History was made today by our Anglican Church. The blessing of same sex relationships has finally been permitted. After years (and years) of debate, discussion and argument we finally made it over the line, just. What passed? This is not marriage; nor even a fully authorised church liturgy; but clergy who wish to and when … More Same sex blessings at last
Time for Love; the Bible and Same Sex Attraction is a documentary made by the Auckland Rainbow Community Church and Ponsonby Baptist Church. I was privileged to speak at the launch of the film on Sunday and this is what I said: This film is a gift, a generous gift. It is made for those … More Time for Love
Last week I was somewhat surprised to find myself on a panel at a conference about immigration. The Caddanz conference is an annual one for academics and others working and researching in the immigration field. This year via the auspices of the Race Relations Commission the role of religion was a topic. The “radical reverend” … More Bringing religion back into public conversation
My apologies to readers who are not interested in internal Anglican Church machinations but inside the church we continue to go round in ever decreasing circles as we attempt to bring about marriage equality. Some of us are ready to move now; others never want to move; most are just looking to the church to … More The report about the report about the report
On the day after the country was galvanized by changes in the leadership of the Labour Party, at St Matthew-in-the-City we hosted a pre-election conversation. It wasn’t a conversation with the politicians. Political parties were not mentioned. It was a conversation amongst people of faith about what questions to ask, what issues to reflect on … More Faith and politics or the politics of faith
On Thursday July 20 I was part of a panel at AUT organised by the university’s Diversity Office. There were 4 speakers from different faiths as well as the Professor of Diversity Edwina Pio. The conversation was a rich one and these were my remarks: It is a privilege to be with you all today … More Discovering religious diversity: breaking the stereotypes
On the 22nd of February 2011 at 12.51pm I was in Christchurch having lunch with Bishop Victoria Matthews. I am ever grateful that her choice of restaurant meant we were sitting on large bench seats in a corner away from windows. As we sheltered under the sturdy tables I learnt that in the advice “duck, … More Christchurch and its Cathedral
It is 33 degrees this afternoon in Chicago and so I have retreated inside to sit in the cool and read the Sunday edition of the New York Times. I am always surprised to read about matters of faith in the secular press here. And today, the front page article is Liberals Fighting for their Faith , … More “Liberals fighting for their faith”
Sundays at Epiphany Episcopal (Anglican) Church in downtown Washington DC start at 6.30am. The doors open and the welcomers are ready with a warm smile and a label for your name and your number (for the breakfast queue later). Well organised teams of volunteers set up for The Welcome Table. Part one is groups from 7am-8am … More Homeless near the White House
A quick scan of the news on Easter Monday revealed that a cloud formation of the Easter bunny was the closest the media came to reporting anything spiritual about the weekend that had passed. In fact hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders had attended Easter services. Newstalk ZB had religious programming on Good Friday and … More The confused conversations of Easter
