Sermons
From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
January 2012
29 January
What brought you here?
Fifty one years ago today, I was brought as a three-week old baby to Nelson Cathedral for my baptism, presented by my parents at the temple if you like...
Paul and Me – our Call
Paul was on the road to Damascus when God stopped him in his tracks, and I was driving along King St in the South Canterbury town of Temuka, when God stopped me...
The Rt Revd Thomas Brown
22nd January
Your story my story, your heart my heart
‘Change’ is the word linking all three readings; but not change for its own sake, but change that is truly transformative, grounded, that is, in God’s promise of a new world, driven by passion for justice & fullness of life for all...
15th January
Get your 3D glasses on!
This was the first time I'd experienced a movie in 3D, wearing those highly unattractive 3D glasses...
8th January
Christ be our Light!
Epiphany – the word conjures up the exotic, the mysterious ...
1st January
What's in a name?
What’s in a name? Liam and Charlotte are listed as the favourite names for babies born in New Zealand in 2010
December 2011
25 December
God pitched his tent
Apparently there are 2 types of families in New Zealand - those who go camping, and those who are very thankful that they don’t ...
18 December
God of surprises
This year the billboard is simply an image of Jesus’ mother, Mary, hand over her mouth, looking at a home pregnancy test kit revealing that she is pregnant...
11 December
Travelogue of a Faith traveller
This sermon is a travelogue, but with a difference; the difference being how I see things ....
Who are you?
Now that you have worked out your answers to the question “Who are you?” let’s take a look at today’s Gospel reading ...
4 December
On the Threshold
We are into the December weeks of the year and I find the sense of being surrounded by endings and new beginnings is inescapable...
The Ven. Judith Hardie
Keep calm and carry on
Keep calm and carry on - we sure needed to hear it last night with that rather impressive jolt...
November 2011
27 November
Think Global, Act Local
It came clear to me that our world is now afflicted with three interlocking crises ....
20 November
Working for Families
Nothing, it seems, gets Christians as fired up and engaged in the arena of politics as issues involving familial relationships...
The great divide
It’s happened again! Two days before one of the most disturbing Gospel readings of the year is read...
19 November
Ordination
Sermon preached by the Revd John Hughes, Vicar of Karori, at the ordination in the Cathedral of 16 deacons and 10 priests by Bishop Thomas Brown
13 November
Crime and Punishment
Crime and punishment is one of the most controversial issues in New Zealand today...
Talent Quest
We can easily fall into this rewards/punishment, pass/fail mentality when we look at today's parable from Matthew's gospel, the very well-known but easily misinterpreted Parable of the Talents...
6 November
Kiwis in Godzone
When did I first realise that I was a Kiwi, a New Zealander, from this land, and not another? Was it when I first left these shores a week after I'd left school...
Oil of Wisdom
"If you wish to be wise, attend to the experiences of daily life, and in them seek after God." ....
October 2011
30 October: All Saints
I am confused
I am confused. Following weeks of pseudo-religious advertising, inviting us to enter Rugby Heaven ...
For all the saints
As we heard that wonderful description from the book of Revelation of the great multitude that noone could count, worshipping before the throne of God, I couldn't help but think back to that other crowd and victory parade this week, as 100,000 (was it?) Wellingtonians lined the streets...
23 October
Remember your Creator
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Well, there may be not a few Kiwis, young and old, remembering their Creator tonight, and sending up a few prayers on behalf of the All Blacks...
On electing a leader
In five weeks’ time we will have elected a new government and prime minister. In five months’ time we will have elected a new bishop ...
16 October
A saint for our day
Last weekend a little man with an enormous heart celebrated his 80th birthday ...
Taxing Questions
Nothing is certain in this world except death and taxes...
9 October
Baptised into Christ
Two men have a chance encounter on the road. It leads to the baptism of one, and the affirmation of a ministry for the other ...
Earth's fragile beauties
In your hands this morning is a new hymn written in 2005 by the Dean of Canterbury....
2 October
Twelve Billion Trees
Twelve billion trees! The figure jumped out ....
Tick the boxes
'Ticking the boxes' is what our readings today could seem to be all about...
September 2011
25 September
Blasphemy, Heresy or Scandal?
Blasphemy, heresy, scandal - they are all words that have been bandied about this week to describe the 'Jesus is an All Black' rugby player icon...
That Icon
If Jesus were on Earth today, would he be a rugby player? I have to say ....
19 September
Canon Jim Pether RIP
For the past seven years I have had the privilege of celebrating the Eucharist first thing on Wednesday morning in the Lady Chapel in this Cathedral.
11 September
The t(r)ies that bind
Well, after Friday night's Rugby World Cup opening ceremony, nobody can say we can't turn on a good welcome!...
That was then - this is now
Ten years today ago the world stopped and watched in horror as first one, then two, airliners ....
4 September
Faith@Work No. 2: The Legal Profession
Two lawyers speak about their life of work and faith
Where two or three...
Matthew seems to set out for his community a formula, a manual of discipline, a process that looks to us like it could be an absolute minefield if actually put into practice...
August 2011
28 August
Public Theology
One of the things that concerns me about public life today is how shallow many of our debates are.
Prof Andrew Bradstock, (Howard Paterson Professor of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago)
21 August
Faith @ Work: The Education Sector
They all have a common thread: I didn’t think I was any good. I thought I was thick. I hated school. I was a loser...
Nicola Marshall and Christine Nelson
Midwives of the future
Leadership - what's it worth? The front page of Saturday's DomPost expressed this is in a way that couldn't be more stark...
14 August
Strangers now are friends
The Tampa Boys - the large majority are now well-educated, working hard, seeking to build lives and families and to contribute to this country's future...
Taking Offense: Delicious but Deadly
... But taking offense can be a very delicious delicacy indeed. For the ‘taking of offense’ gives us something to build community with: we connect with others as we share with them our feeling of being scandalised ....
The Very Revd Dr Peter Catt, Dean of Brisbane
7 August
Take heart, it is I
There’s a glorious sense of freedom as I stay upright on two wheels for the first time ever. But then there’s the tree. It’s coming at me. My arms lock. I can’t turn. I can’t stop.
July 2011
31 July
Enough already - and more than enough
How right it seemed that the funeral procession for a young Muslim girl killed in the tragedy was led by both an imam and a priest, walking together, saying Enough already...
24 July
The human face of the church
I had the privilege last week of spending half a day out at the Common Life Missions Conference of our church at Waikanae...
The kingdom is like...
So where is Jesus coming from? Basically from a lived experience of God as incredibly prodigally unlimitedly – even wastefully - generous and good...
17 July
You are not welcome!
But perhaps the most crass and in your face example of the way the world we live in is constantly on the lookout for the unwanted and unwelcome was the headline on last Tuesday’s ...
3 July
Joy in Jericho
We went to visit Zaccheus' sycamore tree - THE tree you understand! It was doing fine, and someone was very keen to sell us posters and postcards of it!...
Three things I ask
It is with mixed feelings that I come here tonight. I come bringing you greetings from your sister Cathedral in Wellington, and to assure you of our continued prayers for you as a Cathedral community, and for the city and people of Christchurch as a whole....
Yes or NO
In a world where there are so many choices to make, and so many voices calling out, “Choose me, Choose me!” how do we make choices ...
June 2011
26 June
Thanks and Praise
Constitutions and Tikanga, Covenants which include and exclude, filioques inserted into Creeds: in the end the question is simple.
Is my life an offering of thanks and praise to God?
One of these little ones
But you may think that's nothing compared with the horror of our reading from Genesis today...
19 June
OMG
Oh My God! I wonder when was the last time you heard that said?...
Cultivating Christians
The choice of the word cultivating is quite intentional; and involves far more ...
12 June
Embers and Dandelions: Finding God in all Things
Sociologists talk about dandelions and embers. What they mean is that elements of religion blow beyond the world of church...
Church on Fire!
Church on fire! For us in Wellington at the moment, that headline is a bad news story...
5 June
Christus Victor
Is Christ the great sky king, far away, up there somewhere?...
Sunday after Ascension with Baptism
We all know how hard it is to wait for something when you only know it will happen sometime soon...
The Revd Alison Camplin
May 2011
29 May
New heavens and a new earth
Ideas about death and heaven which are current in society and in the church and which we come across at funerals - what are these saying about our Christian beliefs about death, resurrection, and life after death?
Journey in - Journey out
The snippet of St John’s Gospel read today is also part of that journey inwards ....
22 May
Dwelling among us
Is the end of the world imminent, even if Pastor Harold Camping got the date wrong?
So what's the story?
We only look at one bit of the story each Sunday. Yes, we can see the whole in a fragment; but the danger of this itsy-bitsy approach is that it can leave us with little or no grasp of what the whole thing adds up to...
16 May
Wall St & the Global Financial Crisis
A lecture in Wellington by the Revd James Cooper, Trinity Church, Wall St, New York
The Revd James Cooper
15 May
Social networking
As I was reflecting on the ministry of the Companions, particularly those of you from other parishes in the Diocese who express in this way your support for and interest in the Cathedral, I got to thinking about what gifts you bring and what gifts you receive through this partnership...
It's all pretty fabulous!
...And finally, somewhere in all this, I am only beginning to discover who Jesus really is, and why I will never be the same.
It’s all pretty fabulous really!
8 May
An Icon in Music
You have often talked about music as an icon – needing to be so good that it draws people to God ...
Farewell Speech Michael Fulcher Organist & Director of Music
I wanted to say a few words of thanks on this my last Sunday as Organist and DOM of the Cathedral. I have enjoyed so many aspects of my role here...
The Emmaus of Reconciliation
What is important in the Emmaus story is not knowing the exact place that the couple were going to, but rather what happened to them on the way...
1 May
Agreement with Death Disannulled
The message of Easter is that this covenant with death - this complicity with death, dying, deadness, the pseudo-gods that rule so many lives - is broken, disannulled once & for all.
Doubting Thomas
I always feel sorry for Thomas because I believe he has bad press. Thomas is remembered for his questioning, his lack of faith and his doubt...
The Revd Alison Camplin
April 2011
24 April Easter Day
The tears of Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of the group of women who were privileged to be the first witnesses of the resurrected Christ...
Credo - I believe
The choice you made this morning invites you to join Brother Thomas and say: Credo - I believe.
22 April
Good Friday: The Mystery of Salvation
A series of sermons preached at the Three Hour Vigil before the Cross.
17 April
Walking into Holy Week
...On another level, it brings us right into the present and the numbers 2011 are painted on it – as is a frieze around the top depicting the now collapsed bell tower of Christchurch Cathedral...
10 April
Lamentations
Times of great celebration or suffering often evoke and promote an outpouring of wonderful words...Poetry, music and art are the beneficiaries – as is religious faith...
Standing, Touching, Prophecying
After a quake, one thing is obvious: some people, some buildings, remain standing; others not ...
3 April
Seventy new Toys
Tonight’s rather long readings leave us uncomfortable and challenged....
Facebook - brave new world?
I finally caved in this week and signed up with Facebook - and depending on your attitude to social networking tools such as Facebook, you'll either say What? Or, Whatever took you so long?!
March 2011
27 March
- Note: No sermon was preached on Sunday night. The Choir sang Allegri's "Miserere".
Water for Drinking
Water for drinking. At least 3 litres per person, per day.
20 March
Dean's Report to AGM 2011
... The first service we attended in this country was on Palm Sunday 1991 in Christchurch Cathedral. At that time we knew no one. Now, like so many of you, our roots into that city, church and community reach far and wide ....
Cross-shaped Living
Midst a pile of paper I was handed for recycling was an edition of 'Cathedral News' from September 2001, a bit crumpled but still full of the excitement of the upcoming service of Consecration of this Cathedral...
13th March
Search and Rescue God
None of us could fail to be impressed by the quiet heroism of the Japanese Search & Rescue workers as, exhausted after their fortnight of fearless, painstaking searching in the rubble of Christchurch, they boarded a plane back to their own country...
Lord, forgive Adam
Two little pieces of paper appeared yesterday on the Altar without Walls, along with lighted candles. One says: “The chaos that appears to be in a mortal world. Please keep us all safe as we try to make sense of it.” The other includes the words: “Lenten dust and ashes.”
9 March
Ash Wednesday
The city of Christchurch in ruins and the images of suffering and loss that have been our news since the devastating earthquake two weeks ago, are bold, if frightening, heralds of the season of Lent that begins today...
Fr James Lyons, Sacred Heart Cathedral - combined service with Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
6 March
Act of God? Nonsense
On a shelf in my kitchen - when I still had a shelf - I had collected a line of plastic bottles filled with drinking water. I had two tins of beans and four packets of chicken soup and a carton of that UHT milk which tastes a bit like soap...
The Revd Lynda Patterson, Christchurch Cathedral
Spiritual First Aid Post Christchurch
The best spiritual First Aid after the Christchurch quake came from Dean Peter Beck: ‘This is not an act of God: this is the Earth, doing what it does. The act of God is how we love each other, how we reach out to one another.’...
The Revd Dr Raymond Pelly
National Children’s Day
Children’s ministry at the Cathedral is a bit like an iceberg - we can see the top section on a Sunday but so much happens underneath in the weekdays that is not seen...
The Revd Alison Camplin, Chaplain to Families
February 2011
27 February
Images of Hope
Tonight I want to let our Bible readings speak for themselves, to provide us with some alternative images of hope, just as they have always done for people through the tragedies of the ages...
Inscribed on the palm of my hands
The act of God is how we love each other, how we reach out to one another...
20 February
Creative subversion
It was a privilege to be in the gallery to hear the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Julia Gillard, address Parliament last week...
13 February
When the party's over...
A headline in Saturday's DomPost has stayed with me: 'Girls just wanna get totally smashed'....
Eating meat, or still drinking milk?
Are you ready to eat meat, or you still needing milk?
6 February
Shine always and forever
There are many who would claim to have no personal Christian faith but who would say...if we want to find a moral basis on which to bring up a child, then we could do worse than start with the Sermon on the Mount...
January 2011
30 January
Simeon & Anna: keeping a weather eye
I like to think of Simeon and Anna as two weather-house figures in Luke's gospel...
A pile of stones
On a beautiful sunny summer’s day last week, I added one small stone to a growing pile of stones out at Makara Cemetery...
23 January
Gone fishing!
I have always fancied putting up a sign on my door saying “Gone Fishing”. If my family’s effort on fishing is anything to go by I could be away for a very long time...
The Revd Alison Camplin
16 January
Floods, fire and faith
We surely don’t need reminding that we live in a time of crises. Christchurch is still experiencing aftershocks. Parts of Brisbane and a chunk of Queensland the size of France and Germany are under water...
The Revd Dr Raymond Pelly
9 January
Baptism of the Lord
This morning’s theme of the baptism of Christ through water and the Holy Spirit brought to mind an urgent request for help I once received...
The Ven. Judy Hardie
2 January - Epiphany
Three kings from Persian lands afar
Each verse begins with a question focusing on a different player in the saga, and inviting us to make a response. There are the wise men ...
December 2010
25 December - Christmas Day
The stars bow down
The metaphor of a glorious night sky invites us into the mystery of the Incarnation – to begin a conversation that will continue throughout our lives...
24 December - Christmas Eve
Gratitude
"... squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" ...
The Rt Revd Dr Thomas Brown
19 December - Advent 4
A Baby called Hope
A baby called Hope gave new life, new hope to her family and community...
12 December - Advent 3
Isaiah: the odd chapters
I wonder if you've noticed that many of our readings in this season of Advent come from the prophet Isaiah?
An Opportunity for Doubt
...Far more than we may ever realize, Christmas presents us with an opportunity for doubt, for a crossroads which demands of us a choice.
5 December - Advent 2
I am not!
... Can you say, I am not, but let me show you who is?
It's time to get ready
One thing we find working here at the Cathedral is that we get very used to the sirens going up and down Molesworth St...
November 2010
28 November - Advent 1
Be Prepared
I have found myself thinking a lot about that scout training and the motto “Be Prepared” over the past week. It has been a horrible week. First the news of the blast at Pike River Mine ...
21 November
Thin Places
Pahiatua and Eketahuna! Having only a vague idea of where they are, I asked whether they had stopped on the way to Wellington. “Oh yes,” came the reply, “we stopped at several thin places.” ...
Whose world is it anyway?
Today the Church invites us to ask a question, simple yet profound: What sort of society (or world) do we want? And what has this got to do with Jesus? ...
20 November Diocesan Ordination Service
Hollowed out for glory
Today is a wonderful day for the church. Today we celebrate. Today we are proud to belong to the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Wellington...
The Revd Anne Chrisp
14 November
Re-membering the Body of Christ
Tonight on this Remembrance Day, I want us to re-member the Body of Christ in Iraq...
Mutual Space: Remembrance Sunday
This concept of ‘mutual’ space fascinates and intrigues me. It is part of a bold vision ...
7 November
Take courage!
...travelling through the interminable and rather drab railway yards and warehouses coming up to Victoria Station, and always looking for a sign high up on a brick building which boldly declared "Take courage!"
October 2010
31 October
The tender bridge in Christ
One of the prayers we will use later in this service talks of greeting those who’ve died, across the tender bridge in Christ...
A Glorious Ragbag
Clearly they did not expect the Dean to be talking about Halloween in the course of their regular Christian training programme. It’s something to do with ghosts isn’t it ...
24 October
Till my work is done
I will do my best, but I must make this condition, Mr. Hunter, that on the job the hours shall only be eight for the day ...
There but for the grace of God
Perhaps we need to ask ourselves the question, am I secretly thinking in my heart of hearts, 'Thank God I'm not self-righteous and full of contempt like that Pharisee?' Whoops, I feel a touch of Pharisaism coming on!... more...
17 October
St Luke
I am a hospital chaplain. I am here in this pulpit because tomorrow is Saint Luke’s Day and Saint Luke was a doctor. But the healing work ...
The Revd David Tannock, Wellington Hospital
Pray always: do not lose heart
“Pray always; do not lose heart.” The opening words of Jesus in today’s Gospel could just as easily have come from the President of Chile, or one of the other leaders of the remarkable drama that has gripped the world this past week...
10 October
God of pilgrims
It all depends how you see people! Our country's airwaves have been full this week of reaction to...
Thanks - Whenever!
Emotions – complex, unpredictable, wild? Probably all of the above! There are times when our emotions about a particular situation or crisis overwhelm us...
3 October
St Francis
Francis was an ordinary person whom God used and worked through. A person who did make mistakes but they did not stop him modelling Christian living in so many ways...
A mustard seed
It all started with a throw away comment after a shopping spree. Wouldn’t it be good if ...?
September 2010
26 September
Dives and Lazarus
St Luke sure comes up with some tricky passages to deal with ...
19 September
Stephen Hawking, God and Creation
Professor Hawking raises an important question. Is it essential to our faith to find a place for God in the physical creation of the universe?
The Rt Rev Richard Randerson
Heart speaks to heart: John Henry Newman
Today in England Pope Benedict XVI will declare John Henry Newman a saint of the Catholic Church. When Newman, Anglican convert to Catholicism, became a Cardinal, he chose as his motto, the words ‘Heart Speaks to Heart’...
12 September
Graced Life in the Shaky Isles
It takes a long time to get over an earthquake. It takes a long time to become mature in faith...
The Ven. Jenny Dawson
Danger...Come in!
“Danger: Keep out!” It’s hardly the sort of message to encourage church attendance, especially on Back to Church Sunday!...Yet signs of danger are all around us...
5 September
I am, I care – God
‘“I am, I care”, yours truly, God’. If I were to put a counter-slogan on buses to the well known, ‘There’s probably no God…’, it would be that...
God the Re-builder
Well, what a difference a day makes! Our hearts and thoughts are so much with the people of Christchurch at this time after the earthquake...
August 2010
Becoming a DIY Believer A Very Short Introduction to Theology
- 22 July - 26 August 2010
- Leader: Rev Dr Raymond Pelly, Priest Associate
Session 1 What is Theology? Definitions, Approaches
Session 2 GETTING STARTED The Language & Truth of Faith
Session 3 TRINITY Christian Way of Talking about the Mystery of God
Session 4 THE WAY OF CHRIST Being Truthful in a Time of Meaninglessness
Session 5 RESURRECTION (1) Perception/Recognition & (2) On-going
Session 6 SOURCES OF MODERN ATHEISM Understanding why people reject God
29 August
The Cathedral an Open Secret
The metallic clanging and banging of scaffolding being put together has dominated our Cathedral life over the last week...
22 August
Looking Christ in the eye
How long has it been since a teacher summoned you to stand up straight, sit up straight, or face the front?
15 August
There's something about Mary
There's something about Mary…and I'm not referring to the movie of that name here, although I enjoyed that at the time too!...
Mary the Mother of Jesus
On this feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it seems fitting that I, a Roman Catholic, give the sermon in your Anglican Cathedral...
Dr Kath Rushton, RSM
8 August
Words out of season
Those who have received comfort, consolation from God in the past can be a means of God’s consolation to those who are in sorrow in the present...
The Ven Robert McLay
Giving away a fortune
I wonder what you make of the Giving Pledge campaign in the United States, where, led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, forty billionaires have pledged to give at least half of their fortunes to charity...
1 August
Sermon for Hiroshima Day
This week we remember Hiroshima. On Monday 6th August 1945 at 8.15 on a sunny morning the crew of Enola Gay dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima...
The Rev Dr Jonathan Hartfield
Getting centred in a twittering world
Do we have a centre? Or are we in fact driven every which way by every next text-message that comes our way?...
July 2010
25 July
Sibling Rivalry
Those of us with brothers and sisters of our own may have been relieved to hear in our reading from Matthew's gospel that sibling rivalry was alive and well in Jesus' time...
Beloved Children of God
The closing words of our Gospel passage this morning contain two verbs: give and ask. Together, they sum up what is happening here this morning...
18 July
Bible Sunday
I witnessed a community where there was encouragement, discipline, role modeling, a genuine care and concern for one another. What I witnessed was church...
The Revd Alison Camplin
Mary v. Martha?
This perhaps is the trap we fall into when we approach our Gospel reading this morning, we very quickly fall into pitting Mary against Martha, one against the other...
11 July
Jacob & Esau
I for one sometimes wonder at how such a wily bloke (in Kiwi terms) as Jacob ever came to be Israel, one of the great Patriarchs of the Hebrew tradition...
Wonky Donkeys
If you look at the Wonky Donkey from outside, he doesn't have a lot going for him, in fact he has a few problems: he has only three legs, and only one eye, and he smells really, really bad!...
4 July
A new Creation is everything
Kia Ora – tena koutou katoa. Good morning. I greet you in Maori as I bring greetings to you from the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul and the Bishop and people of the Diocese of Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. It is good to be back here where Christine and I, together with our three children, spent three happy and fulfilling years ten years ago.
Something for You to Do : Calling, Sending
Just recently I made a list of some of the urgent tasks facing the Church at the present time...
June 2010
27 June
The Golden Thread of Grace
Oh, what a complicated family mess. How can any good be salvaged from this web of selfishness and lies?
Pilgrimage - a Picnic?
Paul: 'But hang on a minute, Jenny, yes, you were travelling round Greece in temperatures in the high 30s, but you were in an air-conditioned coach most of the time!...
20 June
Truth Stumbles in the Market Place
Somewhere one crosses a moral divide between the concept of a house as a home, and a greed-inspired lifestyle which is heedless of the consequences...
Bishop Richard Randerson
Gospel: Gift & Task
...we might reflect what our own besetting sin is, what we need to be delivered or saved from. The word that keeps coming to me is ‘complacency’...
13 June
A Unique Interconnectedness
The God we worship is a very "practical" God...the Word of God speaks to our human condition in down-to-earth ways...
The Venerable Danny Te Hiko
Transforming Creation
...God’s Creation will be transformed...we are called to transform broken relationships in the world and build the harmony that God intends...
Bishop Richard Randerson
6 June
Symbol of Hope
...You might not have seen Noah's rainbow - although there might be a symbol in your world that helped - but you are able to take a deep breath and move on...
The Venerable Judy Hardie
When Darkness Surrounds Us
...not all of life is celebration, light and joy. Life has also its dark side...
Bishop Richard Randerson
May 2010
30 May
Lady Wisdom's Children
...is God more present at an altar or a fish market? In a pastor’s study or a loan office? During a church service or a rugby match? On Easter Sunday or the twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time?...
Barbara Brown Taylor
Original Sin or Original Blessing?
This is God's gift to us, a call to celebrate, live passionately, and enjoy our life in relationship with God and all Creation...
Bishop Richard Randerson
23 May
Pentecost - veils & headscarves
Headscarves and veils, you could be forgiven for wondering where our readings were going tonight, with the rather confusing image of Moses wearing or not wearing a veil...
Dance of the Spirit
With this knowledge that we are loved by God – called Abba by St Paul - we begin to weave together the dance of the Spirit ...
16 May
Ascension - Absence or Presence/ts?
Last Thursday evening as the Ascension Day eucharist was being held here, I was having an Ascension experience of my own - of the 36,000 feet in the air kind!...
He Tangata!He Tangata!
"Organ Donors Service" ... it was you who had to make the hard decision to say yes – yes, you may use the organs of my ....
Taking Things to Heart
I said to myself, ‘Why don’t you become the thinking, praying, caring heart of this aircraft?’...
9 May
Looking in,Looking out!
It is a surprise to many people to realize that Wellington Cathedral is the parish church of Thorndon, with tightly defined parish boundaries ...
Acorns and Rubber Bands
Acorns and rubber bands - yesterday our Vestry had a morning of retreat together, and our discussions generated some interesting images and pictures of the church...
2 May
Sts Philip & James
Perhaps you feel that in your family you are like James the Less, and someone else is the Greatest!...
A perfect world?
New table companions, a new world, and a new commandment – they’re all there in the readings today!....
April 2010
25 April
Repent, Believe, Follow
... It is into these contexts, real and immediate, that we need to hear those words of Jesus as they ring out from the 1st Chapter of Mark: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ...
“Both And”
... Red poppies. White poppies. “Either Or?” Or “Both And?”...
18 April
A Community of Eternal Life
John's gospel speaks of Jesus bringing us into the realm of eternal life now, this moment, not later, not just sometime in the distant future...
One among you
... a legacy of the arrogance of an imperialism gone mad. In this context then Land of Hope and Glory becomes little short of idolatry, blinding people ...
11 April
The Emmaus of Reconciliation
On our last day in Jerusalem, we too visited Emmaus, but there are in fact four possible sites for Emmaus, all with long historical and traditional links with the story...
Easter People 2010
Proclamation, priestly activity, confession and praise – these are among the things that witness to the resurrection ...
Easter Day 2010
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Drawing the short straw to preach in the evening on Easter Day is, I suspect, the Dean’s prerogative ...
Easter Gardens & Railway Stations
'Why do you look for the living among the dead?' Where do we seek the risen Jesus? There are two places in Jerusalem associated with the resurrection of Jesus... more...
Good Friday 2010
Hymns that Speak to Us
The Very Revd Frank Nelson, The Revd Jenny Wilkens
My Song is Love unknown
At the cross her station keeping
Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Great God your love has called us here
Come, my way, my truth, my life
The Servant King
March 2010
28 March
Vines & Wines
We soon move from the beautiful picture of God's tender care of these choice vines, God's pleasant planting, to find that the whole lot has gone to pot and delivered only sour grapes!...
21 March
Passionate Living & Giving
The fragrance of the perfume filled the whole house. Such a bold gesture, such abandon, such passion...Such waste??...
14 March
Moments of Recognition
“There was a man who had two sons.” What a great way to begin a story ....
7 March
Fig-uratively speaking
'I don't give a fig about that!' you may hear someone say, but fortunately our Farmers' Market does give a fig - and here is the evidence!...
A bat's eye-view of the sun
The Greek philosopher Aristotle once said that human attempts to see God – by which he meant ‘understand’ God – were about as successful as a bat’s ability to look directly at the sun ...
February 2010
28 February
Many waters cannot quench love
'Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.' These beautiful words from the Song of Solomon perhaps take on new resonance for us today, in the light of the events of the last hours. A massive earthquake in Chile, followed by tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific...
Stand firm in the Lord
Stand firm in the Lord. It’s a concept worth contemplating as we continue our journey through Lent ...
21 February
Tempting Thoughts
After that experience, I felt at least a little more empathy for Jesus going out into the wilderness to take his survival badge...
Taking a Silence Break
I wrote this in the early hours of this morning – when one expects the world to be quiet ....
17 February - Ash Wednesday
Only the silent celebrate deeply
We are invited in Lent into silence ...
Archbishop John Dew (Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington)
14 February
Collation of new Archdeacons
This is about Moses – but it’s not just about Moses. It also has a lot in it about us, and about Danny and Tony who are collated into their new ministries tonight... more...
The Rev Deborah Broome, Canon Theologian
Blessed Be!
Today our church ... is in mourning. Last Thursday Archbishop Jabez Bryce died quietly ... more...
7 February
Diocesan AAW Service
The importance of family life was brought home to me very forcibly when on one of the occasions I was going back to England to catch up with our family, the plane I was travelling on had a stopover in Mumbai... more...
The Reverend Dorothy Howard, Diocesan AAW Chaplain
What's the Catch?
Fresh fish, fresh off the boat! We could be forgiven for thinking we were dealing with the remains of Jesus' miraculous catch of fish, yesterday in the Farmers' Market here in our carpark... more...
January 2010
31 January
Simeon & Anna Senior Saints
Simeon & Anna were 'midwives' to the infant Jesus. God used older people to be the midwives of bringing to birth Jesus, the son of God... more...
Msalato Theological College, Tanzania
I wish the West could look past the poverty and see the people. more... Gillian Nelson
24 January
Can we do it? Yes we can!
I wonder if President Barack Obama might not draw some comfort from reading our Gospel for today and seeing that Jesus' inauguration speech had much the same effects on his hearers... more...
17 January
Epiphany Journeys
Many of you have asked about what I will be doing as we move up to Auckland this week and the season of Epiphany seemed a very appropriate time to take this opportunity to preach this morning and shed a little more light on what the next part of our journey as a family holds... more...
10 January
The Baptism of Christ
For a very long time we were short-changed in the church when it comes to baptism. It became something that was done, almost cloak and dagger ... more...
3 January
After the miracle
...But what is our gift? We haven’t travelled for miles across deserts with well-packed treasure chests of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We have come with jumbled-up lives...
