Church Leaders in Greater Ponsonby

Part 2; This month we continue our series on churches and church leaders in our readership area and, in a couple of cases, just beyond.

It has been an enjoyable exercise. This month we feature a diverse but very interesting group, including a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, a Greek Orthodox Church priest, and a minister of the Spiritualist Church.

Ponsonby is well served by its churches, all of which welcome visitors at any time. Not all have diminishing congregation number.

All the church leaders I spoke to were shocked by the Christchurch mosque massacre. Many have communicated directly with Christchurch Muslims. Although there have been warning signs of right wing extremism for some time, this heinous act was often described to me as ‘the end of innocence’. We have thought of ourselves as safe, down in the corner of the wide Pacific. In a sad way, we have become reluctant joiners in a sometimes cruel world.

Love, compassion and a strong sense of community is what our churches are working towards, and there is hope aplenty out there.

All church leaders have been impressed with the response, care and love expressed by our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. In fact the whole world has been impressed.

But the outpouring from ordinary New Zealanders who do not go to church has been noted by some churches as evidence of the spirituality and caring attitude of many non church-going Kiwis.

Rabbi Natti Friedler – Auckland Hebrew Congregation

I spent an enjoyable hour talking with the Senior Rabbi, Natti Friedler, at the Auckland Synagogue and Kadimah School in Greys Avenue.

One of the Auckland Hebrew congregation’s credos is, ‘a commitment to society at large where every individual is valued and invited to participate and contribute towards our community’.

Rabbi Friedler is young, personable and friendly. We quickly struck up a good rapport.

I asked Natti Friedler for his personal, and his congregation’s reactions to the Christchurch massacre.

“I was heartbroken for my brothers,” he said. “Completely.”

The police closed the Synagogue down and prohibited services. Two police were stationed outside on Greys Avenue until the day I visited, a month later. “We had a small service at my home,” Rabbi Natti told me. “The attack on a mosque was like an attack on the synagogue.”

Rabbi Friedler and the Senior Rabbi from Wellington, Rabbi Ariel Tal, went to Christchurch a few days after the attack to pay their respects, and later sent letters of condolence.

“New Zealand has changed,” Rabbi Natti said. “We must be super careful how we rebuild relationships. We must speak well of each other. Speaking badly is destructive.”

The Greys Avenue Synagogue has about 600 members. They are modern orthodox, and respect difference. They preach inclusiveness. Judaism says every change starts with our own.

The importance of community is huge. “The more good we speak of others the better,” says Friedler. “But we must also be humble. We are not experts on every issue.”

One paragraph of the Rabbi’s letter to Christchurch resonated with me.

“Instead of entering this place of worship in respect and reverence, a godless, evil man took the lives of 51 innocent people. Our sages teach us that the person who saves one life is considered as if he had saved the entire world. By contrast, a person who takes one life is considered as if he has destroyed the whole world. So many worlds were destroyed on Friday. Our hearts cry out and we mourn with your families.”

Absolute solidarity – all New Zealanders must think like this as we go forward, our innocence shattered, but our faith still intact.
www.ahc.org.nz

 

Sacred Heart Catholic Church Vermont Street

The Ponsonby Mosque considers itself fortunate to have the Sacred Heart Catholic Church next door in Vermont Street.

Mosque secretary, Firoz Patel, told me that Father Rory Morrissey has been a wonderful and supportive neighbour, especially since their Christchurch tragedy.

After meeting and talking to Father Rory, I can understand what Firoz means. Father Rory is a charming man with a warmth and wit that radiates around a room. I thoroughly enjoyed an hour with him to discuss the Christchurch massacre and the Catholic Church in Ponsonby.

Father Rory has been around Herne Bay for 20 years, and priest at Sacred Heart for the last four years.

The Parish of Ponsonby celebrated one hundred years in 1986. It all began in 1850 when Bishop Pompallier moved the headquarters of the diocese from Russell to Auckland.

On 20 March 1966, a dream going back to the turn of the century was realised when Archbishop Liston blessed and opened the new church in Vermont Street. Ponsonby has always been a multi-racial church and Bishop Pompallier, who welcomed French, Irish, English and M-aori in his day, would feel at home in today’s multi-cultural Ponsonby.

The Sisters of Mercy, founded in Ireland in 1831, have been a supporting presence in the Ponsonby area since early times, and continue to do excellent work from their base on College Hill.

I asked Father Rory about his, and his parishioners, reaction to the Christchurch massacre, and his on-going thoughts a couple of months down the track since the terror attack.

He explained that he inherited a good relationship with the Ponsonby Mosque when he arrived in Vermont Street and he has sought to maintain it. “I was dumbfounded by the massacre. It was a horrendous event,” Father Rory told me. Many of the Ponsonby Muslims are closely associated with the Christchurch congregation.

Father Rory believes our basic goodness, despite original sin, kicked in and most New Zealanders have responded positively towards the Muslim community, and helped where they can. “Friendship is the best we can offer,” suggests Father Rory. “We had over 800 people to our combined service after the tragedy.” Father told us up to 450-500 regularly attend Sunday masses.

There has been a steady drop-off in church attendance in the last 50 years. 6% of the population are practising Catholics, 15-20% of baptised Catholics attend church.

“It all started with French philosopher, Descartes,” Father Rory says, “with an emphasis on subjective values rather than objective virtues.”

The 60s began with which are black and white, but ended with values, a kind of 50 shades of grey.

We talked about chastity, celibacy and the contraceptive pill, all topics Father Rory has strong opinions about. The introduction of the contraceptive pill started the fall off in church attendance, said Rory.

Father Rory was keen to emphasise inter-faith dialogue with Muslims and others. He told me that use of the church car park on Fridays was sometimes fraught – no room for weddings or funerals – but it was only a joke. The Catholics and the Muslims work in together splendidly.

Another fine community-minded Christian man, Father Rory Morrissey is a great representative of his church and a decided asset to our Ponsonby News readership area.

Ponsonby News thanks Father Rory for the love and compassion he and his parishioners have heaped on Ponsonby Mosque Muslims on behalf of all of us, and for the good work they do in our community.

www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz

 

Church of the Golden Light

One of the lesser well-known churches in the Ponsonby News readership area is the Spiritualist Church.

I spoke with Glenys Lindsay, Minister of the Golden Light Spiritualist Church in New North Road. Glenys is only the sixth minister in the 88 years of the Golden Light church, which opened in 1931. She was ordained in 2007.

The spiritualists meet every Sunday for a 2pm service, and have a regular congregation of 20 to 35 worshippers. They meet again during the week for Development Circles, which put parishioners on the path to mediumship. Glenys Lindsay was introduced to spiritualism after years following orthodox and unorthodox religions, and immediately embraced a religion of spirit with no dogma.

As the presiding minister, she is responsible for administration, overseeing the day to day activities of the church and also manages the maintenance of the church.

Glenys is also a registered marriage celebrant and performs weddings when required. She regularly conducts ceremonies in the church including naming, renewal of vows, and ceremonies recognising special events in New Zealand.

We asked Glenys what spiritualism is. How is it defined?

Glenys replies, “Our love of our fellow man is foremost, and we endeavour to spread the truths of survival after death, of spirit communion and healing by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“We regard Jesus as an exemplar, not a saviour, as man has no saviour but himself.”

The Church of the Golden Light practises the Seven Principles of Spiritualism and these are:

1. The fatherhood of God.

2. The brotherhood of man.

3. The communion of spirits and the ministry of angels.

4. The continued existence of the human soul.

5. Personal responsibility.

6. Compensation and retribution hereafter for all good and evil deeds done on earth.

7. Eternal progress is open to every human soul.

Spiritualism has no creeds or dogmas and they accept that they are known as the ‘Seven Principles’.

The primary objective of spiritualism is to prove the survival of the human personality after death.

Spiritualists believe that when we die our earthly bodies return to the earth and the spiritual body becomes the vehicle of our spirit.

The character and individuality we have moulded in our earthly life determines our position hereafter. We can’t cheat. We can’t pretend. We must make restitution for wrongs we have committed, and only when we have made retribution can a true balance be struck.

The Spiritualist Church embraces mediumship, and trains members in its practice. This is the link or connection between spirits of the dead and living human beings. Clairvoyance is the ability of these mediums to see the form of the spirit and describe features, form and clothing.

Minister Glenys Lindsay told us, “All are very welcome to join with us at our service 2pm on Sundays at 25 New North Road, Eden Terrace.”
www.goldenlight.org.nz

 (JOHN ELLIOTT) johnelliott38@outlook.com