As I begin, I would like to acknowledge Bill Thew’s call home to be with his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and to acknowledge his valuable input into the life of St Paul’s. Our sincere condolences as you who grieve: to Mary and her family and to all who worshipped with Bill. With the thoughts of the theme of last week’s service,…

One of the interesting questions that came from one of our visitors during last Saturday’s Open Day was challenging, because we could not answer it confident that we knew the complete facts. The question? “Why do you have an eagle on the front of the lectern?” Thankfully, Google was able to enlighten me with four aspects of the eagle that are relevant…

The liturgy we are using for this Sunday, “The Good Shepherd Communion”, ties in well with our theme: “Follow Me”. These words were spoken by Jesus to Peter as Jesus was recommissioned him for service. The beauty of this passage is the seeking the lost and their restoration. Three times after Jesus’ arrest and during Jesus’ trial. Peter had denied any relationship…

At the end of February this year I sent a note to Vicar Tim that could be used as an introduction to Gayle my wife, and me. It covered the basics. Last Monday we completed our three-day  journey from Morrinsville in the Waikato to here. In time to meet briefly with Tim. We are settling into the vicarage and slowly finding our…

In contrast to Christmas, the date of Easter changes every year. We talk about Easter being early or late. Why is that? Because it is in part determined by the cycle of the moon. In the early church the remembrance of the Resurrection of Jesus was held at the same time as the Jewish Passover. Because the Jews use a lunisolar calendar—a…

Recently there have been several directions by church authorities regarding Communion that seem to restrict practices. One of these was issued by the Church of England and is therefore not directly applicable in New Zealand. The Canons of the Church of England state that for Communion “the bread, whether leavened or unleavened, shall be of the best and purest wheat flour that…

Recently the Acumen Edelman Trust Barometer was released. Through surveys this tries to measure the level of trust in societies. It has run for several years worldwide. While in 2024 the survey still measured a neutral level of trust, in 2025 the survey showed that overall there was a level of distrust in New Zealand. More people distrust their leaders than trust…

In preparation for our time away, we have been going through many a drawer and wardrobe to reduce some of the clutter. During that process I’ve come across many pieces that have hardly been used during our stay in the house—whether they are toys or clothing. Other things have been regularly used in the past, but not so much recently. And then…

Recently more detailed census statistics on religious affiliation have become available. In particular, I was interested in looking at the age and gender of those people.In the 2023 census it is quite clear that Christian affiliation correlates significantly with age. People in the 25-29 year age group are least likely to be religious, while those over 80 years old are the most…