Bishop Victoria's Charge to Synod, 2 September 2011

02 Dec 2011

Grace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the Father, and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Our Strategic Plan, ‘Growing Forward’, has proven itself most worthy in this past year of natural disasters. The three priorities of Christ-centred Mission, Young Leaders, and Faithful Stewardship have set and maintained the pattern of our response to the events of the past months. The four verbs “inviting, forming, sending, and serving” have described what we have done and continue to do in the name of our Lord and Saviour. The eight challenges continue to ask us to do our very best in difficult circumstances.

At this Synod it is essential that we keep the plan ‘Growing Forward’ before us. As we move ahead into the next phase of recovery and response, we need to be even better equipped to do God’s will in these difficult times.

In the months to come, the Archdeacon for Mission, John Day, will assist parishes in the development of Mission Action Plans. Parish clergy and lay leaders need to be ready for mission focused ministry that connects with the local community. Consequently courses such as ‘Leading Your Church into Growth’ and the Discovery Course will be offered across the Diocese for mission preparedness. At the same time further courses in theological education organized by the Rev. Dr Peter Carrell will continue to be offered through Theology House so that the lay and ordained leaders of the Diocese are able to speak with confidence of their faith in God. Social Justice education and awareness will be the responsibility of Deacon Jolyon White.

‘Raising Young Leaders’ has enjoyed great growth and development. Thank you to Phil Trotter and Deacon Joshua (Spanky) Moore for the development of the Kiln, Kiln Pro, and the Society of Salt and Light. Carolyn Robertson has addressed the concerns we have for children in the eastern suburbs. We will hear from these good people tomorrow.

Michael Earle has done a stellar piece of ministry as our Earthquake Liaison Officer, working with the other churches, the Ministry of Social Development, and NGOs so that we are up to date with information and response mechanisms. Michael completes his six months with us next week. We thank the Diocese of Dunedin’s Parish of Roslyn for providing Michael’s stipend for the past six months. Some of Michael’s work is being assumed by the Strategic Working Group.

We meet this afternoon almost exactly one year after the 2010 Synod was postponed by the 7.1 earthquake in the early hours of 4 September. Since then we have been on a roller coaster ride, with earthquakes that have caused death and mayhem, and those which have caused ‘only’ material damage. To date we know we have 24 churches unsafe to enter; church halls no longer usable, and a growing number of Vicarages either temporarily or permanently out of use.

In the eastern suburbs there are large numbers of homes that will have to be abandoned due to the state of the land and in recent weeks, one in five houses in Kaiapoi were red zoned. Those in the white zones are anxiously waiting news of what will be decided about their future. The orange zone is also in a waiting game.

In the midst of all this the Gospel continues to be preached, the sacraments celebrated, and acts of mercy and practical assistance offered to those in distressed circumstances.

The Strategic Working Group has now been named. The formation of this group was delayed by the June earthquakes. The task of the Strategic Working Group is to carefully consider the ways in which the Diocese and other entities offer ministry and enable mission, and how change is necessary for the future life of Christchurch-Canterbury. We know that some suburbs are shrinking in size due to the land check report. We know other areas will experience a population explosion as people move out to the very edges of the city and beyond to find new homes. We know centres like Ashburton have many new residents who remain undecided about how long they will stay in their new, out of their Christchurch, homes. The Strategic Working Group will report to Standing Committee. In March and September we will engage with their work and recommendations.

It is not only the parishes that have had a difficult time. The Anglican Schools have been hard hit with both a drop in student roll and huge damage to buildings. Hospital chaplains as well as secondary and tertiary educational chaplains find themselves ministering to staff who are frequently stressed even before they reach their highly demanding jobs each day.

Anglican Care with its four divisions was hardest hit in the area of Aged Care, with close to half their beds no longer available. The land under Churchill Courts, one of the three aged-care facilities was declared no longer safe for a large building. The Anglican City Mission suffered damage and also had to relocate many of their services, as they were in the cordoned off area of the city centre.

The Hereford Street Anglican Centre was evacuated on 22 February and has not been occupied since. Plans are in place to retrieve, among other things, the Archives and place them in temperature and humidity controlled storage. In March the parish of Upper Riccarton kindly offered the staff of the Anglican Centre their Bowden Hall, and we have subsequently also purchased portacoms, and accessed the loft of the larger parish hall. I cannot say enough for that parish’s welcome and accommodation of the Anglican Centre staff. The Venerable John Sheaf, Pamela Galbraith, and the Anglican Centre team worked together to assist the three entities to settle into the new premises. The Cathedral, which sustained damage in February and again in June, relocated their staff and worship to Christ College. As we meet, there are more questions than answers about where the Cathedral ministry will be housed for the next few years. “Watch this space.”

It has been enormous an enormous privilege over the past year to be the Bishop of Christchurch. Lay people and clergy alike have responded with enormous generosity and care for those who have been compromised and displaced. At the end of last year, I announced that the Diocese had given over $140,000.00 for Haiti. This year the Diocese launched the ‘Rebuilding the Faith of Canterbury’ work, challenging every parish to think about others’ needs before their own. Consequently we have the Cathedral, Malvern, Fendalton, Upper Riccarton, and others assisting St Chad’s Linwood minister to disadvantaged in their part of the city. Likewise, Avonhead and other parishes have assisted the parishes of Aranui Wainoni, New Brighton, and North New Brighton. The Cathedral Choir is offering concerts for areas devastated by the earthquakes and aftershocks. This has taken the men and boys choirs to Kaiapoi and Glenmark, as well as to city venues.

During these difficult days we have not been forgotten by those in the rest of the country or across the world. Many of our new staff are being paid from earthquake donations. In the past week we received another $365,000.00 from the Archbishops Appeal for Christchurch. How that money will be spent will be the decision of Standing Committee in consultation with the Strategic Working Group. To date we have focused on community development and the building of resilience. We know this work has borne fruit, and also that this need will increase before it eases off.

Again I remind you that the three priorities of ‘Growing Forward’ are Young Leaders, Faithful Stewardship, and Christ-centred Mission. If we ask what Christ-centred Mission means in practical terms, I suggest to you it is nothing less than being the hands and feet, heart and voice of Christ in the world. You may have heard the adage “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. In the past year the city of Christchurch and beyond have asked the Christian Churches to step up and show leadership. What we now have to do is make sure we are the best equipped people to deliver the pastoral and practical care in the prolonged period ahead. We need to be able to speak about our own faith without embarrassment and without turning people away.

We know that thousands of people and families will be relocating in the next months and years, and it is essential that we be prepared to welcome them, and offer a place for meaningful worship and spiritual growth. In the immediate future, we will have many church buildings that need repair, or rebuilding, or even a complete new build. Some suburbs and towns will find their existing church is inadequate in size and facilities. Our churches and halls need to be welcoming and invite inspiration, while offering important engagement with the local community. We recognize that in addition to rebuilds and new builds there will be those parishes in need of significant renovations alongside repairs. This need extends to the whole diocese as I am frequently aware that churches, halls, and toilet blocks have not been upgraded since the 1950s or even before.

One of the challenges we face as the Diocese of Christchurch is that the Diocesan Social Service Council, called Anglican Care, seems quite removed from the life of the parishes. I believe in the next few years Anglican Care and parish outreach initiatives need to work more closely together. Only when we are seen to be present and involved at the local community will the Gospel be heard. The offering of inspirational worship, and education in the Christian life needs to be offered alongside effective community-facing ministry and outreach.

In case you haven’t noticed, what is before us is a huge undertaking. Fortunately we have God as our guide. In the words of St Augustine, “Without God we cannot, and without us, God will not”. Whether we are on the West Coast dealing with the aftermath of the Pike River Mine disaster, in South Canterbury responding to the collapse of South Canterbury Finance and the need for a new South-of-Timaru parish, or in a suburb or town facing rapid growth, what is needed is the same. We need above all to have confidence in the Gospel and courage to speak and minister in the name of Jesus. God’s Holy Spirit working in us is able and willing to do all that is needed, and way more than we can even imagine at this present moment. The love of God is everlasting and ever present. Do we need more people to step up and help with mission? Yes, we do. Do we need vicars who can offer transformational leadership? Yes, we do! Will God provide? Absolutely.

The Mission before us is very clear. We are to be Christ’s hands and feet, heart and voice for today and the days to come. We need to be open to the power of God to lead us. We need to be a people of prayer shaped by God’s word and love. That is Christ-centred mission.

In very recent days the Anglican Centre has appointed a new Chief Operations Officer. Gavin Holley is here tonight and will be introduced a bit later. A Director of Development has also been appointed by CPT. Bob Storey will be relocating from Auckland to work with us. Gavin and Bob’s offices will be at the new Anglican Centre at St Peter’s, Upper Riccarton, in the new two-room portacom. (Nothing but the best!)

As we grow forward, the Strategic Working Group will work closely with the Diocesan and CPT staff to define mission shaped ministry for the future of the Diocese. No decisions have been made to close or reconfigure parishes thus far, but I do anticipate parishes will be expected to work in closer harmony with other parishes. The days of ‘you in your small corner and I in mine’ are over. Christ-centred mission is the way of the future.

Tonight’s Gospel reading from Luke 5 is the admonition that new wineskins are required for new wine. There is no option of returning to the old wineskins; they are no longer capable to handle the task before us. The Gospel tells us that the old wine was savoured. But in Christchurch and Canterbury the old beloved wine and wineskins of pre-earthquake times are gone. The only option is new wine, and new wine requires new wineskins. The new wineskins have new names like the ‘volunteer army’ and the ‘farmy army’; the new wine has new ministries like door knocking and checking in on neighbours time and again. The new wine is a little sharp and not quite so mellow. But fear not, for this new wine, like the old, is transformed for us into the blood of Christ, and with Christ all things are possible.

Thank you, Diocese of Christchurch. You have been magnificent over this past year. But don’t get too comfortable, because what we have been through was just the warm up; the time of new wine and new wineskins, the advent of the Mission World Cup, is upon us.