Dear Friends,
As we approach our Matariki holiday this Friday, we give thanks to God for ordering the heavens and the earth, including seasons on earth, and recall that God is sovereign over the course of history and of our lives within the unfolding story of humanity (Job 9:9; 38:1; Amos 5:8). May we all “seek the Lord and live” at this time (Amos 5:6).
This week’s news is most locally dominated by the terrible flooding taking place as I write in the Kaikōura and neighbouring districts. Please pray for those whose homes and livelihoods have been devastated by the flooding and for emergency responders and local authorities as they assist people and places in distress.
All are welcome this evening, Wednesday 8 July 2026, at 6pm to the induction of the Reverend Sue Paton as the new Vicar of the Parish of Temuka-Te Ngawai. This service takes place in St Alban’s church, 20 Harris Street, Pleasant Point, South Canterbury. Clergy robe with alb and red stole.
It has been a privilege during the past week to be on Chatham Island and to participate in worship at St Augustine’s church, Te One. A very big thank you to the congregation there for warm and generous hospitality.
The Reverend Ann Lloyd has died and her funeral service is at 1pm this Saturday, 11 July 2026 at St Bartholomew’s church, 23 Cass Street, Kaiapoi. Ann was deaconed and priested in 1999, serving first in the Parish of Tinwald, and then since 2009 in the Parish of Kaiapoi. We thank God for her faithful ministry and pray with her family as they prepare for her funeral on Saturday.
Thank you for praying for preparations for The Abbey, at Living Springs, Friday 17 to Sunday 19 July. Please continue to pray for our Diocesan staff, Paul Hegglun, Azaria Brooker and the Reverend Sammy Mould as they contribute local leadership to this important event for youth and young adult leaders in our church in these islands.
An updated reminder of Christchurch details for a NZ speaking tour for widely-respected Palestinian Christian Theologians Dr Lamma Mansour and Dr Yousef Khoury in July. All are welcome to the following public events: Christ Church Transitional Cathedral—7pm, Sun 19 July; Oxford Terrace Baptist Church—7pm, Mon 20 July. During the weekend 17-19 July, Yousef will preach at St Aidan’s, Bryndwr’s 10am Sunday service, and Lamma will be speaking at The Abbey, at Living Springs.
On Sunday 19 July 2026, the Parish of Hororata celebrates its 150th anniversary with a service at 10.30am in the little wooden church. Following the service the cemetery gate will be open for a walk around the historic cemetery. The lunch begins at 1pm in the community hall. There will be a speaker about historic Hororata, photos, displays kapa haka and a celebratory meal for a koha. (As this is a catered lunch, please Rsvp via email.)
To assist all NZ voters in understanding the importance of making their voice as well as their vote count, a Christian social action organization, Common Grace, has arranged the following event in the Transitional Cathedral, Christchurch, tomorrow evening, 7pm to 9 pm, Thursday 9 July, to which I encourage readers of e-Life to participate in: Leave No Voice Uncounted: Common Grace’s invitation to churches for the 2026 general election. This event is for church leaders, home group/youth group leaders, and other people keen to respond to this challenge. Over dessert and hot drinks, come and hear from Common Grace Aotearoa Co-Director Kate Day about how we are organising to enrol people to vote and to remind them to follow through and vote this election, and how you and your faith community could be involved. We won’t be told which parties or candidates to vote for. Rather, together, we can help ensure that thousands of voices that might otherwise get shut out of our democracy, get heard this election.
This coming Sunday, 12 July 2026 is Ordinary 15 and the Gospel is Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (The Parable of the Sower and its Interpretation) but I would like to draw attention to the Epistle, Romans 8:1-11 which reminds us that the power of God working within us, the Holy Spirit, is the power of the one and same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. May we have confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit to likewise transform us.
Arohanui,
+Peter.