Anglican e-Life | 22 January 2025


Dear Friends,

 

In this season of Epiphany, we remember and celebrate the revelation of God in the glory of Jesus Christ. There is always hope for our world because God has revealed his love for us in Jesus Christ.

 

I look forward to leading the Reverend Joe Keighley’s Induction as Vicar of Burnside-Harewood Parish tonight. All are welcome to this service at 6.30pm, Wednesday 22 January at St Timothy’s, Kendal Avenue, Burnside. Clergy are welcome to robe, especially those attending from the local Archdeaconry of Selwyn-Tawera: alb and red stole.

 

Theology House’s Lenten study for 2025 is available to order nowIn the Spirit of Lent follows the lectionary’s Gospel readings for the six weeks of Lent. (Ash Wednesday is 5 March 2025.)  For each week there is a written reflection by Theology House director Gareth Bezett and a visual reflection by the Reverend Sarah West from the Diocese of Auckland.  Questions for discussion and prayers are provided in the expectation that groups who use the study will encounter the Word of God afresh.  While there is no intentional theme lying behind the reflections, you will find that the discussion questions tend towards appropriately Lenten self-reflection, especially corporate self-reflection for our churches.  See this link for further details.

 

The Reverend Justine Tremewan has been appointed Missioner Priest (0.4 FTE) for the Parish of Linwood-Aranui, from Monday, 20 January 2025. Please pray for Justine as she takes up this role and for the parish as it develops a new style of parish leadership shared between Justine and its parish manager, Martin Witty.

 

Other vacancies on my agenda for this first part of the year are for ministry leadership in the Parishes of Cheviot, Hanmer Springs, Hornby-Templeton-West Melton and the Mission District of Waimate. Work is underway for securing a Presbyterian appointment to the Co-operating Parish of Akaroa-Banks Peninsula. Your prayers, as always, are both needed and appreciate.

 

I congratulate Anglican recipients of New Year’s Honours. Taonga has an article on seven recipients, including  Ross McQueen, MNZM, acknowledging Ross’ long service for the Christchurch City Mission and for Canterbury rural communities, Jim Goodwin, KSO, acknowledging Jim’s service in support of survivors of abuse, including his work in establishing the Christ’s College abuse survivors support group, and Jeremy Johnson, KSM, acknowledging his service to the Anglican church and to the LGBTQi community – this service has included Jeremy’s work for our Diocese as Vice Chancellor then Chancellor, as well as his work on the Christ’s College board for which he has recently become its new chair. Finally, I congratulate Sir Peter Skelton, a Fendalton parishioner, on his Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to environmental law.

 

Teresa and I have had a quiet, restful holiday with the undoubted highlight being the arrival of our second grandchild, Leonardo Peter Suckling on Sunday, 12 January, born here in Christchurch.

 

Meanwhile the news through these weeks has hardly been quiet and restful. The Treaty principles bill has attracted an extraordinary number of submissions. After many months of death and destruction, finally, in good news there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Intriguingly a decisive factor in the achievement of the ceasefire has been the involvement of President Trump. Nevertheless, welcome though a ceasefire is, there is much to be done if peace and justice are to be established in Gaza, West Bank and Israel. Terrific, tragic fires have burned through significant parts of Los Angeles – a reminder, though seemingly only to those willing to see the import of such calamities, that global warming/changing climate is a feature and not a bug of our weather through this century. Then, this week, President Trump has been inaugurated with much to be concerned about (especially if you are a citizen of Canada, Greenland, Panama and Ukraine, some things to be amused by renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America… I support the Irish politician who wants the North Atlantic renamed “Galway Bay”!) and much to be uncertain about (will tariffs really be imposed, and what effect will they have on the NZ economy?).

 

While on holiday I enjoyed reading Robert Harris’ novel Conclave, a story about the election of a new Roman Pope. Currently the film version of this book is showing in cinemas. The Reverend Bosco Peters offers a review of the film on the Taonga site. I agree with an important point Bosco makes: the story may be fiction, but the fact is, church politics often works along the lines of Conclave’s plot. Speaking of the politics of finding a new “top” church leader, find out more about the appointment of the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Note that this is the first time representatives of the Anglican Communion have been directly involved as voting members of the Crown Nominations Commission.

 

This coming Sunday is Epiphany 3. The Gospel reading is Luke 4:14-21. Here Luke sets out, in Jesus’ own telling, using the words of Isaiah 61, the programme for Jesus’ ministry. Good news will be preached, freedom will be secured, the blind will see and the kingdom of God will come. But this is also the programme for our ministry as the body of Christ on earth, as followers of Jesus today. At the beginning of a new year, might we recommit ourselves to doing what Jesus did and still today wishes to be done in the world?

 

Arohanui,

+Peter.

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