Greetings all, I hope that this edition of eNews finds you well and at a time when you are looking forward to the long Labour Weekend ahead of us. In Hawke’s Bay we will be enjoying an extra-long weekend with Friday being Hawke’s Bay Anniversary Day. The team in our Napier office will be making the most of the four days off but will be back on deck on Tuesday next week to respond to messages.
The past week has been a busy and very productive one with a mixture of significant meetings. Early last week I headed to Wellington to be with the Pakeha Bishops for a day ahead of the two day gathering of the whole House of Bishops. The day we had together as Pakeha Bishops was a good time to be together in person and to continue the work that we attend to in our early morning ZOOMs on Thursday each week. We offered prayer with one another and shared some time talking about how we want to continue to work together. We all agreed that we value the time to share with one another online each week as it builds our relationships and makes our in-person meetings more fruitful. Wellington hosted us at Zealandia, which is a remarkable urban nature reserve which has led to the repopulation of native birdlife in Wellington City. The Kaka seemed entertained by our walk through their native bush and we enjoyed our encounter with them at close quarters as well!
On Tuesday and Wednesday the whole House of Bishops met as we do twice each year. The time we shared together provided space for whanaungatanga and prayer, and for hearing about developments and recent events in the life of our church. We received a very interesting presentation from Bishop Ross Bay (Auckland) and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, Bishop Michael Gielen, about their role in representing our province at the recent meeting of IARCUUM. The recent gathering of Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishops in Rome and then Canterbury with the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury was a historic meeting to help forge the diaglogue of cooperation between the churches. It was encouraging to hear from both Bishops about their experiences at the gathering and the potential for us all to continue to develop our relationships with our sisters and brothers in Roman Catholic parishes in our neighbourhood. I hope that some of your parishes are already making preparations for an occasion during Advent as an opportunity for shared worship. We also received an update from members of Te Korowai Trust who are working on behalf of General Synod Standing Committee in response to the findings of the Royal Commission. There is significant work going into our response as a whole church to the recommendations of the final report, and also to continue to work with survivors of abuse. We have unequivocally accepted the findings made by the Royal Commission in relation to the whole Anglican Church and committed ourselves to working to not only address those findings but also to continue to respond to disclosures of abuse. The meeting addressed a number of other issues as well, including the portfolios which the Bishops hold to help share the provincial work around. Recently I have been appointed as the liaison Bishop to the Mission to Seafarers, and I look forward to spending some time learning more about the spread of that mission and ministry across the province. I have also been appointed as a nominee from the House of Bishops to the Board of the Anglican Insurance Board, and I look forward to engaging in that work in the near future.
Over the weekend our Diocesan Synod gathered in Gisborne for our meeting over Friday and Saturday morning. We began with our Synod Eucharist in Holy Trinity Church, Gisborne and then made our way to the Midway Surf club for the Synod meeting. At the Synod Eucharist we acknowledged the Rev’d Dorothy Brooker who will be continuing in ministry as a priest of the Cathedral Parish but moving from her role as Associate Priest at the end of this year. After 40 years of Synod, this was Dorothy’s final time to participate in these meetings and we were very grateful for her many years of service in this way. The Synod meeting attended to the usual variety of matters that we see each year and despite the very regular looking agenda I was pleased with the content of the reports and debates. It was overall a very solid and positive time together, enhanced by the presence and contributions of Atipihopa Don Tamihere on Saturday. Atipihopa Don spoke with us about Oranga Ake o Te Iwi o Te Ao, and the shared whakapapa we hold in Waiapu and Ngati Porou around Turanganui-a-Kiwa, Gisborne. I shared with the Synod our Diocesan Vision with the five priorities of Discipleship; Vocation; Whakapapa; Koru ministry; Connections. You can read the Vision document in this edition of eNews, the result of consultation and collaboration over the past 18 months. The action points to enable the vision to come a reality will be the next piece of work and you can expect to see more news of that in coming weeks.
On Sunday I enjoyed being back at Holy Trinity Church in Gisborne with Atipihopa Don for the baptism and confirmation of Ben and Beth White. It was a special service and a delight to share with Ben and Beth’s family, especially remembering their grandfather the late Rev’d Bruce White. Baptism and confirmation are excellent opportunities for us to mark the journey of faith with the presentation of a plant, and to connect with the Anglican Communion Forest for the purpose of promoting the re-forestation of the world as part of our care for creation. I was delighted when Ben and Beth’s grandmother, Katharine White presented two harakeke (flax) plants for Ben and Beth, symbolic of family nurture and growth in a community of faith, and also very relevant given Katharine’s many years of practice with flax weaving.
Enjoy the long weekend,
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