E NEWS 13TH OCTOBER 2023
Tena koutou e hoa ma. When I first arrived here at SAOTT last year Queen Margaret College had been wanting to do an official welcome for me to their College. Well, finally today it happened. I attended with our Parish Council Convenor Sue Hirst, Adelina and Christine from the office. It was appropriate that I had some of my SAOTT whanau with me. The head girl Tia Pavihi (I taught her father in Sunday school in Dunedin) and prefects welcomed us into Assembly and after salutations I was invited to speak to the school. We then shared in morning tea with the Principal Jayne-Anne Young and Chaplain Deborah Wilson and Katherine Sutherland who has recently joined SAOTT from Wadestown and is a Board member for QMC.
This morning, I had a follow-up consultation with my GP since my fall and as of today I’m following doctor’s orders and going to take 2 weeks of rest. Since my accident I have been struggling to function fully on a daily basis. It is likely I am still suffering from delayed concussion as I have constant headaches and light sensitivity and need to constantly rest almost every hour. Thankfully, the very dependable and compassionate Jim Cunningham will be stepping in for me for the next two Sundays and then on the 5th Sunday 29th November will be Lay Preachers Sunday which will be led by Ellen Murray and Tony Pears will be doing the reflection. I feel such an inconvenience but I am not much use to anyone like this.
I want you to diary in Sunday 5th November. It is Parihaka Sunday and Rev. Dr. Wayne Te Kaawa our Maori Theologian at Otago University will be leading our service. I have also invited the Maori Regional Choir to sing under the directorship of Rev. David Dell. Afterwards we are having a buffet hangi in the hall provided by CJ’S Hangi. I am catering for 60 people, there may be more but I am asking those who are able to supplement our lunch with salads or whatever you wish to contribute. Much appreciated.
This Sunday I was going to preach on the theme of “Entitlement or Inclusivism” on the text of the Wedding banquet where the king invited people to his wedding who were too busy to give it consideration. It is a violent version of the story compared with Luke’s version. Infact most preachers, given the option of choosing either Matthew’s or Luke’s version of the parable of the banquet as the text for a reflection, would unquestionably choose Luke’s. The story in Luke (14:15-24) is more straightforward, cleaner, without the violent and complicating features that characterise the allegorical retelling in Matthew. Luke’s parable has a powerful quality of engaging the reader with the characters in the plot. The unusual details of Matthew’s account, however, result in an unrealistic and unbelievable story. I will leave it up to Jim Cunningham to explore this with you if he chooses to use this lectionary reading on Sunday.
I will be resting at home from today and taking things easy for the next 2 weeks. Ka kite ano, Fei
You can read the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/daf7e73fede5/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-9405900
