Colourful Dreamer

Last Sunday, as part of our joyous regathering, we celebrated our Church constitution – Te Pouhere, which weaves us together like a whāriki or woven mat, Māori, Pasfika and Pākehā. Like the flax strands in ngā whāriki, each Tikanga or cultural strand takes part in the life and mission of our church knowing their voice and way of living the gospel is as important as anyone else’s. It is a gift of God. At the same time Anglicans in Auckland were gathering for prayer led by ADJust, the Diocese of Auckland Young Anglicans for Social Justice. They prayed that all lives would matter around the world, not just the lives of the dominant, or of men, or the powerful. They prayed that in USA and other European dominated countries like our own, that Black Lives would Matter as much as white lives. They prayed for God’s justice to prevail. And then, behind a cross, they joined the Black Lives Matter march. Part of what that march called for in this land is that we honestly address our history a...

After twelve weeks we can return to our building. For now, the Covid emergency is on hold and we can breathe. A cause for celebration! When we were last in St. George’s it was still Lent. Easter was celebrated from our homes, and here we are now in Ordinary Time. We might describe Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent and Easter as opportunities to reflect on and be shaped by different aspects of the God revealed in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Ordinary Time is when we reflect on how we join the disciples living in response to this God in our context and time. On Pentecost Sunday we read how the Spirit of Ascended Jesus is breathed into each of us, gifting us peace; inviting us to rejoice and forgive. Last week, Trinity Sunday we used Rublev’s icon of the Trinity, based on this week’s first testament story ( Genesis 18:1-15) to hear the invitation into the life and love of God that creates and sustains all that is. We begin our walk in Ordinary T...

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. My sermon will be a reflection on the work of the Holy Spirit at General Synod Te Hīnota Whānui last week. I wont read this out. But it will say something similar. General Synod – Te Hīnota Whānui is the decision making body of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. In many ways it functions like any other Synod within the Anglican Church around the world. It has three houses – Bishops, Clergy and Laity. But unlike some all the houses meet together, discuss the issues together, and make the decisions together. Most votes are on voice vote alone. Rarely is there a vote in houses. Although for contentious issues some of the discussion has been in these houses. One we layer not present in any other Anglican Province is that we also work in three Tikanga – or cultural stream. On a day to day basis we function with these semi-autonomous organisational entities. It means the Tikanga Maori can organise their life and make thei...