In 2021 our diocese will be welcoming Tama Bucknell as he takes over from the Paynters in overseeing AYM. Tama has shared a few thoughts on the path God has led him and his family on, and his hopes for this new role.

At the recent Vocational Deacons’ Ordination, our two new deacons were to give a short testimony of their call to serve others, however this was not possible at the time. Paul’s testimony was shared on Movement Online and in News for our Movement a couple of weeks ago, and now a spoken word poem by Rev. Hannah Rowan is shared here.

Across our diocese, church communities are increasingly aware of the importance of being as mental-health-friendly as possible. But what if a mentally distressed person’s behaviour becomes unpredictable, disruptive, or unusual? What if it’s unsettling, annoying, or possibly even scary for people? What if it’s hard to understand or deal with? How can we best respond?

As our Anglican family have had fewer opportunities to meet together in 2020, our Bishops have encouraged the team at the Anglican Centre in Wellington to get out on the road in the next few months to visit parishes around our diocese and encourage them in their journeys this year.

It’s estimated that 1 in 3 of us will experience one during our lifetime. So, what are they? A person experiencing a panic attack has intense feelings of fear and the kind of physical reactions anyone has if they’re in great danger. The person can feel like they’ve lost control of their body and emotions. Panic attacks are distressing, involuntary, and mostly occur without warning.

As many people were blessed in their communities to encounter deeper connection and hospitality over our national lockdown earlier in the year, our bishops have sent out the challenge from September to the start of Advent to take part in prayerful hospitality with those around us. This week, Reverend Karl Dixon of St Paul’s Lower Hutt shares about the way his family has returned to a fun and active tradition of theirs to bring their neighbourhood together.

Pilgrimage is part of our Christian heritage and provides a unique opportunity to engage with places and their people and stories in ways that are challenging, healing and transforming. Travelling in the steps of St Francis and St Clare of Assisi has enriched our own faith immeasurably. Central to both saints’ theology was that in all things they directed their gaze towards Jesus, always rejoicing in the goodness, generosity, creativity and abundance of God.

Did anyone get the ‘Covid-19 lockdown experience’ they hoped for? I do hope so! Like many others, I didn't. I must have signed up for spiritual boot camp when I wasn't looking, but I got through, and I'm stronger for it now.

Reverend Dan Ross was installed by Bishop Ellie as the Vicar in Pauatahanui on Sunday the 27th September, and reflects this week on the unexpected journey he and his family have taken from Leeds, England to the Wellington Diocese.

In the Anglican Church, becoming a deacon can be a first step on a pathway to being a pastoral minister. There is a choice. Deacons can “out-reach” as a vocation. Like Jesus, vocational deacons speak their particular Christian message as a voice in the community to call out inequalities, provide guidance, and be a voice of hope for others.

As churches, we’re communities doing life together and loving one another through thick or thin. At any one time there will always be some of us facing a crisis of some kind. If we know someone facing a mental health crisis, how best can we support them? How can we show them empathy, compassion, and respect?

As followers of Christ, we are called to be family together, but there can be a concern of disconnect intergenerationally, as churches seek to meet the needs of their congregation from creche programmes to content for their most seasoned parishioners.

In the lead up to the Vocational Deacons’ Ordination service on the 11th of October, Paul Carey and Hannah Rowan will be writing about their journey to ordination. This week Hannah shares on her calling to become a Deacon in the parish of Levin.

My daughter was in her late teens when she first started struggling with her mental health and suicidal thoughts. There followed five years of riding a frightening roller-coaster with her, as best I could. There was no instruction book to follow.

James Coleman, the co-vicar at Silverstream Parish published a book in June of this year, ‘Visions for Everyday Christians’, and has shared some thoughts on his own experience of receiving visions and how he was inspired to tell this story.

In the lead up to the Vocational Deacons’ Ordination service in October, Paul Carey and Hannah Rowan will be writing about their journey to ordination. This week Paul shares on his calling into becoming a Deacon for Administration.

Family caregivers and good friends are the ones who play the most central role in the care of those experiencing mental distress. They’re the ones who support an unwell person to follow the steps they need to be well. But have you ever noticed that the work and commitment of carers often goes unseen and unacknowledged?