Gospel Conversations
Exploring the weekly Gospel
Gospel Conversations continue into 2024, with Conversationalists from within the Diocese and far beyond, joining with Michael Godfrey to ponder the weekly Gospel readings our lectionary gives us.
These are free-flowing conversations, with the aim of floating and teasing out ideas and responses to the weekly passage,
not as an academic exercise but as a creative dance with the text and the Spirit who enlivens the text for us. We hope they will spark some ideas for those who are preparing sermons, but also that they will be used by people to think about the Sunday readings during the week.
Find our Conversations from 2023 HERE. Conversations from 2022 can be accessed HERE and 2021 can be accessed HERE
Turn your sound up and make sure you view the videos in full screen…
July 28 John 6:1-21
In an interesting little diversion, the lectionary takes us back to John’s gospel this week to give us his version of the feedings of the multitude, and Jesus walking on the water in the storm. As always with John, there is a lot more going on than we might initially realise. Join Bishop Kelvin Wright, and the Rev’ds Jonathan Gale and Peg Riley as they and Mike explore this fascinating story.
July 21 Mark 6:30-34,53-56
This week we have a rather odd lectionary offering, with two short passages from Mark whose original purpose was to link some bigger stories. Yet even in these few verses our conversationalists are able to find some big issues to ponder! Join Jerry Morris, Ben Truman and Mark Wilson as Michael leads them through this week’s discussion.
Jul 14, Mark 6:14-29
The structure we stick to in these conversations can be demanding at times! Think of this week’s story of the beheading of John the Baptist. Is it a challenging story? Certainly. Is there a “so what?” to take away? Conceivably. Is there good news in it? Now, that takes some digging for! Fortunately we have a superb group of thinkers and faith-ers to tackle the passage. Lisa Emerson, John Franklin, and Mannie Marara join Michael to find where the gospel in this week’s Gospel may be.
July 7 Mark 6:1-13
Who is Jesus? The key question of Mark’s gospel continues to challenge us. Who do we say Jesus is? Can we see through the familiarity that blinded the “locals” to the mystery and wonder beyond? Gillian Townsley, Damon Plimmer, and John Goodwin make up the discussion panel with Michael this week.
June 30, Mark 5:21-43.
This is a conversation you’ll want to listen to more than once. Kelvin, Nicki and Alec are dealing with one of the most beautiful sets of stories in the Gospels – the healing of the woman in the crowd and raising from death of the young girl – and they discover layer after layer of meaning and depth. As Michael says, one challenge will be choosing what to focus on if you’re hoping this will assist your sermon-planning!
June 23 Some Gospel readings have seriously challenging bits to them (“unforgiveable sins” for example) but this week, to our relief, we have the glorious story of Jesus calming the storm. The poor disciples, who were scared enough when the storm raged, become even more scared when it stopped! Would we be the same? Lisa Emerson, Michael Holdaway and Anne van Gend join Michael (over a slightly dodgy internet connection) to discuss that, and other, questions.
Gospel Conversation June 16 Mark 4:26-34 A seed sown in the ground… the farmer sleeps, wakes, sleeps, wakes, and the seed mysteriously grows. It’s a familiar image even today for many of us, but what was Jesus meaning when he used the image as a parable? We have three wise and experienced heads tackling that question this week, with Graham Redding (Knox Church, Dunedin), Bishop Kelvin Wright, and Wendy Scott (St Matthew’s, Masterton) joining Michael.
We often note how tricky some of these Gospel passages are, and this week is another great example of that. Jesus apparently ignoring his family. A sin “against the Holy Spirit” which is apparently unforgiveable. How do we understand these things and learn from them? Jonathan Gale, Emma Wilson and Anne van Gend join Michael this week to wrestle with some of the issues – and joys – of this puzzling passage.
Gospel Conversations 2024 June 2 Mark 2:23-3:6
We’re back into Mark this week, for once following the “ordinary Sunday” readings rather than Te Pouhere on this Sunday after Trinity. We do encourage you to celebrate Te Pouhere if you can, so if you’d rather watch a conversation on that, look to the links at the end of this blurb. If, however, you’re as happy as our conversationalists were to be back in Mark, join us here! Sabbath questions, misquotes of the Old Testament, and Jesus blasting through hypocrisy all make up some of the points raised by Damon Plimmer, Deborah Broome, and John Goodwin as they join Michael this week.
Gospel Conversations 2024 Trinity Sunday John 3:1-17
Trinity Sunday, and one of the most beloved passages in the New Testament. Who is this fascinating person, Nicodemus, and how does Jesus guide him towards an understanding of something of the mystery of God – three-in-one? Gillian Townsley, Mannie Marara, and Richard Johnson join Michael this week to puzzle this most wonderful mystery together.
Gospel Conversations 2024 May 19 John 15:26-7; 16:4b-15
Pentecost Sunday! A time of celebration, wonder, joy and sheer confusion! Today we ponder Jesus’ words as he tries to prepare his disciples for what is to come by promising them the multi-faceted care of the Paraclete. Jesus in John’s gospel can be challenging to understand, so join Judy, Mary-Jo, Anne and Michael as they toss some ideas around that might be worth considering.
Easter 7, May 12: For the next couple of weeks we’re continuing with Jesus’ final discourse in John’s Gospel, in which a sometimes bewildering whirl of ideas, commands, and comfort, are given to the first disciples – and us. In one of our inter-continental discussions, we are joined by Matt Jeffries from the Arthur Rank Centre in the UK, Jerry Morris from the Methodist church of Wisconsin, and Peg Riley from Christchurch. Together they explore our relationships with the church, with God, and with each other in ways that will – as the Spirit does – challenge and comfort you
Continuing on through John’s Gospel, we dig deeper into that amazing word, “Abide”, which we encountered last week. Our conversationalists find in it comfort, questions, and challenges . Especially, how does abiding in Christ connect to his command for us to love each other? David Tomb, Wendy Scott, and Ben Truman give us memorable pictures and ideas to ponder on.
Sometimes the most challenging thing about a biblical passage can be to avoid thinking, “Oh, I’ve read that/heard that a million times.” The image of Jesus as the vine and us as the branches could strike us with that sort of familiarity, so the Conversationalists today “branch out” to see how we might be able to look at it anew. Join Kelvin Wright, Nicki Colledge, and Anne van Gend as they puzzle it out with Michael.
Easter 4. This week we have one of the most beloved images of Jesus to think about: Jesus the Good Shepherd who knows each sheep by name, and welcomes those from unexpected pastures. Even this beautiful image brings with it challenges as well as good news, and Deborah Broome joins us for the first time to mull them over with Lisa Emerson and Damon Plimmer – and, of course, Michael!
Easter 3, and we’re really beginning to grapple with how to deal with the overwhelming GOODNESS of the good news of the Resurrection! Luke gives us a resurrected Jesus who is thoroughly with us, scars and all, and has yet defeated death. John Goodwin, Jenny Dawson and Esther Clarke-Prebble make up our team of conversationalists this week. Christ is risen – indeed!
April 7. Easter 2! Traditionally this is called “Low Sunday” and many congregations find themselves a little smaller than usual as people recover from Holy Week and Easter! It would be a pity to miss this beautiful reading, however. Jesus appearing to his disciples huddled in a room with doors locked; Thomas refusing to believe until he can see it with his own eyes – there is so much here to dig into! Simon Martin joins us for the first time, and together with Gillian, Jonathan and Michael, gives us a taste of just how much there is to glean from this amazing passage.
Easter Day! If you’re not preaching this week, perhaps hold off watching this until Sunday, because this is a real celebration of the resurrection, and over Holy Week we still have Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday to work through before we get there. But when we do, what an amazing, glorious story we are given! Grace, Peg and Anne have a thoroughly enjoyable time thinking about the women at the tomb and the mind-blowing Good News they are tasked with sharing. Christ is risen!
March 24 Passion/Palm Sunday Last year we talked about the “blessing of the Palms” Gospel reading, so this year we’re tackling the longer, “Passion” reading. This catapults us straight into the tension and darkness of Holy Week. Is there good news to be found as we wait by Jesus’ body on the cross or in the tomb? Bishop Steve, Jenny Dawson and Michael Holdaway wonder about this together.
March 17th. We’re continuing to jump around the Gospel of John as we come ever closer to Holy Week. Here, Jesus is told that some Greeks want to see him, and for some reason that launches a speech about seeds and serpents and glory and his own death. This week we have Kelvin Wright, Natalie Millikan and Mannie Marara helping us to find meaning in the swirling and wonderful words of Jesus.
March 10 Lent 4 This passage contains one of the most familiar passages in all Scripture – but our conversationalists may not react to it the way you expect! Whether or not you agree with them, we invite you to enter the conversation, listening, weighing up, accepting or rejecting their suggestions, and being part of the ongoing journey to know God and God’s will better. This week Alec Clark, Gillian Townsley, and Andrew Metcalfe join Michael to discuss “God so loved the world….”
March 3rd Lent 3 For the third week of Lent we jump over to John’s Gospel for the unexpected story of Jesus making a whip and driving out the store-keepers in the Temple. This could seem out of character for Jesus – what’s going on? We’re helped along in our thinking by Lisa Emerson, Esther Clarke-Prebble and Esme Macdonald this week, who give us three gloriously different approaches to this story.
Gospel for Sunday Feb 25.”Take up your cross and follow.” It’s not an easy command to hear, and as we continue through Lent, it’s something we need to grapple with. What could Jesus have meant? What are the dangers associated with some of the ways we understand him? Join David Tombs, Nicki Colledge, Eddie O’Connor (for the first time) and Michael as they ponder these, and other, questions.
LENT 1 Feb 18. We enter Lent with a bang, hurried along by Mark’s rapid-fire story-telling. Baptism, temptations, proclamation, all in a few short verses. Aptly, our conversation this week is also short and sharp! Bishop Steven Benford, Peg Riley and Anne van Gend explore with Michael how to respond to heavenly voices, demons, angels, and wild beasts!
Gospel for Sunday Feb 11. This week’s gospel is the story of Jesus healing a leper, and the beautiful interactions between them. Why was this one healing told in detail, when there had been so many healings before this one? Damon Plimmer, Gary Griffith-Smith and Anne van Gend join Michael to explore the significance of this life-changing story for the leper, and for us.
Gospel for Sunday Feb 4th. We’re back! Refreshed after a month or so off, our Conversationalists are starting again for another year. We launch with the energetic combination of Kelvin Wright, Wendy Scott and Emma Wilson, who join Mike to talk about the rush of stories that strike us just as the Gospel of Mark begins.