Introducing Rosie Dell | New National Co-ordinator

Rosie enjoying time at a Hobbiton event

This article was first published in the June 2025 issue of Stillpoint magazine.

In the last issue of Stillpoint we farewelled two key people from their national roles: Maureen Eberhard as Treasurer and Linda Polaschek as National Coordinator. I delayed introducing myself until this issue so that we could give due attention to thanking and celebrating the gifts Maureen and Linda have given our Meditation Community.

I was pleased, yet humbled, to be commissioned and welcomed as National Coordinator at the January retreat. I am grateful that Linda is readily available to support me as I gradually move more fully into the role. I have also found that our sisters and brothers in the greater Oceania region are always to hand. This wrap around care is a picture of one of the most significant aspects of our meditation practice, the experience of community.

Some of you may not know me well so it is timely for me to introduce myself a little.

I am an Anglican priest and am currently Vicar of the Anglican church in Whangamata. It is a lovely beach town and I enjoy living here very much, and my family rather like that I am here too. It is a popular holiday spot so they come to stay often, especially in summer.

I have moved around fairly often so you may have spotted me at meditation events in  Te Kauwhata, Hamilton, Auckland, Palmerston North, Porirua, Lower Hutt or Wellington over the years. I would rather like Whangamata to be the last move for a while, although a downside is the travelling distance that tends to keep me away from Community Days at present.

My interest in meditation began through another faith tradition some 30 years ago. A few years later I discovered our Christian Meditation and breathed a sigh of relief alongside a feeling of coming ‘home’ at last.

For various reasons I took a long time to feel brave enough to attend a meditation group, and even when I became determined, a number of barriers emerged. Finally the weekly group became a regular feature in my life.

A year or so later I was invited to the Essential Teaching Weekend and that was the beginning of something new. Gradually, in the time as it was meant to be, things began to take shape in an unexpected direction and now my particular interest is responsibility for what was called the ‘School of Meditation’. We now talk of the ‘7 Day Intensive Silent Retreat’ as it is a more accurate description. 

My first few months as National Coordinator have coincided with a busy time with the church here in Whangamata as we have had to transition from one worship space to another, and also the demise of the current NZCCM website necessitating the commissioning and developing of an exciting new concept. Vincent has written more on this.

Thank you for having faith in me as I begin to serve you as National Coordinator, and for giving me grace as I learn the ropes.

With every blessing,

Rosie