News

Neroli Hodges writes...

Of Seasons and Saints

There is a space in Auckland not far from Carey Baptist College which I return to time and time again.  It's a place where people walk, talk, run, eat, take photos, laugh, cry.....that place is Cornwall Park.  I love it for it's reflection of the seasons.

Through the darkness of the winter months, with the Twin Oaks adding to the darkness of the winter sketch, through to the abundant brushstroking that is spring, the bouncing of young lambs and the green of the grass.  Walking around it you cannot help but feel the uplift that such spaces give us and for the widening of views that one gets as you circle the path around the park.

For me, there is something wondrously reassuring about Cornwall Park.  In the midst of winter I trust that spring is working it's way through the damp, dark soil and the daffodils will soon flower in the Twin Oaks Drive, the blossoms will bloom, the grass will grow and the warmth will come!

It's not often that the radio connects with me but an item recently did just that for me.  It talked about the letters which have come out that Mother Teresa wrote during her life; letters that show she had doubts about her faith, about silence, about emptiness - they say that she also found it hard to pray and she often felt abandoned.

Some people will find these revelations disturbing and wonder how such a "Saintly" woman could have had such doubts. I guess a lot of people thought that she was strong in her faith.

I myself find great comfort in these revelations for I find less and less of me being very sure about a lot of things of faith and God. I find myself more drawn to people who doubt. Their honesty draws me.

Like the continuous seasons displayed time and time again in Cornwall Park we go through seasons in our own faith; times when it's like spring - full of colour and life and newness and yet also times of darkness, silence and not a lot of evidence of growth. I much prefer walking through Twin Oaks Drive when the daffodils are in full bloom, but that only happens for about one month of the year and before that its darkness is often foreboding and I rush to get through that part of the park and on to the wider, more spacious, lighter parts.

Nature around us encourages us to stay in the journey -to express the cycle we are in, and to trust.

Mother Teresa is an example of someone who had doubts and questions and who experienced darkness and silence yet continued to do her utmost in her service to God through the poor. Her doubting did not stop her doing just as winter does not stop the spring.

 

 

MONDAY 17th

Community Worship

12.:40-1:00pm

 

Own reflection and worship in the chapel

 

 

TUESDAY 18th

 

Community Worship

11:15am-12pm

Rodney Macann

National Leader Baptist Churches of NZ

 

Facilitated by Tracy Morgan

 

After Dinner Mints

Tony Tay

 

Tony is the CEO of the Tony Tay Group, one of Auckland's largest property developers which incorporates a number of companies each with its own varied focus. Tony is a member of the Baptist Tabernacle in

Queen Street

.

 

WEDNESDAY 19th 

 

CHIPS PRAYER

9:00-9:25am - chapel

Praying for the college, community & country

 

Community Worship

12:40-1:00pm

 

Worship for the whole community - creative, visual reflection.

Semester 2

NEXT OPEN TUESDAYS

 

Tuesday 25 September; 6-9pm

Tuesday 16 October; 8:45am-4pm

Two more Open Tuesdays in 2007 - an evening and a day event. If you are aware of people who are thinking of theological study, please encourage them to come along to one of these and to contact Neroli for details or check out the website www.carey.ac.nz

 

LOST PROPERTY

 If you find anything that has been left in lecture rooms, chapel or dining room, please bring it to reception. Likewise if you think you may have left some thing on site, try reception first.

 

PROJECT 200

An update...just before the break we held a second hand bookstall to raise funds for books for a Central Asian theological library. $1700 came from that stall alone but the total raised ($15,000+) has far exceeded expectation. This allows the purchase of 600+ books and the translation of one in particular into the local dialect. Thank you to everyone who provided books, bought books and donated. We and the college overseas are grateful.

 

ACCESS TO LEVEL ONE

If you are planning to visit Mike Crudge, Karen Schilperoort or Charles Hewlett or if you have a class or meeting scheduled in one of the rooms there, please ensure that you access these people and rooms via the stairs closest to the Chinese Programme department at the end of the main hallway. The central stairway is for access to the Baptist Union and tranzsend only.

 

CENTRE FOR INTERCULTURAL STUDIES

The Centre has been established to develop the resourcing that Carey can provide to people interested in the area of cross cultural mission.

This is located in the room opposite the Chinese Programme and as it develops, will have a range of materials on mission and the various agencies that work in this field. Feel free to drop by and check it out.

 

'the sENDing'

Thursday 25 October; 7pm

...farewelling and commissioning the final year Pastoral Leadership students who have completed the requirements of the Diploma in Pastoral Leadership and will be moving on to different roles in 2008. Plan to come and celebrate with these students and their friends and family.