What’s in this month’s Seed Disperser
Book of the month
Twelve Days of Christmas
Featured this month
Taking Flight
Inspiration this month
Kiwi Christmas
Coming up
Sensory Lent and Easter
Church of the month
Anglican Parish of St John the Evangelist, Campbells Bay, Auckland
On a personal note
It’s a wrap
Book of the month
Twelve Days of Christmas
Twelve Days of Christmas was written last year, when plans for celebrating Christmas included considering a home option due to the pandemic. Whether you’re planning a Christmas at home, going camping or are looking for some faith inspiration over the Christmas period, Twelve Days of Christmas has a smorgasbord of options beginning on Christmas Day and lasting to Twelfth Night and Epiphany in early January.
The book includes a full worship experience for Christmas Day, complete with a cast of downloadable characters for a Nativity Play. There’s a little bit of preparation required ahead of time, but all the instructions are included and most items can be gathered from around the home or sourced locally.
We currently have two active discounts available for Twelve Days of Christmas. The 50% offer from last month’s Seed Disperser expires on 26 December. This offer relates to a single copy of the ebook as well as a distribution licence to send it out to up to 50 email addresses.
This month we also offer a buy one get one free offer using the code KIWITWELVE Purchase Kiwi Christmas and you’ll also receive a download copy of Twelve Days of Christmas. You’ll need to add both products to your cart to receive Twelve Days of Christma free.
Featured this month
Taking Flight
If you’re looking for a worship outline for Christmas Day we have a one-off Taking Flight resource. It includes everything you’ll need for a short, inspirational, all-age friendly worship service.
This is available as a download from our website.
Regular subscribers to Taking Flight have already received this as part of their subscription via Substack.
Inspiration this month
Kiwi Christmas
Christmas in Aotearoa arrives at the same time as our summer holidays. Some will head away camping or to baches or meet up with friends and family at beaches for picnics and days in the sun. A Kiwi Christmas doesn’t look the same as many of the snow covered decorations that adorn our Christmas trees, the Christmas movies we watch, or the songs we sing with wintery themes. Anyone based downunder is used to working with a confusion of imagery, adding our own take to Christmas celebrations.
Kiwi Christmas
Joy Cowley’s picture book for all ages retells the first Christmas story in an Aotearoa New Zealand context. The beautiful illustrations from Bruce Potter add imagery to the Nativity that will resonate with New Zealanders and Australians. If you’re living in a part of the world where it’s wintery and snowy, you might be struggling to imagine a summery Christmas. This picture book will give you an idea of what Christmas is like in our part of the world.
Purchase a copy of Kiwi Christmas from our website and take up our offer of a free copy of Twelve Days of Christmas. Add both books to your cart and use the code KIWITWELVE. Kiwi Christmas is only available as an EPUB and is published by Pleroma Press.
In the free section of our website we’ve included a downloadable outline for a Christmas Eve All Age All Stage worship experience based on the book Kiwi Christmas. It is written for group worship but can is easily adapted for home use.
Christmas Light
On the 22nd December the light will be at it’s brightest and longest as we celebrate the longest day of the year here in Aotearoa. In the northern hemisphere it will be the shortest day and there are many wonderful resources written about ‘the longest night’
Light is a theme of Christmas everywhere and here in Aotearoa at this time of year, we get to live in the light as well as celebrating the birth of the Light of the World. We have hours and hours of light!
Take some time over the Christmas and New Year period to celebrate the Light of the World while enjoying the light.
Once again Jesus spoke to the people. This time he said, “I am the light for the world! Follow me, and you won't be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life.”
John 8:12 CEV
Sit and watch the last bit of light fade from the sky or get up early the next morning before first light to see the first rays of light arrive. Notice the light surrounding you. Pray inviting the Light of the World to fill you with light, not just this Christmas, but throughout the coming year.
Christmas rain
Living on Whangaparāoa Peninsula we’re used to slightly sunnier days than the rest of Auckland, but this November and December, like most of the country, it has so far been grey clouds and rain as well as days and days of thunderstorms. Our lawns are lush, the garden is green, and getting the washing dry outside is impossible unless it can be co-ordinated between showers. Outdoor Christmas events are still going ahead, but involve umbrellas and rainjackets. The rain will fill water tanks and reservoirs, and the right amount of rain will keep farmers happy.
It feels like we’re experiencing the wettest November and December ever. And yet - according to this article from The Spinoff, Metservice says we’re experiencing an average start to summer and it may even be on the drier side. It seems it’s all about perceptions.
Rain over the Christmas period is inevitable.
Much of what we celebrate at Christmas is steeped in our traditions and perceptions. Some of this has been passed down to us from previous generations, while other traditions and perceptions are of our own making. How we perceive something affects what we understand as truth, which in turn affects our responses and reactions.
This doesn’t just affect the way we celebrate Christmas, but flows into every aspect of our lives. We live in a time of disinformation and misinformation. People are tired and frustrated. We need some life giving water.
Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.”
John 7:37-38 (CEV)
Sit and look at the rain, or go out and stand in it. Can you smell it, touch it, hear it and even taste it? Think about your perceptions this Christmas, especially things that you’re worried, angry or frustrated about. Pray for life-giving water to flow from deep inside you, refreshing and replenishing you and showing you new and fresh ways of appreciating the world around you.
Coming up
Sensory Lent and Easter
Our new resource, Sensory Lent and Easter launches next year with the first of five emails being sent on 15 February. Those who are subscribed to one of our three Kereru Bundles receive this resource as part of their subscription.
Material is delivered over five different emails throughout Lent, with each email arriving a few days before the relevant day(s).
Shrove Tuesday/Ash Wednesday - delivered 15 February 2023
Daily Sensory Guide - delivered 19 February 2023
Lautere Sunday - delivered 15 March 2023
Holy week Sensory Guide (Palm Sunday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday) - delivered 29 March 2023
Resurrection Sunday - delivered 5 April 2023
This series is for personal use, but the material can be adapted for use in group worship settings.
The daily sensory guide is presented as a printable calendar with a sensory prompt each day. The prompts will pick up the themes of praying, giving and focussing on God.
There are also seven short reflections with experiential activities and responses for each of the key days, beginning on the day before Lent, also known as Shrove Tuesday, and ending on Resurrection Sunday.
Read more about this resource on our website.
Church of the month
The Anglican Parish of St John the Evangelist
The Anglican Parish of Saint John the Evangelist is based in Campbells Bay, Auckland.
Reverend Kay Brightley is a great friend of Kereru Publishing. She’s often taken ideas from The Seed Disperser and expands upon them to create worship experiences and installations. She is also brimming over with many of her own creative ideas.
The church set up a Community Advent Calendar this year as a letterbox journey. Each day is represented by a numbered letterbox, starting at the bottom of the drive, going up the hill and ending with a lavendar labyrinth walk to the centre. Each letterbox contains something for participants to engage with, to think about, learn about or to take away.
The labyrinth and watertank were blessed by Bishop Ross on 4th December. It was a glorious occasion. The Bishop’s vestments would have been smelling of lavendar for days!
A personal note
It’s a wrap!
Another year draws near to the end. Once again we’ve each managed to write weekly resources as well as seasonal writing. It represents thousands of words and hundreds of hours of writing.
Our collaborations with Janice MacLean from the Prayer Bench in Canada have been an ongoing highlight. Both Autumn Rambles and Stroll for Your Soul, co-written by Janice and Caroline, have continued to be well received. Rambles for 2023 is already written, with Stroll to be finished in January. Janice has also been a guest writer for Taking Flight for a couple of weeks in January, a generous gift as this will give Andrew two weeks off for a summer break. Other highlights include our first Matariki resource written with help from Rebecca Stubbing and another widely used and well received Counting Down to Christmas with our theme, A Pinch of Spice. It was a lot of fun packing the optional spice boxes that accompanied this resource.
Taking Flight is the centrepiece of our regular offerings. It has continued to slowly increase in total subscriber numbers, although we’re always looking for new subscribers. We don’t yet earn enough from our Kereru writings to generate a wage for Andrew who spends two days each week writing Taking Flight. If you know of anyone who might be interested in subscribing to Taking Flight or any of our other resources, we’d love it if you could recommend our work.
It’s been a busy build up to Christmas this year, and we’re looking forward to getting away to holiday wih friends on Āwhitu Peninsula in late December and early January. The photos of the sunrise and sunset were taken there earlier this year, so we’re looking forward to more light-filled moments in the New Year.
May God be with you this Christmas season
On the journey
Caroline and Andrew