Kia ora e te whanau
Curating Worship
10am, next Tuesday morning (23rd June) is the 2nd of our ‘Curating Worship’ sessions. Our opening session today was a modest start. We’ll be a little more structured in the weeks ahead.
We intend to spend a little time each week considering the Gospel Lectionary for the coming Sunday. While not necessarily sharing up sermons, it will help us establish a theme around which to build the coming service. The Gospel Text for the 28th of June is Matthew 10 vs 40-42.
The zoom is open to whoever is willing to participate. We don’t wish to exclude anyone.
To repeat, our next Curating Worship encounter will be at 10am, next Tuesday the 23rd of June. The same zoom link as today should work: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83470352829
We will continue to roll the same link over.
Have feedback? Please, don’t hesitate to respond.
UCANZ Biennial Forum 2027 – to be marked in your diaries!
Yes, while it does not meet universal approval, we used Kings Birthday for our last forum, and we’ll be doing the same next year. We recognise this is a much coveted long weekend for many. We need the extra time that the long weekend offers. We expect to receive the report of the Partner’s Review Commission into UCANZ, and will want to give some time for ‘next steps’. However, we’re also planning to make this a resourcing event, and are currently exploring themes around what it means for church to be ecumenical in our local settings.
What we’ve settled on
When: Opening – 7pm on Friday the 4th, and Closure with lunch on Monday 7th of June 2027
Where: St Marks / Wesley Uniting Church, 58 Woburn Road, Hutt City Uniting Parish, Wellington. This is handy to an extensive public transport system, so booking for accommodation leaves open a broader series of options.
Leadership & Personal Development Resources
I start today with a couple of articles on Leadership Training. While they’re clearly aimed at the business world, there is a considerable cross-over into the Church. While our Theological training courses do have electives for Leadership, I would advocate this being a compulsory part of the curriculum – especially for those destined for Parish ministry. And it needs to be practical, hands on, experiential – not simply book learning. This needs to be followed up with all in Leadership within the churches as part of our ongoing Professional Development. IMHO, we all need leadership coaches, able to help us see what we fail to see in ourselves, and to develop testable, practise-able strategies to be the most effective leaders we can be – trickling down in our training the next generation of leaders.
Companies Spend Billions on Training the Wrong Leaders. Here’s What Actually Works
My hunch is that the partner churches put resource into training it’s Teir 1 and 2 leaders (National and Regional [perhaps]) yet neglect those at the flax-roots, week by week, in local Parish situations. This is where the rubber meets the road. It’s at this level that the church stands or dies, succeeds or fails. Just as in the business world, it’s at this place of engagement that the training/mentoring resource needs to be directed. This INC article offers a useful analysis and some clues in moving forward. It can be engaged with here: https://www.inc.com/soren-kaplan/companies-spend-billions-on-leadership-training-but-are-training-the-wrong-leaders-heres-what-actually-works/91357956
5 Signs A Leader On Your Team Needs Executive Coaching
As with the previous article this assumes Tier 1 & 2 leaders – yet the principles apply to those of us further down the food chain. While we may struggle with the first listed sign – They’re Tolerating A Low Performer Everyone Else Can See – as a pastor we would surely want to cut people some slack, (especially given that most of our leaders will be unpaid volunteers) yet it doesn’t absolve us from having the difficult conversations – in a pastorally appropriate way, of course. This Forbes article can (hopefully) be accessed here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2026/05/19/five-signs-a-leader-on-your-team-needs-executive-coaching/
The Best Leaders Inspire Ownership, Not Obligation
Finally, while this title is fairly self-explanatory, this useful article focusses on the centrality of building trust for effective leadership – where those who follow want to do so, rather than feel they should or are obligated. This is especially important in the church environment as it permeates the whole, and, since the church is a voluntary organisation, ‘ownership’ or ‘obligation’ will quickly communicate to those ‘looking to see’ whether they want to be part of it or not. The article can be read here: https://www.inc.com/tony-manganiello/the-best-leaders-inspire-ownership-not-obligation/91351496
Homilies and Preaching Resources
My response to the lectionary Gospel for the 21st of June, – based on Matthew 10 vs 24-39, focusses a small section of the text where he says “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” and expands into bringing division in families. I reflect on the amount of polarisation and cross demonisation currently within the church. The homily is titled ‘Which Side is God’s Side?’ and can be engaged with here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldaELwNpARY&t=90s
Gospel Conversations – out of the Dunedin Anglican Diocese. They host a conversation of (usually) 4 Theologians / Practitioners. The site with all its options can be accessed here: https://www.calledsouth.org.nz/gospel-conversations/. Usually led by Michael Godfrey, rather than the Gospel text, this year they are generally focusing on other parts of the Lectionary. For this coming Sunday, the 21st of June, led by Kelvin Wright, they explore Jeremiah 20:7–13 and its connection with Jesus’ challenging words about discipleship in Matthew’s gospel. The ‘Conversation’ can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgqZFXk0vrs
Rev Darryn Hickling (Methodist colleague leading the Rolleston Project) is currently on leave. We’ll post links to his Instagram offerings when he reappears