Greetings from the Vicar General, Mark Barlow.
My dear sisters and brothers,
This is a week of celebrating our animals and all the joy they bring! Come along with your beloved pet[s] to Christ Church Cathedral from Monday, 29 September to Friday, 3 October for a tour inside with a professional photo, and an optional blessing. Bookings via Humanitix. A special service will wrap-up Pet Week celebrating St Francis of Assisi (the Patron Saint of animals) Feast Day behind the fences on Saturday, 4 October at 10.00am — or at the Transitional Cathedral if it rains. Pets are very welcome.
A couple of Sundays ago, I had the distinct blessing and privilege of admitting a long-standing member and dear friend into full communion with the Anglican Church. This isn’t something that we normally do but in this case, it was highly appropriate. Many decades ago, my friend came to the end of his desire and capacity to remain in the denomination of which he was a part. This led to a more creation-centred faith, expressed in the natural world.
Recently, however, my friend chanced to read an article on, of all things, The Shroud of Turin. This piqued his interest to the point of ordering and devouring a book which detailed all of the latest research carried out on the Shroud. As a result of his research, he came to the conclusion that this was indeed the genuine article. Further reflection led him to rediscover his faith and belief that Jesus was and is the crucified and resurrected Son of God and so, in his eighties, and for the first time in over 40 years, my friend received Holy Communion in church on Sunday, 21 September!
This was a joyous occasion for him, the many members of his family who were present, old friends who came along to support him and the whole congregation at Tai Tapu. I had my share of joy as well as I subsequently reflected on the lengths that the Good Shepherd goes to in order to gather lost sheep.
We have received word that the Reverend Eunice Penman has died in hospital in Timaru early this morning. Eunice was a well-loved member of St Philip and All Saints’ Church, Marchwiel. She was ordained as an LSM Priest for Marchwiel Parish in 2007 but has been unable to offer ministry for a number of years due to ongoing health and mobility issues.
I am pleased to announce that the Reverend Kay Webster has been appointed to the position of Senior Associate Priest in the Parish of Fendalton. Kay takes up her new role on Sunday, 25 January 2026.
This Sunday’s gospel has the ‘apostles’ wanting more faith! I can sympathise with them, and particularly when I examine my own track record when it comes down to it. Thankfully, like The Twelve, I don’t really need very much. A tiny morsel, the size of a mustard seed is all that is required. Clearly, the problem that the disciples faced, which may be familiar to us, was not how much they had, but what they did with it.
A few years back, I had a parishioner who had had a massive heart attack. I visited her in the ICU where she was in a coma, on a respirator and not expected to live. As I laid my hand on her to pray, my mustard seed felt very small indeed. My prayer went something like, “Well Lord, my mustard seed is indeed very small, but I am grasping it in my hand and offering it to you on behalf of my friend. Please restore her to her family.” She was in church last Sunday, a picture of robust good health. May we be willing to risk grasping and exercising our mustard seeds, knowing that it isn’t what you have, but what you do with it that counts.
Ven. Mark Barlow
Vicar General