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.

In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:25-27)

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.

We have all lived through so many different layers of disorientation and distress in 2020. For each one of us it will be different. We need to grieve and intercede for the world made strange. Both individually and collectively we have been walking through the valley of the shadow of death.