Dear Friends,
It was amazing to be with 400 people from across our Diocese, and from other dioceses, for our Living Faith conference on Saturday, held in the CBHS auditorium. Together we sang God’s praises, heard the Spirit speaking to the church and fellowshipped together. The weather was miserable (for conference attendees), and wonderful (for our farms and gardens). A very big thank you to our lead speakers, Bishop Eleanor Sanderson, Dallas Harema, Grant Norsworthy; to our organisational committee led by Archdeacon Mark Chamberlain; to our musical team led by Paul Hegglun; and to all who contributed to the day in one way or another – a lot of people worked very hard before and during the conference. Thank you!
The challenge and encouragement from the Living Faith conference, in my summary, is that the present and future regeneration of the Diocese (and of the church in the Western world) is through focus on living Jesus-shaped lives in a Jesus-shaped church working for a Jesus-shaped world to the glory of God. With this understanding of what it means for each of us to be a disciple, Jesus invites us each to be involved with others encouraging fellow disciples to make disciples. Critical in this process is a focus on engaging with each other where we are at in the messiness of life. Programmes and courses have their place, but the first call to the church at this time is to “let love be genuine”, that is, to develop a culture of love in which we hear what God is saying to us, day by day, and act on God’s voice. For those at the conference who read this message, what is God saying to you as you continue to digest the messages of the conference?
Congratulations to the Reverend Jo Latham and Brent Gribbon who were married by the Reverend Mandy Neil, in the Church of the Epiphany, Hanmer Springs on Monday.
Also happening at Labour Weekend was an Anglican Cathedral Choirs festival at St Paul’s Cathedral, Wellington, in which our Cathedral Choir took part.
Annette Langrell, wife of the late Reverend Gordon Langrell, has died. Her funeral was held today at Southwest Baptist Church, Christchurch.
Many of us have heard of “liberation theology“, even if we have never studied this approach to theology. The “father” of liberation theology was Fr Gustavo Gutierrez, a Peruvian theologian and Catholic priest. He died recently at the age of 96. Writing out of immense concern for the poverty he encountered in South America and from his deep conviction that the gospel was intended to be good news for the poor, his two seminal books were, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation (1971) and We Drink From Our Own Wells (1984). Here is an obituary for Fr Gutierrez.
Please pray for:
- Healing for the Reverend Jo Latham (Hanmer Springs).
- Preparations for Deeper Camp, Living Springs which begins this Friday evening 1 November, and for speakers, Reverend Harry Newton (Sumner-Redcliffs) and Amy Clark (Woodend-Pegasus) together with MCs Cole Yeoman and Azaria Brooker.
- 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 at 10.30am, Saturday 23 November, in the Transitional Cathedral.
- Peace and justice in all places torn apart by war, destruction and chaos.
I have been alerted to two interesting history papers: Dr Mark Stocker has written on New Zealand’s recumbent effigy, that is, his paper is about the Harper Memorial in the Christ Church Cathedral, and has been published in Church Monuments 2024. The Reverend Dr Hugh Bowron, one of our priests, has had the first part of a two-part paper published by the Anglican Historical Society, A quiet Beginning; How the Oxford Movement infiltrated its way into the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin.
Congratulations to Archbishop Emeritus Sir David Moxon on being appointed by King Charles to be the global Prelate of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (i.e. the Order of St John, here in NZ, called Hato Hone St John’s). A significant part of this role will be support for national Priory Deans within the Order which in turn means support for chaplains within the Order. Taonga carries the full story here. Sir David has served our Diocese for the past few years as one of our appointees on the College House board. In this role he has played a very significant role in fund-raising for the reinstatement of the Chapel of the Upper Room. Due to his new global responsibilities, he will relinquish this seat early in 2025.
The Gospel Reading for Sunday, if All Saints is transferred from 1 November, is John 11:32-44. “All the saints” means all those who live in relationship with Jesus Christ: the departed and the living, the dead-but-now-raised and those alive on earth today. Death does not break down our fellowship with the saints. Today we join their celebration of resurrection life and their example inspires us to continue faithfully walking by faith towards our full life with them when earthbound time ends and complete fellowship with God begins.
Arohanui,
+Peter.