Update from Bishop Andrew
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70 years young
Kia ora koutou, this past weekend I spent time in Mt Maunganui joining the celebrations at St Peters-by-the-sea as they acknowledged 70 years of that church. It was good to reconnect with past Vicars of that parish, Rev’ds Marie Gilpin and Geoff Crawshaw, who were among those who shared memories of their time in the parish. The liturgy focused on the celebration of the life of the church and our calling as disciples to continue to be bearers of Faith Giving Life. After a glass of bubbly to toast many aspects of parish life we enjoyed a shared meal together in the parish hall.
Archdeacons ahoy!
On Sunday afternoon I gathered with clergy and parishioners from around Tauranga at St George’s, Gate Pā for a service of thanksgiving for the ministry of the Ven Peter Bargh, and to welcome and collate the Ven Christopher Tweddell. The celebrations provided space for acknowledgement for Peter’s ministry and to give our prayerful thanks and support to him as he now focuses his time in ministry on the Parish of Chartwell in Kirikiriroa. We also welcomed Christopher and commissioned him as Ministry Educator and collated him as Archdeacon of Tauranga City and Coast. It was a joyful atmosphere, particularly noted in the quality of the singing and the festive tone of conversations over refreshments following the service. Christopher looks forward to making time to meet clergy and laity around Tauranga and further afield throughout the Bay of Plenty in his education role.
We will collate the Venerable Dr Deborah Broome as Archdeacon at a service of Evensong at Waiapu Cathedral, on Sunday 14 June at 5pm. Everyone is invited and particularly those from within the Archdeaconries in Hawke’s Bay. Clergy please robe in Choir Dress or Alb with green stole.
Ordinations coming up …
We will ordain Donna Cruickshank to the vocational diaconate at a service at Waiapu Cathedral on Saturday 23 May at 2pm. On the eve of the feast of Pentecost we will celebrate the gifts imparted at ordination and celebrate with the Parish of Central Hawke’s Bay, Donna’s calling to this vocational diaconate role. It is an important occasion for clergy of the Diocese of Waiapu to gather in support of the ordinand and recall our vocation and ministry, and for all people of Waiapu to come to celebrate this gift of God’s grace in ministry. Clergy please robe in Alb and red stole.
Standing Committee
Last week our Standing Committee met following on from a busy two-day meeting in the middle of April. The committee are looking deeply into their role of governance and the responsibilities that they have within our Diocese to the various boards, committees and parishes that make up our life together. The two-day meeting canvassed our whakapapa as a Diocese, our structural relationships, the canons - provincial and diocesan - that guide our work, the finances of parishes, risk and audit, and our functioning as a committee, all within a framework of Faith Giving Life. The work of the committee will continue in earnest over the coming months and it is good to see the cohesion and commitment of the committee members to ensuring their work and ministry is done in the best interests of all parts of the Diocese. We will be introducing members of the committee in future editions of eNews and will share more of their work and discussions after they next meet.
Coming up …
This Sunday I’ll be at the Cathedral in the morning and then heading up to Turanganui-a-kiwa for some meetings for most of next week. Most of that time will be spent with Rawhia, Bardia and Archbishop Don, as well as some time catching up with some of the Parish of Gisborne. Then it’s back to Hawke’s Bay for preparation for the ordination on Saturday afternoon.
+Andrew
