'Rumors' Newsletter

Below is an excerpt from the 'Rumors' newsletter, by Ralph Milton, which may be received weekly for free by sending an email to
rumors-subscribe(at)joinhands.com.

A first nations elder was teaching his grandchildren about life.

“A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight, between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”

The grandchildren thought about that for awhile. Then one of them asked, “Which wolf will win?”

“The one you feed,” said the elder.

An Idea for Alternative Church

Steve Taylor has an interesting suggestion for Sunday mornings on his blog (he can be contacted on http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz/ where he has other thought provoking ideas). He writes:

“A lot of Kiwis like to spend Sunday morning over the newspaper, with a good coffee in their hands. So, how about considering the possibility of an alternative church having

lots of newspapers, muffins, coffee, cafe tables

open for about 2 hours on a Sunday morning

a number of stations set up that relate to sections of the newspaper.

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As people read a section of the paper, they have the opportunity to go to the relevant station, where various responses e.g. confession, intercession, praise are offered

a regular liturgy over coffee, in which God is thanked for gifts

followed by a 20 minute interview with 2 people, in which the week's events are reflected on from a Christian perspective. So various articulate, witty people get to help all the newspaper readers make sense of the news They would have to be both well read and quick on their feet, because the newspaper is setting the agenda.

a small, regular, set liturgy to end the time.”

</typolist>

Steve asks “What do you think? A possibility? Culturally connective? Spiritual? Sustaining? Sustainable?... ”

Wellsprings Group

Catherine Chrisp (email: m.c.chrisp(at)clear.net.nz) writes about their group:
We are a group of ten women, age range 42 to 87, who have been meeting in each other’s homes, monthly, for seven years. We began as a Care Group of St Andrew's, Gisborne, “a container of trust and support for our spiritual journey.”

The way we have worked this out has changed over the years but our gatherings are always a mix of connection, ritual and silence. Always we have a lit candle in the middle of what is usually a circle covered in symbols of the theme for the evening. It may be rocks, water, flame, last month it included Rawleigh's Ready Relief! Around the circle is knotted ribbon, a joining of ourselves.

At the beginning of the time a basket is handed round into which we may, or may not, put something that symbolises how the month has been for us. We talk to this as little or as much as we choose. We spend time with the theme and the way we do this varies in form each month, then 20 minutes of silence.

We close with a group blessing. Not all of us call ourselves Christian but we are all concerned to explore the path of the spirit. We have walked with each other through many griefs and many joys. Wellsprings is a precious group to us.

Resources for Worship and Study

Who was, and is, and is to come

Preaching notes and prayers for Easter til Pentecost, April 11 - May 23, Written by the Rev Margaret Martin. $4 plus postage

Cain and Abel: An Old Story Raising Todays Issues

$4 plus postage. Rev Robyn McPhail subtitles her work 'Material for local church people to get their teeth into'.

Sharing Faith with Children

This resource still has material of value for ministers, elders and leaders. It was published some years ago by the Presbyterian Church and written by a variety of experienced educators. Formerly $4.50 we have a number of copies to clear at $1 each.

Celebrating Communion

This handbook for elders authorised to lead communion services within the Presbyterian Church was written for two purposes - to equip Presbyteries with guidelines and resources for training courses for elders who are to lead services of communion and to provide such elders with a basic training handbook plus some communion orders. $9 plus postage.
Celebrating Communion on the web

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Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand