> Home > News and Views > Moderator's messages

Moderator's messages

July 2025
Tēnā koutou katoa
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

I write to you at a time when the world is experiencing much trauma. We are living in very troubled times, with war raging in so many places around the world. There are armed conflicts with Israel-Iran, Israel-Palestine, RussiaUkraine, and civil wars in Myanmar and Sudan, and ongoing conflicts in many other places. Although physically distant from us, this terrible suffering and destruction is brought home to us on our television screens, online, and in our newspapers. 

Many people are being killed, injured, persecuted, confined, dispossessed of their homes; many have little or nothing to eat or drink. We find it difficult to imagine how terrifying it must be to be on the ground in these places with such horror, bloodshed, fear, grief and worry all around. We feel deeply for those showing great courage in all that they are enduring. Such cruel inhumanity. The world feels broken. 

We are living through a time of mounting anxiety and danger, and so in hope through Jesus, who came that all may have life in all of its fullness, let us pray: 
for a de-escalation of war and tension
for successful dialogue and negotiation 
for reconciliation between enemies 
for provision of food and supplies 
for those in need for wise, courageous and compassionate leadership 
for healing and hope 
for medical staff and hospitals who are caring 
for the wounded for agencies providing help and provisions 
for comfort and care for those who are suffering for peace and 
for justice 
We pray as people of resurrection hope – knowing that through Christ’s resurrection that the light is stronger than the darkness, and hope is stronger than despair. 

Yours in Christ
Rose
Right Rev Rose Luxford, Moderator
Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
moderator@presbyterian.org.nz

June 2025
Tēnā koutou katoa 

On Pentecost Sunday, 8 June, we read the Scriptures and reflect on the continuing story of our journey of faith with the Risen Christ and the Holy Spirit. We have the promise from Jesus that the Holy Spirit will teach us, lead us deeper into the truth of God, and remind us of the teachings that Jesus has already given us. We will experience the nudgings and the insights of the Holy Spirit in our living, and know the peace that Jesus offers us – a peace that gives wholeness and freedom from fear. There is much to celebrate! 

At the time I was preparing to write this message, I spent three days at a women-in-ministry gathering at Te Maungarongo Marae – our Church’s national marae in Ōhope. During our time together there was a workshop on marae tikanga and it was interesting to learn that every marae has its own mauri (life force, essence), and at Te Maungarongo the mauri is the Holy Spirit. 

So, many people who come to this marae, talk of how special it is, of how they feel close to God in this space, how they feel a home-coming, a welcome, an integration, a deep connection. The Holy Spirit is at work and is known. It is also known there through the people of Te Aka Puahou who give such manaakitanga (hospitality), which builds whanaungatanga (relationship). In step with this we think of the relational nature of the Holy Spirit as guide, teacher, advocate, counsellor, comforter. All things come together to provide a holy space. 

It feels like Te Maungarongo is similar to what the Celtic Christians call ‘a thin place’ where the boundary between the material world and the spiritual or divine is perceived to be particularly thin. Where it is more permeable. A sacred place. What a gift. 

What do we feel the Spirit is saying to us, the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, in this season of Pentecost? Can we be attentive to the nudgings of the Holy Spirit, within and around us? 

As we prepare for General Assembly in October, let us adopt a posture of listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us so that we can be all that God desires for us, individually and as a national Church. Discerning. Integrated. Energised. Engaged. Hopeful. 

May the warmth and the promptings of the Holy Spirit be with us all. 

Right Rev Rose Luxford
Moderator Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand