Reverend Philomeo Kinera will be retiring at the end of this year after 38 years in ministry as a deacon and an ordained minster, 30 of them in New Zealand. At her last Methodist Conference earlier this month, she reflected on her ministry and her vision of the church. The video that she recorded was also played at our Sunday gathering the following week.

Philo has served in both rural and urban parishes, most recently at this central Christchurch church. She quoted Jeremiah 29:7 where the Jewish exiles in Babylon are urged to seek the peace and prosperity of the city in which they find themselves. As a migrant herself, she wants the church to be a safe place for all, where everyone is valued. A significant time in her ministry was working with interfaith groups after the Christchurch mosque attacks of March 2019, and she says that the relationships formed then have continued to the present day.

Philo believes that the church must find ways to become more attractive and relevant to people’s lives. This does not mean compromising on core values, but rather presenting them in ways that resonate with the present age and issues. Her vision for the church is that it should be “a place where hard questions are welcomed, doubts are not shamed and open dialogue is encouraged. Faith grows stronger when it is allowed to confront challenge and change. What people are looking for is honesty, integrity and transparency; the church must act out what it says.” She sees the future of the church as a “decentralised movement centred on the historical Jesus’s radical lifestyle of non-violent resistance to systematic injustices, radical inclusivity and collaborative partnership with all.”

You can watch Philo’s reflection below.