From our Bishops: Alert Level 4
Dear whānau
Greetings to you all as you settle in to our latest lockdown, and as we all wait to see what the next few days will hold.
Many of us will feel anxious, and this is so normal. The words above were ones that we shared together in our first pastoral letter as the pandemic unfolded last year (subsequently turned into a poster gifted to me (+Ellie), which has stayed in our home since then). We share these words again with you today. Our God is a good God, and is always at work.
We encourage you all to be gentle on yourselves; to take the time to enjoy being with your families if possible; to connect safely with those who are vulnerable; and to sit with God quietly in prayer and reflection. As family we choose to actively support each other. We particularly pray for essential workers amongst us, those caring for children and for those isolated or unwell.
As you will know, at 11.59 yesterday night all of Aotearoa-New Zealand moved into Alert Level 4 until at least Saturday 21 August for our Diocesan geographical boundaries. As such, all Level 4 measures must be in place for our churches and church facilities as per best practice given by the Ministry of Health.
Given that we do not know whether we will change alert levels until the weekend, we are encouraging parish leaders to assume that there will be no physical worship services taking place on Sunday, and to make alternate plans to host online services and resource households with bubble-based ministry activities. Your parish may already have been in touch to let you know what these are.
Another option is to join in livestream worship with Christ Church, Whanganui. Bishop Ellie will be delivering a sermon as part of this service. The Whanganui service will be broadcast via our Diocesan YouTube channel and via our website. It would be lovely to see you there.
On Thursday, the Get One, Give One campaign hit $50,000. Well done to all of you who have contributed and shared this campaign. I (+Justin) will hopefully be receiving my vaccine this coming Friday, and look forward to making my contribution too.
And while we’re all locked down, here’s a little encouragement from the Cafe Church Community House at our Cathedral, who have started their spud growing competition as part of their Low Carbon Challenge. Well done team!
Finally, if you need to get in touch with anyone in the Anglican Centre office, you can still do so via email or phone (reception@anglicanmovement.nz or 04 472 1057).
Every blessing to you all in Christ.
Bishops Justin and Eleanor
