An advent reflection by The Very Reverend Ben Truman, Dean of the Christ Church Cathedral.

Kia ora e te whānau a te Karaiti,

Let me introduce myself - I'm Ben Truman, newly appointed Dean of Christ Church Cathedral. I'm the husband of Dr Johannah, and father of Edward (almost 5), Toby (almost 3) and Thomas (16 months). 

The image on the front cover is Edward as the archangel Gabriel recounting the nativity story to a surprisingly calm and engaged Thomas as the manger-bound Jesus last year.

Greymouth was my home growing up, before moving to Dunedin for university, then Christchurch to teach Drama and Social Studies at Burnside High. I arrived in January 2011, just in time for a rather rocky February.

My curacy was with the beautiful people of Lincoln (incl. Rolleston, Greenpark, Springston, and Tai Tapu) and for the last six years I've been blessed to be the Vicar of the Parish of Opawa-St Martins, including St Mark's School.

Theologically, I put myself in the Broad Church camp. I'm a prayer-book-using, psalm-singing, chasuble-wearing, lectionary-following, real-presence-of-Jesus-believing, Pākehā Anglican priest. I believe that beauty of architecture, vestments and liturgy can be a doorway to the divine. I also believe that excessive fussiness in ritual puts us at risk of becoming Pharisees and providing stumbling blocks for those who wish to see Jesus. I delight in affirming the orthodox faith as expressed in the Church's creeds, and see space for plenty of grace in the margins. I believe in Jesus as the Word of God, with all scripture pointing to Him who is God made flesh. I also believe that an overly literalist interpretation of scripture does a disservice to the wise and spirit-inspired minds that wrote and collated it.

The role of Dean is not something I aspired to, but I fortuitously found myself on study leave when the vacancy opened which gave me space to pray and think and discuss and discern. I adore the Cathedral, having spent seven years as a Canon on the Cathedral Chapter. In the words of Acts 15, 'it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to me', and so I applied.

I'm excited to be coming into the Cathedral at this time of hope. The gargantuan task of reinstating the Cathedral is progressing well. It is now structurally safe, and work has begun on preparing the foundations for the 66 base isolators (a fitting number with 66 books in the Bible!).

The mission at the Cardboard Cathedral remains the same – to be a symbol of the presence of God in the heart of the city. And, more than a symbol, to be a tangible source of God's love through welcome and worship, silence and service, creativity and care.

And as I reflect on all of this, I keep coming back to the word of this season – incarnation.  The word was made flesh and dwelt among us; or the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.

It is among my favourite characteristics of God; our God always makes the first move.

God is moved to create, to communicate, to covenant, and finally, to come. Incarnation is at the core of God's nature. God forever binds humanity and divinity together, redeeming the latter, and making the former more accessible. And if incarnation is at the core of God's nature, that means it should probably be part of the nature of our churches and ourselves too. We are called to be a reflection of the image of God in our communities, or workplaces, and our homes. We are called to be salt, light, yeast, living stones and living sacrifices.

If I'm honest, that can feel a little overwhelming at times. But there's grace too, because God doesn't call us to be anything other than ourselves. The mission of God is advanced by you being truly you and me being truly me and us being truly engaged with where God has placed us. That is my goal for the Cathedral – to be incarnational.

Please pray for my family and me, that we're able to live authentically and incarnationally in the role. And pray for the Cathedral, that it may be an incarnational gift to the city, a sign of the presence of God, a place of welcome, peace, beauty and love that points people to God.

The Very Rev'd Ben Truman
Dean of Christchurch