Dear Friends It seems such a long time since I last wrote. So much has happened. Today we farewell Bishop Victoria at a service in the Transitional Cathedral. She has served this Diocese for just on ten tumultuous years. I feel very privileged that I was the first Deacon that she ordained a Priest. No … [Read more…]
An extract from the Vicar’s letter for Low Sunday 2016 Dear Friends, Welcome to S. Michael’s as we continue the joyful celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter, at fifty days, is the longest season in the Church’s calendar, which emphasises the importance of the resurrection as the central tenet of the … [Read more…]
Dear All The week ahead is full of textures and colours that inform our very being. Think of the many ways we use our bodies and the gifts of creation in the liturgies of Holy Week: We wave palm branches. We kneel at the proclamation of the Death of the Lord. We use water to … [Read more…]
Dear All This Sunday begins the fortnight of Passiontide. As summer fades into Autumn and the leaves begin to turn. So we turn our heads towards Holy Week and the Cross. Let this week be one where you pause, reflect and pray, before we journey together into Holy Week. During his lifetime, Vincent van Gogh … [Read more…]
Dear All I am often thinking about the speed with which time seems to pass, but here we are more that half way through Lent. I was drawn into this weeks image where time seems to have stopped, and voices seem to be heard in whispers. Our lives seem to be led in exactly the … [Read more…]
Dear All, I am a visual person, I tend to think and remember far more accurately through images. This week’s painting is one that challenges and draws the eye into the raw emotions. Please do look at this on line and see for yourselves the detail. Quentin Matsys, the Flemish master of the 16th century, … [Read more…]
Dear All In the vestry, at the moment, is the figure of Jesus in a glass of water. He is happily growing, his glass is now a little small. I am using this toy as an example for school to show that Lent is a time for us to draw close to God. This week’s … [Read more…]
Dear All Lent has begun. Ashes imposed. The Loyola Press website has a wonderful sequence of Visual Prayer through Lent, below is the image and commentary for the first week of Lent. Enjoy the Journey. The scene of The Temptation of Christ is a 12th–century detail of the magnificent mosaic of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. In … [Read more…]
Several weekend-long road junction closures are coming to the central city – not far from Christchurch Hospital. From 8pm on Friday 16 February until 6am on Monday 19 February, the Montreal/Tuam Streets intersection will be partly closed. There will be no access to Montreal St from Moorhouse Ave and Tuam St will be down to … [Read more…]
Dear All, On Sunday 4 February the parish of S. Michael and all Angels welcomed Miss Penny Tattershaw as the new Principal of S. Michael’s Church School. Bishop Victoria, who preached and presided, spoke of the long tradition of the Church in education, of the special character of Anglican schools and of hope, the essence … [Read more…]
