Dear Friends,
I am conscious that for many readers the news of the day is the resignation of Archbishop Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury. Nevertheless, I will note this news near the bottom of this message and stick to the order I otherwise had in mind before this news broke.
Archdeacon Mark Chamberlain: when Mark was appointed to begin his work as our Archdeacon for Regeneration and Mission, in early 2022, it was for a three-year term, to lead work across the Diocese which implemented the DMAP. The three-year term ends shortly and Mark wishes to transition into an active retirement mode from the beginning of 2025. Accordingly, I have accepted Mark’s resignation as our Archdeacon for Regeneration and Mission, effective Tuesday, 31 December 2024. Nevertheless, I am delighted that in 2025 Mark will continue one important aspect of his current work: he will continue to lead Mission Impact Reviews for the ministry units of our Diocese (in a 0.1 FTE role). I will be working with Standing Committee on how we will continue the other work Mark has been leading.
I am pleased to announce that the Reverend Jo Cotton (Parish of Fendalton) will move to the role of Assistant Priest (0.5 FTE) of the Parish of South Christchurch from Sunday, 2 February 2025. Jo will be working with her husband the Reverend Jeff Cotton who is Vicar of South Christchurch.
I remind readers that all are invited to share in the ordination service for Robert Jamieson, Andy Dickson, Anne Shave and Sage Burke who will be ordained deacons at 10.30am on Saturday 23 November in the Transitional Cathedral. Clergy are asked to robe with red stoles. Please pray for our ordinands as they go into retreat next week, and for their retreat leader, Archdeacon Indrea Alexander, who will also be the preacher at the service.
On Friday it was a privilege to share in the requiem eucharist for Sr Annette of the Community of the Sacred Name. About 85 colleagues, friends, CSN supporters and local parishioners were present for this moving occasion, led by the CSN Warden, the Reverend Dr Geoff Haworth.
On Sunday it was good to be with a very full congregation at St Barnabas’, Woodend-Pegasus, for the confirmation of Amy, Cohen, Luke, Nadia and Sue.
Through Monday and Tuesday this week around 25 people from across the Diocese participated in Building a Discipling Culture training held at the Riccarton Community Church. Within the Regeneration of the Diocese discipleship is a significant emphasis (along with families and communities). A noted strength of Building a Discipling Culture is that disciples are followers of Jesus who make disciples… who make disciples – the principle of multiplication.
Last Wednesday I offered congratulations here to Dame Sue Bagshaw on the opening of the Youth Hub in Salisbury Street, Christchurch. Yesterday I was able to be at an event at the Youth Hub where donors and supporters of the project were thanked, and given a tour around the facilities. I appreciated, on behalf of the Anglican Care Trust Board, that the provision of the land by this board was acknowledged, along with Bishop Victoria, whose initiative it was that support for the Youth Hub should be given by the board.
St Mark’s School, Opawa, held a wonderful fair on Saturday. The school is celebrating a noted success by a group of its students (Lucas C, Aaish P, Harry S, Indi J, Lucy H and Violet J) who secured first place in the Language Literature category for Primary Schools at the Tournament of Minds International Finals 2024 hosted recently in New South Wales.
Cursillo is a “Short Course in Christian Living”. In Diocesan Cursillo news, the next Diocesan Cursillo weekend is 21–23 March 2025 at Cracroft, Christchurch, with Heather Driessen as Lay Director for the weekend. The next Diocesan Ultreya service / commissioning is on Friday 6 December 2024 at St Nicholas’ church, Barrington Street, Christchurch. It begins at 5.30pm with an “own food” tea and follows at 6.45pm with worship and commissioning of the Cursillo weekend team. Further details from Don Pilgrim.
Please pray for:
- Healing for the Reverend Jo Gribbon (nee Latham) (Hanmer Springs).
- The Diocese of Dunedin preparing for its electoral synod which will take place over the weekend 22-24 November 2024.
- Andy Dickson, Robert Jamieson, Anne Shave and Sage Burke preparing for ordination as deacons.
- Peace and justice in all places torn apart by war, destruction and chaos.
Sale of St Albans’, Ohoka: a recent Press article reported that this church, which we sold recently, is being used by the Sons of the Redeemer, a Catholic group sometimes also known as the Alpine Redemptorists, and currently controversial due to media-reported exorcism practices. Their priests are not licensed to preside over the Mass. There may be a further Press report before the end of this week. I share with you what we have conveyed to the Press in answer to questions they have raised on the assumption that we knowingly sold to this group – we did not. “We sold the church via a lawyer for a trust to be formed. The name of the trust concerned a group styled ‘friends of St Albans’. At no point in our dealings with the lawyer was there information provided that identified that the effective owner would turn out to be the Alpine Redemptorists.” Our relationship with Bishop Michael Gielen and the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch is very important to us. Bishop Michael and I have been in communication in the course of the past week, and he understands that we sold the church in good faith to a potential ownership trust whose stated purposes betrayed no connection with the Alpine Redemptorists.
Last week President Trump was elected to be President of the United States of America. He will take office in January 2025. His policies (as actually enacted, not whatever we may have heard in the past months) may or may not make the world a safer place. Meanwhile the conflicts I have been drawing attention to, in Gaza/West Bank/southern Lebanon, in Ukraine and in Sudan continue. As do severe restrictions on rights of women to live as freely as men in countries such as Iran and Afghanistan. There is much evil in the world. The kingdom of God is not yet established on earth as in heaven. Armistice Day on Monday earlier this week should remind us that war is only guaranteed to achieve unnecessary death and destruction. We pray more earnestly than ever for peace and justice in all our world – in every corner, since God’s love is for the whole world. In our corner, the Treaty principles bill is galvanising protest which rightly argues that this bill undermines the Treaty as the cornerstone of just and peaceful relationships between Pākehā and Māori.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has announced his resignation. The publication this week of the Makin Report into the Church of England’s handling of complaints about the sadistic abuse of young men by a layman, John Smyth QC, has highlighted some mistakes Archbishop Welby made in his response to the situation – mistakes he has admitted he has made. Pressure from many quarters within the Church of England, including a public call for ++Welby to resign by Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley, has rapidly mounted and ++Welby has had no alternative but to resign in order to maintain confidence in the organisation of the Church of England as a whole.
One of the best ‘explainers’ of this situation is at this link (albeit written shortly before the resignation was announced).
And a very good episcopal statement, by Bishop Guli of Chelmsford, in the light of the news is at this link. For official announcements, I note the following, copied from an Anglican Communion News Service email this morning: “You can also read [the resignation statement] on the Anglican Communion News Service here. For more information visit the Lambeth Palace website here”. I understand that our Archbishops will also be working today on a statement.
Let’s pray: for all survivors of abuse, and especially the survivors of John Smyth’s abuse; for Archbishop Justin and Caroline Welby; for all in our church who seek to improve our safeguarding processes, from training ourselves to be safe and to lead a safe church through to how we handle complaints and redress; and for our nation as we continue the work of the Royal Commission, noting yesterday’s formal state apology made in parliament.
The Gospel Reading for Sunday is Mark 13:1-8. The disciples want to know when the event of the destruction of the temple will happen. Jesus wants them to remain faithful to him and his gospel message. A date in the diary is not vital to Christian engagement with the future. What is vital is not being led astray in the run through the future to the end of all things – a conclusion to history that will occur in God’s good time.
Arohanui,
+Peter.