Bream Bay Anglicans

25/05/2026

The Vatican has just published Magnifica Humanitas, an encyclical on artificial intelligence, technology and its implications for human dignity. I don’t normally take my theological cues from Rome but it is brilliant. It is breathtaking in scope, and (aside from the usual passing references to induced abortion and euthanasia) I commend it to your attention. I will certainly be exploring it homiletically in the weeks and months to come. I strongly encourage all Christian’s in NZ to consider it in light of Government’s rationale to downsize the public service and replace human beings with AI.
Find the encyclical here:

ENCYCLICAL LETTER MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE [ Multimedia ] ___________________________

25/05/2026

I think EVERYbody sang Come down o love divine to Down Ampney on Pentecost—we certainly did at St Peter’s. The young man in the photo is Fr Percy Dearmer, who almost single handedly reformed and codified the liturgy of the Anglican Church with his ‘Parson’s Handbook’. (I have two editions.) The Anglican Church has a rich liturgical and musical history, yet we also must not become a museum.

On this day in 1906, The English Hymnal was first published. Vaughan Williams was the musical editor, and the hymnal contains many tunes written or adapted by him. Strangely, it was banned for some time by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He said it "undermined the uniformity of the Church of England". The literary editor of the hymnal was Anglican priest Percy Dearmer.

24/05/2026

22/05/2026

Pentecost—hey we’re on fire!! This Sunday, 24 May at St Peter’s Church, 9:30. One of the great ancient feasts of the church, 50 days after Easter, Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit after the Ascension of Jesus. Sometimes depicted as flames, sometimes as a dove, sometimes as wind, the Holy Spirit is active, moving, inspiring. Too many Christians just go ‘ho hum’ but Pentecost is why we’re here! The Spirit flings us out into the world to bear witness to hope, faith and possibility. See you there!!

22/05/2026

Documentation for the Special General Meeting (Finance) on 31 May has been sent to all members of the parish—look for it in your email inbox. Plan to join us after the 9:30 service that day—Trinity Sunday. There are only two items on the agenda: the 2025 Statement of Accounts and the 2026 Budget. No other items will be considered at the SGM.

19/05/2026

Pentecost is this coming Sunday. So what? you say. Consider this.

"Like baptism and ordination, Pentecost celebrates the complete recalibration of ourselves from flesh-and-blood mortals to adopted children of the living God: citizens of the New Jerusalem, living in hope and infused with the Spirit" ✝️

Sally Welch anticipates a festival that made ‘very little impact’ on her as a child ✍️

16/05/2026

14/05/2026

We are now in one of the church's shortest seasons, Ascensiontide. The Feast of the Ascension has been celebrated since the 4th century, often marked by a procession to commemorate Jesus's journey to the Mount of Olives. Ascension marks the end of Jesus's post-resurrection appearances. Before 1970 the Paschal Candle (lit on Easter) was extinguished after the Gospel at the Ascension Day mass, but today we generally wait until Pentecost to do that. If you are clever you will have noticed that Ascension is always on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter Sunday. Why 40? Simply put, because the Bible tells us so.

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13/05/2026

Apologies for the low profile over the last couple of weeks—we’ve been really busy! It seems odd to be caught up in 2025 accounts and 2026 budgets this late in the year but that’s the hand we’ve been dealt. Also we’re very caught up in our Op Shop relocation in Waipū-but moving into a more proactive planning stage. We’ve invited proposal plans and budget from a vendor, and hope to start getting our various consenting applications in soon. Boring stuff for FaceBook but essential in the life of a parish.

Meanwhile a joyful Ascension Day to everyone! As a guy in a prison group I used to run put it, it’s the day Jesus got in the cosmic elevator and pushed ‘U’ for up. And it’s true, iconography for this feast often just depicts feet in clouds. This is the day Jesus turned the continuing work of preaching hope over to his disciples. Today the work began. We’ll talk more about this on Sunday, 17th at St Paul’s in Ruakākā, 9:30a. See you there!