The acoustics of the new Anglican cardboard cathedral have so far pleased experts and audiences.

“I’m absolutely thrilled and amazed at how good it is,” said Brian Law, cathedral director of music.

“I’m literally surprised.”

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Campaigners battling to save the quake-crippled Christ Church Cathedral have vowed to keep fighting, despite a court ruling its demolition can legally go ahead.

Bulldozers won’t be allowed to roll over the stricken landmark Christchurch building until outstanding legal wrangles are sorted out.

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[The] Reverend Dr Matt Tittle of the Auckland Unitarian Church in Ponsonby will officiate at the wedding of the couple that wins ZM’s Fabulous Gay Wedding competition.

The broadcaster had hoped to hold the event – on August 19, the day legislation allowing same sex marriage comes into force – at St Matthew-in-the-City parish in central Auckland.

But St Matthew’s vicar, [the] Reverend Glynn Cardy, said he was unable to oblige because Anglican officials will not solemnise gay weddings. The parish had offered to host a blessing after the legal ceremony was held elsewhere.

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A UK scholar and expert on Gothic Imperial architecture has slated the Anglican Church decision to demolish quake-crippled ChristChurch Cathedral.

Academic Alex Bremner wrote extensively about the cathedral, built by famed English architect Sir George Gilbert Scott, in his book Imperial Gothic.

The senior lecturer in architectural history at the University of Edinburgh, and Gates Cambridge alumnus, has criticised Anglican Diocese of Christchurch plans to create a new cathedral after the original’s spire was snapped in the February 2011 quake.

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A former Tauranga pastor convicted of fraud and burglary is embarking on new adventures after being appointed the new Anglican Dean of Wellington

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The Auckland Council has approved funding of $3 million to help renovate New Zealand’s oldest and biggest Anglican church.

At a council meeting, the Holy Trinity Cathedral asked for help with the project which has a total cost of $12 million. It includes finishing a chapel, joining the neighbouring St Mary’s Church to the cathedral, and repairing two pipe organs.

Despite some strong opposition during a two-hour debate on Thursday, councillors decided to support it in a 10 to 6 vote.

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I have always believed in a threefold way of looking at the journey of life. I need to acknowledge the past, live in the present and anticipate the future.

In relation to the cathedral building I acknowledge the forebears. I go further and honour them, because for many years I have been a beneficiary of their efforts.

When it comes to living in the present, my life, like so many others, has been drastically changed by the seismic activity. Life cannot return to what it was. I live in a house which is to be demolished and hopefully rebuilt. This is just one of the constant reminders of the change that has and is occurring for so many.

The present situation, dominated as it is by change, is forcing me to think more and more about the future and try to anticipate what that might look like.

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The Loma Prieta earthquake tore through northern California in 1989, shaking the ground for 10 to 15 seconds, killing 63 people and doing extensive damage to bridges, roads and buildings. Much of the worst damage was in built-up areas around San Francisco Bay, including Oakland.

This could be sounding like a familiar story by now. One of the casualties was a 96-year-old Gothic brick church, the Catholic diocese of Oakland’s Cathedral of St Francis De Sales. Rather than simply rebuild, the diocese opted to be even more radical: it built a new cathedral on an entirely new site. In 2008, the Cathedral of Christ the Light opened on the shores of Oakland’s Lake Merritt and it is already regarded as one of the greatest of contemporary church buildings.

It has been called the first cathedral to be built in the 21st century, and that has become a symbolic value as well as a chronological fact. It says to others that this is the future of church buildings.

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The Anglican diocese will tomorrow release detailed information on how it arrived at cost estimates for three design options for the Christ Church Cathedral.

Gavin Holley, of the Church Property Trustees, told last night’s Press-hosted public forum on the proposals for the city’s Gothic landmark that he hoped to have the information up on its website by late tomorrow afternoon.

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The ”˜”˜overwhelming majority’’ of Anglican leaders are in favour of a new, modern Christ Church Cathedral with not a single person voting for restoration.

The church held its synod yesterday where more than 220 Anglican representatives across the diocese expressed their views on the design options for the earthquake-damaged cathedral.

Last week the church revealed three designs for the Christchurch icon ”“ restoration, a reinterpretation of the original cathedral in modern materials, or a completely new building with a sculptural spire.

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Anglican leaders cannot spend insurance money from the Christ Church Cathedral on the new cardboard cathedral, a judge has confirmed.

In a judgment released yesterday, Justice Graham Panckhurst ruled that the use of $4 million of insurance money from the cathedral to fund the $5.3m transitional project near Latimer Square was a breach of the terms of the Cathedral Trust.

Church Property Trustees (CPT) asked the High Court for direction on whether the money could be used to fund the cardboard cathedral after it was called into question last year.

Read it all and the judgment is here [pdf]

Is this the monster? If you were to believe the worst of everything you ever heard and read about Victoria Matthews, Anglican Bishop of Christchurch, you would expect to meet a terse and autocratic figure, dismissive of contrary opinions and impatient with the public.

In person, Matthews is none of those things. Instead, she is charm itself. She is funny, unpretentious and refreshingly direct. Perhaps it is her tendency to be direct and certain that has got her into trouble. Her easy sense of humour may not always come across either.

Not every reputation squares with reality, of course. But how did this relationship go so wrong?

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The Anglican Church has revealed three options for the rebuild of the ChristChurch Cathedral.

The public can now vote for their favourite, before the church leaders make the final decision.

The fate of the most well-known church in the country has been tied up in court cases and shrouded in secrecy since the big quake in 2011, but today the three final options for the cathedral’s future were unveiled to the public.

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The leader of the Anglican Church of Polynesia is calling for an open debate about same-sex marriage when church leaders meet in Suva next month.

The leader of the Anglican Church of Polynesia is calling for an open debate about same-sex marriage when church leaders meet in Suva next month.

Archbishop Winston Halapua says it’s important the church responds to changes in public opinion and that it is not static.

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New Zealand’s Anglican community has chosen the Rt Rev Philip Richardson, Bishop of Taranaki, as its new Archbishop.

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The Pontifical Council for the Promoting Christian Unity has welcomed the appointment of a new director for the Anglican Centre in Rome and representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Vatican. Archbishop David Moxon of Waikato, the senior Anglican bishop in New Zealand, will take up his new post after Easter 2013, following the retirement of the current director, Canon David Richardson.

Following the announcement from Lambeth Palace on Tuesday, the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity issued a note saying “It is felt that Archbishop Moxon’s considerable experience and gifts will suit him well for this important position which has such a significant role in relations between the Holy See and Canterbury, confirming the bonds of affection between Anglicans and Roman Catholics, and assisting our mutual understanding and work. As co-chairman of ARCIC (Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission) the appointment will lend even greater prominence to the progress of this long-standing dialogue.”
Since taking on the task of Anglican co-chair of ARCIC III, Archbishop Moxon has been working closely with the Pontifical Council and other Catholic experts in the ecumenical world. During a recent visit to Rome, he told Vatican Radio’s Philippa Hitchen that he’s optimistic about the amount of progress already made between Anglicans and Catholics….

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Archbishop David Moxon is heading to Rome as the Anglican Communion’s chief representative to the Roman Catholic Church.

This means he will step down in April as the Archbishop of the New Zealand dioceses, and thus as one of the three leaders of the Anglican Church in these islands. He will also resign as Bishop of Waikato.

Archbishop David’s new role in Rome will be twofold: as the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See, and also as the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. He expects to take up those responsibilities in May next year.

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A piece of Christchurch’s cardboard cathedral is on display outside four major Anglican churches around the country as part of a new fundraising drive.
With the scheduled opening of the transitional cathedral just four months away, the church is exhibiting four giant cardboard tubes as it looks outside Christchurch for financial help.
“They’re huge and it gives us a real idea of what’s going on, lots of excitement and people coming in and going,” says Auckland Anglican Dean Reverend Jo Kelly-Moore.

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Christ Church Cathedral has been granted a stay of execution.

A High Court ruling today ordered the planned demolition of the earthquake-damaged landmark be stopped until further notice.

The legal challenge was brought by the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust against building owner, the Church Property Trust (CPT).

The trust, co-chaired by former MPs Jim Anderton and Philip Burdon, sought a binding court ruling on whether the Anglican church’s deconstruction plans breached an act of Parliament protecting church buildings.

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Two ecumenical guests, Rev Father Paul Patitsas and the Rev Prof Robert Griben (of the six ecumenical partners that were present), spoke of their experience at being at ACC-15. Father Paul highlighted that they had attended as partners and not guests and had been encouraged to comment on issues and felt “embraced in love”. He expressed the hope that all might continue to “work at being one” and offered a personal appreciation of the ministry of the Archbishop Rowan Williams as an Instrument of Communion. He also spoke on behalf of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew who noted the concern expressed about the environment and also offered hope and prayers for Archbishop Rowan and for the selection of the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Rev Prof Robert Gribben also spoke, sharing some thoughts from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity which commented on our Covenant process and our Ecumenical agreements. He finished his reflection with the words, “We need you my brothers and sisters to be united so that you may be part of a strong ecumenical world, and you need us also.”

The ACC members were asked, “What is the headline you are taking home?” The laity shared their answers first. Garth Blake of Australia spoke of the great variety and energy at this meeting with so many aspects of mission. Lisbeth Barahona of Central America saw the work on justice and the elimination of violence as a key component. The youth member Sarah Tomlinson spoke of the “rebranding” of the Communion–that it was now deeply grounded in hope and justice. Suzanne Lawson of Canada the Anglican Communion “actually works and we are together.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury has paid tribute to the resilience of the people of Christchurch while visiting the city’s devastated red zone – but refused to be drawn into the debate over the fate of the cathedral.

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Speaking after a bus tour of the city’s red zone, the Archbishop says it was important for him to see the remains of the Christ Church Cathedral.

“It’s different when you see a great building, historic building, very much loved, in ruins like that. You can read stuff on a page, you can even see pictures, (but) it does feel very different….”

“The only thing I’ve seen like this really is when I was in Beirut a few years ago. But somebody was saying to me just now, ‘there are no bomb craters, there’s no enemy. You can’t hate somebody out there, it’s just something that’s happened’. And in some ways that’s even harder to come to terms with I think.”

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One of the interesting things that has been put in place by the organizers/designers of this meeting has been the addition of Regional Meetings”¦as a region (in our case, North America), we have gathered now three times to discuss topics from our somewhat common position geographically. So, we’ve been meeting with our colleagues from The Episcopal Church. The discussions have been fruitful and energetic. We have dug deeply into the topics of the agenda, yesterday, into the environmental concerns. We are keeping notes of our work, and have taken the interesting step of seeing whether we can meet as a group mid-way between the ACC meetings, to keep ourselves on track with what we say we might do to respond to these topics. I’m taking on organizing the meetings”¦many timetables to juggle, including the Presiding Bishop of TEC and the Chair of its House of Deputies. But I think it will give us more of a sense of being active members of this Council, rather than simply people who go to meetings. And when the meetings are every 3 1/2 to 4 years, it’s hard to keep a sense of continuity.

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“In the wake of disaster and trauma, a city has to decide what is it that binds it together ”“ above all, what are the promises that we make to one another,” the Archbishop said.

“Because a truly healthy and just city is a place where people make promises to one another. They promise to be there for one another’s safety and welfare.”

Archbishop Rowan then went to the heart of God’s promise in Ezekiel: “I will resettle your towns, the ruins will be rebuilt.”

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Jaded cynics may try to suggest that the Anglican Communion is divided over the Bible.

Well, there’s no need to buy into that notion any longer.

After three and half years of worldwide research, the Bible in the Life of the Church project has found that Anglicans around the globe ”“ and that includes Africans and Americans, conservatives and liberals ”“ share “a high common ground” over the essential place and use of the Bible in Anglican life….

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The ACC broke camp today and headed south to Ngaruawahia for an audience with the Maori King.

The clouds were heavy overhead as the buses trundled towards Turangawaewae, the majestic marae on the banks of the Waikato River that is the seat of the Kingitanga.

But as the 150 or so ACC members and fellow travellers were called on to the marae for the powhiri, or ceremonial welcome, those clouds parted and the sun broke through.

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(ACNS) Abp [Thabo] Makgoba, who is the Chair of Anglican Communion Environmental Network, said “What might a world where Christians take their moral responsibilities seriously look like?

“Our network tries to link people from different Provinces to reflect on the environment. It is hoped that we will have representatives throughout the Communion. Even at this stage we are calling for those Provinces without an environmental network to appoint one.”

Referring to the nexus of water, food and energy, Abp Thabo asked the audience: “When you are receiving Communion, have you stopped to think about the water that we use to mix with the wine. Where has it come from? How clean is that water? Have you stopped to think about…those who do not have access to basic and of the resultant illnesses that go with poor sanitation and water? When you receive…wafers, have you spared a thought for those who do not have food?

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Anglicans who are struggling at the front line in the battle to turn back gender-based and family violence can take comfort.

As of this morning, they know they have absolute, unequivocal support from their leaders in the Anglican Communion.

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