In the Southern Hemisphere, at the time of the winter solstice, a cluster of seven stars, called ‘the Pleiades’ in the Northern Hemisphere and ‘Matariki’ in Aotearoa New Zealand, becomes visible on the horizon just before dawn. For Maori, this marks New Year. It is a time to remember those who have died, particularly in
Winter Soulstice Matariki Read More »
My reflection today springs from a tweet by Simon Leighton: Loving this blog series from Mark Clavier, https://t.co/5pgfzW5vq5 Really resonating with my essay on Bonhoeffer's vision for ministerial formation. We need less practical skills and more deep grounding in spiritual practice and the scriptures. — Simon Leighton (@simon_leighton) May 8, 2018 What the tweet set
Forming Christians Who Form Christians Read More »
Last week, I put out two surveys on Jesus’ Character Strengths: one for my In Real Life ministry to young people at a secondary school, the other through my online presence – mostly to older, churchy people. The list of 24 character strengths is a common one. Each strength is important, and knowing them can
What Might We Learn from Jesus’ Character Strengths? Read More »
Let us pray (in silence) [that we grow in unity with God – the source of all good] pause O God, the strength of all who hope in you, mercifully accept our prayers, and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do nothing without you, grant us the help of your grace,
Resources for Ordinary Week 11 Read More »
Bear with me. Be playful and imaginative. This is a bit of a follow up on the statistics presented in my post, “What Prevents New Zealanders Being Christians?” with how we, as the church, might use statistics in our planning. Let’s stay within my own church, Anglicanism – others can do the same exercise for
Strategic Planning Read More »
Being conscious of one’s character strengths is becoming increasingly popular, increasingly relevant. The list of 24 character strengths is a common one (image above). Each strength is important – your top five are the ones to pay attention to, and those are the ones you should try and find ways to use more often. What
Jesus’ Top Character Strengths Read More »
Religious movies are very hard to produce. Often, the green-screen is too obvious, the acting is wooden, the dialogue is forced (keeping slavishly solely to what to the speeches and conversations recorded in the Bible is destined to exacerbate this), the miracles can end up looking like they are simply cheap camera tricks, etc. The
Paul, Apostle of Christ Read More »
Let us pray (in silence) [that we grow into Christ’s new life] pause O God, from whom all good things come, grant that, by your inspiration, we may discern what is right, and by your merciful guiding may do it; through Jesus Christ who is alive with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
Resources for Ordinary Week 10 Read More »
