Some of you have asked what I have been doing these past three (actually 2 ½) weeks in Israel. Yes, it had to do with archaeology, but I was not excavating anything. I have spent eight seasons excavating in Israel and now three seasons restoring pottery (a season normally lasts between two and six weeks).…
While you at St Paul’s were celebrating the Church’s birthday and the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, I attended the agricultural festival of Pentecost here in Israel. Before Pentecost had anything to do with the coming of the Spirit or the Church, it was a Jewish festival. Normally known as Shavuot or the…
There are stories behind each of the names and inscriptions on the headstones in our graveyard. Someare known to us; others are not. I have long wondered about those early parishioners who knelt and prayed in that little wooden building that was the first St Paul’s. I have thought, too, of those who sat in…
Birthdays are special, I’m sure you will agree. At the same time, some of us don’t like to be reminded of how long we have been inhabitants of God’s good earth ! But, in the main, it’s nice when we can be made a fuss of.Pentecost Sunday is often described as “The Birthday of the…
Those who have been to Queenstown will be familiar with the venerable TSS (twin-screw steamer) Earnslaw, built in 1912 with a fundamental requirement being that she should ‘last forever’. Analogies with ships have long been built into church designs. The word ‘nave’, for example, is derived from the Latin ‘navis’ or ‘ship’, symbolising how the…
Public and community-run cemeteries around the country are struggling to recruit staff and volunteers. One volunteer at a Christchurch cemetery is holding the fort alone, and he, like many others, are crying out for help. Plans are in the works by the national organisation to prop up a recruitment campaign for burial places managed by…
I recently watched an interview with the American philosopher Michael Sandel. In that interview he discussed inequality and our definition of success. He argued that in a good society a broad equality of condition is required.He said that required civil society to be designed in such a way that there are public places and common…
At our recent minister’s meeting Eddie O’Connor from the Sister Eveleen Retreat House came to speak to us. He spoke about the importance of taking a time of rest and reflection. He compared retreats to regular dentistry appointments. Just as we require regular health check-ups, so our spiritual health requires regular attention. While we do…
This week I had a conversation with a vestry member of St Luke’s, the church that had previously stood at the intersection of Manchester and Kilmore Streets. The parish dissolved last year, but its work continues through the ministries it funds. For example, the St Luke’s Inner City Chaplain is sustained through funds of the…
During the Middle Ages it became custom in some areas to elicit laughter from the congregation on Easter Day in order to express the joy of Christ’s triumph over death. Priests would tell jokes and amusing stories from the pulpit to get the congregation to laugh. There was even a technical, liturgical term for this—risus…