Christchurch Cathedral Collapsed

The men and women who established Christchurch saw the lights going out across Europe during the revolutions of 1848, so they developed a vision for a city where the Kingdom of God could be preserved. This vision was good but their implementation failed, because their understanding of the kingdom was distorted by a Christendom outlook. God’s plan had an empty cross at the centre with the Holy Spirit flowing through city to bring his life. The square at the centre of the city is not a square, but a cross. The river flows through the centre of the city in the shape of an S representing the Spirit.

The church leaders imposed their vision by building a cathedral on the cross at the centre of the city.

This symbolised the church dominating the institutions around it. This was the Christendom vision that shaped society in the early days of Christchurch.

This situation did not last. As society secularised, the key institutions moved out of the square and out of the shadow of the cathedral.

The cathedral took a serious hit from the earthquake and the tower tumbled to the ground. The church is now demolishing the cathedral and the cross at the centre of the city will soon be empty again. This is what God intended. This opens the way for a different type of kingdom. The old vision where the church controlled the institutions of society has died. The collapse of the cathedral in the centre symbolises that death and opens the way for a different type of Kingdom.

This Kingdom will come in Christchurch through a network of small groups of people listening to the voice of the Spirit, sharing their brothers and sisters, suffering in the face of persecution and serving the people of the city. As the Holy Spirit is given freedom to do his work, the kingdom will flow out and be welcome throughout the city.