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Photo (c) Anglican Taonga This weekend past marked, for me, the ending of a task that I was privileged to perform. During last year, after David Moxon's departure from the Diocese of Waikato/Taranaki I held the role of Archbishop's Commissary to the Diocese. Although Waikato/Taranaki has a remaining bishop, Phillip Richardson, I was the reference point for those matters where it was deemed inappropriate to involve Phillip and I was charged with overseeing the process of selecting a replacement for David. There were many trips back and forth to Hamilton, and phone calls at least weekly. In August I chaired the electoral college. Looking back with six months worth of hindsight, what strikes me about the process is predominantly how seriously and carefully the people of the Diocese took it, and how prayerful they were in their decision making. It is public knowledge that there were a large number of candidates and that some of them came from within the diocese. This is a si...

(c) Jo Fielding 2010 It's now about three months since I was ordained Bishop. We've moved house and even though the new study hasn't been built yet we're quite comfortable. I've put over 13,000 km on the car, been on an aeroplane about once every couple of weeks or so, taken up my membership of the Dunedin Club, got the guys from the ICT Gateway into the office to cast their eyes over our computer system, and have become very used to the wonderful luxury of an efficient and pleasant PA. I've been in quite a few parishes, though I really wish it could have been quite a few more. I've nearly got used to the deference I receive from folks, both inside and outside the church, and today, for the first time, I think I began to understand what being a bishop is actually about. Most days I have a list of people who want to see me. Sometimes that means a latte in a secluded corner of some restaurant or other. Sometimes it means an hour in one of the surprisingly co...

The week since last Saturday has been bizarrely busy, so it was a relief to fly off on Thursday to New Plymouth for a meeting of the house of bishops. Not that the trip was a rest cure. Well, not entirely:I stayed in a hotel, had breakfast in a restaurant and walked along the waterfront of that classy, stylish little city in the cold clear early morning sunshine. I didn't have a camera with me, but took the shots above on my iPhone. Most of the time, though, was spent talking to the other bishops about... well... bishop stuff. I was the new kid on the block so I tried to shut up and listen, honestly I did, but there were a few occasions when the temptation to wade in got the better of me. The discussions were thoughtful, and often quite frank, but, overall, it was a very friendly and supportive group. For me, it was a relief to be with people who could understand that shift in self perception that took place last Saturday, and which I have been struggling to describe to myself eve...