In response to our ongoing series on mental health, and our recent focus on supporting those with thoughts of suicide, a member of our diocese who volunteers as a Samaritan has shared some thoughts around mental health in that space and where she hears God in the phone calls.

Every year we have a service at St Peter’s, Gonville to honour the prophets Te Whiti o Rongomai, Tohu Kākahi and the people of Parihaka and to remember the events that unfolded at Parihaka on 5 November, 1881.

Psalm 94:18 also reminds us God is there for us in the toughest of times. David wrote “When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.” There are times when God does this for others through us – through our words, actions, love and care. Or perhaps for us, through others. Each of us can play a part in suicide prevention.

In January this year, Blueprint Pioneer Mission Unit sent out six of their young adults to replant Brooklyn Parish. Working with the Diocese, they purchased a building at 2 Todman Street on the main intersection of Brooklyn, and began dreaming what a fresh expression of church could look like in the suburbs.

Since it was first dreamt up in November 2010, The Free Store located in central Wellington has tried to respond to the excessive food waste from cafes and eateries by collecting it each weekday and offering it to those going hungry in our city. As this is a big undertaking for a predominantly volunteer-run enterprise, for the last four years the crew involved has run a tremendously fun Free Store Festival as an annual fundraiser to help cover the costs of maintaining that dream.

John Whitehead from our Onslow parish was recently installed as a Knight of the Order of St John by the New Zealand Governor-General. He has written a piece to share the history of the Order of St John, its significance in his own life, and the place that the Anglican church has in its heritage and culture.

Margaret Poynton, a member of the Wellington Cathedral whānau, has been stationed as a Women and Children’s Worker in Papua New Guinea for a number of years, providing support to the Bishop and their wider community in the Diocese of Dogura, in Milne Bay. She has shared recently on the way things around her are quietly chugging on after the lockdown lifted for them, “some things however remain the same: the roosters continue their daily ritual of waking all and sundry, the sunrises and sunsets continue, the frogs and geckos still visit, and creation tells me that all will be well and that I am part of something much bigger than myself.”

My name is Jessica Danielle Johnson, I am 33 years old and I attend St. Hilda’s Anglican Church in Island Bay and Blueprint Church. It's been countless years. Where do I begin? It could have started undiagnosed at the age of five, no later than the age eight. I started having these random feelings and thoughts. I once felt the same thing when I had an argument with my mom. I had no idea what was going on, or that I needed to tell anybody about it. I had already been trialled on some medication for bad behaviour because somebody thought I had Attention Deficit Disorder.

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.