Blog

Micah 6:8-12 James 2:14-17 Matthew 25:31-45 Have you had the opportunity to visit the Govett Brewster Art Gallery when it reopened yesterday. If you were able to get there, you may have come across the Exhibition titled, “Our hearts of Darkness”. It is a deliberately disturbing exhibition which focuses on the way violence is embedded within New Zealand identity. And yes, the exhibition includes the violence that is part of the Parihaka story, and part of our story here too. What... read more

For one Sunday of the year, we have a beautiful opportunity to reflect on something which is at the very very heart of who we are as a community of faith. Bible Sunday. 773,000 words, 1189 chapter, 66 books, 2 testaments. Tucked in Isaiah 40, we read, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever.” It is a text full of poetry, history, mystery, love, anger, sorrow, joy and miracles. The Scripture has some... read more

12th July 2015, Dean Jamie On the face of it, this Gospel appears about as dismal as they come. Here's this loyal servant of God – life devoted to pointing the way not to himself but to Jesus... All comforts given up, in the name of obedience to God. And where does it lead him? Not, after all, to a prosperity Gospel of riches, comfort and a fast car. It's a situation all about the dynamics of power. It is the... read more

Selected readings: Lamentations 3:22-33 & Mark 5:21-43 Sunday 28th June 2015 The readings this morning are somehow disturbing and well reflected in the title of our O.T. reading this morning which is called “Lamentations”. The book of Laments has primarily to do about Jerusalem being sacked, the people taken into captivity into faraway Babylon, how they dreamed about their lost land, their temple the place of worship where they had a sense of closeness to God, now destroyed. Their feelings truly... read more

(Pentecost 3 - Mark 4:26­-34) Our Gospel passage today is like a great hug of encouragement. We have just heard it spelled out by Jesus, through his servant Mark the Gospel­ writer, read by his servant Caroline/Annie, that your testimony is bursting with the potential to provide light for others and shelter; a safe place for others to protect their young. Yes – that's right – your testimony. Your walk with God. I personally don't very often feel that my faith... read more

What are your harvest memories? Perhaps you are privileged to recall large family gardens, pumpkins running rampant, corn puffing up on stalks, the wonder of potatoes hidden under the ground, and fruit trees laden with apples, plums and pears. Perhaps your experience is to know, that whatever else you might be without – it won’t be simple wholefood in this our country, the place of agricultural and horticultural abundance. One memory of harvest for me is watching a group of children... read more

Mā te Atua koe e tiaki ­ God be with you. This is an incredibly special week in the life of the church. A festival week. This Thursday is Ascension Day, which we celebrate with an outdoor Eucharist (7.30am – come and share communion OUTSIDE) we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It's a stunningly beautiful service – even if it's rainy and cold­ filled with thoughts of those who, at dawn on the mountaintop, saw Jesus return to the... read more

We give thanks for an emblem of Peace - this work of embroidery is complete. We give thanks to God for all that it represents in prayer and striving to be the community of God. We praise God for God’s servant Te Whiti O Rongomai whom this Peace Altar Frontal commemorates. We are seeking to memorialise the peaceful resistance of the Parihaka movement as an example of the Gospel of good news, and to celebrate the Anglican Faith Communities of Taranaki.... read more

Isaiah Chapter 5:1-7 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watch-tower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.... read more

It began as a vision 168 years ago. New Plymouth’s early Anglican community hoped to install their own Bishop within a Diocese of Taranaki. But war, and the passing of time got in the way. Now the vision has come full circle – with a twist. The structure operates like a catamaran boat: Two Bishops, two diocese, and two regions working together. In October 1842 Bishop Selwyn established an Anglican presence in Taranaki, obtaining a Crown grant for the land on... read more