I have been asked why this past Holy Week we had Communion on Good Friday and not Maundy Thursday. I don’t think either one is right or wrong, but I thought I should lay out my reasoning here. Communion, as it is celebrated today in many churches, is highly stylised and ritualised. That has its…

After the discussions at the AGM about working together with Te Papanui Trust on redeveloping the hall complex, I thought it might be good to set out a timeline of where we’ve come from so far. Diligent readers of vestry minutes might have gleaned the information, but it is better to see it all in…

Ever since my father’s accident last year, he relies more on his children helping him keep their land and animals. So when I visited my parents last year, I was swiftly pressed into service to cut up a tree that an arborist had felled. I was given a chain saw and the required safety equipment…

Every year I try to give something up for Lent or pick something up. One year, for example, I decided to regularly practice a musical instrument. Another year I gave up alcohol (except for Communion). This year I gave up chocolate for the duration of Lent. I didn’t totally succeed: at one time somebody offered…