Colourful Dreamer

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...

Aweswome to read of the great work being done among the young people of this province. It is sobering to think that for some of the Samoan and Fijian young people they have returned to the destruction wrought by the Cyclone.

I have been to the last four General Synods/Hinota Whanui (The parliament of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia) in my previous role in youth ministry. It is a little odd not being there. Strangely I really enjoyed it. I guess I am a meeting junky. In that youth ministry role I have spent many hours working with others to prepare the report on youth ministry in our church. We did some really creative, inspiring and cool stuff. We were also accused of emotional blackmail by some people who did not thing youth ministry was very important, but felt unable to say so. I am impressed by what the Tikanga Toru Youth Commission has done this time. Well done Michael Tamihere and the whole team. Now we pray that these delegates will act out what they have been applauded when they get home.

Well done the editorial team for the magazine for the Auckland Diocese, and to Brittany Kusserow in particularly. It is a courageous edition, which explores the reality of being a LGTB young person in the church, and which offers some really helpful resources. It is in line with some of the decisions at last years Synod, but even so it is good to see material aimed at young people that stands with the LGTB community, and does not demonise them as so often happens. This truly is the grace of God at work.

As we face an uncertain future, we want to explore the place of St John’s in: ·       Supporting young people as leaders in mission, ·       Training leaders to help us into ongoing change ·       Placing of a high priority on mission among children, young people, young adults and families There’s a difference between St John’s College being relevant for the Church as it is and St John’s being relevant for the Church as it needs to become. We believe in and experience a God of mission. This is not a God who is overly concerned with the status quo or the survival of our churches. We believe that young people have a key role in helping us in our journey towards this future. -         This new world is the world they have grown up in. -         They are not as shaped by church as it has been up to this point -  ...

Our future leaders need to be equipped to lead through change. And more than that: they need to lead our church into the ‘unknown’. Into places for which, at present, there are no road maps or text books, no papers or classes, no star-charts, no GPS, no ipod apps. And it’s not ‘unknown’ because we’re too lazy to sit down and figure out where we are headed. The world is changing and changing fast and we’re quickly being left far behind. There is an understanding in schools that 90% of the jobs for which students are being educated don’t yet exist and that in some degree programmes half of what you learn in your first year will be irrelevant by your third. At present we are equipping people for a mission field that no longer exists; for a ministry paradigm that is no longer working. We need resourceful leaders who can develop new ideas and inspire in new and creative ways; leaders who can take risks and think outside the box; leaders who are intuitive, who see opportunitie...

Recently, well in June, there was a hui (Forum) to discuss the future of our theological college. Our Youth Commission was invited to be part of that. We worked hard to talk about where we saw the church going, and where youth ministry sat within that. I am going to put up the transcripts of the presentations we made. I look forward to some feedback. Some of my thoughts on this hui can be found here. 1.       HARD MISSIONAL EDGE Some might say that we too often train people for the church as it is, rather than the church it will become. This can be seen in that many of our congregations in this country are aging, struggling to engage with the wider community, and too often focused on survival rather than mission. The world we live in is vastly and quickly changing. We believe in and experience a God of mission. This is not a God who is overly concerned with the status quo or the survival of our churches. ...

I have been reading the Government green paper " Every child thrives, belongs and achieves. " which outlines ways in which the government and government agencies, communities and iwi can engage with and create an environment in which vulnerable children are able to thrive, belong and achieve. It made me think about church. I wondered we live out the priority for children and young people. I wondered what would happen if bishops used the mechanisms available to them to set out the responsibilities for ministry with children and young people in their oversight of clergy and their annual expectations of parishes. What would it mean to set out requirements of clergy and parishes which are then reported on annually? How do we ensure ongoing research and evaluation to identify how current and future church practices effect and engage with children and young people? I have been sitting in a Ministry Council meeting where each Diocese reported under a number of headings i...