Vicar's Letter - 27th September 2024

Rev Guy Benton

Kia ora All Saints 

Guy here this week. 

What a fantastic weekend we all had at El Rancho for our first Parish camp in a long time!! There was time worshipping together, praying together, receiving input together, having lots of fun together, and overall going slow together. There were lots of special moments; see the camp article to find out more and see pictures. 

As we weaved our way through camp, we experienced beautiful moments of God's Kingdom coming, and hearts being set alight for others to know and interact with God. We spent much time pressing into what it means to imagine prophetically, discerning God's call on our lives, and what it means to let the Holy Spirit permeate our imagination and heart. 

Something that pressed firmly on my heart as the weekend went on was that there is a role for us all to play in this community, but before we get to that point, we must be able to articulate that it is only by the gift of grace that we have a relationship with Christ, not through anything that we do. From that place, we realize the transformation in our lives. We choose to be obedient and serve. We spoke of the powerful roles in our community: Apostles, Evangelists, Pastors, Prophets, and Teachers. There is a role for us all. But not in our strength but in his. With a heart to see others' lives transformed in the power of Christ. So, as we walk forward in this world together, let us imagine and dream with one another and Christ about how we can participate in the coming of God's kingdom here on earth as in heaven. 

An important update for this week is that we have both of our central gatherings this Sunday, 9 and 10:30am (NOT GO SUNDAY), Go Sunday has been moved to 27th October for our Light Party. 

This week, we are starting our new series from the book of Revelation as we head towards the end of our Authentic Community focus for the year. 

Save the dates

Light Party - 27th October 
AGM Combined service- 17th November 
Start of Advent - 1st December

Much love to you all,