Back to Blog

Views from the Pews - Coming to church

Whilst recruiting for this column I spoke to many parishioners, and obtained valuable feedback. Some agreed to contribute, others felt it was not for them. In the course of one such conversation with a wise member of the congregation, he apologised, but in so doing led the discussion along another more fruitful track. We agreed that there were many who were well-qualified, but would not want to put their names to published material, especially if it went on-line. We spoke of anonymity, and how i...

Views from the Pews - Being right

“There are more things in heaven and on earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” (Hamlet – Shakespeare)Age softens the connective tissues, but also perhaps one’s dogmatism. I have been struck across my (many!) decades at how human knowledge is ever expansile. The more we know, the more we find there is to discover.  Questions beget questions. Many of the world’s Ivy League universities were founded on the principle that God delights in our vigorous intellectual endea...

Views from the Pews - Do we really need Cathedrals?

You may have been lucky enough to catch ‘Britain’s Great Cathedrals’ on Sky Arts recently. Yes, full of the usual history and architecture but six cathedrals as seen through the eyes of an Instagram-friendly young clergyman called Pat Allerton, very much the 21st Century parson. Allerton pays tribute to the architects and crafts people, but has a clear idea of what a Cathedral’s function might be in the social media age. Firstly, the building encapsulates the identity of its town or city...

Views from the Pews - Earth, Heaven, and the thin places between

 Sometimes the world feels closer to heaven than usual —and grace becomes easier to experience.These thin veil moments come without announcement — a stillness, a shimmer, a quiet awareness that God is near. And in that nearness, grace becomes something we don’t merely recognise but actually receive.In both Māori and Celtic ways of seeing, such moments are part of the world’s natural rhythm. The land itself carries memory — whenua and earth holding stories older than we are, remin...

Views from the Pews - One long goodbye

Last week Sir Anthony Hopkins said:“From the moment we're born, we say goodbye to childhood, we say goodbye to adolescence, and eventually we say goodbye altogether. At the end of it all is hello, my love, and goodbye, my love. And that's the theme of life, that nothing is permanent. It doesn't make one miserable. In fact, it's a kind of solace because there's nothing I can do about it. I'm here. And one day I will not be here.”I am interested in Hopkins’ phrase that ‘nothing is permanen...

From the Cathedral Choir: Gabriella Schuitemaker

The first time Gabriella Schuitemaker sang the solo Once in Royal David's City, it was, in her words, both exciting and nerve-racking. It is a moment she still treasures, one of many from nearly 13 years in St Peter's Cathedral Choir....

Views from the Pews - A consecrated life

“Take my silver and my gold, Not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect and useEvery power as Thou shalt choose.”Verse 4 of Frances Ridley Havergal’s hymn above beautifully reflects the guidance in God’s word about how we are to live.  The words express a desire to consecrate one’s possessions and abilities to God, to be used by Him as He chooses. The last chapter of a very tiny, old book on my bookshelf is titled “How should we then live?” On Sundays we come to churc...

Views from the Pews - Extravagant Faith

Matthew 15:21-28 tells a pivotal story of a person who is doubly marginal – she is a woman and a Gentile (Canaanite).The story has some beautiful moments. The woman comes to Jesus and appeals, “Have mercy on me Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” Her pleas annoy the disciples who urge him to send her away. Jesus seems to ignore the woman and instead he responds to the disciples with the clear limitation of his ministry goals: he was sent to Israel. Should he make an e...

St Peter's Cathedral announces Dame Malvina Major Music Centre

Waikato Cathedral Church of St Peter has officially announced that the first stage of its Strengthening and Restoration Programme, the Music Centre, will be named in honour of Dame Malvina Major. The Dame Malvina Major Music Centre recognises Dame Malvina’s extraordinary contribution to New Zealand’s musical and cultural life, her lifelong commitment to nurturing music and young musicians, and her support as an Appeal Patron for the Cathedral’s vision for the future....

Views from the Pews - Grafted into Christ

Recently we moved house. Our pets and our honey bees in their hive moved home too. Soon after our move the honey bees’ apiarist visited, bearing a tiny golden peach tree he had beautifully grated onto sturdy rootstock. I marvelled at the strength of the stock, the smooth but evident graft, and the healthy, vibrant branches swelling with new spring buds. In John 15:1-17 Jesus describes our relationship with him and our heavenly Father using a planted vine analogy. “Remain in me, and I will re...

Views from the Pews - The Touchstone

(Based on a Yorkshire saying: “Tha can’t get owt from nowt”)There’s an old Yorkshire proverb that insists, with typical bluntness,“Tha can’t get owt from nowt” -- You can’t get something from nothing.And in one sense, it’s true.Cathedrals rise from quarried stone; tables come from felled forests;everything we build begins with something taken, shaped, or rearranged.Creation, it seems, always has a cost.But there is another kind of making — quieter, gentler, and strangely God�...

Views from the Pews - Patriot

It’s time for another book review. ‘Patriot’ is a personal and political memoir written by the late Alexei Navalny, who died in mysterious circumstances while a prisoner of the Russian state in 2024. It is clear that the author sees himself as patriotic, but argues that true patriotism has a strictly moral - and self-denying - basis. Navalny believed in a Russia free of state-enabled crime where ordinary Russians were free to reach their own potential. He was a devoted family man, a husban...

Views from the Pews - What are our Red Lines?

A parishioner asked for help in identifying what was distinctive in the New Zealand Anglican Church, what we were proudest of, and what we would say to others in order to encourage them to come and see what we do. This led to a discussion about change in the Church, how it is managed, and whether we had any red lines that would need defending at all costs. We both cited cases of parishes that suffered from ill-managed change, sometimes driven by newcomers who felt a God-given mission to effect c...

Views from the Pews - Jutta Ackerman

Amid the noise of the daily news cycle - fear, division, and anger, it is easy to forget one of the great achievements of the last 80 years - the resumption of grown-up relationships with Germany, Japan, and to a significant extent, Vietnam. International reconciliations are assumed to be the work of leaders, diplomats, royalty. And it is true that the reconciliation with Germany was partly borne on cold winds blowing from the former Soviet Union. Yes, politics has its place, and all those glitt...

Views from the Pews - No man is an island

No man is an island,Entire of itself,Every man is a piece of the continent,A part of the main.If a clod be washed away by the sea,Europe is the less.As well as if a promontory were.As well as if a manor of thy friend'sOr of thine own were:Any man's death diminishes me,Because I am involved in mankind,And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;It tolls for thee.                    &nb...

Views from the Pews - Pied Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled things –    For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;       For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;    Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;       And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.All things counter, original, spare, strange;    Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)   &n...

Behind the pipes of St Peter’s Cathedral

It’s a very impressive sight with a very impressive sound. The pipe organ at St Peter’s Cathedral fills the space with sound that feels larger than its source....

Views from the Pews - Theological statement on disability

...

Sadhu Sundar Singh

“I have decided to follow Jesus, the Cross before me, the world behind me — no turning back.” That simple, memorable chorus has a way of looping in the mind. I first heard it sung by a Wellington Māori choir on an LP I bought in London, and it has stayed with me ever since.The hymn’s origins are as striking as its tune. The melody is often described as Indian traditional, and the words are attributed to Sadhu Sundar Singh — “Sadhu” being a title meaning ascetic or holy man. Sundar...

From the Cathedral Choir: Cecily Shaw

Cecily Shaw once thought Hamilton was a big, scary city. Now she's living in London, preparing to head back for the first time in three years for one of New Zealand's most prestigious vocal competitions. The former St Peter's Cathedral choir member and Sunday School teacher shares her story, from the friendships and mentors to the 'face-palm' moments that made her time at the Cathedral unforgettable....

Views from the Pews - Greetings from St Nicholas of Myra

This ancient church identifies itself as 'The Ancient Mother Church of Brighton', and stands well back from the sea close to the original centre of this vibrant Sussex city in southern England. The building itself is a metaphor for the Church as an institution; foundations laid back in the mists of time, fabric added in bits and pieces, as need arose, but known most for its square tower and Norman font (which may pre-date the current walls). The tower has a viewing platform as befits any sea-sid...

Views from the Pews - Christian hope and the renewal of all things

Bishop N. T. Wright often says that the Christian story isn’t really about “going to heaven when we die.” And every time I hear that, I think, “Well, that upsets a lot of the hymns I grew up with.” But he’s right. The Bible’s picture is far bigger and far more hopeful. God isn’t planning to scrap the world and start again somewhere else. God intends to renew it — to mend what’s broken and bring heaven and earth back together.The resurrection of Jesus is the heart of that pr...

From the Cathedral Choir: Aidan Thomas Phillips

Aidan Thomas Phillips joined the Cathedral Choir at 14, and still remembers the joy of singing one of his first tenor solos with the choir. He is now based in the UK, rehearsing for four productions with a fifth on the way.For a young singer already on his way, the Cathedral Choir was a place that supported and encouraged him. In his own words, it remains "a place that will always be near and dear to my heart as a spiritual home."Aidan reflects on his time in the choir and the musical journey th...

Views from the Pews - Glimpses of God's Future

Sometimes the Kingdom comes quietly.Not with trumpets or trembling skies,but in the small mercies that pass between us —a hand held, a wound forgiven,a word spoken gently when it could have been sharp.It comes in the courage that rises unbidden —when we thought we had none left.In the stubborn hope that refuses to die,even when the night feels long.It comes in the Church gathered —voices weaving together, bread broken,prayers whispered for a world that aches.In these moments, something of ...

Views from the Pews - Compare and contrast

Don’t just do something – be there“Compare and contrast” is frequently used exam question:I was struck by what is possibly the worldly view in Bette Midler’s song, that “God is watching us – From A Distance”. As opposed to “…the very hairs of your head are all numbered” Luke 12: 7 and “In him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17.28 God is by no means remote or absent from even the smallest stresses of our everyday lives. Many of us are perpetually harried “do...