Blog

TĒNĀ KOUTOU KATOA my warmest greetings to you. No one saw the Resurrection. No one knows when it happened or how. There was no car chase. No government enquiry. No coverage on ‘Seven Sharp'. No body. read more

Two vigorous churchmen who walked immense distances during their ministries were key figures in the history of St Mary's: Bishop Selwyn, the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand, and William Bolland, the first Vicar of St Mary's. In 1842 Bishop Selwyn reached the tiny settlement of New Plymouth after a walk from Thames during which he was delayed by floods and nearly starved. Only 31, he was an athlete who made extraordinary physical demands on himself and expected much from others.... read more

Church took on a rustic quality one weekend in February as everyone decamped to TOPEC, on the outskirts of New Plymouth. For the first time in many years the whole congregation gathered somewhere other than Vivian St for a Sunday service. Close to 100 people squeezed into the main hall at TOPEC (Taranaki Outdoor Pursuits Education Centre) on Hydro Rd, a five-minute drive south of New Plymouth. For some, it was the best all-ages service they’d experienced. Others commented on... read more

Do you know the feeling when you have a big project on, someone comes along with a well reasoned argument, (joins all the dots) and you suddenly realise that the project just got a whole lot bigger - but also more worthwhile. Cathedral Remediation and Design Manager Jenny Goddard knows the feeling. The Way Ahead document, distributed and discussed with the parish over the last four months, has joined the dots for many. “The job in front of us is not... read more

A sense of community was the drawcard to Taranaki Cathedral when Nancy and Doug Getson looked around for a place to worship. New Plymouth has been their home for just over two years; sadly a change in Doug’s work means they’re leaving in the next few months. Churchgoing is something they have always done. She was brought up a Baptist, he a Catholic but when they got together neither of those denominations suited. Instead they ended up (initially) in an Anglican... read more

Mothering Sunday John 9:1-41 John’s gospel begins with the most astonishing claim: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not... read more

Our schedule of services for Holy Week and Easter read more

Notice of the agenda for the Annual General Meeting of the Taranaki Cathedral Church to be held on 26th March at 1.30pm in the Interim Cathedral. [Papers for this meeting will be available at services on Sunday 19th March and from the Welcome Desk during the following week] read more

Our Gospel for today immediately follows a most incredible event. Matthew recounts the story of Jesus had coming to the Jordan River to find John Baptist, his cousin. John, depicted as a wild man emerging out of the wilderness [always a metaphor for the place of deep inner searching]; John, in his powerful charismatic message was calling the people to repentance and to be washed, cleansed in the waters of the Jordan. It is dramatic indeed for the one whom he... read more

Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 Matthew 5:38-48 We’ve heard three extremely challenging readings this morning, all of them guidelines or instructions so as to become more the kind of people God wants us to be. Let’s briefly go back to the opening verse in our first reading Leviticus 19:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” The OT reading is... read more