Connections - Pastor's Pen for 10th May 2026

Evening run, Napier

It's Tuesday, which marks the fifteenth anniversary of my ordination into Presbyterian ministry. Ministry, like life generally, has seemed like an exploratory run in a new city. Please indulge my running analogy for just a little while...

When I started visiting Napier more frequently, my trail runners' eyes looked up from the orderly, flat (boring) streets to the hills, thinking that it would be nice if you could link up Ōtātara Pā, Dolbel Reserve and the Sugarloaf (Pukekura) in one trail run, with minimal on-road running. It turns out, the city council and various Rotary clubs had the same marvelous idea, as eventually all these hills will be part of the Rotary Pathway encircling the city. Meantime, over the years, by trial and error and several dead ends and back tracks, I made the connections myself, mostly without the benefit of the new signage.

Dead ends, back tracks and making connections; this is how I would characterise my work and vocational life to this point in time. I found ministry in the end but it was not by a wide and well signposted route, but seemingly a winding hill path, via teaching and librarianship, sometimes difficult to navigate. For what it's worth, being the minister at Forrest Hill has been the longest I've been in any one position. I'm thankful to God as I approach a decade in this neighbourhood. Where will God lead us together in the future?

How would you describe your own vocational and life journey? Perhaps me sharing my thoughts about life and ministry will make you think about your own. I often draw comfort from the words of Apostle Paul to the church in Rome; "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28) Shalom