The End of Life Choice Act: pastoral responses
Assisted dying became legally available on 7 November 2021. Our lecturer in Pastoral Care and Counselling, Dr Phil Halstead, begins this series of arti…
Opinion
An individual’s Christian response to a vaccine mandate in the workplace
Vaccination mandates and the workplace: Are Christians in the firing line? Gareth Jones attends Dunedin City Baptist Church and is Emeritus Professor i…
Amidst the lockdown struggle: cracked open by joining together
John Fawcett’s hymn “Blest Be the Tie that Binds” is an important hymn for Baptists. The third stanza reads: “We share our mutual woes, our mutual bu…
Cross-shaped unity for church through the COVID-19 Protection Framework
Since the Government’s announcement about the COVID-19 Protection Framework, my mind, like that of many pastors, has been occupied by what this will me…
An open letter to the unvaccinated in the Christian community
Gareth Jones attends Dunedin City Baptist Church and is Emeritus Professor in Anatomy at the University of Otago. He has written this letter to Christi…
Taking responsibility for health is not at odds with worship
This article was first published in the Otago Daily Times on 25 October 2021. Reproduced with permission. Are vaccine mandates a threat to churches,…
666 and the COVID-19 pandemic
A Baptist pastor asked last week if we would provide something on why the COVID-19 vaccine should not be considered the ‘Mark of the Beast’. Our very o…
Red-orange-green light: a pastor, a church and unity in Christ
Tim Palmer, Senior Pastor, Franklin Baptist Church shares his journey in a local church as they seek to navigate the vaccination discussion, as they li…
Time for action—what comes after staying at home and rolling my sleeve up?
As a follow on from last weeks opinion piece: Vaccinations and the local church: Seven views on the current situation, Alan Jamieson, General Director …
Freedom and responsibility—thoughts from a retired pastor
Some Christians fear that the government is interfering with their freedom. The push for people to be vaccinated and the controls placed on church acti…