Thought for the week

Welcome to our services of worship today. Today Luke, our ministry intern, will be doing his first ‘proper’ sermon with us (he shared his  testimony back in January as part of the Legacy series). This will become a regular part of his life as he develops and hones the skills and practices required for pastoral…

This weekend Brent, Luke, Andrea and myself have been travelling to Kaikōura for the Alpine Presbytery Gathering. While much of the business of Presbytery is conducted by Presbytery Council, and the Presbytery committees, once or twice a year we gather together for inspiration, big-picture thinking, and necessary business. This time around both the inspiration and big-picture…

Sorely Tested  Jesus was sorely tested through 40 days of mounting pressure brought on by hunger, thirst, and demonic taunting. We too, in these last few years, have experienced the cumulative impact of one test after another. Add up the global financial crisis, Christchurch earthquakes, mosque attack, COVID pandemic, housing crisis, war in Ukraine, impending…

It’s with great pleasure today that we celebrate the commissioning of Luke Blackbeard as our ministry intern for the next 2 years. Welcome Luke! Welcome Teresa! Welcome Sophie! Welcome Jonathan! It’s so good to have you with us. As we welcome Luke and his family amongst us, it is humbling to remember that none of this…

We resume our regular services today at both sites after 5 weeks of combined services. It has been lovely to worship in one place over the summer but it is equally special to have the 2 styles of worship service available and I know many appreciate the ascetics of the Trinity church. It is also great to…

Kia ora tautou Presbyterian Church whanau! Waitangi Day comes this year at a time when co-governance is a hot topic. We have a new Prime Minister preparing for an election year and many of us are lamenting the vitriol meted out to Jacinda Ardern by a small but vocal group within our community. We have…

Christmas is almost upon us! I’m very much looking forward to our Christmas services: Heiligabend, 6pm on Sat 24th Candlelit Carols, 11:30pm on the 24th, both at Trinity Christmas Day service, 10am at St Stephens I’ll be at all of these services, how about you? Unfortunately I’m going to have to miss the remembrance service in…

Welcome to our services today on the third Sunday in Advent, the theme of which is Joy. Over the years I have used a resource from the Church of Scotland called Spill the Beans which gives sermon suggestions, prayers, hymns and children’s   activities tied to the common lectionary readings. It’s a very helpful resource to…

This week I had the privilege of helping Andrea, Joy & Jo begin to decorate the windows of the St. Stephens foyer for Advent. At first, I admit, I was a trifle curmudgeonly. “Why bother making all of this effort, when we’ll just have to put it away again in a few weeks?” But, pretty soon,…

Last week Rory and I attended the One Conference in Wellington, held at the beautiful and historic St Johns in Willis St. The conference brought together ministers and leaders from across our PCANZ family for encouragement, networking and resourcing. Unlike General assembly, there were no business sessions, motions to pass or policies to approve. This…