Dear Friends,
Last Sunday I was due to be in St. John’s, Highfield for a South Canterbury combined parishes Pentecost service but was not able to make it due to a cold. I am very grateful to Archdeacon Ben Randall who stepped up and presided in my place and I have had lovely reports of an excellent service and sermon from the Reverend Lucy Flatt.
The day before, Saturday 7 June, on the eve of Pentecost, many people from across the Diocese took part in our Diocesan Day of Prayer. I thank many parishes and individuals who prayed, and especially thank the Reverend Tim Handley, our Day of Prayer co-ordinator. It was good in our Hour of Prayer at the Transitional Cathedral to pray for the dioceses associated with this day: Sheffield, England; Argentina; Bondo, Kenya, and ourselves.
Tim writes with his Hokitika-based reflections on the Day of Prayer:
“From my perspective the day was wonderful.
We held a prayer meeting at 9am. It was attended by people from two other Hokitika churches and included 5 children and 5 adults. We had various prayer stations set up. Perhaps my highlight was the children drawing parallels from the individual verse of the Lord’s prayer to bible stories.
There were two of us walking the perimeter of Hokitika. We took time to stop at various points to listen to God and to be aware of the scene. It took us 2 1/2 hours and was encouraging.
The evening zoom meeting had 12 participants from Sheffield and Bondo. The bishops from both dioceses were present for the first half hour and then excused themselves. We then spent time praying for each of our dioceses. Argentina was not present as they were having a separate meeting with Sheffield in our early morning.
My personal response to this is: I often find that these events lead me to something unexpected. I was wondering on Sunday morning if there would be new people in our service as a result of our prayer. There were three people who have started coming over the last few weeks for which we are delighted and thankful. Today we got news of the death of a community person who is middle aged. This will be significant in Hokitika. It seems that a period of intentional prayer can be a preparation for ministry opportunities. Perhaps praying ‘Thy kingdom come’, propels us into the world where life happens.”
This Sunday, at 5pm Sunday 15 June, all are welcome to a celebration service at the Transitional Cathedral, observing the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. This is an ecumenical service – all welcome from all churches. I have a seen a near final draft of the service Dean Ben and other ecumenical leaders have put together: it will be outstanding!
At 3.30pm on Sunday 29 June 2025 in Trinity church, Akaroa, Pauline Hampshire will be ordained and inducted (according to Presbyterian order) as the first minister of the newly constituted Community Church of Akaroa Banks Peninsula (a joint venture between Anglicans and Presbyterians). All welcome. On this occasion the focus will be on Pauline and the beginning of her new ministry. At a later date there will be a formal celebration and inauguration of the newly constituted joint venture. Please pray for Pauline and Simon her husband as they prepare for this new chapter in their lives.
Then, at 6pm, Tuesday 1 July 2025 in All Saints church, Methven,I will ordain the Reverend Sage Burke as priest in the church of God.All are welcome to this ordination service. Clergy attending are asked to robe and to wear red stoles. Please pray for Sage and Lara, his wife, and their children as Sage prepares for this next stage in his ministry journey.
Save the date: outstanding theologian, author, and priest the Reverend Dr Sam Wells will give a full day seminar on Saturday 16 August 2025 at All Souls Church, Church Lane, Merivale. Sam offers a vision for a renewed sense of what it means to be the Church in mission, grounded in theology and practice. Details and registrations will be available from Theology House soon. It will be a privilege to host Sam in our Diocese.
A small update on the search for a new Archbishop of Canterbury: the blogsite Thinking Anglicans alerts us to a document published by the Diocese of Canterbury called “Statement of Needs”, which sets out what is being looked for in the next Archbishop.
In the continuing chaos, confusion and catastrophe in Gaza and the West Bank, it is alarming to see that missiles continue to rain down on Israel – this is scarcely conducive to the IDF ceasing its war in Gaza. By contrast, it is good to see this Joint statement by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom on measures targeting Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich published this morning. The opening paragraphs of this statement set out the issue and the reason for this action:
“Today, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom have announced sanctions and other measures targeting Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Settler violence is incited by extremist rhetoric which calls for Palestinians to be driven from their homes, encourages violence and human rights abuses and fundamentally rejects the two-state solution. Settler violence has led to the deaths of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of whole communities.”
The Israeli government cannot have it both ways: claiming their war in Gaza is a defensive strategy against Hamas while advancing an aggressive takeover strategy in the West Bank.
This coming Sunday 8 June 2025 is Trinity.The epistle reading, Romans 5:1-5, is a wonderful example from the New Testament of God the Trinity being God in saving action, being God “for us” rather than God against us. We read that God has sent the Lord Jesus Christ to ‘justify’ us (through his sacrificial death on the cross, as elucidated in Romans 1-4). As justified sinners we have access to the grace of God (5:2); the grace of God is God’s love ‘poured into our hearts’ (5:5). How does this love reach us as an experience of life rather than a concept in our minds? It is ‘through the Holy Spirit’ (5:5). Thus, the dynamic action of God Father Son and Holy Spirit as the God of our salvation is expressed in this passage, a dynamic action which is ‘for us’.
When God loves us in this dynamic, Trinitarian way, we Christians cannot be a people who advance causes of hatred for the other, or division between people, since God’s love is for all and not for some of humanity.
Arohanui,
+Peter.