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More than 300 people attended a "Shepherds' Dinner" held at Newtown's Lane Centre in Wellington.' Invitations had been sent to
clergy and church leaders from Wellington city, the Hutt Valley and the Kapiti
Coast. Among those attending were Anglican Archbishop Brian Davis, Cardinal Tom Williams
and the Mayor of Porirua, Mr John Burke.
The dinner was organised by One in Spirit, a
group with the goal of taking the VISION New Zealand mission statement of 'taking the whole gospel I to the whole nation" and apply it regionally.
"Twenty or 30 years
I
ago this would never have happened," said the master of ceremonies, Mr
Phillip Liner, in welcoming the guests.'
After the dinner there
were several items of entertainment.
Speeches were given by a prominent Roman Catholic layman, Mr
Gordon Copeland, who
has also been chairman of One in Spirit; Pastor Rasik Ranchord of the Abundant Life Centre; and an Anglican vicar, the Rev Terry Alvey.
"We are all part of the one flock under the one
Shepherd," said Mr Copeland. "How can we,
the church in Wellington, be minister of reconciliation unless we first live in full reconciliation with all
I
those who share our faith?"
I am convinced we are
in a new spiritual season," said Pastor Ranchord.
"Though we are heading for winter meteorogically. I am convinced we are approaching spring spiritually, Before God can bring in the harvest, He must first prepare His own people. This new season is a season of co-operation. We have
experienced vertical co-operation or co-operation within a particular
denomination. We need to complement this with horizontal co-operation or
inter-denominational co-operation within a given region. God is calling us to
unity with a purpose.
For this to be realized, the work must first begin with the church and Christian leaders. Let tonight be a defining moment when we lower our flags of independence and raise the flag of interdependence. We desperately need each other if we're going to make an impact on our region. "The darkness in the world is deepening. The world's darkest hour can be the churches finest hour. The light of the gospel shines brightest against the inky blackness of sin." My Alvey called on the audience to be doers of the word, not just hearers of preachers. "It's so true of the challenge of Christian unity," he said. "It's easy to give lip service to the notion we should love our Christian brother or sister. It's no harder for those of us who are church leaders.
"Where, in the list of those things we write in our diaries every week, are we going to write Christian unity action?"
Mr Liner, noting the friendly atmosphere, said nobody seemed to find it important to ask each other which church they were affiliated to. "The important thing is we all worship the one God," he said. "Thank you for making something special for me tonight."
Pastor Rex Meehan of the Apostolic Church suggested everybody fill in a prayer request form which would be acted on by somebody else.
In winding up the evening Mr.
Copeland said perfect love casts out fear, but suspicion is a seed planted by
the evil one. It is time for churches to act together
"I sense the voice of the Lord saying 'Don't wait for someone else to take a lead.' 'Why shouldn't the journey towards unity start here in Wellington?"
Everyone was given a copy of Ted Haggard'~ book, Loving Your City into the Kingdom. Mr Copeland said he knew Ted Haggard had been praying for Wellington and was pleased to hear this meeting was taking place.
A presentation was made to Mr Copeland who was leaving One in Spirit to take up
extra responsibilities with the Catholic Church.