For months my daughter was excited about the new school building she would go to once it was completed. The construction finally came to completion after the school holidays and the children moved into the new classrooms after Labour Weekend. But after all these months of anticipation, she was somewhat overwhelmed by the changes. First of all, we didn’t know where exactly…

There’s a saying that in an Anglican Church something becomes a tradition if it has been done four times—and then it is nearly impossible to change. All churches have traditions, even those who maintain that they have free-flowing worship. Indeed, the structure in some “contemporary” churches is even more rigid, and the words even more repetitive, than those in many “traditional” churches.…

In my sermon last Sunday I mentioned the 2nd century letter to Diognetus. Only one copy of this letter survived among writings from Justin Martyr. The text was then more widely published in 1592. Unfortunately, the manuscript was destroyed during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, so that experts can only refer to the published texts. The letter is a defence of the…

In recent weeks we have been looking at the Prophets in our Wednesday Bible Study. Generally these prophetic books contain warnings and messages of doom and gloom, but they also contain visions of hope. As we looked at their message, we could feel the frustration at human sin, stubbornness, and apathy. The prophets knew that there was a close link between human…

When we left Cambridge, Waikato, we were given some warm socks so that we could survive the cold South Island winters. Yudy and I had lived in Christchurch in the winter of 2013 in a fairly cold house with little money to run the heating. My Caribbean wife therefore remembered Christchurch winters with some trepidation. Because our current house is fairly big…

This Sunday is Social Services Sunday. It is a day to remember and pray for the many social service agencies of the Church. The care for the poor and vulnerable has been a characteristic of the people of God since Ancient Israel. The Church has always been called to respond to human need by loving service. But the development of social service…

29 June—this Monday—is the Day of St Peter and St Paul. They are commemorated together because of their martyrdom in Rome during the Neronian persecution about 64CE. The two apostles also have their individual feast days (St Paul on 25 January; St Peter on 22 February). That means we could celebrate the patronal festival twice a year. Well, after the coronavirus experience…

You will notice that in this newsletter there is also an announcement from the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry. As a church we have to be aware that abuse of children often has not been addressed adequately in the past, that oversight was not satisfactory. Often the Church did not have due process in place or did not follow such…