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Views from the Pews - Reflections on The Great Divorce

About fifty years ago, when I was back living in the UK and my faith was rather wobbly, two of C. S. Lewis’s books helped set me back on the Christian path. Surprised by Joy tells the story of his journey from atheism to belief; the other was The Great Divorce, a short fan-tasy novel written as a kind of reply to William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.At its heart, The Great Divorce is about the choices we make between self-will and surren-der to God. Lewis imagines a world in which...

The Man Behind the Model

Have you admired the LEGO model of the strengthening works for the Waikato Cathedral Church of St Peter?It was built by Darren Bryan, a teacher and LEGO enthusiast who is the Dean of Year 6 at Southwell School. We caught up with Darren to chat about the build....

Views from the Pews - Fundraising Appeal

By now, many of you will be aware that we need to raise funds to earthquake strengthen and to improve the functionality of our beautiful and precious Cathedral.This will be a significant appeal, totalling $22 million, and it will take place over several years. The first step is to raise $5 million to support the first stage of the planned work, the Music Centre.The Music Centre will be built against the west wall of the Cathedral. At the same time, work will strengthen the west side of the build...

Views from the Pews - Winds of Change

In response to a plea for volunteers, we have a short piece to start off with, which contains just the right set of metaphors for the season.Lent is much more than going without – self-discipline is but a tool to enable reflection, to enable a standing back to get a better view. This is hard to do in the middle of the Gala, but it an essential component of Christian life. It is hard to do during a 24 hour news cycle with its tempting buffet of attention-grabbing stuff. But do it we must, becau...

Views from the Pews - Living Water

If you climb to the top of the Cathedral tower you will be able to see the mighty Waikato River, bringer of abundant hydro-electric power, source of drinking water, a once and future highway, sacred to the Iwi of its banks, and symbol of this city. ...

Views from the Pews - The Repair Shop

In a crowded reality TV market, what makes this show so popular? Suggestions made on asking around include:The pleasure the experts display in doing something to make someone else happy. The apparent fact that no money changes hands between experts and the articles’ owners. The value of skill for skill’s sake. The importance of objects in the right context; objects whose value remains wholly subjective. Market prices are never mentioned; odd in this current world. Objects become icons – fo...

Views from the Pews - Other Strands

The death by natural causes of the Rev Jesse Jackson gives us an opportunity to examine other strands of Christian life and witness. The mere fact that Jackson reached a ripe old age, albeit afflicted by a rare neurological disorder, will seem miraculous to many; Jackson was of course present at the assassination of his mentor Martin Luther King, and was always exposed to risk....