Dear Friends,
It was a thrill last weekend to participate in three ordination services, at each of which a deacon was ordained to the priesthood. In our Diocese, the Reverend Jo Cotton was ordained in St Barnabas’, Fendalton on Friday evening and the Reverend Matt Maslin in the Transitional Cathedral on Sunday afternoon. In Te Hui Amorangi o Te Waipounamu, the Reverend Susan Wallace was ordained by Archbishop Don Tamihere on Sunday morning. A big thank you to the Reverend Jeff Cotton (South Christchurch) for his preaching at Jo’s ordination and the Parish of Fendalton for hosting Friday evening’s service, and to the Reverend Joshua Taylor (St John’s College) for his preaching at Matt’s ordination and the Transitional Cathedral for hosting Sunday afternoon’s service. Hospitality at Te Pa o Te Waipounamu was excellent and I thank the whanau o Karaiti there for their welcome, aroha and amazing hakari following the service.
I continue to warmly commend the Living Faith Conference to clergy and lay people alike. This conference will be an opportunity for us to build our congregations through a joyful shared experience. Gathering together in this way as a Diocesan family will enhance faith formation in young and older, in those new to faith and old hands. Those present will experience a tremendous festival of faith, learning and worship! I am asking every Vicar or Priest-in-Charge in the Diocese to bring a group to the conference. Now is a good time to make a specific commitment and register attendance. Click here to register. Living Faith Champions in our ministry units are encouraged to take a sign-up clipboard around parishioners after Sunday worship and personally invite them to come!
Last week the first Anglican Schools Conference since 2019 was held at St John’s College, Auckland. It was a pleasure to be present for this gathering of chaplains, principals, board members and bishops. A centrepiece of the conference was a report on Anglican schools in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia and the challenges and opportunities our church and our schools face in working together for the spiritual well-being of each school’s community. This report was compiled by Simon Heath (Blenheim, educational consultant and former principal) and Dr Averil Worner (Christchurch, former Principal of St. Mark’s School, Opawa; Chair of the Anglican Schools board).
Royal Commission on Abuse in Care’s recently published report asked for initial responses to its recommendation 130 by 24 September 2024. Yesterday, on the due date, our church delivered its response which may be read at this link. The key statement in our response is this: “We acknowledge all the findings of fault against the Anglican Church which are recorded in Section 7 Chapter 12 of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s report Whanaketia—Whakairihia ki te tihi o Maungārongo—Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light.”
I am pleased to announce the appointment of two curates following their ordinations as deacons at 10.30am on Saturday 23 November 2024 in the Transitional Cathedral. Robert Jamieson will be curate at St Michael’s and All Angels, Christchurch. Robert is currently completing theological studies. Andy Dickson will be curate at All Souls’, Merivale-St Albans. Andy is currently working for both the Parishes of Fendalton and Merivale-St Albans. (Further announcements will be made in the weeks to come.)
This Sunday at the 10am service, the Reverend Kirstie McDonald is farewelled from her role as Priest in Charge of the Parish of Woolston. Thank you, Kirstie, for your ministry in this parish!
Please continue to pray for healing for the Reverend Jo Latham, Priest-in-Charge of the Parish of Hanmer Springs.
The tragedy of war continues in our world. Both hardly mentioned wars, such as in Sudan, and much mentioned wars such as in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza-West Bank-Lebanon. We pray for peace and for justice to prevail. Only just solutions will yield lasting peace and there is no peace without just resolutions of injustices between peoples. Neither peace nor justice is served by killing people. Nor is peace and justice served by using civilians as shields to hide weapons, indiscriminate firing of rockets and missiles against villages, towns and cities, using conflict as a cover for stealing land from defenceless people. We all want the violence to stop. But ceasefires (let alone lasting peace and true justice) are in the hands of leaders of militant organizations and governments intent on whatever they intend. Sadly, protests in countries far from the actual places of conflict and protestations from the UN General Assembly are making little or even no impact at this time. Prayer to the God who reigns over heaven and earth is a first resort for us as Christians and not a last resort: let’s redouble our prayers for peace and justice in our world.
This Sunday 29 September 2024 is Ordinary 26, and the Gospel is Mark 9:38-50. This is not an easy passage to absorb, whether reading it in an armchair or hearing it while sitting in a pew, not least because it pushes us to think about what might be literal (such as giving a drink of water to a thirsty person) and what might be metaphorical (such as cutting off a limb – do not do this). Clearly, between the literal and the metaphorical aspects of the passage, we are asked to take very seriously the demands of being a citizen of the kingdom of God.
Arohanui,
+Peter.