Joy MacCormick 15.8.1940 – 8.1.2022 Obituary – Association of Christian Spiritual Directors in New Zealand

John Franklin writes…

Joy MacCormick was a remarkable woman. I have known her for at least three decades and have always had a deep appreciation of her sharp mind, her astute self awareness, her spiritual depth, her facility with words, and her deep loving heart, not to mention her boundless trust in the goodness of God.

Early in life Joy was a child psychologist, and that was the begining of her life-long passion to see people grow into the fullness of who they were created to be. She has seen innumerable people for spiritual direction through the years, and as an Anglican priest, she served in Ngongataha and Hastings. In all cases, as spiritual director, preacher, gospel bearer, truth teller, challenger, comforter, she was an agent of Christ’s presence.

Her theological interests were broad and creative. They included Celtic Christianity, the mysteries and tradition of the labyrinth, connections between Christianity and other faiths, healing ministry, the deep history of the scriptures, and what quantum physics says about God (and vice versa). She loved nature and increasingly found her God in the natural environment.

And she was a traveller. She went to numerous places on the planet, always curious about other people’s ways of life, their faiths and belief practices. A highlight for her was in the steps of St Paul through Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.

In later years, Joy owned a call to write. She was the first writer in residence at Vaughan Park, and became chaplain there. It was a joy to accompany her through getting two books of poems/prayers and reflections published. They were ‘Moments of Grace’ and ‘Against the Dark’. As part of her legacy these books will continue to minister to people for years to come because Joy heard the sound under the sound, the words behind the words, and she named them and gave them to us like a bunch of keys,key words to unlock what we didn’t know we knew.

Joy was a small woman, but big in spirit, and never over-cautious. She could name reality, and had a brave and adventurous streak that regularly came to the surface. Joy was a woman who showed unconditional love to family, friends and anyone who crossed her path. And she is remembered as one of God’s faithful; an instrument of God’s healing peace and loving kindness. She is lovingly remembered with very grateful hearts.