Dannevirke: Canon has bona-fido reason to stand down

Canon Tim Delaney has swapped one collar for another, stepping away from his duties with the Anglican Church to concentrate on other interests. Photo/Christine McKay

"The time has come for me to exchange one kind of dog collar for another," says Canon Tim Delaney of the Ruahine Anglicans.

Canon Tim had originally planned for his last day in stipended ministry to be in early June. "But a constellation of recent events have made it more appropriate for me to hand things over now," he said. "With the closure of the church building in Waipukurau, the election of a new bishop of Waiapu in June and the pending review of the structure of the Ruahine Anglicans, it is important there's now a consistent and uninterrupted leadership."

Canon Tim was ordained in May 1978 and took up his position as deacon-in-charge of the Parish of Nipigon on the north shore of Lake Superior in Canada.

"It was a huge parish, geographically and most Sundays I'd take four services, driving up to 300km in all sorts of weather - mainly cold," he said.

He then went on to serve as rector of a large parish in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario before making the big move in 1991 to be vicar of the Parish of Kelburn in Wellington. Subsequently, he served as vicar of Gisborne, rector of Terrigal in New South Wales, before finally settling as vicar in Dannevirke in 2007.

"We already owned a property here, which is now our forever home, because we intended to retire here," he said. "It's the perfect location for our key hobby - breeding and showing dogs."

Tim and wife Margie's Woollybutts Kennel has been breeding championship chow chows for many years. Recent successes include a best in show under a renowned international chow judge at the chow chow club's annual show and an up-and-coming puppy making waves in the Australian show scene.

Tim was elected to Dannevirke Community Board in the last local body elections, serves on the Lotteries Individuals with Disabilities Committee and is president of the Ruahine Kennel Association.

Asked what he has come away with from 36 years of ordained ministry, Tim said, "I suppose the key thing I've learned is that God is love and in that love, God has made it so the Christian ministry is not primarily about the maintenance of structures - bricks-and-mortar or institutional - but about empowering and equipping and encouraging people.

"In smaller communities like those in the Tararua District our focus must be on relationships, not theological or political ideology. At the end of the day, that's all we human beings are - the sum total of our relationships. And the quality of our lives is determined solely by the quality of those relationships. Sure, there are times when we must, in love, stand up and speak frankly. However, that and everything else we do, needs to be tempered by love and respect."