Colourful Dreamer

Part Three Bright and early, Tim and I set off for Bangor, and the trains back down to London. Once in London we met up with John Wotherspon from the TSSF Central Fund. I met John about 7 years ago, when he was in NZ with his wife. They came to St Georges for church on Christmas Day. Over the last few years we have been talking regularly and emailing, but it was good to meet up in person. We then found where the Central Fund meeting was to be held. It was a pretty standard meeting, but it was good to be together in the same room. The last time was four years ago. I was supposed to come over for one in 2020, and strangely that did not happen. Once the meeting was finished Bishop Martyn returned to the other bishops at Lambeth, and the others scampered off to their trains, and I checked in into Premier Inn Euston. And is was time for some more shopping. At least that was the plan. I could not find linen trousers anywhere. So much for that plan. But it was fun getting lost on the undergro...

I will not be posting reflections on te readings for the coming Sunday, or a sermon, for the next few weeks. I am off to the UK to enjoy sweltering heat waves and how to not deal with Covid. And I am there for a number of Franciscan obligations including meeting with some of the bishops at the Lambeth conference. And I am spending some time in North Wales, if the trains let me get there. If all goes to plan I will offer reflections about what I am in the UK for and life on the other side. Or I might not.  We shall see.  If you could keep me in your prayers. And if you want you could pray for Lambeth as well.

I have just been away for 16 days on TSSF business in my role as Minister General – 6 days in Brisbane attending the Conference of the Asia Pacific Province and then their chapter meeting; and then  8 days in England attending the chapter meeting of the European Province at Ely, then a meeting of Franciscan Aid , and finally a meeting of the Central Fund, which I now chair as Minister General, and which funds our inter-provincial life as an order. So here are some reflections, begun as I sat slightly sleep derived, waiting for my flight home to Tauranga, and finished some three weeks later. Personally this was a really helpful journey. It has really helped me get my head around what it might mean to be Minister General. To be honest I have struggled a bit with this. I was struggling to get my head around how to do this, and even what to do. I was struggling with what my role was and who am I in this role. I was not really seeing myself as Minister General. Sure, I was slowl...

I em currently in Simons Town, near Capetown, for a meeting of the TSSF Ministers Provincial. As part of our meeting we have been getting out a bit. On Thursday we went for drive around the coast, past the towns all the coloureds were moved into in the 1960's from Simons Town. We then went into one of the townships to visit a school on of the Tertiaries helps at one day a week, and a foster home people in Nolan's parish have been involved in establishing and running. Such beautiful children, and such a lovely place. We then had drinks with several of the Trustees at the house of one of the key people involved in establishing and running the home. It was inspirational to see these people working hard to change the world for these 6 children. It doesn't seem alot, but for those children and the foster mother it is everything. The are eating the elephant one bit at a time. Our meeting finished yesterday lunchtime. They have decided that the next meeting will be in NZ while I...

We are rapidly approaching the Feast of St. Francis. Because I am away on the 7th, we are holding a pet service with the SPCA on the 14th. I have been wondering what I might say at that service. I found this to be a really helpful sermon from a fellow walker in the footsteps of Francis.

This book comes out of Ted Withams time as Minsiter Provincial for the Austrailan Province of the Third Order, Society of Saint Francis. In describing it's origins he writes, "From Advent Sunday 2005 until the eve of Advent Sunday 2011 I had the privilege of being Provincial Minister for the Third Order, Society of St Francis for Australia, Papua New Guinea and East Asia. During that time, I travelled across Australia to meet tertiaries. My home Diocese of Perth also invited me to speak about St Francis and the spirituality of St Francis’s followers at the Weekends at Wollaston spirituality programme. My fellow-tertiaries in Western Australia also asked me to lead meetings and Quiet Days. The talks and seminars I presented have been adapted for this e-book. St Francis of Assisi was in love with God and a passionate follower of Jesus Christ. I pray that you will look beyond my words to the vision of St Francis and find fresh and provocative enc...

The Market Tuesday, last day! Andrew took us to the market, and we did a bit of shopping, bananas for us and Andrew, and sarongs for pressies and a good look around just for fun. And then coffee at th coffee place with Andrew and Luisa, and then I went off to meet chris Taro the provincial youth Officer. Great stuff. It was good to spend an hour with a fellow provincial youth person, and to hear about what they are doing, and to get a copy of their youth policy. Then a quick  goodbye at the Friary and off to St. Agnes to pack. Betsy came round to say goodbye, and then we were off to the airport. Now I am on the flight home, back to the cold, to normal life, clean water, no bettlenut, no election speeches. Just same old same old New Zealand. This has been a grand trip. I feel like I am getting a handle on how Melanesia works. I really valued and enjoyed having Sarah and Helene journey with me. It made it a lot more fun,  and they worked hard during chapter writing th...

La Verna Friary, Hautabu Monday – it was cold that night. Cold! Andrew Tada told us a cold night (and he thought it as cold) meant a hot day. He was not wrong. WE left Honiara shortly after 8am on the brothers’ truck, with me on the back in a chair. Off we went out west to Hautabu, La Verna and Little Portion Friaries where the novices are trained and where the chicken farm and pig farm are. Andrew Tada had been first order when this was built, and he had been one of 8 brothers who with brother Giles built much of what is there. He told us about how they laid to concrete floor for the dining room and chapel in one 20 hour work session. The Formatters’ (those involved in Formation in the First Order from each Province) conference had been there the weeks before, in a specially build structure for the event. The only problem was that it had filled up with insects at night with the lights, and frogs had joined to party for the free feed. People were not so keen about that, especiall...

Sunday. The programme said church at 6am, then breakfast at 8 with the brothers and chapter starting at 10. Could we start earlier? No, some people had commitments in their local parishes so would not be able to arrive until at least 10am. There was a service at 7.30am, so Sarah, Helen and I decided to go then, thinking that would give us plenty of time before chapter at 10am. We arrived late, to find 6am still going. That should have been a warning sign. 7.30 started at 8am, and after sermon, sung Eucharist, notices, long notices, and rev up about being a high church and so fasting after 12 midnight till after church including bettlenut and drink, we finished well after 10am. Lucky I had breakfast first. There are not extra prayer books, or hymn books. You bring your own. And the language has been simplified, so even the bits you think you know are hard to join in with because they are slightly different. But such and experience. The choir right in front belting it out. Clouds of i...

Saturday – day one of chapter! Chapter was the real reason I came over. The ministers meeting last year set out guidelines of areas wanting to become provinces in their own right, and even if Melanesia does not become a Province, it seemed to me that these set up the kinds of things that Melanesia needed to address, in particular, leadership structures, formation procedures and finance. So we began on Saturday by hearing the reports of the various office holders. Unfortunately it is election time in the Solomon’s so many of the area people were not able to come to Honiara due to either being committed to the election or needing to be home for the election we did not have any representative from Makira or Vanuatu, Makira being the more of a problem, and while we had people from Makira and Isabel, they were not the leaders of those areas. None the less, hearing the reports was really helpful. So was seeing the diagram Jimmy had put together of how the leadership worked. It was the fir...

Care Centre for abused Women build with NZAid money. Friday was quite the casual day really. Well, after we had met the Archbishop. I was able to talk a little about the third Order, who we are and to ask him to encourage them in COM. I left him some material about TSSF. We missed each other at St. Johns by a January Holiday. He replaced now Bishop James mason as the Melanesian student at St. Johns. He was about to leave to go to Fiji for the installation of Winston Halapua as the new Archbishop. So that was a nice link. Then we tried to meet people at the Diocesan office, particularly Chris Taro, the provincial youth officer, but he was not in.  So we went off to the Care Centre West of Honiara run by the sisters of the church and Melanesian sisters. This is for battered women, a place of refuge and healing. Sarah and Br. Martin SFF in Provincial Cathedral We came back in to Honiara after that because William our driver needed to go to the airport to pick up Br George ...

Thursday began at 6.25am with Helene asking if I was awake, and saying prayers started in 5 minutes. I staggered out from under the mosquito net, and sown the steps to the church, where I sat listening to Fr. Hudson and others pray Morning Prayer. Because the English has been simplified, initially by Charles Fox, I couldn’t join in. And there were no books. But that was fine, sitting, in quiet, joining the prayers in spirit. Charles Fox's house, where we stayed the night Then coffee up at our hosts house, before we went down to Charles Fox hut at the beach. This was where we had breakfast. And while there Charles talked about some of the miracles that occurred there, dancing crab shells, the stick he banged against the water tank when rain was needed, and it always rained. The rat that went to fetch something for him he had dropped. He seems to have a very Franciscan spirit. Charles talk us that Dr. Fox first lived in this hut, and then moved up into the house we had slept ...

Tuesday, we were up bright and early the next morning (5.40am) to be picked up at 7am to catch the 360 Discovery ferry to Gela Island, and Taronaira village. We were greeted very warmly by Charles and Fr. Stephen and his wife Joanna, and the chaplain of St Clare's clinic, Fr. Sam. Fr. Hudson, the Chaplin to Taroanaira joined us as well for refreshments, and to talk to me about the service that night where I was preaching, and Stephen and Joanna were being admitted as Novices. That is Tulagi in the distance. This was taken at the Fox memorial cross We then jumped in a little plastic boat for a 30-40 minute journey around the coast to Tulagi, the headquarters of the DOCS – Diocese of Central Melanesia. This island was the first colonial capital of the Solomon Island, and the scene of fierce bombardment and fighting during WW2. Fr’s Derek Vagi (vicar General) and Sam (Diocesan Secretary) showed us around, took us on a tour of the island (not large) on a road build by the American...

Crazy stuff. We had to be at the airport by 5am (that was a shock in itself really) but Helene decided she needed a shower first, so we had our wakeup call at 4am. 4am!!!! The only thing you should do at 4am is go back to sleep. Fat chance. So I got up and had porridge for breakfast. The flight over was good. I slept most of the way over to Brisbane, and after quick two coffees in Brisbane, read all the commentary stuff I had copied for the two sermons I thought I was delivering. We were greeted warmly by TSSF brothers, John Ama and Andrew Tada and by some First Order brothers (Desmond and Martin) who were here for a formation conference at Hautabu. We missed Christopher John by a gnat’s whisker. He was boarding the plane we had just arrived on. The Bishop of Chester was also on our plane to open a new wing of Chester house, the Melanesian Brothers rest house above Patteson House Friary (where Dorothy stayed last time) His daughter was flying out and was allowed through by custom...