Vicars Letter 7th February 2025

Rev Guy Benton

Kia ora All Saints 

Guy here this week; this week is our final summer series together at 10 am it has been a joy to see our community continue to gather over the summer for regular services of liturgy, worship, prayer, and teaching. I love that our parish has enough energy, leadership, and passion to make this happen. I look forward to bringing the final message for our summer in the sand series; we will be unpacking the text from Acts 9:1-9 focusing on how the road that leads to God passes through the gateway of Christ. 

Next Sunday - Feb 16th - is our Launch Sunday for the year, each year we start the year with our first regular Central Gatherings, with a particular focus on what we feel like God is saying to us here at All Saints and where we feel like we are going, it is our hope that through this as we journey throughout the year, we have a depth and understanding of why we do what we do. 

Here at All Saints, we have a deeper rhythm of discipleship through our house churches and missional communities, but for some of you, this isn't a touch point; with that being said, we are looking to establish a couple of Lent study groups during the season of Lent. The diocese has put out a Lent study guide for us to use in these groups. If you are interested in joining a Lent study group during the season of Lent, please let us know by filling out this form or from our newsletter; this will help us to know how many groups we will need; we have a number of people who have stuck their hands up to lead these. 

As we set out this year in what I hope will be an exciting year full of surprising God moments, the scripture that continues to prod is from Romans 12:4-5. We are all members of one body, but we come with different skills and talents. Let us lean into what God has called us to be and where we have skills and talents to offer; let us consider where God might be calling us to strengthen or try new things and how we can support one another in this. 

God is at work amongst us; remain faithful to the gospel, and let us see what surprising things happen when we call on the name of Jesus!

Love in Christ,