The vicar of St Matthew-in-the-City, Glynn Cardy, is leaving his Anglican church to lead a Presbyterian church in Remuera, Auckland.

Last week the Anglican church appointed Digby Wilkinson, the senior pastor at Palmerston North's Central Baptist Church, to be the Dean of the Wellington's St Paul's Cathedral.

Cardy said he was changing because after nine years he needed a change. And although he was switching denominations, the core values of St Luke's weren't so different from his current workplace.

"It's not that usual [to switch denominations] but I suppose more in common is my theology - what I believe in [about] God fits very comfortably with St Luke's people.

"I believe that faith isn't just for people who are believers. It's about a way to promote compassion in society as a whole. There's a message there about how to treat one another and how to be just in society," he says.

The Rev Craig Vernall, who is the National Leader of the Baptist Church, has congratulated Wilkinson on his appointment.

"As a Baptist family of churches we congratulate Digby Wilkinson on his appointment as Dean to the Wellington Cathedral.

"It's tremendous to see this cross pollination of Christian traditions strengthening the body of Christ in our land," he said.

Auckland University School of Theology head Dr Stephen Garner said there were few issues with Anglican, Methodist or Presbyterian ministers moving between denominations.

There were agreements in place for that to occur, although Rev Cardy would have to apply to the relevant regional presbytery first. He would still remain an ordained Anglican priest even when he moved to St Luke's, Dr Garner said.

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Stuff.co.nz
• Anglican Taonga
• Image: StMatthews.org.nz

"We don't care who's on top." No hint of the turbulent Becket there, Your Majesty, no call to sustain the separation of church and state, no suggestion that some things only should be rendered unto Caesar. No, this is surrender, sir, meek and complete.

Moreover, it should come as no surprise. When you've got Bishops who can't even be bothered to preserve their cathedrals, it's little wonder their subordinates aren't too fussed about what goes on inside them. Read more

Sources

• Jim Hopkins in The New Zealand Herald
• Image: Marriage.com

Jim Hopkins is a Herald columnist.

In an interview on Television One, the Reverend Clay Nelson, an associate priest at St Matthews in the City in Auckland, said the Bible in Schools programme is an imposition on the human rights of children as it restricts the freedom of other religions which is protected under the Bill of Rights.

The Archbishops say the Anglican Church in New Zealand has long supported the Churches Education Commission' Bible in Schools programme, both financially and in principle, and will continue to do so.

Their stament concludes:

"This is long-standing agreement which honours the freedom of choice we enjoy in this country, as well as the right of parents to influence their children's spiritual and moral development.

We honour the work of the hundreds of volunteers who continue, in a loving, sensitive and non-manipulative way, to offer access, when asked, to this heritage in our schools"

The Reverend Clay Nelson is an Anglican priest trained and ordained in the U.S. He emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in August 2005. Shortly after arriving he began his ministry at St Matthew's using his background in communications and web development to develop an "online virtual church."

In a lecture " The Value of a Secular Society" presented to the New Zealand Association of Humanists and Rationalists, he describes himself as a non theist. He says faith is "about ethical living rooted in finding our better self in higher purpose"

Source

• One News
• Scoop
• St Matthews in the City
• Image: Grant's Braes School

The billboard erected at the front of St Matthews in the City today depicts a Facebook photo album with Jesus on the cross as the main image. Directly below, the image is "liked" by Judas Iscariot.

"We decided to make a joke about the propensity of Christians to lay blame," said Reverend Glynn Cardy.

On Sunday Skinner lead a group of protesters, gathered at St Matthew's in the recitation of the Rosary.

When interviewed, Skinner said, "Yes it's vandalism and if they want to arrest me then be my guest...If it comes to that, I believe in being persecuted for my faith."

"We don't look for trouble but watch out when you start this sort of thing," he added.

Skinner said there are half a million Catholics in New Zealand who were outraged by the Mary with pregnancy test kit billboard.

He was believed to have earlier phoned St Matthew's vicar Glynn Cardy to say he would "roast slowly in hell" for erecting the billboard.

On Monday Cardy released a statement in which he said "Arthur Skinner and the Catholic Action Group used our billboard, his vandalism of it, and our property this morning to gain publicity for his point of view and to further his supposedly "Catholic" organisation's agenda. He has also announced that he was willing to be arrested for his illegal act. We believe Mr Skinner could have gained the same attention without the vandalism. While his offer to be arrested is tempting, we declined the invitation (however we wouldn't decline restitution). We would rather bring attention to the world's poor, the plight of women in too many countries, hungry children, the destruction of the environment, and the need to end violence rather than his religious intolerance."

Commenting on the Mary with pregnancy test kit billboard, Lyndsay Freer, spokesperson for the Auckland Catholic Church said "Once again, St Matthew's shows us that they have moved away from traditional Christianity, even though their hearts might be in the right place.

"It is true that Christmas is real and celebrates a real pregnancy.

"It is also true that the anxiety and needs of young solo mothers today need to be addressed with compassion and care.

"But in making this point, St Matthew's ignores the gospel account of matters surrounding the pregnancy and birth of Jesus, in which Mary is not a shocked solo mother but a young woman who has given her assent and trust to God."

Freer said she, too, had received an unhappy phone call from someone who she thought was Skinner about the poster.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• The Telegraph
• Image: Screen Shot Stuff.co.nz

"Once again, St Matthew's shows us that they have moved away from traditional Christianity, even though their hearts might be in the right place," she said.

"It is true that Christmas is real and celebrates a real pregnancy.

"It is also true that the anxiety and needs of young solo mothers today need to be addressed with compassion and care.

"But in making this point, St Matthew's ignores the gospel account of matters surrounding the pregnancy and birth of Jesus, in which Mary is not a shocked solo mother but a young woman who has given her assent and trust to God," She said

Their final destination was St Matthews in the City for the annual SPCA Auckland Blessing of Animals.