Letter from Bishop Victoria Matthews | 16 April 2012

15 Apr 2012

Dear Friends,

Alleluia, Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

On Saturday 21 April, the Synod of the Diocese will gather at St Christopher's for a time of worship and deliberation. A number of resolutions will be debated and voted on. I ask your prayers for that time together. It will be a very different sort of Synod. Not business as usual, but very much a time of charting the way forward for our future, post earthquakes.

On Monday 16 April at one o'clock the launch of the Transitional Cathedral will take place. I ask that the news of the Transitional Cathedral site etc., be kept confidential until the 1.00pm launch. The Transitional Cathedral will be built on the site of Christchurch-St John's, also known as St John's Latimer Square. The Transitional Cathedral will hopefully be built in time for the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury in early November 2012. Once built and operational, the Transitional Cathedral will be the home of Cathedral worship and also be available for certain civic and public uses. It will seat 700 people. Once the new permanent Cathedral is built, the Transitional Cathedral will be the home church of St John's Latimer Square parish. I am grateful to our Chancellor Richard Gray and the members of the Transitional Cathedral Working Group who have brought us to this moment. I also wish to thank and commend the leadership of Christchurch-St. John's and the staff of the Cathedral congregation and Diocese for their willingness to work together to make this possible.

In the future it is my belief that our Diocese will need to have greater co-operation between parishes and organisations in order to further Christ-centred mission and to be faithful stewards as our Strategic Plan "Growing Forward" commits us to being. This will be one of the topics at the upcoming Synod, of course.

As we celebrate the wonderful news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and hear the various stories where he appeared to the disciples as the risen Lord, one recurring theme is recognition. The challenge before us as a Diocese is to recognise the risen Christ in each other as we discern how we will travel forward together.

Alleluia Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Easter joy,

+Victoria

Read the press release about the transitional cathedral here

Read further information about this cathedral here

Download further information about the transitional cathedral look and construction