Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Hitting an ‘on high note’
For more than 30 years, Bill McElhinney and Mike Cullimore have been filling the St Mary’s Church with music almost every Sunday.
In recognition of their contribution, the pair were awarded a Benemerenti Medal, an honour which comes from the Pope for their service to the Catholic Church.
Cardinal John Dew awarded the medals to both McElhinney and Cullimore at Sunday mass on November 29.
Guitarist McElhinney has been a member of St Mary’s since he and his wife Jenny moved to Blenheim in the 1970s.
‘‘Probably about 1978 the church began to introduce what they called folk masses, which produced more contemporary style music to the Sunday liturgy,’’ McElhinney said.
‘‘We started off with a small music group which was led at the time by a Sister of Mercy nun.’’
He said over the years the music had become more contemporary.
‘‘We’ve had various other musicians, keyboard players and a guy who played guitar and various singers as part of the group over the years, but Mike and I have been pretty constant.
‘‘We’ve been the foundation members for probably more than the last 30 years.’’
He and Cullimore had been privileged to play at weddings, funerals and other events that had happened at the Church.
‘‘I enjoy playing music, I always have, I learnt when I was a kid at school and did piano and violin and played in a brass band for a little while, but I really enjoyed playing the guitar more than anything,’’ he said.
The award came as a complete surprise.
‘‘Apparently the whole thing was initiated by former parish priest Father John Pearce who died tragically in 2019,’’ McElhinney said.
‘‘We were taken totally by surprise on Sunday. You do those sort of things with no expectations attached to it, but we were very honoured.’’
Cullimore, who plays the base guitar, said receiving the award was still sinking in.
‘‘I was so surprised, I said to my wife Carol, it’s the biggest surprise I’ve had in my life. It’s totally unexpected and overwhelming,’’ Cullimore said.
‘‘Playing is an opportunity to make a church service with life. Because of the songs that we play, and the way we play them, people participate in the mass rather than spectate.
‘‘Some of the people previously that have been awarded it [Benemerenti Medal], I’m absolutely gobsmacked, that someone who lives in little ‘ol Blenheim, our names feature up there as well, which is surprising.
Cullimore said he had been a selfproclaimed rockstar from a young age.
‘‘When I was a kid, I was a rockstar from Form 3, me and a mate got cheap guitars, we learnt a couple of chords and that was that.’’
Star of the Sea Marlborough pastoral council chairman Greg Stretch said both Cullimore and McElhinney had been heavily involved with the parish for a number of years.
‘‘Their contribution to the music on our Sunday services has been nothing short of outstanding,’’ Stretch said.