The Shepherd’s Call – Te Karanga o te Hēpara – Print

The Shepherd’s Call – Te Karanga o te Hēpara:
Prayers and liturgies for rural Aotearoa New Zealand

By Bill Bennett

Discover a prayer for every aspect of rural life.

We now print this book in New Zealand and have plenty of copies in stock.

Print publication details

Published:  12 September 2018
Language: English
Words: 19,070 approx
B/W text, 124pp, 6″ x 9″
ISBN: 9781720226949

NZ $20.00 + p&p

 

 

 

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Foreword by The Reverend Dr Jenny Dawson

“For decades a tireless advocate for the uniqueness and significance of rural ministry, Bill Bennett is a neighbour and friend. Since I came to Napier, as he lives just along the road (by rural standards) from me, the hospitality of Bill and Wendy has enriched my life-as it has many others. Yet as long as I have known him, he has been a neighbour in the broader sense.

I come from rural Canterbury and worked for many years as a ministry educator, first nationally and then in the South Island. Wherever I met Bill, we have talked about what’s going on in the countryside. He helped establish the Hawkes Bay Rural Ministry Unit in the 1980s, providing impetus for others around the country to reflect theologically on the rural scene. He has the ability to build friendships and make connections, living out the principle that rural life is shaped by communities of neighbours.

Bill was brought up in a farming family in Dannevirke, and apart from a short time in the UK he has ministered as a priest in Waiapu since his ordination in 1964, serving in many of the parishes in this largely rural diocese. He has a strong ecumenical commitment and a deep confidence in rural churches to adapt creatively to social and economic change.

A musician and composer of many hymns, he understands the complexity of rural life with its overlapping communities and its deep dependence on seasonal life. This understanding shines through the resources in this new book.

Following Listen to the Shepherd 1997, Seasons of the Land 2001 and God of the Whenua: Rural Ministry in Aotearoa New Zealand 2005, this book comes to us at a time when rural life seems to be less relevant to most New Zealanders, including church decision-makers. Yet these liturgical resources will touch everyone who is interested in seasonal joy and struggle, planting and harvest, whitebaiting and hospitality.

A theology of land and missional ministry that is shaped by both local life and God’s call, with a deep understanding of tikanga Maori, mean that these prayers and reflections are uniquely and wonderfully New Zealand. I commend them to you and hope they are widely used across the country. They are for us all.”

The Reverend Dr Jenny Dawson

Book Description

Discover a prayer for every aspect of rural life.

A musician and composer of many hymns, Anglican priest Bill Bennett understands the complexity of rural life with its overlapping communities and its deep dependence on seasonal life. This understanding shines through this book.

117 prayers are arranged into broad themes: the seasons, environment, community, mission and ministry, work, crisis and loss. 

There are also six sets of Eucharist liturgies and another five liturgies focused on the bush, harvest community life and adverse events.

This book will be a valued resource for both clergy and lay worship leaders.

“These liturgical resources will touch everyone who is interested in seasonal joy and struggle, planting and harvest, whitebaiting and hospitality.

A theology of land and missional ministry that is shaped by both local life and God’s call, with a deep understanding of tikanga Maori, mean that these prayers and reflections are uniquely and wonderfully

New Zealand. I commend them to you and hope they are widely used across the country. They are for us all.” From the Foreword by  Rev Dr Jenny Dawson.

 

Sample Prayers

8. Care of our Livestock

Creator God,
you sent Jesus to us
to show us how to care for and love all you have made,
and to be of service to others.
You ask us to be shepherds,
so that we may bring that same guardianship,
te kaitiakitanga,
to the animals of which we are stewards –

sheep, cattle, deer, goats,
and the dogs and horses that assist us in this work.

Help us ensure that tiredness or selfishness
will not let us neglect the animals under our care.

25. The Woolshed Christ

The shearers are sleeping,
the night pens are filled.
Wrapped and lying on a bed
of newly shorn wool
lies the Saviour.
Mary and Joseph relax
with tea from the thermos flask.
Soon the dogs bark
and the tui and song thrush
sing their morning chorus.
The station shepherds rise
for an early muster,
and come to adore the new-born child.
O God of all hope,
may the cries of Jesus
blend with the bleating of sheep
in an anthem of praise
to your glory and love.

106. Rural Hardship

God of the present and future,
bring hope to those facing hardship and loss
in the rural community of …………..

Restore those whose land
has been severely affected by flood/snow/rain/cold/fire/drought.

Encourage those facing big changes
in farm management and lifestyle,
or who face the prospect of having to move off the land
and the challenge of finding new employment.

Have compassion on those
whose marriages or relationships
are under enormous strain
through interpersonal or financial stress.

Resource communities which have lost amenities,
commercial services and farm labour.
Enable people to welcome new settlers and life-stylers,
particularly those unfamiliar
with rural ways of doing things,
and the customs of the local community.

We pray in faith that we shall discover
grace sufficient for each day’s challenges,
in and through the strength of the Holy Spirit.

 

About the author

Bill Bennett comes from a Southern Hawke’s Bay farming background. He has served much of his ministry as an Anglican priest in rural parishes in the Diocese of Waiapu as well as in the Norwich and Lichfield Dioceses in England. He worked as Ministry Enabler and twice as Regional Dean in Hawke’s Bay between 1994 and 2015.

His interest in rural communities is reflected in his publications: God of the Whenua (an overview of rural ministry in New Zealand), Seasons of the Land and The Shepherd’s Call (both being prayers and liturgies for rural communities). He continues to write hymns and songs (words and music).

He is on the Editorial Board of the international periodical, Rural Theology. Till its demise recently he was tutor in Rural Ministry Studies for the Ecumenical Institute for Distance Theological Studies (EIDTS). He and his wife Wendy live in retirement in Napier, New Zealand.

Bill Bennett’s books available from us:

 Short Introductions to the Bible Readings for the Revised Common Lectionary, Years A, B & C: A Resource for the Readers at the Lectern.

Would you like a simple, quick way to engage with the RCL Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel readings for each Sunday and other important days in the church calendar? Bill Bennett’s short introductions to each Bible reading will get you started.

Print and eBooks available.

The Shepherd’s Call – Te Karanga o te Hēpara:
Prayers and liturgies for rural Aotearoa New Zealand

Discover a prayer to cover every aspect of rural life.

117 prayers arranged into broad themes: the seasons, environment, community, mission and ministry, work, crisis and loss. Also includes 6 Eucharist and 5 general liturgies.

Print-on-demand and eBooks available.

 

When the Tui Calls: 
Rural Ministry – Origins and Futures

This essay on rural ministry reflects on its long evolution, its current challenges, and its continuing viability for the future in Aotearoa New Zealand. (2017)

Print and eBooks available.

 

 

God of the Whenua: 
Rural Ministry in Aotearoa New Zealand – Print

Bennett develops a theology of land in Aotearoa New Zealand, and a theology of mission and ministry that may be seen as a starting point for all who minister in rural areas. He flags the issues and developments that the rural church is facing and will meet in coming years. (2005)

Print book available 

 

God of the Whenua: 
Rural Ministry in Aotearoa New Zealand – eBooks

Re-issued as Kindle and ePub eBooks. (2013)

eBooks available

 

 

Table of contents

Introduction

Foreword

Spring – Kōanga: Season of the Koru

  1. Beauty of Spring
  2. Promise of Spring
  3. The energy of Spring
  4. Optimism of Spring
  5. Lambing and Calving
  6. Lambing Time
  7. Calving Time
  8. Care of our Livestock
  9. Animal Welfare
  10. Blossom time
  11. Tending the Soil and Planting Time
  12. Spring Warmth
  13. Spring Weather
  14. Agricultural Machinery
  15. Rogationtide — (Caring for Creation through Work and Conservation – usually 3rd and 5th October)
  16. Plough Sunday (August–October)
  17. The Whitebait Season

Summer – Raumati: Season of growth

  1. Growth and Enrichment
  2. Shearing Time
  3. Dairy Farming – the daily round
  4. A Shepherd’s Prayer
  5. Advent – the Coming of God in Christ
  6. Rural Christmas
  7. Summer Christ
  8. The Woolshed Christ
  9. Children’s Christmas Thanksgiving
  10. Summer Holidays

Autumn – Ngahuru: Season of harvest

  1. Abundant Harvest
  2. Seasonal Labour
  3. Wool Harvest
  4. Milk Harvest
  5. Meat Harvest
  6. A Farmer’s Prayer for Daily Work
  7. Harvest Anxiety
  8. Lent
  9. Forgiveness
  10. Easter – the Cosmic Harvest
  11. Easter Light
  12. Easter Way of Life
  13. The Colours of Easter

Winter – Hōtoke: Season of the Spirit

  1. Thanksgiving for Winter
  2. Living Thankfully
  3. The Citrus Harvest
  4. The Kiwifruit Harvest
  5. Christ Ascended
  6. Pentecost Wind
  7. Restless Spirit
  8. The Spirit’s Presence
  9. Gypsy Day
  10. Matariki (Celebrating the Māori New Year, te whakanui tau hou Māori ā Matariki)

Environment – Taiao

  1. Stewardship of Creation
  2. Guardianship of the Land
  3. Care of Creation
  4. God of Aotearoa New Zealand
  5. Diversity of Gifts
  6. Preserving our Natural Heritage
  7. Gift of Water

Community – Nohoanga Tāngata: People in society

  1. Local School
  2. Rural Schools Education
  3. Start of the School Year
  4. Family Life
  5. Families in our District
  6. Rural Families Under Pressure
  7. Community Life
  8. New Neighbours
  9. Our Nation
  10. At Election Time
  11. Women of the Land
  12. Team Sports
  13. Outdoor pursuits
  14. Farewelling a Country Neighbour
  15. Retirement
  16. Family Crisis
  17. Local Controversy
  18. The Unseen and Deprived
  19. Community Icons
  20. Communications
  21. Isolation
  22. Country Roads
  23. The Treaty of Waitangi

Ministry and Mission – Te Mahi Mihinare

  1. Our Parish’s Mission
  2. Parish Leaders
  3. Local Shared Ministry Parish
  4. The Wider Church
  5. Parish Stewardship (Luke 12:13f.)
  6. Learning as a Congregation
  7. For a Church or Community Meeting
  8. The Local Church or Worship Centre
  9. Gates
  10. Ministry Support Team
  11. Enablers and Trainers
  12. Change and Challenge

Work – Mahi

  1. Rogationtide – Rural Work
  2. Industrial Relations in Rural-Based Industries
  3. The Divine Economy
  4. Rural Tourism
  5. Harvests of the Seasons
  6. Farm Tractor
  7. Seasonal Workers
  8. Agricultural Learning and Research Institutions
  9. The Farm Implement Shed
  10. Farming Skills
  11. Rural Labour
  12. Research and Administration
  13. Recreation and Relaxation

Crisis and Loss – Ngā Wā O Te Matemate: In tough times

  1. Rural Hardship
  2. Stock Loss
  3. Orchard Damage and Crop Loss
  4. Bush/Scrub Fire
  5. Bush and Forest Fire-Fighters
  6. Drought
  7. Flood
  8. Farm Injury
  9. Farm Fatality
  10. Growth, Death and Renewal
  11. Rural Security
  12. Death of a Neighbour/Friend/Relative

Liturgies of the Land

1 — Celebrating Spring

2 — Celebrating Community

3 — Celebrating The Local Farming District

4 — Celebrating Winter

5 — Celebrating Pentecost

6 — Celebrating Rural Ministry

7 — Liturgy of the Bush and Forest

8 — Liturgy of Offering of Harvest Gifts

9 — Celebrating the Grape Harvest

10 — A Celebration of Community Life

11 — Thanksgiving after an Adverse Climatic or Biological Event

Glossary of Māori Words

Index

About the author and this book

 

Keywords

Christian worship, rural prayers, rural liturgies, farming life, rural life, karanga, New Zealand, Aotearoa, seasons of the land, eucharist

BIC

  • HRCL1 – Christian prayerbooks
  • HRCL – Christian liturgy, prayerbooks and hymnals…
  • HRCR – Christian worship, rites and ceremonies…
  • HRCS – Christian spirituality and religious experience…
  • HRCV – Christian life and practice…
  • HRCR1 – Christian prayer
  • HRCV1 – Christian sacraments
  • 1MBN – New Zealand
  • TV – Agriculture and farming…

 BISAC

  • REL052010 RELIGION / Prayerbooks / Christian
  • REL055010 RELIGION / Christian Rituals & Practice / Sacraments
  • REL055020 RELIGION / Christian Rituals & Practice / Worship & Liturgy
  • REL012080 RELIGION / Christian Life / Prayer
  • REL012000    RELIGION / Christian Life / General
  • REL012100 RELIGION / Christian Life / Relationships
  • REL012110 RELIGION / Christian Life / Social Issues
  • REL109000 RELIGION / Christian Ministry / General
  • REL074000 RELIGION / Christian Ministry / Pastoral Resources
  • REL055000 RELIGION / Christian Rituals & Practice / General