This week’s letter comes from the pen of the Dean Ben Truman and Vicar General Mark Barlow.
Greetings!
Last week was a busy one in the life of the Cathedral as we publicly announced our revised plan for a staged reinstatement of the Cathedral in the Square. “Re:Open“, as we like to call it, gets us back into a 700-seat nave with belltower by the end of 2030. That makes it just in time to mark the 20th anniversary of the ‘quakes and the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the Cathedral. Fittingly, we’re largely following the footprint of the 1881 Cathedral which was opened without the transept and apse.
While it remains a complex and expensive project, I’m delighted that we’ve managed to halve the funding gap to $40-45million, and I’m confident that we’ll achieve that. It’s been heartening to see the positive response from most quarters, including both leading mayoral candidates and a number of council candidates. Please do continue to pray for the project and those leading it. I happened to be in Greymouth last Sunday where the Cathedral and Bishop Peter were prayed for. We are so blessed with the support of so many.
If last week was full, this coming week is no slower as we host all of God’s creation in the Square for Pet Week. It will see 350+ owners with who knows how many pets enter the Cathedral in the Square for a blessing. Each booking comes with a koha to SPCA and many of the guests will bring some pet food to re-stock their foodbank. Registration and more details are elsewhere in this e-Life. I’m rather looking forward to some special guest animals including Willowbank’s Tuatara, some Antarctic huskies, and even the Crusaders’ horses! I know several other ministry units across the Diocese will be holding their own pet-blessing services in this season of creation, and in the lead-up to St Francis’ Day (4th Oct). God bless you in that outreach, and God bless the church cleaners who’ll be dealing with the aftermath!
In the midst of that action, I managed to escape for a week’s holiday and allowed myself to un-plug myself from the horrors of the news in recent weeks. I filled that gap by finishing off Tom Holland’s book, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, and starting Justin Brierley’s The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God. Now, impacted by those books, as I find myself re-connecting with the news, I’m appreciating more and more just what Good News we’ve received and how desperately the world needs it. Truth, beauty and goodness. Peace, hope and love. Mercy. Grace. Lord, may our faithfulness in receiving, living, and sharing your Good News ever increase.
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Reverend Hilary Willett as Vicar of the parish of Hanmer Springs (0.5FTE). Hilary and her family are coming to us from the Diocese of Auckland. She will be inducted on Friday, 12 December.
We are also pleased to note the appointment of Reverend Joan Clark as Associate Priest for Rolleston in the Parish of Lincoln (0.2FTE). Joan’s appointment is effective immediately and back-dated to Monday, 1 September.
Reverend Allan Wasley, a former priest of this Diocese, departed this life on Monday, 22 September following a long period of ill health. Allan served in the parishes of Merivale and Rangiora before moving to the dioceses of Dunedin and finally Nelson. His funeral will be at the Wakefield Worship Centre on Saturday 4 October at 1.30pm.
Anne Brown (widow of Reverend Colin Brown) died peacefully on 21 September at the age of 97. Her funeral will be at St Barnabas, Fendalton Parish on Monday, 29 September at 2pm.
We have noted quite a number of bereavements in recent times, and I encourage us all to uphold in our prayers those who are grieving.
This Sunday, the gospel reading is the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). This is an interesting and challenging story as it raises questions about Jesus’ thoughts on eternity, and justice beyond this life, amongst other matters. My eyes, however, have been drawn to what he has to say about Moses and the Prophets. The inference in the story is that the rich man and his family had access to the Torah and the writings of the Prophets, but disregarded them in favour of sumptuous living.
We live in a society with equally ready access to the Bible, but which has abandoned or disregarded it in favour of other priorities. I have to confess that there are times when I want to pray to God for some sort of spectacular miracle to shake people out of their spiritual torpor. Jesus, wisely, tells us that even such an event would not persuade those who don’t wish to hear. In reality, it is the compelling truth of the gospel that leads to changed lives, especially when lived authentically by those who believe. May the Good News be preached, lived and radically received in our schools, congregations, workplaces and neighbourhoods.
If you aren’t already signed up to Anglican Mission’s “Pray the News” newsletter, I commend it to you as an excellent way to view the week through a Gospel lens. I’ve needed that re-alignment and the renewal of hope as I’ve dipped my toes back into the news this week.
May God bless you in all that you do, and all that you view this week.
Dean Ben Truman and Vicar General Mark Barlow