The Shepherd’s Call - Te Karanga o te Hēpara - eBooks.

A rich collection of prayers and liturgies crafted specifically for rural communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, honouring the land, seasons, and life on the farm.

This book will help you:

• offer authentic, relevant worship resources for rural congregations and gatherings

• acknowledge and celebrate the rhythms of rural and agricultural life in Aotearoa

• connect Christian faith with the natural world and rural livelihoods

• provide culturally sensitive liturgies that incorporate te reo Māori and local imagery

• support seasonal services and events such as harvest festivals and blessings of the land

• enrich personal prayer and group worship with beautifully crafted language

• strengthen the sense of belonging and spiritual connection within rural communities

Features

• Over 120 pages of original prayers, liturgies, and blessings for rural contexts

• Incorporates te reo Māori in prayers and headings, reflecting bicultural awareness

• Thematic material tied to the seasons, farming life, and environmental stewardship

• Designed for use in rural parishes, home groups, and personal devotions

• Created by an experienced Anglican priest with deep understanding of rural ministry

Description

The Shepherd’s Call - Te Karanga o te Hēpara: Prayers and Liturgies for Rural Aotearoa New Zealand is a heartfelt and practical resource designed specifically for rural congregations, farmers, and those who live and work on the land. Written by Bill Bennett, an experienced Anglican priest and rural ministry leader, this collection offers thoughtful, theologically grounded worship material that honours the rhythms and realities of rural life.

This bilingual collection, incorporating English and te reo Māori, acknowledges Aotearoa’s unique bicultural context and offers language that resonates deeply with rural communities. With over 19,000 carefully chosen words spread across 124 pages, these prayers and liturgies celebrate the land, the seasons, and the work of farming, while offering comfort and hope in times of hardship.

The prayers are suitable for a range of settings, from formal worship services and community events to personal devotions. Seasonal liturgies include blessings of seed and soil, prayers for drought and rain, and harvest thanksgiving services. Special attention is given to themes of stewardship, sustainability, and community wellbeing.

The Shepherd’s Call - Te Karanga o te Hēpara is an essential resource for clergy and lay leaders seeking to make worship relevant and meaningful in rural Aotearoa. It speaks to the heart of rural ministry and provides language that nurtures faith and connection with the land and its people.

About the Author

Bill Bennett is an Anglican priest with many years of experience in rural ministry throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. He has served in various roles, supporting rural congregations and communities with pastoral care and worship leadership. Bill’s deep connection to the land and understanding of rural life are reflected in his sensitive and engaging liturgical writing. He is committed to creating resources that are both theologically sound and contextually relevant for today’s church.

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

18. Growth and Enrichment
19. Shearing Time
20. Dairy Farming – the daily round
21. A Shepherd’s Prayer
22. Advent – the Coming of God in Christ
23. Rural Christmas
24. Summer Christ
25. The Woolshed Christ
26. Children’s Christmas Thanksgiving
27. Summer Holidays

Autumn – Ngahuru: Season of harvest

28. Abundant Harvest
29. Seasonal Labour
30. Wool Harvest
31. Milk Harvest
32. Meat Harvest
33. A Farmer’s Prayer for Daily Work
34. Harvest Anxiety
35. Lent
36. Forgiveness
37. Easter – the Cosmic Harvest
38. Easter Light
39. Easter Way of Life
40. The Colours of Easter

Winter – Hōtoke: Season of the Spirit

41. Thanksgiving for Winter
42. Living Thankfully
43. The Citrus Harvest
44. The Kiwifruit Harvest
45. Christ Ascended
46. Pentecost Wind
47. Restless Spirit
48. The Spirit’s Presence
49. Gypsy Day
50. Matariki (Celebrating the Māori New Year, te whakanui tau hou Māori ā Matariki)

Environment – Taiao

51. Stewardship of Creation
52. Guardianship of the Land
53. Care of Creation
54. God of Aotearoa New Zealand
55. Diversity of Gifts
56. Preserving our Natural Heritage
57. Gift of Water

Community – Nohoanga Tāngata: People in society

58. Local School
59. Rural Schools Education
60. Start of the School Year
61. Family Life
62. Families in our District
63. Rural Families Under Pressure
64. Community Life
65. New Neighbours
66. Our Nation
67. At Election Time
68. Women of the Land
69. Team Sports
70. Outdoor pursuits
71. Farewelling a Country Neighbour
72. Retirement
73. Family Crisis
74. Local Controversy
75. The Unseen and Deprived
76. Community Icons
77. Communications
78. Isolation
79. Country Roads
80. The Treaty of Waitangi

Ministry and Mission – Te Mahi Mihinare

81. Our Parish’s Mission
82. Parish Leaders
83. Local Shared Ministry Parish
84. The Wider Church
85. Parish Stewardship (Luke 12:13f.)
86. Learning as a Congregation
87. For a Church or Community Meeting
88. The Local Church or Worship Centre
89. Gates
90. Ministry Support Team
91. Enablers and Trainers
92. Change and Challenge

Work – Mahi

93. Rogationtide – Rural Work
94. Industrial Relations in Rural-Based Industries
95. The Divine Economy
96. Rural Tourism
97. Harvests of the Seasons
98. Farm Tractor
99. Seasonal Workers
100. Agricultural Learning and Research Institutions
101. The Farm Implement Shed
102. Farming Skills
103. Rural Labour
104. Research and Administration
105. Recreation and Relaxation

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

106. Rural Hardship
107. Stock Loss
108. Orchard Damage and Crop Loss
109. Bush/Scrub Fire
110. Bush and Forest Fire-Fighters
111. Drought
112. Flood
113. Farm Injury
114. Farm Fatality
115. Growth, Death and Renewal
116. Rural Security
117. 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

“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

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.