We are People of Rhythms
Our incarnational God is well aware that we are people of rhythms. Our body has rhythms for day and night, our earth changes with the seasons, and in God’s grace one of the commandments is to set aside a day and make it holy, thereby giving us this weekly rhythm of holy work and holy rest.
The church in its wisdom follows has taken this sabbath principle and given vicars the ability to take a short study and refreshment leave after seven years of service. I’ve now been ministering for seven years (two in Lincoln, five here in Opawa), so am due a sabbatical.
I’ll be taking my leave for the calendar months of May, June and July, where I’ll be doing a survey of Parish Schools in NZ. We’re incredibly fortunate to have a relationship with St Mark’s School, and I’m keen to learn if there are ways to continue to strengthen the bonds between the two communities. In my absence, I’m delighted to announce that the Very Rev’d Mike Hawke will be filling in. Mike and Patsy will be very well known to many of you already, but for those who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Mike and his brightly coloured clericals, let me give a brief bio:
Mike has been in ministry for decades. In this diocese he is best known as the past vicar of St Christopher’s Avonhead where he grew the church to be (at the time) the largest Anglican Church in the country. More recently Mike stepped into a role as the Projects Manager for Anglican Missions Board before taking up the role as Dean of the Nelson Cathedral. He is currently Priest in Charge at Sumner-Redcliffs while they wait for their new Vicar to arrive.
Please pray for Mike and Patsy as they prepare to come here in a few months time, and please pray for me, that the sabbatical might be a time of deep rest and creative inquiry.
Finally, let us rejoice together at today’s Gospel reading which includes perhaps the best known verse in the entire Bible, John 3:16. Martin Luther calls the passage “The gospel in miniature” for good reason. God, in his gracious mercy, sends himself in the person of Jesus, in an act of prodigal love, so that we might be free from death and know eternal life. If we weren’t in Lent, such an idea would cause me to burst out with an “A******!”
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