Thought For The Week 17 November 2024

Over the weekend of the 1-3 November, Rory, Janie, and I attended the Alpine Presbytery gathering in Nelson, hosted by Whakatu Presbyterian Church in Richmond, in their stunning new facility on Champion Rd. One highlight for me was attending the Sunday morning service and seeing Rev Sage Harris, who I mentored when he was an intern at Darfield, leading worship. The congregation was intergenerational, with many children and older folk. It was inspiring to see this church, drawn from many congregations across the region,  worshipping as one body and obviously flourishing.

The gathering was a feast of content to chew on. Darryl Tempero got us to think of  worship like a powhiri with elements of welcome and participation, eating together and being sent out into the world afterwards. He challenged us to think beyond our normal church experience and consider what might connect with those outside our walls.

Our keynote speaker was Rev Andrew Callander, author of Finding Love (available from the St Stephens library). He spoke about beginning our message with ‘God is love’ rather than with ‘original sin’ and posed the question; does God’s holiness trump his love? God is often described as holy but never as holiness. But he is constantly described as love and all its variances. In the life of Jesus, we see love demonstrated more than holiness. He touches the untouchable, washes dirty feet and mixes with sinners yet he never goes through the ‘normal’ purification rituals practiced in his day. He is not contaminated by what he touches. Instead, what he touches is made clean.

There were many other highlights, and we were very thankful for the privilege of being there, made possible by the generosity of our parish.

Nga manaakitanga ki a koutou katoa (Blessings to all)

Brent