A wise priest once said that children shouldn’t be able to remember the first time they entered a church building; it should be part of their lives from the very beginning. Certainly I can’t remember the first time I went into a church. But I can remember the first time I went on to a living marae and into a living wharenui – ‘great house’ – meeting house, filled with people. It was at Otaki in 1971, as part of a clergy school on Maoritanga. And a rich new world started to open up to me. Read more

Click here for the latest pew sheet: pew sheet 22/11/09

Here are two things: some soil from the community garden at the back of our church, and a communion wafer. Just reflect for a moment on what links there might be between them…..  Now, if I add a third thing, this loaf of bread, does that make a difference to how you might link the soil and the communion wafer? Just reflect for a moment on that…. Read more

Click here for the latest pew sheet: pew sheet 15/11/09

In the late 19th century a postcard came out in Germany that caused people to look twice. It depicted a beautiful young girl with fine features and a bonnet on her head looking away from the viewer. But if you looked closer, focusing on what you may have thought was the girl’s ear, another image came into view. This wasn’t an attractive maiden but an “old hag” with a protruding nose and a tear in her eye. Read more

Click here for the latest pew sheet: pew sheet 08/11/09