A gift of more than $5000 from one parish to another draws inspiration from scripture.
During Term Two, parish leaders across the diocese met in clusters to work through Enough for Everyone, a series on money, mission and generosity. One session drew on a BibleProject podcast episode called “The Genesis of Joy” and on John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way, which describes generosity as an invitation into joy and a way of sharing in the life of God, “the most generous being in all the universe.”
The series was also honest about what can get in the way. Walter Brueggemann reminds us that money and possessions are never neutral; they shape what we desire and, left unexamined, can become the thing we trust in place of God. Ched Myers likens our culture’s relationship with money to an addiction, and says the way out is found together, through community and honest conversation. For parish leaders, that honesty includes noticing when worry about the budget starts to crowd out the mission it is meant to serve.
Those conversations build on Bishop Justin Duckworth’s 2025 Synod Charge, Money and Mission, in which he urged parishes to let vision set the direction, to trust God to provide for what God calls us to, to move away from relying on wealth inherited from the past, and to rediscover the joy of sacrificial generosity.
Over the winter, All Saints Hataitai put that teaching into practice for their neighbours in Newtown.
On Saturday 15 August, a driver lost control of his vehicle on Riddiford Street. The car went through the St Tom’s fence and smashed into the chapel’s rear doors and corner window. Police charged the driver with misuse of a motor vehicle, and the matter has been before the courts.
It was the second blow for St Tom’s in a matter of months. In April, flooding meant carpet tiles in the chapel and lounge had to be lifted and replaced. It turned out, the driver had no insurance and no means to pay and St Tom’s had reduced its own cover to demolition-only the previous year because of rising premiums. The parish engaged a builder and an electrician, and faced repair costs of more than $10,000.
When Rev Guy Benton told the All Saints Parish Council about the crash, Vicar’s Warden Chris Worsley said it “looked like an important opportunity for us to bless them. Knowing their great need, it touched a chord.”
Chris says the parish’s response came from love for their neighbours over the hill, and from time spent in scripture together. During Lent, All Saints used the Practicing the Way studies, and for some that grew into reading a chapter of the New Testament each day and meeting weekly to talk about what they were learning.
“By this stage, we were well into Paul’s letters, and a strong theme was emerging across them of radical generosity,” he said. Paul was encouraging the Greek churches to give for the needs of the church in Jerusalem, as part of his wider desire for unity across the whole Body of Christ. “This situation seemed like a call to show that same radical generosity Paul was calling for in the whole Body of Christ.”
Parish Council agreed, wanting to make sure St Tom’s would not have to divert money away from mission and ministry, and the need was shared during services. The congregation gave $5160 towards the repairs.
“Clearly our parishioners responded,” Chris said. “God was speaking to people, challenging us to give beyond what we thought to give.”
At St Tom’s, the vestry thanked All Saints and shared the news with their own congregation, inviting them to give towards the remaining cost.
“Knowing they aren’t flush with cash, but still felt led to be generous as family to us, was really beautiful,” said Rev Paul Fletcher, Priest in Charge at St Tom’s.
St Tom’s Parish Manager Fiona Roberton also expressed her thanks. “We so appreciate the amazing generosity of All Saints Hataitai who were so quick to respond despite the financial challenges our church congregations are all facing at the moment.”
The repairs are now complete, and the chapel is once again weatherproof and safe to use.
