Kia ora koutou, Greetings all,
This week I’ve been able to be based in Hawke’s Bay with a variety of meetings across the week from my office. It is good to have the occasional week when I can be based here and reconnect with our teams in the office.
Belinda Barnhill
This week Belinda Barnhill resigned her role to focus on her well-being and journey through final stages of cancer. Belinda is one of our longest serving members of the Shared Services Team and is known to many visitors to our office as the face of welcome to the Diocese. When I started in Waiapu ten years ago Belinda was the Bishop’s PA, a role she had then held for 15 years working with my predecessors and then with me, and for three and a half years prior to that working for the General Synod office. At the end of 2014 Belinda received a diagnosis of cancer, and over the past ten years Belinda has responded to every difficult challenge that cancer has thrown at her with faith, determination, self-belief and grace. We have all admired Belinda’s commitment to continuing to be part of the team in the Diocese over this decade and we will miss her creativity, personality, cheerfulness and faith-filled joy in the team. I was able to spend some time visiting Belinda yesterday at her home where she has the support of her husband Brian and the practical support of Hospice so that she can be cared for well. On Monday next week the team will welcome Belinda back in the office where they will hold a special morning tea to farewell Belinda and give thanks for the enormous dedication that Belinda has given to our Diocese. I know that many, many people around the Diocese have come to know and appreciate Belinda over these years. If you would like to send a message to convey your support and appreciation for Belinda please send it to sandra.gifkins@waiapu.com and Colleen will ensure that it is passed to Belinda.
Pilgrimage to the Anglican Church in Hong Kong 2-15 September
On Monday next week I leave for Hong Kong with Archbishop Don Tamihere and a group of 30 pilgrims from throughout Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa and the Diocese of Polynesia to visit the Anglican Church of Hong Kong. The pilgrimage has been arranged in place of what has become an often experienced visit to the Holy Land, as the conflict there makes it impossible to visit. This pilgrimage will offer opportunities to learn from and understand the Anglican Church in Hong Kong through the lens of indigeneity, exploring sites of significance for the Anglican Church of Hong Kong. The pilgrimage will also include exploring relationships that can support the vision of Oranga Ake o Te Iwi, o Te Ao through theology, education, school exchanges, further pilgrimages and relationships with Anglican communities of faith. I look forward to sharing experiences of this pilgrimage which also includes an online education component to help guide pilgrims to understand the history and context of the church, inform the experiences we have, and guide reflections on the pilgrimage journey.
While I’m away …
During the time I’m on the pilgrimage Sandra Gifkins, my EA, will be reviewing emails and will be able to direct enquiries where possible. I will still be receiving and responding to messages as best I can given the time differences and my Vicar General, Rev’d Robert Kereopa will be on hand for significant matters that arise during my time on pilgrimage. In the first instance, if there are matters arising of urgent concern please contact Sandra, sandra.gifkins@waiapu.com
Strategy Working Group
The strategy working group met last week to further their work following on from a two-day meeting post the Ministry Conference. The group are developing some communication to be shared at the time of Synod which will help tell the story of the Strategy including the Vision, Mission and five priorities. This will be aimed at helping to tell the story of how the vision and strategy will shape and form our life as a Diocese over the next three to five years in a way that is accessible and able to be shared in parishes, services and schools. A part of this work is helping me to formulate membership of the Interim Oversight Group which will help drive and lead this strategy across the Diocese. I’m pleased that the Rev’d Robert Kereopa has agreed to join this Interim Oversight Group to share the work and to take a particular focus with us on the priority of Whakapapa – how we learn to understand and live into our whakapapa as the Diocese of Waiapu.
One of the aspects of feedback I have received on the strategy and vision is a question about the place of Care of Creation, one of the five marks of mission for the Anglican Communion. The strategy and vision for our Diocese sits within the overarching Five Marks of Mission for the Anglican Communion which were adopted in 1984 and revised in 2012 by the Anglican Consultative Council. Our strategy is to continue to hold to those marks of mission as we work out our priorities for the Diocese for the coming season. There are many opportunities for care of creation to be expressed within the priorities that we have set as indeed has happened in the past. To be discipled into faith, to discern a vocation in ministry, to honour our whakapapa, to engage with young people, and to connect with local communities and collaborate on climate projects all provide opportunities to offer up the essential work of committing to safeguarding the integrity of creation and sustaining, renewing the life of the earth.
The Parish of Whakatāne
On Sunday last week I spent the morning with the Anglican-Methodist Parish of Whakatāne where we celebrated the distinctive life of that parish, being a co-operative venture. Rather than a patronal festival day, as there are a variety of saints remembered in that parish, it was chosen as a day to celebrate the distinctive faith community of the parish. The parishioners were in good heart and it was, as always, good to share leading the service with the Rev’d Linda King. One highlight of sorts for me was being asked if I could have my photo with one of the youngest members of the congregation, to which I was happy to oblige. I found out later that the child’s fascination was not so much in having their photo taken with the bishop, but because the bishop appeared to be wearing a paper hat! Well, that’s a new one 😊 We shared an enjoyable time over a meal following the service and I noticed a gentle ease and warmth among parishioners, with space and welcome for visitors too.
There is something so powerful in the welcome that we offer in spaces like that, like our normal Sunday congregations, or other parish gatherings. So powerful to those in need to companionship and with the desire to be somewhere that feels safe and secure. Perhaps for many of us we take for granted the ability to participate in the life of our parish communities as someone who is known and knows others. The experience of a warm, gentle welcome into a safe space helps us to flourish, to experience orange ake. I wonder how the visitors to all our parishes feel as they enter our midst? I’m sure that some of the time we get it right, and on some occasions we miss opportunities to really extend genuine hospitality. Let’s all try to shift the dial so that everyone who comes to our parish gatherings feels safe, welcome and can see the love of God at work in our lives.
St Mary’s ECE, Mt Maunganui
And speaking of warm hospitality, following the news I shared last week about St Mary’s ECE needing to close for urgent structural work, I have been very pleased by the foresight of the Parish Vestry to recognise the potential need for the ECE to have a long-term temporary home. The Vestry agreed last week to extend the offer for the ECE to continue to operate out of the Church and Hall facility for the next six months to allow time for repair work to be undertaken, subject to the MOE approval. This is a very positive and generous act of hospitality to the children, staff and families of the ECE and a wonderful recognition that this is truly part of the fabric of the parish.
Please continue to uphold Pihopa Ngarahu in your prayers as his recovery progresses, and also extend those prayers to his whanau as they support him and the whanau in Te Manawa o Te Wheke as they too rally around their pihopa.
Take care this week and I look forward to sharing something of the pilgrimage arrival in Hong Kong next week.
Nga mihi,
+Andrew
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