Recently I watched the 2002 BBC documentary “The Century of the Self”. It traces the history of an idea that has become very important in our society. Indeed, the documentary suggests that in the 20th century it has come to dominate Western societies. It is the belief that the satisfaction of individual feelings and desires is our highest priority. This idea was…
Helping People to Meet God • Make Friends • Grow in Faith
Helping People to Meet God • Make Friends • Grow in Faith
Bishop Peter visited our parish last Sunday. It was a good service and a relevant sermon. Like all sermons at St Paul’s, this sermon is available in audio form on the website. In the sermon Bishop Peter also mentioned the conference to launch the Anglican Community of St Mark and the presentation given by Bishop…
On Labour Day we went to the archaeological exhibition at the Arts Centre, which is part of the Christchurch Heritage Festival. Back in 2013 I briefly worked for the archaeological company that examined the Arts Centre precinct, so I knew something about the project, even though I worked at other sites around Christchurch, never the arts centre. The archaeological finds displayed at…
Our draft Mission Action Plan is now out. We encourage you to provide feedback to this plan before Christmas. You might want to suggest something else, might want to add something or clarify some points. Maybe you think there are things that we should not get into. Whatever it is, let us know.
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…
En este momento le pedimos a Dios, nuestro padre celestial que ilumine cada paso que damos en nuestra vida, que sea nuestro guía, defensor y cuidador en el camino que él nos ha elegido, y que conforme a su voluntad aceptemos todo lo que sea justo y digno de acuerdo a su momento. Le damos…
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…
During the recent synod of the Diocese of Christchurch, Edwin Boyce, the Diocesan Manager, gave a presentation on ethical investment and the way the Church invests its funds. The General Synod Office has also recently published a report (Motion 11 Report – He waka eke noa) on the investment of funds by the Anglican Church. Currently the Anglican Church in New Zealand…