Kia ora, All Saints

If you are anything like me, you hate waiting! Like, I really mean it, I hate waiting. I remember as a kid at Christmas being unable to control the excitement and nerves of Christmas day and the thought of opening my presents. Waiting for school exam results, for which I dread, waiting for the birth of our children, waiting for my coffee order, waiting for people to write back amidst conflict, and there are many more, but suffice to say, I hate waiting. 

And yet here we find ourselves on the eve of Advent looking to adopt that exact posture just as all the generations of God's people have done before us since the very beginning, since the fall of our first parents, and God made a promise that would permanently orient his people towards the future. And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel. (Gen 3:15)

In Short, the promise of a coming conquering son. 

Since then, God's people have been waiting. Lemach, who has Noah (Gen 5:29), who waits (Gen7:6), Arbaham waits (Gen 12:2; 15:4; 17:16) (Gen 21:1-3), Isaac has to wait (Gen 25:20-26), Jacob waits years for Rachel, only to end up marrying Leah from the line of Judah (the promised line) (Gen 29:20-30; Gen 29:35; 49:10), Naomi waits with Ruth for Boaz, from whom comes Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David (Ruth 4:18-22). Hannah endures years of barrenness before she receives Samuel (1 Sam 1:1-20), the one who anoints David as God's chosen King (1 Sam 167:10-13). David's accession doesn't come immediately; he has to wait (2 Sam 5:4). And of course, God's promise to David that his son would sit on the throne forever isn't fulfilled until Jesus (2 Sam 7:12-16), some 1000 years later. 

We have been waiting since the beginning. And we continue to wait. 

We are what we call between two Advents. That Christ has come in Jesus, but is yet to come again as promised to restore and heal the world back to himself. 

So we find ourselves with the reading from Matthew 24:36-44 this week. Advent week one, Hope, watchfulness, waiting! 

I encourage you to read through this passage between now and Sunday and ask the Lord to speak to you. 

How are you at waiting? And what are you waiting for? 
We are reminded of Jesus promise through the apostle Paul He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)

I look forward to gathering with you all on Sunday for worship together at 9 am and 10:30 am. 

In a spirit of waiting, I would like to encourage you all if you are able to pick a day over the next week to fast and pray for our three young people (Alice, Micah and Luke) who are being baptised on Dec 7th at 10:30 am. You might like to pick a day from post-dinner to dinner the next day, to pray and intercede on their behalf. You might find the Lord gives you a word for them. Feel free to write it down and bring it with you on Dec 7th, or email it to me, and I will collate it for the participants. 

We have all our Christmas information available in our newsletter and on our website now, if you would like to share it with friends. 

A reminder that we have 9 am and 10:30 am each week until Dec 21st, then we have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Gatherings. 

Summer series gatherings start Dec 28th through till Feb 8th - combined short liturgical service at 10 am each week.

Much love, 

Kia ora, All Saints

My heart has been sitting a little wearier than normal this week. There is a chance its that there are a bunch of things swirling in my wider family circles that feel hard, Friends who are having a hard time, The world is in a tough position, I'm in a season of personal growth which is always powerful and beautiful but brutal at the same time, I hazard a guess too that there is something in our annual calendar as we near the end of the year towards the Christmas season and the summer season that we start to feel weary. But amid the weary, we sense hope, even if it's just in the Sun, or a break from work, or a holiday to a faraway place, we are starting to wake up with hope. 

I love that at the same time as I experience these feelings, we also head into Advent together as we walk towards the greatest hope there is in Jesus! 

Advent is that beautiful season of walking alongside one another as we prepare to celebrate the great hope of God coming to us in the flesh as Jesus. 

I was reading a book the other day titled The Intimacy Deficit by Ed Shaw. There is this beautiful moment where we is unpacking intimacy with God and the real idea that we have now more than ever unfiltered access to Christ through his Spirit, which takes on a whole different level when coupled against that statement we have all made at some stage of, if only I was around when Jesus was around what would it have been like to have been with him. Don't get me wrong, it would have been AMAZING!!! But think for a second. In those spaces of our lives when it's really hard! The MRI chamber, your bed late at night, at your family's house in the midst of conflict or relational reconciliation, the living, breathing, incarnate Jesus wouldn't be able to be there all the time. Yet now he is! Always, living and working through the Spirit. Now it's not lost on me that a physical person is powerful, but that's what we are all for, for one another! to hold, to support, to challenge, to encourage, cry with and laugh with. The Spirit is at work more now than ever in our lives. Are we up for it?! John 14:16

As we walk towards Christmas together through Advent, let us walk with one another as we gather weekly to keep our eyes fixed on the incarnate Jesus, but let us not forget that the beauty of the Gospel is that Christ is still alive amongst us today. Hallelujah. 

A reminder that we now have our Christmas gatherings up on our website for you to check out and invite your friends and family to. If you are able to help out at all with Christmas Gatherings, please reach out to Cassandra. 

From Nov 23rd to Dec 21st, we have central gatherings every week until Christmas, at 9 am and 10:30 am. Each year, we gather back together for the season of Advent and Christmas. 

Dec 7th, we have a number of young people being baptised at our 10:30 Central Gathering. We would love as many of you as possible to come. 

Much love, 

Kia ora, All Saints

We are heading into what is sometimes called "Ordination Season" in our diocese at this time of year. Of course, what we mean by that is it's around this time of year that those who have been discerned for ordination to either the diaconate or priesthood are ordained either in their local context or at the cathedral. You can have a look at all those who are being ordained here.

One that always pops up for me as this time draws closer, as I walk with you in our community who are responding to God's nudge in your own life around ordination and leadership, is this: the role of a priest is to Gather, Equip and Send out. I love this! I live for this!

The piece that has been really present for me is the word Equip. What does it mean for us as a community to be equipped to equip each other? This may mean many different things for each of us, but I would love to hear your feedback. Let me try to articulate what I think it means. To equip is to enable people in their spiritual walk with Christ to understand and stand on the power of Scripture, the gospel message, and to deepen and engage deeply in prayer with Christ, both in their own lives and the lives of others. To encourage, support and challenge one another in our daily walks with Christ in a way that leads us towards freedom in Christ. In deepening and equipping one another in our own walks with Christ, in turn also equipping ourselves to share about what that is and why it's transforming.

Ephesians 4:12-16

12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

What does it mean for us here at All Saints to be a part of our equipping journey? Who are you being equipped by? Who are you equipping?

A couple of notices to point you towards this week.

Welcome to our new Parish Council for 2026/27

Vicar's Warden - Chris Worsley
People's Warden - Rebekah Butterfield
Lay Synod Representative - Cara Brown
Parish Council

• Eric Verner
• Dan Sims
• Casey Pickett
• Adrain Hendry
• Jonathan Peacey
• Hayley Denoual

This Sunday is our last House Church Sunday for the year. Pray for our House Churches as they gather together formally for the last time, after which we will resume our meetings in the room at 9 am and 10:30 am until Christmas.
Advent starts on November 30th where we prepare ourselves for retelling the Christmas story and all the hope that points to.

We will shortly send out an email asking those of you who are around for Christmas and able to help out with serving at our Christmas and Summer gatherings. Cassandra is leading Christmas this year as Summer, the kids, and I are heading to America for our three-yearly Christmas visit, plus the joy of attending a family wedding. We will deeply miss you all over this time, but are so proud that we as a community are able to hold each other and lead each other at different times.

Much love, 

Kia ora, All Saints

This week, as part of some time spent learning and listening to a series called the Art of Teaching, I found myself in the book of Ezra, a fairly short book in the middle of the Old Testament. I was struck by this piece of scripture that describes Ezra, Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.

What struck me was the simplicity yet power of this way of life. Studying the scriptures, living them out and then teaching them to others. 

I would argue that the world has cultivated two ways of "following Christ": one is to believe in Christ, but leave it at that, and carry on as you are. Or you believe in Christ and reorient your entire life, becoming a disciple of Him, spending more time with Jesus, becoming like Him, and doing as He did. 

Are you a disciple of Christ? Are you doing all you can to follow him? When we have a moment to think about anything, what is it that we think about? Are we spending time with him? Are we learning more about who he is and what he's like? Are we to do as he did? 

If you are still with me and haven't completely jumped ship yet, praise God, then let's get excited together. All Saints is really looking forward to what next year will bring with regard to our collective spiritual formation. Not just Sundays but deep, consistent, clear pathways of formation for all of us as we walk together in the kingdom of God, in the light of the liberation, freedom and hope in and of unity with Christ that we all know something of. 

This week is our second AGM for the year, where we present reports and financials from the year for you to look at. We also then vote for our parish council based on all those who have been nominated for PC. 

A reminder that we have our 10 am Combined service this week, we will then move into lunch together, lunch is provided for you, and once we have all grabbed our lunch, we will begin our AGM. 

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ring or email me.

Much love,