chaplains @ the well

Soul Purpose

2009-06-03T09:50:00.003+12:00

Looking for substance, contemporary topics and good interaction?
Head over to Soul Purpose and see what's going on.

TCMA Conference

2007-10-04T21:11:00.000+13:00

Ricky, Mike, Jemma and I attended the TCMA (Australian Tertiary Campus Ministry Association conference in Melbourne last week. It was very worthwhile and interesting to see how another organisation with similar aims to ours operates. We are hoping that some of the Australian Chaplains will come over and join us in Invercargill. Greg

Visits up north

2007-08-06T09:54:00.000+12:00

I enjoyed meeting up with Ricky and Uesifili in Auckland last Monday for lunch and also with Richard Rangihuna in Gisborne on Thursday. It is amazing the amount of quality ministry that is being offered by tertiary chaplains all over NZ. May God continue to bless and guide as as we approach our annual conference in November. Welcome back to Lisa who has had a good long holiday in Canada.

Kind Regards

Greg

Our website is now on line at www.anztca.net.nz

2007-05-08T17:14:00.000+12:00

AOTEAROA - NZ TERTIARY CHAPLAINS ASSOCIATION

Dear friends and colleagues

Our ANZTCA website is now on line at www.anztca.net.nz

Thank you to everyone who sent in suggestions and comments during the development of this site. Harris (our web designer) and I have tried to incorporate all your concerns and suggestions, especially in relation to e mail addresses in our directory.

Our website will in future be especially helpful, I believe in enabling us all to have easy access to our Ethical Standards document, our conference registration information, our directory information, our constitution and to a range of resources (still to be added) . If you have resources you would like added to our site, please send them to me.

On behalf of us all I would sincerely like to thank Harris for the many many hours he has spent on developing this website for us.

May God bless our website and may it help us all build a sense of being more connected and unified in our ministries to the tertiary communities of Aotearoa-NZ.

Peace be with you,

Greg Hughson
Chairperson
ANZTCA

ANZTCA website

2007-04-23T10:41:00.000+12:00

Dear friends,

Progress is being made slowly but surely on the creation of our ANZTCA website.
Thanks to those who have made comments on the design and layout thus far. We
hope to launch the site before the end of May. There will be a link from our website
to this blog.

May I encourage everyone to make plans to attend our annual conference in Invercargill.
Lisa and her team have done a huge amount of work already preparing for this. Please
come !

God Bless

Greg Hughson

Conference in Invercargill! 22-25 Nov '07

2007-04-21T11:45:00.000+12:00

Register soon for the ANZTCA conference in Invercargill!
that will give you time to plan, book tickets to get there and it'll give the team an idea of who's coming and from where. This conference is the 2nd combined conference with the Interchurch Tertiary Chaplaincy Council.

Topics include Eco-spirituality, Supervision Matters, Self Care Issues, Spirituality in Contemporary Music, Multi Faith Chaplaincy, Open Space and an International Retreat Guide.

Sounds like a conference worth attending, but the most enriching element will be participation from as many of our chaplains as possible! I love the networking, catching up, and the bigger picture I get from meeting together with others who are doing what I'm attempting to do.

Contact the team at Southern Institute of Technology to get info and register. Get early bird discount!

Come a day early for a guided pre-conference retreat. Stay a bit longer to enjoy Springtime in the beautiful South!

Accommodation options:
The Townsman
Birchwood Manor
Invercargill Info Centre
Tuatara Backpackers' Lodge

Feeding ourselves Spiritually

2007-02-27T20:25:00.000+13:00

Check out the possibilites to feed yourself this year!
Spiritual Growth Ministries have retreats & events worth attending.
When did you last spend a Day Alone With God? Click the link to get some ideas.

Where have you been on a personal retreat that others might be able to use as a get away?

Click on COMMENTS below and share your ideas.

Thanks Cathy and team !

2006-12-07T10:07:00.000+13:00

Many thanks to Cathy and the Taranaki team for an excellent conference in New Plymouth .

It is graduation season here in Dunedin with graduations this Saturday 9th, Wednesday 13th and Saturday 13th. We will be having a Church service at Holy Name before each graduation parade.

All the best to everyone for Christmas

Greg

3 WEEKS TIL CONFERENCE!

2006-11-08T15:05:00.000+13:00

Here we are in November already - where has the year gone? I don't know about you guys but we have been very glad to have some warm and sunny weather.

Preparations for conference are running smoothly. Registration numbers for Conference are still low. We do have a number who are coming for one day only.

So, if you are still deciding whether to come - can I encourage you that even if you can come for some of the time it will be worth the effort. Just the networking with other Chaplains is great in itself - but with our fantastic speakers, fabulous food and the wonderful surroundings we have in Taranaki - you can not help but go home refreshed and blessed.

We are so looking forward to seeing you all again and meeting new Chaplains.

Please continue to pray for God's best for conference.

Blessings,
Cathy Gordon

Pool of Shoes; Pool of Potential

2006-10-24T02:09:00.000+13:00

David Broughton's reflections in Jesus and Japan in New Zealand in ISM's newsletter featured this photo taken in Japan.
Read more about David's grateful participation at http://www.ism.org.nz/Newsletter_pg4.htm
Journey is a metaphor I readily respond to. How many journeys past are represented in each footless shoe? How many journeys lie ahead? Where will God take these students and what will He accomplish through them?
What metaphor or symbol expresses your ministry, your potential, your bond with Jesus?

Some thoughts from David Tacey

2006-10-24T01:15:00.000+13:00

Spirituality: Mystery and Tolerance
Spirituality and fundamentalism are at opposite ends of the cultural spectrum. Spirituality seeks a sensitive, contemplative, transformative relationship with the sacred, and is able to sustain levels of uncertainty in its quest because respect for mystery is always paramount (Tacey 2000). Fundamentalism seeks certainty, fixed answers, and absolutism, as a fearful response to the complexity of the world and to our vulnerability as creatures in a mysterious universe. Spirituality arises from love of and intimacy with the sacred, and fundamentalism arises from fear of and possession by the sacred. The choice between spirituality and fundamentalism is a choice between conscious intimacy and unconscious possession.

Spirituality is capable of remaining with ultimate questions, but fundamentalism wants answers: hard, fast, and furious answers. Fundamentalism can arise in any spiritual tradition, whether Christian, Islamic, Hindu, or even in modern ideologies such as Freudian or Jungian psychology (Tacey 2001).

If we were less certain of our beliefs, and more receptive to mystery and wonder, we would paradoxically be closer to God, more intimate with the spirit, and more tolerant of our fellow human beings and their differing conceptions of the sacred.

Secularism Under Pressure
The confusion of spirituality and religious fundamentalism causes many rational and reasonable people to reject both, in the belief that humanity is better off without the sacred, since it seems to be at the heart of contemporary and historical conflicts. This desire to distance society and its institutions from the sense of the sacred has been foundational in the creation of the modern secular state, which has chosen to put 'religious matters' to one side, so that the business of living, educating, informing, and governing the people can take place 'unimpeded' by irrational impulses. But the ideals of secularism, however well intended, are inadequate for life, since our lives are not rational and we are hugely implicated in the reality of the sacred, whether or not this is acknowledged.

. . . . . . . I think of the rising waters of spirituality in our own time. After a long season of spiritual dryness and aridity, in which faith and intuition have been atrophied, a new river of spiritual possibility is rising up from below, with potentially great benefits to society and life. The river of spiritual life is always present and available to those who wish to gather at its banks, but sometimes whole societies and periods of time choose not to see it or be replenished by it. In Australia, as in most Western societies, we are about to witness a veritable flood of spiritual interest, and those who are unaware of the spiritual dimension of life are going to be placed in difficult and challenging situations. However, those with developed interests in the perennial philosophy of spiritual wisdom will be better placed to understand and benefit from the rise of spiritual water in consciousness and society.

David Tacey,
ReEnchantment: The New Australian Spirituality, Harper Collins, Sydney, 2000.
Jung and the New Age, Routledge, London and Philadelphia, 2001.

Another discussion: Sunday Nites on ABCTV: Mysticism and Rationalism
http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s1027718.htm

Conferences are great for networking, encouraging, & sharing resources

2006-10-24T00:38:00.000+13:00

ANZTCA Conference, @University of Auckland, Nov '05

Encouragement, Relationships & Teaching

2006-08-30T12:50:00.000+12:00

Taranaki is not nearly as far as Brisbane was in '04 >> and will be well worth the effort & expense for the fellowship, teaching, encouragement, fun & adventure.
Think about this: What mischief was Ricky Waters up to while the rest of us were representing NZ @International Festival Night? What fun might be had amongst a crowd of chaplains in Taranaki? It's not ONLY about the fun, but building relationships has been a huge added blessings for me in serving God on campus. Cathy & team are doing a great job preparing for us. See you in Nov!

2006 Conference & AGM

2006-08-29T18:12:00.000+12:00

Aotearoa New Zealand Tertiary Chaplains Association

2006 Conference & Annual General Meeting
27 - 30 November 2006

@ Western Institute of Technology At Taranaki
Conytact Cathy Gordon, WITT Chaplain for Registration.

GUEST SPEAKERS:
Alan Jamieson: Alan and Sandra and their two kids live in Wellington. Alan is a minister in an inner city church and Sandra is deputy principal in a city school. Alan’s books ‘A Churchless Faith’, ‘Called Again’ and ‘Five Years On’ express his interest in people’s post-church journeys.

Alan is very much a prodigal; someone arrested by the compassion and generosity of God. Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Father and Son hangs in their dining room; a reminder at the beginning of each day of the God they follow. A God who is characterised by love, acceptance, forgiveness and an aching care for people.

Sue Pickering: Sue Pickering, is a self-supporting Anglican Priest, is married with an adult son and lives in New Plymouth where she enjoys walking a bouncy Labrador, gardening, music and sharing time with friends.
Originally trained in secondary school teaching and counselling. Sue has an MA in Applied Theology from the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK, her dissertation topic ‘Spiritual Direction and University Chaplaincy’.

Sue was the first Ecumenical Chaplain at WITT where she served for seven years. Sue currently offers one-to-one spiritual direction and ministry supervision, conducts retreats and writes resources for spiritual growth.

Tertiary Chaplaincy - a journey involving many differing aspects - we have our “peaks” - times of celebration and rejoicing. We have our “pits” - those times when we walk with those in the valleys of life. And much of what we do involves the faithful day - to - day commitment to support and pastor others - the “plateaus”. Conference 2006 will seek to encourage, to equip and challenge us in our roles as we meet under the shadow of Mount Taranaki. We hope and pray you will be able to join us.

Excursions
We are looking at the possibility of offering all or

some of the following:

A. Puke Ariki & Govett Brewster Art Gallery
B. Wind Wand and Foreshore walkway
C. Chaddy’s Charters , boat trip ($30 charge)
depending on weather conditions
D. Pukeiti Rhododendron Gardens

Satire on repentance? Hmm.

2006-08-14T17:11:00.000+12:00

@ the well

Shared space

2006-08-14T14:01:00.000+12:00

Hello far & wide!

This is a shared space for us to communicate, encourage, point out good resources and feel at home. It'd be great if you would bookmark it, contribute to it heaps and consider it yours. Please let me know what you think. Changes, by way of improvements, can always be made.

You'll want to jump in and have a play with things to see what all we can do here. You can add photos, links to helpful resources, carry on discussions, share reading highlights or recommendations and tell about events we might want to participate in.

I'd especially like to hear what others are reading these days.

Jill, Massey Auckland