Vicars Letter - 2nd February 2024

Welcome to 2024!
I am excited about another year of working towards the Kingdom of God reaching our neighbourhood, world and our friends.

This year at All Saints we are focussing on our third value: Authentic Community. But what does it mean?

Authentic is about being real. We don't want to pretend that we are something we are not. We don't want to hide from the fact we are all broken and put on some show to seem like we are all together. We also want to honest, trustworthy and show Christ in a good light.

Community means being together, realising we are all in this together and looking out for every one of us. It also means sorting out our problems and issues that we have together, because we are in this together.

I am reminded of the end of Phillippians 2 , after we hear how Christ gave up everything to humbly submit to the cross, Pauls says:

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life.

So as we begin 2024 and lead into this year, doing ministry and working with each other. May we also lean into Authentic Community and be like the Apostles - that although they were very different they banded together and changed the world.

See you Sunday for our last combined Summer service at 10am

Ngā mihi,
Andrew Spence