Christmas time is a joyful time for many of us, but it can also be a stressful one. Especially for those of us that don’t have certainty about where our next meal is coming from. With COVID-19 providing disruption to our lives – now more than ever – helping make someone's Christmas has become even more important.

After almost 7 years in the Children and Families Enabler Role, Colette Stevens is leaving the Anglican Centre to complete her Diploma in Christian Studies and delve into research on children and worship. Colette wants to explore the questions, “What did Jesus actually mean when he said ‘We should enter the kingdom like a child’? And what do our kids have to teach us about God?” We spoke with Colette about her time working in the diocese.

It is with deep sadness that we share with you that our wonderful Communications Advisor, Duncan Brown, passed away last Thursday 2 December. Many of you across our Movement will have encountered Duncan and his mahi with us since he joined the team in 2016.

On the 13th November around 50 of our Oroua Anglican whānau picnicked in the paddock of George and Ellie Bartlett’s farm. Eight years ago, spurred by a call from Bishop Justin to plant more native trees, the Bartletts planted 10,000+ native trees on their farm.

Otaki to Ohakune. Cathedral to Carterton. One vocational deacon. Five transitional deacons. Fourteen priests. Five couples. Thirteen services.

Parishes with just a few motivated individuals can get the ball rolling for environmental transformation.

Our Masterton whānau had many reasons to celebrate this past Sunday 21st. As well as the ordinations of Mannie Marara, Lorna Grey and Peter Hull, St Matthew’s also baptised 13 people in a backyard swimming pool.

Submissions for the Emission Reduction Plan are due in tomorrow, the 24th of November. If you've done this and have a stack of completed submissions you haven't sent through to the Advocacy team, do it now so they can submit them by the deadline!

After 17+ years, Chris Casey is leaving the team at the Anglican Centre. The main focus of Chris’s ministry has been with our young people, from intermediate age to young adults. We spoke to Chris about his time with us.

It’s official. Our global leaders have formally concluded their negotiations at COP26 and plan to keep the earth’s warming within 1.5°C. While it looks alright on paper, the road ahead is neither clear nor straightforward and is lacking real oomph. Many critics are slamming international leaders for their “watered-down” deal - the promises are there, but they are non-binding begging the question of when will the matching actions follow? Though we have yet to see the delivery of majorly effective solutions, we can still acknowledge some of the smaller progresses and glimpses of hope from COP26.

We have reached the home stretch of COP26: UN Climate talks and there has been no shortage of big promises. If you haven’t been keeping up with COP, allow me to draw your attention to what I think are some pretty significant highlights. Collected and written by Olivia Yates, a member of Karakia for our Climate (K4OC).

At our recent Synod, again as a Movement we committed to being a people who advocate for care for our climate. Here are some upcoming opportunities for us to learn, pray and take action as hopefully Jesus people.

One of our Synod priorities is to care for our climate; safeguarding all creation by actively reducing carbon emissions. And now we have an opportunity to put forward submissions on the Emissions Reduction Plan that our government has released for consultation.

Last Tuesday, we joined with our brothers and sisters in faith to formally present a Climate Change Statement to the Minister for the Climate Change, Hon. James Shaw.

2021 is a momentous year for climate change policy in New Zealand. The government has just announced a four-fold increase in climate finance to go to overseas communities most impacted by climate breakdown. This amounts to $1.3billion over four years! And right now, our government is in the process of finalising targets by which we hope to reduce our carbon emissions for the next 15 years. It’s important that we have our say.

Nine years ago, St John’s Johnsonville was in interregnum. Before it was ready to call for a new priest the Diocese did some discernment work with the parish around their sense of God's vision for their life together. The church had an older demographic and was declining in numbers so in response to this the parish discerned 3 key priorities for the 5 years ahead.