AT PLAY

The Common Sanctuary Episode 1: John Chapter 9

Welcome to the beginning of The Common Sanctuary – a simple Podcast I will be recording in my home. It’s nothing flash and I don’t expect to hit the heights of the Podcasting world, but hopefully there’s something in this for a few people. This first episode is a little rusty, so we’ll see where practice takes us!

I will be making this available to subscribe through iTunes and Google Play. In the…

Mesenteric Adenitis: A Parent’s View

In the last quarter of 2016 our 10 year old girl was diagnosed with mesenteric adenitis, otherwise known as mesenteric lymphadenitis. The symptoms were showing as ongoing stomach pain localised to one part of her abdomen, extremely low energy, and high temperatures.

A lot of tests and work were undertaken to come up with some form of diagnosis. Glandular fever was one of the thoughts early on,…

Wesleyan and Ignatian Spirituality

As someone who fits within the tradition of Wesleyan spirituality, for quite some time now I have been weaving prayer exercises that are central to Ignatian spirituality into my own spiritual rhythms and disciplines. I have found wonderful crossover between these two traditions and Ignatian practices have helped deepen my appreciation of the Wesleyan distinctives that captured me when I first…

Commoners’ Worship Gatherings: The Beginning

This is the first in a series that explains each component of the Sunday worship gatherings of Commoners – the Wesleyan Methodist communitythat I curate in Hamilton, New Zealand. I decided to write this as our service can seem very simple and quiet, but there is much thinking behind each component (not to mention, much history). By writing this series my aim is to help deepen the engagement of…

I’ve heard from a few ministers who spend time speaking at big events that the two most common questions that church leaders ask each other in greenrooms at such events are ‘how many people does your church have?’ and ‘what’s your budget?’ The implication is that bigger is better and that these are the two main markers for success.

The most positive explanation for these questions would be to say…

How the Dirty Media Manipulates You! Hate Up!

Angst against the media is at an all-time high. Hate spreads and internet warriors rise up and spit their venom in indignation at a group they see as corrupt, manipulative, and biased. Mainstream media is akin to Satan in the eyes of many. A President-elect is the standard bearer of the rage fueled charge against this beast.

I was originally going to call this post ‘In Defense of the Media’ but I…

Leviticus, Spewing, and Tamaki

There’s a lot of understandable rage being spewed in the direction of Brian Tamaki yet again following comments of his in a recent sermon being made public. Those comments connected bits of Genesis and Leviticus to earthquakes in Aotearoa New Zealand and blamed such natural disasters on the actions of people. When people have lost their livelihoods and loved ones in those disasters, such comments…