Dear Friends,
Last Wednesday evening, it was wonderful to be able to ordain the Reverend Dr Anne Shave as priest in a service at the Transitional Cathedral. Anne’s ministry will continue at the Transitional Cathedral.
On Sunday 7 September, the Reverend Matt Maslin will conclude his ministry at the Transitional Cathedral, and on Tuesday evening, at 7pm in St. Aidan’s, Bryndwr, Matt will be inducted as the new Vicar of the Parish of Bryndwr. This service will be led by Archdeacon Mark Barlow, our Vicar-General. Thank you, Matt, for your ministry in our cathedral and prayerful best wishes for your new ministry role in Bryndwr.
It was a joy to be at St. John’s, Rangiora, on Sunday morning 31 August, for a wonderful combined parish service and Confirmation, and within that service to confirm, Jacob, Twyla, Megan and Joanne.
On Monday it was a privilege to share in the funeral in Cheviot for the Reverend John Hearne. Please continue to pray for Heather and their family as they continue to mourn the loss of their husband, father and grandfather.
Tomorrow, prior to gathering at the Transitional Cathedral for our Synod Eucharist, there is a Rural Ministry Day planned, which will be held at Trinity church, Darfield, with doors open at 9am, prompt 9.30am start, and ending at 3.30pm. This event is for lay and clergy, Anglicans and Presbyterians, those already travelling for Synod, and anyone else interested from rural parishes across the diocese. Please register your attendance here.
Our annual Diocesan Synod begins with the Synod Eucharist tomorrow night at 7pm, Thursday 4 September in the Transitional Cathedral – all are welcome – and continues with our plenary sessions at St. Christopher’s, Avonhead, beginning at 9am Friday 5 and Saturday 6 September. We expect to conclude by 4pm on Saturday afternoon. Your prayers for our Synod are encouraged and appreciated.
On Monday afternoon, Melissa Shoaf, the wife of the Reverend John Shoaf, Vicar of Halswell-Prebbleton, died in Christchurch Hospital. I give thanks for Melissa’s life, her faith and her encouragement to many people, including myself and Teresa. Please pray for John as he prepares for a memorial service in the next week or so.
On Sunday night the Right Reverend Brian Carrell died, peacefully, surrounded by his family. Brian was ordained deacon in 1956 and priest in 1957, by Bishop Alwyn Warren, and served curacies in St. Mary’s Timaru, and St. Matthew’s, St. Albans, before being Vicar of Hororata (1960-65) and Vicar of St. Matthew’s, Dunedin (1965-71). From 1971 to 1982, Brian was General Secretary of the New Zealand Church Missionary Society, based here in Christchurch, and Honorary Assistant in the Parish of Bryndwr, from which licensed role he was elected to the Standing Committee of this Diocese and as a member of General Synod.
In 1982 Brian became Vicar of All Saints, Palmerston North before being elected Assistant Bishop of Wellington in 1991, to serve the northern region of the Diocese, based in Palmerston North. In 1999 Brian and May retired to Christchurch, where they have served the Diocese, and the Parish of Fendalton in various ways. Brian was a member of the Prayer Book Commission from close to its inception in 1964 until its conclusion in 1989 when A New Zealand Prayer Book – He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa was published. Your prayers for May, his wife of 66 years, for their five children and their families, would be much appreciated as we mourn his loss and prepare for his funeral at 10.30am, Monday 8 September 2025, in the Transitional Cathedral, Hereford Street, Christchurch. All are welcome to this service.
Some further information is available about the Diocesan Missions events planned for 27 September and advertised elsewhere in e-Life: there will be two events that day, in Ashburton and Merivale. Both will share the same programme, so that people in different parts of the Diocese can more easily participate. Each event will hear from the Reverend David Dell and the Reverend Luca Tovey-Duckworth from Anglican Missions. As well as an update on mission matters, Luca will share some material presented recently at The Abbey.
This coming Sunday, 7 September 2025 is Ordinary 23, and the Gospel reading is Luke 14:25-33. This passage is a stringent examination of our profession to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Are we committed? For how long? To what depth of our being? With a will to give up all things for Jesus?
Arohanui,
+Peter.