This week Craig and I are moving to Whanganui to be near our family. Family is the glue that sticks us together as society, it is the meal table where we all find a place to be ourselves, it is the community where are loved and listened to. I know not all families function well, and some not at all, but the close bonds of family are a God given strategy for human flourishing.
In Whanganui we are excited to be joining a band of radical disciples, meal-table people, and just all-round good guys (which is of course a gender inclusive expression) who make up the local church. The church is the family of God, and something Craig and I delight in, is being family for other Christians. When someone needs a mum or dad but can’t approach theirs, when someone needs a meal table to gather around, when someone needs to hear words of encouragement – the church is there to be family.
At Carey we are not a church, but we are a type of academic and formative family that makes time for one another. We are more than an academic institution. We are children of God, gathered in the wharekai, gathered around the scriptures, and gathered around the living God. As the business end of the semester is upon us – look out for one another as family who are more than a collection of individuals. We are people whose unity is in Christ who gave away his own rights to lift up those who had none.
Dr Luke
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