From Monday to Wednesday I was at the clergy conference in Ashburton. Many of the clergy were billeted with parishioners, who also came to the church complex to help with meals, particularly doing the dishes. We had several presentations. One of them was by Crossway Church in Melbourne, which has successfully implemented the Bible Discovery…
Recently I read through a brief history of the Diocese of Waikato published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 1976. This now forms the major part of the Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki. The history also gives an overview of the church in the Waikato in the time prior to 1926. Two major themes ran through the booklet. One was…
Mother’s Day Recently one of our sons played his violin in a concert for the first time. Of course he played only very basic pieces of music, but it is a significant step from playing a few pieces with a piano to playing in an orchestra. When my mother saw the photos of her grandson…
Sometime last year the website Bible Odyssey asked me to write a short article on “Bread in Ancient Israel”. The website is published by the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL) and contains short articles by experts in simple language on topics related to the Bible. I must be considered an expert on the subject of…
For centuries the second Sunday after Easter was known as the Good Shepherd Sunday, because the Gospel reading was normally based on the Gospel of John chapter 10, where Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd.” The Sunday was also known as Misericordia Domini from the opening words of the traditional liturgy, based on Psalm…
A few weeks ago I brought my nephew to the airport early in the morning. We took the bus there. After I assured myself that he had been checked in alright, I caught the bus back home. While the bus to the airport was quite full, only one other passengers was on the bus in…
Somehow bunnies and eggs have become associated with Easter. Some say that is because they are symbols of new life. Others suggest that Easter took over an old pagan fertility festival—since rabbits (or hares) and eggs were symbols of fertility they were also associated with Easter. What is true is that in the northern hemisphere…
In some Christian traditions the Easter Vigil on Easter Saturday is an important celebration. While in the early centuries the Easter Vigil was really a waiting for the dawn on Easter Sunday, when the resurrection was celebrated, over the centuries the celebration moved to earlier in the night. I myself have only participated in the…
On Maundy Thursday we will hold an Agape Meal as our evening service. Agape is the Greek word for selfless love and affection. It is the word generally used for God’s love in the New Testament, for love of neighbour and Christian brethren, and for love in the family. Greek has several other words for…
As we hear about wars around the world, the increasing use of military force around the globe and the ordinary people that are affected by the threat of injury and death, many people in New Zealand feel overwhelmed. Whether it is the uncertainty, the knowledge that war is breaking out more easily, sympathy with the…