ACNS Christchurch Bishop fears her clergy face ?exhaustion of spirit? following tremors

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Posted On : June 15, 2011 11:56 AM | Posted By : Admin ACO

ACNS: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/6/15/ACNS4879

> Related Categories: New Zealand

> Christchurch Bishop fears her clergy face
> ?exhaustion of spirit? following tremors

> By Lloyd Ashton, Anglican Taonga

In the wake of yet more big jolts in

Christchurch, Bishop Victoria Matthews says she
fears her clergy are facing ?exhaustion of spirit?.

?People are tired. They have been more than
magnificent. Let me say that clearly.
?But I am hearing of a deep weariness of the
soul, and I'm having to ask people to reach deep
into their resources to meet yet another crisis.

?The churches that have stepped up to the plate,
and been magnificent so many times before, will
have to do it all over again. Because we have got
to keep looking after the people of God.

?I'm watching people's eyes, and hearing their
words very carefully, and I've been saying to
some: ?You know, you've got to get out and away for a month.?

?And they say: ?Yes. You're right. I do.? But
after yesterday, getting them to do that is going
to be more difficult. Because they are going to want to be with their peopl e.

?That's the story that is front page for me.

?I was talking to an elderly man the other day
who?d lived through war, and been evacuated six
times in his life. He knows the drills, so to speak.

?But the people who are actually at the front line now? we don't.

?We are a generation who have never been through
a war, never lived through a sustained, critical
period like this. That makes it really difficult.?

As a young woman, Bishop Victoria twice served
three-month stints in Haiti ? and while she was
there, she lived through a military coup.

While the politics couldn?t be more different,
she says the turmoil in Haiti she experienced
then was the best preparation she?s had for
leading the Diocese of Christchurch through the crises it faces now.

She also says that the destruction of the

cathedral?s rose window has significant implications.

?It raises the question yet again about whether
we need to deconsecrate (the cathedral), and take
it right down ? but that question has not been answered yet.

?The rose window was, in a sense, the icon of the icon.

?It was the trademark. The logo. Call it whatever
you will, it was the one piece, the people of the
cathedral said, that they would move to whatever
a new Cathedral looked like. That would go with them.

> ?But it won't now.?

For some other churches, yesterday?s quakes were the coup de grace.

?Holy Trinity Lyttelton is right down,? she says.
?The roof is now on the ground. We knew that we
were probably looking at demolition there, but that's now been done.

?St Luke's, which has been deconsecrated, is now
very precarious. I think we will have to move to
demolition there as soon as possible.?

While the historic stone church at St John's
Latimer Square, which had already been
deconsecrated, has suffered more damage.

Bishop Victoria says she dropped into a number of
church schools yesterday, and found them in good heart.

?The spirit of young people is wonderful. I was
checking at St Michael?s church school, and a
young man from Christ?s College came up to me
there and said: ?Good afternoon Bishop. I just
need to tell you that Christ's College is all right.? Isn?t that good? ?

?Then I went on to Bishopspark ? and the spirit
of the sweethearts there is amazing. One 96-year
old woman, who is a clergy widow, said to me:
?Ohh? the staff were so lovely. They brought us
all downstairs, and gave us the nicest cup of tea.??

In the evening, Bishop Victoria emailed her

clergy, urging them to be careful around their buildings.

?The operative word,? she wrote, ?is safety. So please do not take ch ances.?

Today she identified two other pressing needs:
?We need prayer. We need prayer, because we are
beyond running on our own strength.

?Before yesterday, I'd been going round the
parishes saying: ?We've got to pray our way through this.?

?Everybody agreed. Then yesterday happened, and
now we really need the whole country and beyond
this country praying for us for strength. Because
there is no other way we are going to get through this.?

She also forecasts that ?in a fairly short time,
we?ll be needing very practical help again. ?
?People who might be able to come and do
relatively minor repairs, like helping waterproof homes, for example.?

> ?So: safety, prayer and practical help.?