Dear Friends,
On Sunday morning about 150 people gathered to celebrate the 150th anniversary of St Matthew’s Church, Fernside (Parish of Rangiora). St Matthew’s is a Benjamin Mountfort designed church, consecrated by Bishop Harper in 1874. It was a privilege to share in the well-organised celebrations which included a wonderful service and an excellent lunch afterwards.
Then, in the evening, it was also a privilege to be at St Michael and All Angels, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch for Michaelmas, also very well-organised so we had a wonderful service and an excellent supper afterwards. Our service included Confirmation for Alana, Robbie, Richard, Vijay, and Shirley – please pray for them as they continue their walk with Christ.
I continue to hear encouraging stories of parishes who are forming teams to come to the Living Faith Conference. Numbers now stand at about 170 with the addition of Archbishop Justin Duckworth and a team from Wellington! Special travel arrangements are being made for groups from Timaru and Ashburton. This tremendous Diocesan occasion will have a festival feel – we’ll be encouraged in our faith in Jesus, learn more about what it means to be a disciple and be challenged and equipped to grow disciples in our parishes – everything will be undergirded by worship and prayer. I continue to encourage all clergy to make every effort to attend and also to invite their parishioners to attend. Please reach out to Archdeacon Mark Chamberlain if you need more invitation postcards. Click here to register.
Sunday, 29 September 2024 was the final Sunday for the Reverend Brenda Bonnett as Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of Opawa-St Martins! Thank you, Brenda, for your ministry in this parish.
Friday, 27 September 2024 was the final day for the Reverend Teresa Kundycki-Carrell as Acting Chaplain for St Marks School, Opawa. Thank you, Teresa, for your ministry in this school and for taking it on, additional to your role at The Cathedral Grammar School.
Please pray for the Reverend Simon Green as he begins a two year appointment on 1 October 2024 as Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of Opawa-St. Martin’s and as Chaplain of St Mark’s School, Opawa. Last Sunday evening, Simon was farewelled from his ministry in the Parish of St Michael and All Angels, initially as a lay minister and more recently as Curate. Thank you, Simon, for your ministry in St Michael’s church and school.
Please continue to pray for healing for the Reverend Jo Latham, Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of Hanmer Springs.
Denise Munro has died and her funeral is 2pm, Thursday 3 October 2024, at The Well, 364 Colombo Street, Sydenham. Denise was the Receptionist at the Anglican Centre from 2009 to mid-2020. He duties encompassed many aspects of Anglican Centre life, including IT support, and we appreciated her work with us very much. The livestream link for the service is https://vimeo.com/event/4619207 .
In last week’s e-Life, I mentioned an ordination service in the Transitional Cathedral in November. Please note that 23 November 2024 is a Saturday (not Sunday).
This Sunday 6 October 2024 is Ordinary 27, and the Gospel is Mark 10:2-16. A challenge when we speak about marriage and divorce (which Jesus speaks about twice: once in response to a test question from those opposed to him; and once in response to the disciples also questioning him), is both to affirm marriage and what God’s intentions for marriage have been from the beginning of human relationships and to consider the pastoral challenge of when marriages breakdown, especially within the Christian community. The latter is something the earliest church was obviously reflecting on deeply (if we consider what Matthew’s Gospel says compared to Mark’s Gospel, and what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7) and which the church has continued to reflect on through the past two millennia.
Arohanui,
+Peter.