E hoa ma,
Tena koutou!
We held our first live-streamed Synod Service on Thursday evening and on Friday, we held our first Synod by Zoom. Apart from some minor technical glitches, everything went very smoothly. A very big thank you to everyone who made things happen from the Thursday evening service until our 5.20pm finish on Friday. An especially big thank you to every member of Synod who stayed the course for the whole day.
Included in the business of the Synod: We …
- thanked and farewelled: Marjorie Smart (after 34 years on the Diocesan Bicultural Education Committee); Bruce Hansen (Diocesan Monitor); Jeremy Johnson (Chancellor).
- welcomed: David Coster (new Diocesan Monitor); Maurice Walker (new Diocesan Chancellor); Eddie O’Connor (new Director, Sister Eveleen Retreat House).
- approved changes to our ethics statute which aligns our complaints process with the new Title D approved by General Synod in July this year.
- initiated a review of the way we set Quota for each ministry unit in the Diocese.
- approved new Guidelines which ask ministry units to consider selling property which is no longer needed and sharing surplus funds with other parts of the Diocese.
- set in motion a process which will see a draft Diocesan Mission Action Plan presented to Synod 2021 for (hopefully) adoption by Synod.
- agreed to the “unzipping” of Burwood and Marshlands districts from the Parish of East Christchurch and added them to the Parish of Shirley.
- approved a target of $200,000 for our annual missions appeal for 2021.
- agreed to support a joint application of CPT and Standing Committee in respect of distribution of surplus insurance funds.
- received presentations on the Cathedral Reinstatement Project, Anglican Care, the Mirpurkhas Hostel, Ethical Investment, Parishes as Legal Entities, Diocesan finances, CPT activities and finances.
The full text of my Presidential Address is available for download here.
Ordinations
I am pleased to announce the following ordinations:
The Rev’d Mary-Jo Holdaway to the priesthood, 7pm Friday 30 October, at All Saints, Methven.
The Rev’d Cameron Pickering to the priesthood, 4.30pm Saturday 31 October, at All Souls, Merivale-St Albans.
Margaret Neate to the Diaconate, 10.30am Saturday 28 November at the Transitional Cathedral.
Next Wednesday evening, 6pm, 23 September, I am commissioning Archdeacon Indrea Alexander as (part-time) Team Leader for the Parish of Marchwiel and re-licensing lay and ordained ministers in that parish. If we are at Level 1, please treat this notice as a general welcome to attend. If we are at Level 2, the service will be for parishioners and supporters only. (Indrea will remain Vicar of Waimate Co-operating District and Archdeacon of South Canterbury).
It was a privilege to be part of an historic occasion at the Transitional Cathedral on Sunday evening: the blessing and commissioning of the Girl Choristers of the Cathedral Choir by Dean Lawrence. They sang for the first time during that service and then, this Thursday 17 September, at 5.30pm, they will sing Evensong for the first time. This development has been decades in the making and represents a shared dream come true for present and past Deans and supporters of the Cathedral’s ministry.
This week is Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori. Among many resources available to assist and encourage in our korero, resources at https://liturgy.co.nz/wiki-o-te-reo-maori assist us with liturgy in Te Reo.
With both Te Reo in Aotearoa and the church family of the Diocese in mind, let’s take this whakatauki to heart:
Whāngaia ka tupu ka puāwai
That which is nurtured will grow and blossom.
Ngā mihi nui,
Arohanui,
