What if fear is not a flaw to be fixed, but an invitation to be answered? This sermon explores stories of courage – what it means to take trembling steps into the unknown and what holds us when we do. If you have ever stood at a threshold you did not choose, wondering whether you had what it takes to cross it, this one is for you.

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Keola Whittaker

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Keola Whittaker © 19 April 2026

I. INTRODUCTION

Now picture the crowd in this story.

Jesus is passing through Jericho, and the whole city has come out to see him. It is loud and pressing and alive with anticipation. And somewhere at the edge of that crowd is a man named Zacchaeus — a tax collector, a collaborator, a man who has made himself comfortable by extracting money from his own people. Everyone knows who he is. Everyone knows what he’s done.

And this man wants to see Jesus. But he cannot get through. He is short, and the crowd — the very people he has harmed — are standing between him and what he is reaching for. So he does something that must have looked absurd: he runs ahead and climbs a sycamore tree.

I want you to hold that image. One of the most compromised men in town, up in a tree, alone above the crowd that has every reason to keep him out. Straining toward something he is not sure he deserves to see. Not knowing whether the door is open. Not knowing whether, if he came down, anyone would make room for him.

We celebrate the autumn equinox with a general focus on connecting with Nature at this special time of the year. Expect a short pagan ritual, a special altar, a bit more participation than usual, and a 2-part talk. Part 1 concerns contemplation of this special midpoint between days of light and night and earth’s energies relative to our own energy. Through a story or two, Part 2 focuses on our spiritual connection with Mother Earth as our precious planet faces another tipping point.

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Barbara Thomborson

No recording this week

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Barbara Thomborson © 22 March 2026

Autumn equinox’26, part 1: contemplation of this special midpoint between days of light and night and earth’s energies relative to our own energy

How many of you say autumn is your favourite season? How about second favourite one? Yes, many people like or even love autumn very much. There’s so much to love about early autumn: the warm afternoons leftover from late summer but the cool nights to make sleeping easier; the long, languorous, golden sunsets; the early vegetables and fruits along with produce of late summer; leaves of changing colours that we know will start falling soon; even the moody skies and mystical mist – this seasonal change sometimes feels magical. I love the anticipation of cooler, fresher air; the change in weather that requires long sleeves and heavier fabrics, jackets and raincoats. Where I’m originally from, we say no such thing as bad weather – you just need the right clothes.

Discovering the essence of humanity from stories – seminal moments in a teaching career.

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Maria Hayward

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Maria Hayward © 15 March 2026

A brief caveat: these stories include mention of suicide and incest.

I want to share some stories today – stories that derive from my early teaching experiences. Stories that shaped me into a different type of teacher than the nuns and others who taught me.

I learnt something even from just remembering the stories I’m going to share with you today. These are stories about how I, as a teacher, most poignantly and most intensely was able to develop and strengthen my pedagogy; and this learning derived in significant part, from the students themselves. I could tell so many refugee stories, but the following are from my secondary school teaching experience, and one is from my adult teaching role.

Today is International Working Women’s Day

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

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Rachel Mackintosh © 8 March 2026

In 2017 the tide was in.

It was a tide of transformation.

One small second-hand car dealer in Invercargill sold 40 cars in a month. In Invercargill.

The women who bought those cars each had one less worry. The stress of wondering if the car would get them to their next job without breaking down evaporated. The tension leading up to the six-monthly warrant of fitness check eased. They could all breathe more easily. They could replace a tyre if it went bald. It was a transformation.

The second-hand car dealer also experienced transformation, as his income increased dramatically in that month. Because he and we are all part of an interdependent web. And he went out to dinner more often, and the local restaurants’ takings increased, and so on, and so on …

The tide was in because the government had agreed to fund the transformation after the Supreme Court ruled that care and support work had been historically undervalued because it was predominantly performed by women. The ruling was the final decision from a claim for pay equity under the Equal Pay Act 1972.

For those women who bought new cars, and for other care and support workers, there were other transformations.

In a continuation of the service done on Mental Health Awareness Week last October, this one focuses more on dealing with your own mental illness stigma and understanding mental health for anyone.

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Barbara Thomborson

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The personality disorder in you

Last October I led a service on the United Nations’ Mental Health Awareness Week. Many who were present at that service commented favourably on new understandings of mental ‘illness’ and mental health and asked for more. Today’s service is that follow-up.

Speaker & Worship Leader:- Ted Zorn

So much can be achieved if we share honestly and listen deeply to each other. But what if we do so and find that our beliefs, needs or values are fundamentally at odds?

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Ted Zorn © 22 February 2026

I’ve spent my entire adult life believing in the power of communication.

I have a PhD in the subject. I’ve spent my career studying it, teaching it, writing about it, and trying — not always successfully — to practise it effectively.

Next week, when classes begin at the uni, my main teaching responsibility will be a course entitled Managing Conflict.

So I am personally and professionally invested in the idea that clear and honest sharing and deep listening matter.

And I believe that from the depth of my being.

Speaker:- Dr. Tof Eklund
Worship Leader:- Rachel Mackintosh

If you find nonbinary gender(s) confusing, want to understand what it means to be nonbinary, or are nonbinary, this one’s for you. Dr. Tof Eklund (they/them) speaks about being nonbinary, the challenges and prejudices nonbinary folks face, and the profound implications of nonbinary thought and spirituality.

Dr. Tof Eklund, (they/them), is Lecturer in English and New Media Studies @ AUT.

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A Reflection on Rainbow Flags

Maria Hayward © 15 February 2026

Kia ora koutou katoa. I am going to read a personal reflection on this month’s Pride theme, and then I’ll introduce our guest speaker, Dr Tof Eklund.

I thought I’d talk about flags.

I had intended to open the Pride month services with brief explanation of the rainbow flags we’ve been displaying, but I didn’t manage to get around to it. Then, with the occasion of Tof speaking today, I wondered if there was a non-binary flag – and there is, so I’ll talk about that soon, but this gives me an opportunity to also talk about the rainbow flag in general.