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Posts from May 2024

Catholic Church

On Trinity Sunday we used the quite different Athanasian Creed, instead of the Apostle’s or Nicene Creeds. Some people noted the recurring reference to the catholic faith, the catholic religion and the catholic church. But what does the term catholic mean? The Greek word katholikos is a combination of two Greek words: kata (“according” or…

Vestry

At the Annual General Meeting only one ordinary Vestry member was elected. The Bishop has since advised that another parishioner should be co-opted by Vestry as an ordinary Vestry member, so that St Paul’s Papanui would not need to be dealt with as a problem parish by the Bishop. Several people involved with the Parish…

The solution to the problem is…

Last week New Zealand’s electricity system came close to its limits on a cold day with several power stations out of service for maintenance and hardly any wind to drive turbines. Both private and commercial electricity users helped by saving power. Alongside efforts to conserve electricity there were also efforts to state the problem clearly…

Thought for the moment …

I’ve been thinking about the extraordinary beauty that was witnessed around the world this weekend. There has been much disunity recently with wars and political conflict – yet just for a few hours we all stopped and stared into the heavens at the same time and witnessed the gift of beauty and experienced together awe…

The Armour of God

Last year I was getting ready for my second day of the Diocesan synod. I was sighing as I put on my jacket. My daughter asked me where I was going that day and what I would be doing. I told her that I was going to a church meeting, where I would be listening…

Annual General Meeting

Last Sunday St Paul’s had the annual general meeting. Thank you to all those who attended that. The following positions were filled: People’s Warden: Liz van Til Synod Representative: Rod Wintour Treasurer / Vestry Member: Hank van Til Vestry Member: Patricia Leadbeater We really should have had an additional synod representative and vestry member. I…