Dear Friends,
It was wonderful on Sunday morning to confirm Eddie Cook at St. Paul’s, West Melton, and then at St. Columba’s, Hornby, to present a Certificate of Appreciation to Gina Bolton for her extraordinary service in the Parish of Hornby, Templeton and West Melton for over 50 years.
The day before Sunday, Gareth Bezett, Director of Theology House, and I were at El Rancho, Waikanae to share in a special educational weekend in the life of our church. Through last year and this year, students taking courses towards Takiwai (Diploma of Christian studies, accredited through St. John’s College, Auckland) have been meeting for weekend teaching sessions as well as online sessions on week-day nights. Usually, these weekends are held in five different centres, including Te Waipounamu, Ferry Road, here in Christchurch. This past weekend was a gathering of all students from across North and South Islands. Gareth and I are keen to see students from the Diocese of Christchurch join the Takiwai programme in 2027. This diploma course can be completed through two years of part-time studies.
Also on Saturday, many readers of e-Life will have seen the announcement of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch that they are close to achieving the funding needed to begin work on their new Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Barbadoes Street, Christchurch. In this announcement the design of their new cathedral was revealed. I wish Bishop Michael Gielen and the Catholic Diocese well as they work on securing the funds they need ($8m) in order to begin work and a further $8m to complete the work. Let’s pray for success for them even as we pray for success for our Cathedral Project.
The next meeting of General Synod – Te Hinota Whanui (GSTHW) for the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is in Tonga from Saturday 15 August to Thursday 20 August, with a prior meeting of Pakeha representatives of the seven New Zealand dioceses in Auckland on Friday 14 August. Our representatives are Bishop Peter, Clergy: Toby Behan, Kofe Havea, Ben Truman; Lay: Jo Bean, Toupili Pamatangi, Jack Hollis, Vivienne Jackson. Rachelle Mathews, our Diocesan Manager will also be there, joining other diocesan managers as they assist the General Secretary of our Church, the Reverend Michael Hughes in the running of the Synod.
Papers for GSTHW are available online. One of the major “questions of the day” to be discussed concerns the “equity” in how educational funds for theological education and ministry training in our church (distributed each year by the St. John’s College Trust Board). In preparation for this important discussion, about 40 people met at Te Waipounamu, Ferry Road, Christchurch last Friday, including six from our Diocese – some of our GSTHW representatives and two of our educators. This conversation will lead to change in the distribution of funds, and I look forward to GSTHW’s discussion in Tonga, keen to discern where the final determination of change may land.
Thank you to all who joined in Evensong at the Transitional Cathedral on Sunday evening which included the Installation of Alan Robb as a new Lay Canon of the Cathedral.
This morning in The Press there is a lovely article on the oldest primary school in Christchurch, which happens to be St. Michael’s Church School, one of our six Anglican schools in our Diocese.
After some months of difficulty with the previous lift in the Anglican Centre, Tuam Street, Christchurch, I am delighted to announce that we have a brand new lift in the building which is working reliably and is a much simpler lift to operate. This is a good time to remind readers that Theology House and its library are open, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, on the first floor of the Anglican Centre.
The next month and a bit are synodically busy. Following GSTHW in a few weeks, our annual Synod will be held Thursday evening 3 September to late Saturday afternoon 5 September 2026. On Thursday evening, at 7pm, we begin Synod with our Synod Eucharist in the Transitional Cathedral. Dean Ben Truman will be our preacher. All are welcome to this service, whether members of Synod or not. Our Synod business sessions take place through the Friday and Saturday at St. Christopher’s, Avonhead. Please pray for your clergy and lay synod representatives, along with Anglican Centre staff as we prepare for the Synod. Papers to date for the Synod are publicly available at our Diocesan website.
This coming Sunday, 2 August 2026 is Ordinary 18 and the Gospel is Matthew 14:13-21. Compassion features in two ways in this story. Seeing a great crowd, Jesus “had compassion for them and cured their sick” (14). Then the disciples, lacking compassion, wanted the crowd sent away to fend for themselves as the evening came (15). By contrast, Jesus refuted their proposal, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat” (16). To whom do we need to show compassion this week?
Arohanui,
+Peter.