News archive

This year is the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth, and next week sees a conference focusing on his legacy in Dunedin. The Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership and the Theology and Religious Studies Department of the University of Otago are organising the two-day conference, which will be held on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 August 2009.

The Lectionary for 2009-10, which starts in November, is available for download. The Lectionary is a method by which, over a period of three years, much of the Bible is read aloud in Church. Full coverage requires Bible readings every day of the year. This Lectionary, being oriented towards worship, includes readings for every Sunday and major festivals when they fall during the week. The one exception to this is Holy Week, which is given in full.

Much has been happening round the country in response to the decision of General Assembly 2008 to restructure presbyteries. The Presbyteries Task Group has published an email newsletter, Reform of presbyteries August news, with the latest news on the new super-presbyteries that are being formed.

Our Winter 2009 Gallery features selected examples of colourful illuminated addresses, both hand painted and / or printed, as well as hand coloured architectural plans, colourful printed membership cards and associated artwork, all of which are held in the collections of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand Archives Research Centre.

The Church Property Trustees have prepared a paper that gives a statistical overview of parish life, as of April 2009. Detailed statistics for 2008 are also available, as are the forms for parish statistics for 2009.

In conjunction with the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, Presbyterian Support Northern is looking for someone with in-depth understanding of the Presbyterian Church to fill an Auckland-based Community Mission Liaison role. This newly created position will support Presbyterian parishes in developing and implementing community mission initiatives. Find more information about current job vacancies.

Church statistics for 2008 are now available. These statistics provide detailed information on membership and finance for Presbyterian parishes and presbyteries. The data is presented as an overall summary and also broken down by presbytery (region). Statistics forms for 2009 are also available for download.

We needed to shift the website to a new software platform, because we were having technical support difficulties with the old platform. This kind of shift is a large undertaking, with every page having to be transferred from the old system to the new; every link re-linked; and every file and image re-uploaded.

This month, Moderator the Right Rev Dr Graham Redding talks of the fine example set by the Very Rev Michael Thawley, whose funeral he attended in June; and of his visit to Presbyterian school Turakina Maori Girls' College.

If you are concerned about the swine flu and about how churches should react, please have a look at this recent issue of our Presbyterian People newsletter, which covers issues churches need to be aware of and how they can use their resources to help their communities.