Greetings all as we approach St Andrew’s Day and then the first Sunday in Advent this weekend.
Over this past week I’ve enjoyed a few visits in Central Hawke’s Bay, first on Sunday for a service at Tikokino and then during this week for a couple of days at Kopua Monastery.
Tikokino Church and Farm Visit
On Sunday it was a real pleasure to join with the congregation in the community of Tikokino at the interdenominational church of St Francis for their monthly service. I was invited to lead an Anglican Eucharist by the committee who look after the church, some of whom I know through my work with Hato Hone St John. We enjoyed our worship together and then a very fine shared lunch. Just prior to the service I was asked if I had ever been to a church where the generator had to be started to provide power for the important things like keyboard and hot water urn. Surprisingly I have led a service on the East Coast once before where we needed to have the local generator running to give us power. Tikokino is a very old community and I appreciated learning about its history especially from locals who were 5th generation in the town.
Following the service a good number of us adventured up into the hinterland behind Tikokino into the foothills of the Ruahine Ranges on a farm visit. This farm has an interesting identity as having a woolshed at an altitude of approx. 2300ft making it one of the highest in Hawke’s Bay. The farm runs further up into the hills beyond the woolshed and we spent some time there walking the farm with Gerald the farm manager and learning about the history of the farm. It was interesting to see the line of land along which you can see the impact of the 1931 earthquake to one side, but not the other side, which makes a striking line across the landscape.
It was a very enjoyable day to be with this community who gather themselves around worship each month drawing from many Christian traditions. On our way down from the farm, the vehicle I was passenger in developed a flat tyre. It was all good in the end, once I’d consulted the rubrics in the Book of Mitsubishi to determine which part of the chassis would take the jack!
Ordination retreat at Kopua Monastery
Over Tuesday and Wednesday I spent some time with Carl and Derry and their retreat leader Alister at Kopua Monastery, joining in for some time with them on their pre-ordination retreat. It’s an important time for Carl and Derry and I encourage you to continue to hold them in your prayers as they prepare for ordination this Saturday. It was also Carl’s birthday on Tuesday so we marked that with a birthday cake after supper.
The monastery is set in a beautiful part of Hawke’s Bay with views across the surrounding farm and hill country. It is set on a working farm but it is remarkably peaceful with most parts of the day silent except for the birdsong or the call to regular prayer in the chapel. The monastery has often been the site for retreatants from Waiapu to enjoy some space and time to pray and reflect. I held my retreat there prior to being consecrated Bishop, and enjoyed refreshing my memories of that time over the course of this week. I managed to capture photo of some of the local Kopua wildlife enjoying their morning routine … it seems even the hares have learned prayerful habits from the brothers too!
Dunedin electoral college
Last weekend the Diocese of Dunedin held an electoral college to discern the next Bishop of Dunedin. The electoral college did discern a name and that name is currently before the members of General Synod for sanctioning. Once that process is completed the Archbishops will make an announcement.
Strategy Working Group
Following Synod the Strategy Working Group has met to look at what next steps can be taken to implement the Diocesan Vision. This is a new stage in the work we have before us and in many ways is uncharted territory, particularly as this is the first time in a long time (ever?) where we are implementing a vision across the whole Diocese including all our boards and agencies. The membership of that group has changed a little to reflect the need for us to attend to work that digs into the detail of implementation and developing action plans. I’m grateful to have had the input of Joss Morrin, a parishioner of Taradale parish and member of Standing Committee, and also the Rev’d Nigel Dixon, Vicar of Tauranga Parish during the activation phases of the strategy work. It was important to have their skills, insight and wisdom as we did the extensive work around bringing the vision to life. As we move into this next phase of developing plans it is great to have Graeme Brock settling into his role as Strategy Lead and working closely alongside Colleen to help me to develop the plans. We also have Rev’ds Alan Burnett and Robert Kereopa on board the working group who both bring skills and insights into important aspects of the 5 priorities and will help us develop our focus on these. There is more space on this working group and I can see that in the future as we continue to develop the plans there will be a need to include others for a short or long-term role in the group. Next week I’ll be traveling to Brisbane with Colleen, Alan and Graeme to attend a conference looking at the concept of Resource Churches. The conference draws on the experiences of Rev’ds Sarah and Tom Jackson in their work in the Church of England in church planting. There is a concept of a Resource Church which has been in place in the CofE for some years now, a concept of a parish helping to resource other parishes to fulfil the mission of the church in their local context. We are exploring this concept to see if it could be adapted as a model for ministry across Waiapu moving forward and as a tool for implementation of the vision.
The Anglican Church’s response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission
Attached in this edition of eNews is an important document from the Primates of our Church which outlines our response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission. The Primates have commissioned a small group to work on this response since the report of the Royal Commission was released, and to continue to work on our behalf to ensure that we as a whole church implement the necessary actions in response to the recommendations. This group, on our behalf, is working closely with the Crown Response Unit to ensure that we are aligned with developments and regulatory changes which are expected from our Government in 2025, including the establishment of a new system for redress for survivors of abuse. As a Diocese we continue to take seriously the need for us as a whole church to respond to historical abuse and to ensure that we do everything possible to prevent abuse happening in the future.
Ordination anniversaries
This week in the lectionary we remember the Ember Days, a period of time in our liturgical year when we have special prayerful intention for those preparing for ordination, and those ordained. In Aotearoa/New Zealand many clergy are ordained on or around the feast of St Andrew 30 November, this Saturday and the date for our Diocesan Ordinations this year.
Yesterday I celebrated the 25th anniversary of my ordination as a priest or “Ordiversary” as a few clergy friends have begun to describe it recently. To all the clergy around the Diocese of Waiapu who may be celebrating similar Ordiversaries this week, I offer my prayerful thanksgiving for your ministry and for your continual response to serve God and the Church in your life as Deacon or Priest. May God continue to bless you as you serve in Holy Orders.
And finally from me this week a big congratulations
to Rev’d Paul Leighton and Barbara Woodham who will be joined in Holy Matrimony this Saturday at a service in Tauranga at Holy Trinity Church. To Paul and Barbara we wish you both many years of joy and life together as husband and wife. God bless you both.
Take care everyone,
God bless.
+Andrew
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