New Beginnings

Although ours is, geographically at least, a big diocese, it is traversed by only a few main routes and by now I am pretty familiar with all of them. I began this year driving on roads I know very well, into Central Otago and Southland; but while the scenery and the way into it might have held few surprises, the destinations had plenty. There is change in the air. All over the place, people are realising that what we have been talking about for years in the Anglican Church - the necessity for new ways of doing things - is now a matter of inevitable necessity rather than a conversation filler for church discussion groups.

It's been a while since I wrote the above paragraph. In the time since I have:

-Helped to choose a new warden for Selwyn College.
-Agreed to the ordination to the diaconate of two people
-Ordained Richard Aitken to the diaconate and inducted him into a new ministry in Invercargill
-Met with four people newly interested in the possibility of ordination
-Inducted Hugh Bowron as Vicar of St. Peter's Caversham
-Agreed to the appointment of Stephen White as the new vicar of Taieri
-Had meetings with 4 parishes to discuss future options for ministry
-Held the first meeting of the trust board for the proposed new community house in Wanaka
-Met with a couple of visitors checking out possibilities for ministry in our diocese
-Had significant conversations with several of our clergy
-Begun, with the leaders of our diocese, to think through the implications for us of the Christchurch earthquakes and the subsequent rocketing insurance costs and the need for seismic strengthening; made arrangements to talk with the Dunedin City Council and leaders of other denominations about the same
-Had the usual round of meetings with all the usual bodies, committees and boards
-Had input into several quite significant pastoral matters
-Read not a few emails and sheets of closely typed A4 paper
-Maintained my reading, meditation, physical exercise, spiritual direction and supervision; managed some very good quality time with my family; managed at least one day off a week.
-Rearranged my office and done a myriad other things which now slip my mind
-Failed miserably at maintaining my blog. Sorry about that. I'll try to do better.

There is, as you can see, a lot going on in our little diocese, what with one thing and another, and this brings with it both excitement and anxiety, sometimes at the same time.Some of the anxiety, naturally enough, gets directed my way or towards the Diocesan Office, but that doesn't faze me too much, as both the anxiety and the excitement are inevitable when change occurs. Both are inevitable, also, when we follow Jesus on the path of crucifixion and resurrection; and walking that path and inviting others onto it is, after all, the sole reason for our Diocese's existence.

Comments

Cynthya said…

I think there is a constant necessity for new ways of doing things, not just in a religious setting but in society in general:

In keeping open minds in regards to our beliefs about nature, about nurture, about all the things that make up our lives.

Do you agree?

24 February 2012 at 07:54

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