate the topic from another side.  He makes some rather startling assertions in the texts of these books.  From the history of the creative beings who fashioned the earth, to hints about the kind of evolution of humanity after the Vulcan evolution [of the earth.]

After all this study, I am convinced it is still worth continuing.  I do hope you will join me Mondays of July at 7pm in the centre.

Mondays 6^th, 13^th 20^th and 27^th.  The four evening fit neatly into the available Mondays of July,  so we could call this July a “Foundation stone Monday Month.” 

Christopher Bacchus  

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