with Rev. Clay Nelson

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Clay used a recording of Maya Angelou reading her poem ‘Still I rise’ for opening words today, you can hear that below.

Clay Nelson © 18^th November 2018

Sometimes a sermon topic comes along like an interruption while I am going blithely about my life. This one came during my most recent session with my supervisor, who I check in with every couple of months to reflect on my spiritual and emotional state.

The question of hope came up after her asking my view of having an afterlife. I answered I wasn’t expecting one. Continue reading When hope is hard to find →

Service Leader: Rev. Clay Nelson
Music choices: Corinne Henrickson

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Singing is an act of creation, of bringing into the world something that wasn’t there before.
Singing is a natural expression of our spirit—at the same time it can be soothing, energising, crying, laughing, angelic or down in the dirt blues…it’s all good!
Singing is energy going out into the world to create even more sympathetic energy. It can change the world.
I’ll bet it was someone listening to music that first created the concept of heaven!

Desmond Tutu once said “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Protest songs reject neutrality. They choose a side in opposition to all that dehumanises us. Through the power of song they call for resistance. Continue reading Jukebox Sunday 2018 →

with Rev. Clay Nelson

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Clay Nelson © 28^th October 2018

For someone of my generation change has been our reality. When I was born there were five billion fewer people on the planet. That alone would be enough to overwhelm, but it is hardly the beginning of what we have had to understand, process and absorb of a reality that literally changes daily. Take the idea of multiculturalism. Continue reading Finding the Common Good in Multiculturalism →

with Rev. Clay Nelson

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Clay Nelson © 14^th October 2018

A friend asked what I was preaching on this week. I told him “Dismantling Patriarchy.” He gave me an empathetic chuckle, “Well, good luck with that.”

I’m not sure what he meant by that. Easy peasy. It has only been around for the last 11,700 years of the earth’s history. Lots has changed since it took hold during the Neolithic age, sometimes called the new stone age. The Bronze age had not even happened yet. Continue reading Dismantling Patriarchy →

with Rev. Clay Nelson

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Clay Nelson © 7^th October 2018

One of the challenges I face in selecting sermon topics is trying to find something new where I can venture into uncharted territory. So far it has been to no avail. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes was right when he said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” But ever hopeful I tried again this week. I bet no one has ever tried to find a sermon in the Hokey Pokey, or the Hokey Tokey as it is called in New Zealand. I guess the name was already taken for an ice cream. But a quick search of the interwebs revealed that any number of preachers from various faiths had given it a go. Continue reading It’s time to do the Hokey Tokey →