Christchurch, NZ
Our next destination was Christchurch. We ended up making it a pretty quick trip (mainly because it’s a big city that seems a lot like any other big city). Despite it’s name, “Christchurch,” the city is really more about shopping, bars, and nightlife which isn’t really our thing.
We visited the cathedral in downtown Christchurch which seems to be what the city was built around. The church gave us a lot to think about after our quick visit inside, but probably not in the way you may think. You have to go through the gift shop in order to exit and it seemed a shame that they were selling so many tourist items at the church (including trinkets such as gold penguins). It reminded us of the instance in the Bible (Matthew 21) when Jesus gets upset and turns over the tables of the money changers and those buying and selling in the temple. While it is good that many people come to visit churches such as the one in Christchurch, we continue to ask ourselves if God would want all of the commercialization.
Christchurch Cathedral