General Synod / Te Hīnota Whānui
Youth Reflections

The Following are just a few of the reflections offered by young people to the recent General Synod

Sarah Field Dodgson (A bible study reflection from Tuesday)

"No one sews a patch of un-shrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins." Mark 2:21-22

I am happy to admit that I don't totally understand this passage and what Jesus is on about. I can understand the face value of it, regarding wine and clothing, but I find it hard to apply it to my life and find its relevance. That said, I did think of one thing the reading challenged me on.

I've been sitting at this meeting for the last two days - and I did the same last time at Rotorua for a week - and I've kept silent. As a young person I don't feel comfortable standing up at General Synod. I am 21; I have little experience of the 3 Tikanga; I don't know the canons inside out... I am "new wine" compared to most of you.

In order to have mature wine it must first begin as new wine. I have to start somewhere. But I don't think all of the responsibility rests on me. Wine needs the right environment to mature. I am a confident, gifted young woman who has something to contribute here. However, I need to feel as a young person that you believe it's important for me to be here and that my input is valued and will be listened to.

This church needs mature wine. It also needs to let the new wine mature.

Sarah Stevens (A bible study reflection from Wednesday)

In the context of our General Synod I looked at this reading with three things in mind. Our discussions about unity and our leadership model, our discussion yesterday about the future of our church and the needs of our youth, and thirdly the discussion we will have later today about social justice.

I have heard much talk over the past two days of trust, respect and working together. I find myself wondering whether we are in fact practising what we preach. In our three headed leadership model we have made a bold statement about our three Tikinga commitment to partnership. We are now faced with an exciting opportunity to practice what we have preached.

In the context of youth, I was reminded of something someone said to me recently. "This church has been loaned to us by the next generation." In verse 4 in the reading we are told that the teachers who we "must obey" tie up heavy loads and put them on the shoulders of others. The reading goes on to say: "but they are not prepared to lift a finger to move them."

Have we tied up burdens and put them on the shoulders of the next generation? Are we prepared to lift a finger, a hand or indeed an entire arm to remove those burdens?

And finally we also need to look forward to today's discussion about social justice. When I stopped to think about this I was very embarrassed. I am always very quick to speak of social justice. Social justice issues are close to my heart. But when I look back over recent days, weeks, months and years I see very little action to go with these words.

I am however reassured by the final line of this reading. "We have one teacher and we are all students." I am very willing to learn from my mistakes and I am reassured to know that I have Jesus Christ as my teacher.

Kahu Miller (A bible study reflection from Thursday)

Are we showing our light to the world? and if so what is that light? As disciples of God, can we honestly say that what we do, in front of others, is letting our light shine.

On Thursday Vincent and myself led the GS bible study which was based on the Matthew 5:13-16 scripture that speaks about Jesus telling us that we are the Salt of the earth, and the Light of the world.

So what does it mean to be salt of the earth exactly? Well first we had to try and figure out what was so important about salt. From the korero going on in my bible study group I kinda got the feeling that our general consensus was: Salt was/is used as a preserver, and one of the things Jesus was saying is that it is up to us to make sure that this church, and its faith, is preserved for the future generations. How we go about this is up to us.

And as for the Light of the World.

Are we showing our light to the world? It was suggested that maybe some of us, as individuals in the Anglican church, are not letting our light shine because we do not want to "rub anyone up the wrong way", and are to worried that what we might have to say will leave us in a disposition with those who are close to us. How Can we fix this? Me personally, I think that we should not be afraid to say what and how we feel about our faith, yes it can be one of the hardest things to do for some, but maybe what we have to share is something someone really needs to hear..



 

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