Helping People to Meet God • Make Friends • Grow in Faith

Posts from August 2020

Gifts entrusted to us

I am currently reading a book about the work of the Missionaries among the Māori in the early and mid 19th century. Be warned! You might hear snippets from that history in future sermons. As more and more settlers poured into New Zealand, the missionaries tried to persuade Māori not to sell too much land.…

Sunday services during Level 2

We continue to have Sunday Services during Level 2. Please observe physical distancing. We are encouraged to wear masks during services. There will be no morning tea. If there is Communion, it will be given of one kind (wafers) only. On 30 August 2020 there will be no Communion during services.

Environmental Management Plan

St Paul’s now has an Environmental Management Plan, which is used to monitor environmental performance of our activities and seeks to implement care for the environment in our decision making. In response to a motion from Diocesan Synod last year we were required to formulate a parish response to climate change. However, it is best…

Nostalgia

Our stay in Arthur’s Pass occasioned a wee dose of nostalgia, not only because I thought about past times I spent in mountains, but also because I remembered something about the history of the word. The word nostalgia was coined by the Swiss physician Johannes Hofer in 1688 by combining the Greek words nostos (homecoming)…