Vicars Letter - 23rd February 2024

Kia Ora All Saints, 


I hope this finds you each well, wherever you are as you read this. We are into the second week of our Lenten journey together. I don’t know about you, but my body doesn’t usually kick into lent until a few weeks in. It’s hard to focus on the significance of honouring this part of our church year so close to the time when our work and school year still feels like it’s getting started. It’s like we are being asked to speed up and slow down all at the same time. 


As most of you hopefully know by now, this year we are going to focus on our core value of “Authentic Community”. And what a beautiful thing to push into as we journey through Lent. Maybe in this way starting our year and the Lenten journey can be compatible. 


In my work outside of All Saints, I spend a great deal of time and conversation on the concept of connection. As human beings we are neurobiologically hardwired for connection; it’s how God made us and our very lives depend on it. And yet so much of our world tries to prevent connection. Busyness, fear, shame, anxiety, and so many more things stand in the way of us connecting with those around us in a real and authentic way. This is also true for our connection with God. These same barriers stand in the way of us having a constant, deep, and vulnerable connection with God. Brokenness in any relationship is a result of the fall and therefore it makes sense that as we seek to bring about the Kingdom of God around us, it must begin with connection. 


I want to encourage you this week as you continue along your Lenten journey, to consider the idea of connection. What are the barriers standing in the way of connection in your life? What are your hopes for a connected relationship with God and others? If we each do a bit of an examen and reflection on this in our own lives then I can only imagine the potential for the Spirit to move among us as we seek to reflect God’s Kingdom through authentic community this year. 


In Peace, 
Summer