Vicar's Letter - 25th October 2024

Rev Summer Benton

Kia Ora All Saints Whānau, 

We missed being with you all last Sunday. Guy, Adam DeJong (our amazing synod rep), and I spent the weekend with many others from our diocese at St. Mary’s Karori where we all gathered for our 2024 Diocesan Synod. There was a fair amount of meeting time filled with business and governance matters that may not always thrill most of us. But it was also a beautiful time of fellowship and connection with our greater diocesan whānau. There is something so powerful about these reminders that we are a part of something greater than our individual contexts. We are a part of the body of Christ and that body is not simply a figurative illustration for the worldwide church. It’s a literal description of what it means to all be in this together. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like a synod meeting to make me thankful there are other parts of the body that are gifted in the areas that I’m not! If you want to learn more about synod and the discussions had there, check out this article from Movement Online. 

At All Saints we have been journeying together throughout this year exploring what it means to be the body of Christ – what authentic community is. One of the practical things I found myself pondering over the weekend is what it looks like to live into that wider than All Saints. What does it look like to truly operate as a body of Christ? I think there’s so much we could explore, but what feels clear to me is that it starts with shifting our posture to begin to see ourselves as a part of something bigger. God is doing incredible things at All Saints; let’s share those stories with other parts of the body. God is doing miracles and answering prayers for others who are ministering in different contexts; let’s find spaces to hear what God is doing and pray for our brothers and sisters who are sharing Jesus in their neighbourhoods. 

Perhaps one of the most beautiful celebrations of this in our diocese is our ordination and celebration service on the 23rd of November. And this year we have the opportunity to go in support of Cassandra who is responding to God’s call on her life through ordination to the transitional Diaconate. I would encourage you all to come along to that, support Cassandra well, celebrate with others responding to similar calls, and rejoice in all that God is doing in our diocese. Read all the details here 

​This Sunday is one of our big opportunities at All Saints to engage with our local community and share Christ’s love with those in Hataitai and Kilbirnie. If you haven’t already signed up to participate, please do by clicking here to join 

Let’s turn up for our community on Sunday and our Diocesan family on Nov 23rd, and let us keep rejoicing together in the hope we share in the Risen Christ. 

Ngā Mihi Nui, 
Summer