Vicar’s Reflection: Interruptions and eruptions. Advent 3, 15th December 2019

There are few interruptions in life as dramatic as a volcanic eruption. Even minor interruptions can change the course of lives; the eruptions on Whakaari / White Island last Monday ended live...

Vicar’s Reflection: Martin the Cobbler. Advent 1, Sunday 1 December

Martin, the Cobbler, is a story told by Leo Tolstoy about a poor and lonely shoemaker who is promised in a dream that Christ will come to visit his shop. The next day Martin rises early, gets his shop r...

Vicar’s Reflection: Christ in all Creation, 24th November 2019.

Benjamin Franklin, an early leader of the United States put into verse an older proverb: “For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, / For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, / For the want of a horse the...

Vicar’s Reflection: The full catastrophe! Ordinary Sunday 33, 17th November 2019.

“The wh...

Vicar’s Reflection: Oops! Wrong question! Ordinary Sunday 32,

10th November 2019

A young man and his parents were being shown around a great university campus. They visited the library, various colleges, lecture theatres, the auditorium, and science laboratories. They wa...

Vicar’s Reflection: All Saints’ Day, 3rd November 2019

The first words of the haka are ‘Ka mate! ka mate! ka ora! ka ora! – In other words: this is a matter of life and death. It may be a bit of an exaggeration, even for a World Cup rugby match, but the words are true....

Vicar’s Reflection: On the Shoulders of Giants. St Luke’s Day, 27th October 2019

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” Sir Isaac Newton used this phrase in response to the praise he received for his great contributions to...

Vicar’s Reflection: The Mystery of Healing. Ordinary Sunday 28, 13 October 2019.

We all get sick at times. Thankfully, our bodies have amazing inbuilt healing abilities. Many complex and powerful processes within us restore and maintain our health. Despite this we somet...

Vicar’s Reflection: PEOPLE OF HOPE Ordinary Sunday 27, 6 October 2019.

In the early days of psychiatry as a medical discipline there was a strong belief that human personality was shaped entirely by past events. It was believed that the influence of culture and environm...

Vicar’s Reflection- Responding to Crisis: Ordinary Sunday 25, 22 September 2019.

ERO: These three little letters strike dread into the heart of a school principal. They mean that the Education Review Office, is about to visit and review your school. In the same way fear...