Gospel Conversations
Exploring the Weekly Gospel
Be inspired by Gospel Conversations in 2025: Conversationalists from within the Diocese and far beyond join 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: 2024 HERE; 2023 HERE; 2022 HERE; and 2021 HERE
Turn your sound up and make sure you view the videos in full screen…
Gospel Conversations 2025 April 27 John 20:19-31
These resurrection appearance stories are familiar to most of us, and few are more appealing than this one. Thomas, courageously questioning; Jesus bringing peace to a place of fear; the link to those of us who have not seen and yet believe – there is so much to think about! Rebecca Dudley joins us for the first time, providing some background to the story which Mannie, Anne and Michael join her to discuss.
Easter Day 20 April 2025: Luke 24:1-12
13 April – Palm Sunday
Many Anglican churches don’t have a sermon on Palm Sunday, but move straight from the celebration of the triumphal entry to the story of the Passion. It means that many of us may not have spent all that much time pondering the brief Gospel reading we hear before beginning our palm-waving. This week we focus on that reading, and our conversation ranges from beach swimming to the music of the spheres! Join Gillian Townsley, Ben Truman, Anne van Gend and Michael as they think about this amazing part of Jesus’ story.
For Lent 5 we jump into John’s gospel, and into the beautiful story of Mary annointing Jesus. We have an unintentionally male line-up to talk about this, since our female conversationalist was suddenly unavailable, but as Michael says, the presence of the woman in the story runs right through the thoughts and challenges and hopes that this conversation brings to light. Join, then, Kelvin Wright, Jerry Morris and Michael to explore this passage together.
March 30 Lent 4
This week’s gospel is surely one of the most beloved passages in Scripture: the story of the “prodigal son” as it is best known. When we are given a story like this which we have known since Sunday school and have heard myriad sermons on, is there anything to discover? Fortunately yes! Join Lisa Emerson, Gary Griffith-Smith and Andrew Doubleday as they and Michael Godfrey explore this beautiful story together. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32.
March 23 Lent 3
This is a slightly odd little gospel section, plucked out of the larger narrative and given to us to consider as we continue our Lenten journey. Why do tragedies happen? What can we learn from a parable about the one-year’s-grace given to a fig tree? John Goodwin, Mark Wilson and Anne van Gend join Michael to see what we can make of it! Note that the poems quoted or referred to are David Whyte’s “Waiting to go on” and Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day”.
We’ve all used or heard the phrase “mountaintop experiences” and this week we’re meditating on the pinnacle of all such experiences: the Transfiguration. Luke describes the indescribable, yet the reality of it all is evident in the continuing fallibility of the human observers. What can we learn from this remarkable story, and what can we learn about coming down from the mountain afterwards? Deborah Broome, Steve Benford and Richard Johnson help us find out.
This week we begin Lent, and we once again turn our minds and hearts to the temptations which beset Jesus and beset ourselves. It’s not an easy story for our 21st C sensibilities to cope with, yet the Gospel writers clearly thought it of prime importance. This week David Tomb, Sue Fordyce and Natalie Millikan bring their ponderings for our consideration. (Natalie is Zooming in from a conference and her internet is very unstable, so I advise you to listen rather than watch her contributions!)
We continue on with the challenging, brilliant words of Jesus in the “Sermon on the plain.” Jesus pulls no punches as he outlines a way of life that digs deep into who we are, at our core, and how that life flows out in our interactions with others. Damon Plimmer (Upper Clutha), Emma Wilson (Whakatipu) and Anne van Gend (Dunedin) join Michael this week.
FEB 23rd There is much of the Bible that is complex and open to many interpretations. There are other passages that are uncomfortably clear! “Love your enemies.” No compromises, no concessions – just a clear statment of how God wants us to live. What would happen if we actually did it? Gillian Townsley, Simon Martin and Michael Holdaway join Michael Godfrey to challenge themselves, each other, and us.
FEB 16th Holy Innocents Sometimes it can be challenging to stick to our commitment to finding a challenge, good news and “so what?” in every Gospel passage. There are plenty of challenges in the story of the massacre of hundreds of innocent children. Where could we possibly find good news, or inspiration to live by? Lisa Emerson, Eddie O’Connor and Craig Smith rise to the challenge as they talk it through with Michael this week.
FEB 9th: As the year settles in, students return to school and university, and summer holidays recede, it’s interesting timing to be reminded of Jesus calling his first disciples. Time to start afresh? What was it like for these fishermen to be witness to God Incarnate, filling their empty nets with fish, and then calling them to leave everything and follow? What would it be like for us to do the same? Lisa Emerson, Alec Clark and Mannie Marara join Michael to talk through some possibilities.
Those of you who’ve been watching our holiday-version of the Conversations may feel you’ve stayed in our company all through Dec and Jan, but for those of us who do the recordings it feels like we’ve had a real break. And we come back with a beautiful story: the story of Mary and Joseph and Jesus coming to the temple and being greeted by Simeon and Anna with prophetic outcries and rejoicing. What a lovely way to begin our recordings again, especially in a world which continues to ache and fear at all that is happening within it. Join Peg Riley, Michael Hartfield (part of the conversations for the first time from Anglican Missions Board), Anne van Gend, and of course Michael Godfrey to delve into the challenges and joys of the story.
JANUARY 26th We normally take a break over January, but someone pointed out to us that often that’s precisely the time fill-in preachers could do with some ideas. However, since most of us need a break from weekly recordings (and Anne needs a break from editing) we’re offering something different this January. Five of us got together for an afternoon. Each of us had prepared something on one of the readings, and after that we simply chatted about it. No editing, no structure, so not perhaps something you’d use instead of a sermon (as we know some places do occasionally do). Instead we’re inviting you to drop in on us as we chat about our reactions and thoughts about each of the Gospel readings as they come up. These were meant to be a lot shorter than our normal Conversations, but somehow there always seemed to be a lot to say… Still, we stay under our 15min limit for each one! Enjoy. We’d love to have your company.
JANUARY 19th
JANUARY 12th
JANUARY 5th
DECEMBER 29