In the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown, Reverend Gordon Taylor is poised to relaunch an initiative, that he began in 2017, to talk over a cuppa in Zuma, a Nelson cafe.
For many people unable to work over lockdown, “I think that was a good time to reassess our values.”
“My expectation is – linked to COVID – that people will perhaps have had time to think about their lives, their whole life structure and what it should include and not include.”
Taylor began his outreach in 2017. He said it was an open invitation for anyone who had questions about religion or just wanted to talk.
He said that the initial run of weekly sessions continued for well over a year and drew a wide range of men and women of different ages.
While most of the issues they wanted to discuss had spiritual content, that was not always the case.
Taylor saw up to three people a session but gradually they became less well attended “and I had other work pressures, so I decided to end them.”
He now has more time so had decided to resume the sessions.
Taylor was ordained as a deacon in the Anglican church “late in life.”
He had a career in engineering in the UK before coming to New Zealand where he ran two businesses.
He was keen to keep some of his “normality” when talking about his faith, without getting too engrossed in jargon and procedure.
His decision to make himself available every Friday was a way for him to extend some pastoral care to the community.
He said it was a challenge to help the church be seen as relevant in a time when people led such busy lives.
Source
- stuff.co.nz
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