Five years ago tonight we gathered in the Cathedral in the Square for the Synod service.  Afterwards we had sandwiches and coffee back at the Allan Pyatt building on a floor that had become vacant and was available.  I remember setting my alarm clock for an early hour so I would be ready for the business of Synod the next morning.  But like most of you I was rudely awakened by the 7.1 earthquake, centred in Darfield, which began a journey that has brought us to this Transitional Cathedral tonight.  

Scripture is full of stories of journeys.  There is the wandering in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. Sometimes our experience of 12,000 earthquakes and aftershocks have seemed more like wandering in the wilderness than seeking and striving for a pre-determined destination.  There also is the story of Jacob leaving home under rather dubious circumstances, stopping and using a stone for pillow.  He dreams of a ladder reaching to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it.  In the New Testament there is the Resurrection appearance of Christ in the story of the disciples’ journey on the road to Emmaus. 

In every journey, the stewardship questions...

In every journey in Scripture there are at least two aspects:  there is  the destination and there is the way people behave, learn and grow on the journey itself.  In the wandering in the wilderness there was muttering; with Jacob there was a realisation that God was present in the most unlikely places; and  on the Road to Emmaus there was, for a while, the inability to recognise the presence of the Risen Christ walking alongside Cleopas and his companion.

I believe every journey challenges the traveller with stewardship questions.  Do you travel light or do you carry everything imaginable with you?  Do you share what you have, or do you tend to hoard?  Is your journey about self care or care of the community? I have to say that no one has done better in caring for their neighbour than the Christchurch Community Response, also known as CCR.  Beginning pre-earthquake with the relationship between St Christopher’s, Avonhead, and the parish of St Ambrose, Aranui Wainoni, the CCR volunteers have door knocked and shown the love of Christ across the entire city.  Such is the respect for CCR that it is fully funded through June 2016 by the Red Cross.  Well done good and faithful servant Janette Sprott and your large band of volunteers!  Another community initiative is the Selwyn Centres which the Diocese funds thanks to a grant from the Selwyn Foundation in Auckland.  I want to say thank you to Archdeacon Anne Russell-Brighty for the Elder Care Project Report and the Selwyn Centres.

The joy of being generous

In the 2009 -2014 Strategic Plan, Faithful Stewardship is named as one of our Diocesan priorities.  This year Standing Committee decided to uphold the same 3 priorities as a Diocese.   It is the priority of faithful stewardship that I ask we focus on in 2016.  Dr Peter Carrell and Bishop Helen Ann Hartley are just completing a  study book on Stewardship that will be ready for parishes and study groups for Lent.  But that is only part of the picture.  The time has come to focus and become seriously committed about stewardship of the environment; stewardship of our faith; and stewardship of our buildings and finances. In recent years too many of our parishes have balanced the books by deferring maintenance.  That is poor stewardship.  In the 2009 Strategic Plan only two things were changed from what was presented at the special Synod.  One of the two was removing the intention that a personal tithe was what we wanted to aim for as disciples in this diocese.  I have to say that seven years later the giving in the Diocese is no better than it was in 2009.  In fact some parishes which were recording a surplus then are now in a deficit position as they enter the year.  I recognise that the earthquakes have taken their toll and I have huge compassion for those disadvantaged by the years of rocking and rolling around the clock.  However not every one is in that situation and the question remains whether we give to God from our abundance or from what is left over at the end of a pay period.  I do not think pressuring people to give financially to the church gives God glory, but I do know that there is great joy in being a generous giver.  Try it, you might like it!

Green shoots

In terms of stewardship of our physical plant across the Diocese, we will hear from CPT about the recovery programme progress, and at the end of the service I have news about the progress on the ChristChurch Cathedral building.  Several other parishes are in search mode for clergy with the Boards of Nomination working overtime. I will be most pleased to announce the appointment of the new Dean of this Cathedral also at the end of the service.  On behalf of us all, thank you Nick Mountfort for being a fine Acting Dean.  As we look ahead, I am pleased to report that we continue to have young people as well as mature candidates for ordination.  Our six students at St John’s College are doing very well as are the students in Christchurch and environs studying theology by distance at Otago; our students at Laidlaw College in Christchurch; and the two students we have resident in Dunedin studying theology.  Each year we have an inquirers’ evening, and with huge help from the Rev Joshua Moore, I host a couple of dinners each year for young adults who we believe might have a vocation to ordination, the religious life or overseas missions.  They are inspiring events and I am impressed by the ability of these young adults to articulate what God is doing in their life.  I do ask clergy and laity of the ministry units of this Diocese to watch for possible vocations in the pews.  Thank you Phil Trotter, the Pakeha Youth Consultant for the NZ Dioceses, for sowing the seeds and tending the soil for youth ministry in this Diocese and thank you to Sammy Mould who continues to harvest and plant for the future..

The need to reach marginalised youth

If tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the earthquake chapter of our lives in Canterbury, last Christmas marked the 200th anniversary of the preaching of the Gospel by Samuel Marsden and Ruatara, in New Zealand.  The challenge of course is to bear fruit to the glory of God as we move into the next century.  In this Diocese we are better at talking about evangelism than actually sharing the Good News and I again ask that ministry units try to exercise good stewardship of the faith by gossiping the Gospel.  In this Diocese we have eight schools that are Anglican and the best youth and young adult programmes offered in any diocese in New Zealand.  However the majority of churches I attend have very mature congregations so one has to ask whether what we are offering is really feeding the spiritual needs of younger population let alone attracting them. I am well aware that one type of worship does not suit everyone in any demographic but it would be good to hear of more worship services with youth and young families. One aspect of the harvest of the proclamation of the Gospel in 1814 is the growth of social justice and service initiatives. But we also still have a long ways to go.  We are not presently engaged via Anglican Care with youth care initiatives such as the ‘one stop shop’ Youth Hub organised by Dr Sue Bagshaw.  Wouldn’t it be great if we were?  We have the City Mission, we have the Anglican Care Community Development projects and we have the living wage project and Oceans programme in South Canterbury.  The residential Aged Care we offer is for both low and high income brackets.  But none of these actually reach out to marginalised youth.  I have to ask why do we allow such an omission  to continue? The Churchill rest home which was demolished following the February earthquake was originally an orphanage. Is it not time to invest again in young people who are struggling to find their feet and have their whole lives ahead of them? I am very pleased we have Rosee Neville helping us as the Child Poverty Solutions Advocate but I think we need both strategy and hands-on ministry.  Caring for the least, the lost and the last is integral to the Gospel vision of both Samuel Marsden and Bishop Selwyn.

No to museums, yes to abundant life...

The Gospel passage we heard proclaimed tonight is of course part of the Prologue of John.  It reminds us who we are in Christ and who we are called to be.  It speaks of the extraordinary love of God who became human that we might become Godly.  “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1.16).  We live in a world desperate for the Gospel and are surrounded by people who thirst for love and compassion.  The call to be diligent  stewards means caring for the human population across the world; to love your neighbour as yourself.  This part of the journey does not go back 5 years to an earthquake or 200 years to a sermon on the shores of Oihi Bay but over 2000 years to when God entered this world as an infant, to show us how to live and die and live eternally.  The incarnation is our identity and dignity as both human beings and as disciples of Christ.  If we are secure in our identity in Christ then I truly believe no earthquake or other disaster (including the debate over the Cathedral in the Square) can make us lose our way. We are Jesus people and because Jesus loves every person, we are called to do the same.  We know there are forces that want to turn the churches, especially the pretty ones, into museums, but that is not the journey we are on.  Ours is a living, loving faith that brings liberation and abundant life (John 10.10).

"Wash feet, and share the word of life"

To conclude, let me again welcome you all as fellow pilgrims on a sacred journey.  We need each other and most of all we need our Saviour Jesus Christ.  He has invited us to this feast tonight but He does ask that we do not come thinking only of ourselves. Come praying for those suffering from the drought in South Canterbury, for the hundreds of thousands of refugees whose journey of escape is fraught with peril; for our friends and neighbours on the Pacific Islands where climate change is forcing people to exit their home because of rising seas.  Come to the Table of the Lord remembering the youth who have no home to go to tonight and the children who go to bed hungry; remember those whose homes and businesses are still damaged and unrepaired; remember those who live with severe disability from the February earthquake; and those whose grief over the loss of those who died is like an open wound.  Come and feast with the Lord Jesus Christ, but remember He asks you to do for others what He first did for his disciples: wash feet and share the word of life.  That is our calling on this pilgrimage to the eternal banquet, and we are stewards of each other every step of the journey.

To God be the glory. Amen

+Victoria

Bishop of Christchurch