Mihinaretanga

Kia ora tatou!

You know, time really does fly when you’re having fun. Here we are and it’s over a month since my last entry. But have no fear my loyal reader, I’ve been busy, and things have been… Awesome!™

One of the highlights of the month was leading the Manu Karakia Mihinaretanga wananga in Rotorua. This was an opportunity to look at what it means to be Maori and Anglican, and the results were great. It seems quite fundamental, looking at what makes us Mihinare, including our history, our structures and roles and our unique take on theology, but you would be surprised how little we do it as a Church nowadays. I suspect we are almost embarrassed at our own stuff, like it’s anachronistic. For me, and it seems for those present though, having our whakapapa reinforced was an empowering exercise. Feedback included comments like “I actually feel proud to be a Maori Anglican!!” Again, as a Church we can forget that our strength is in our identity as part of the Body of Christ.

The next weekend some of the Manu Karakia lived out their calling by holding a rangatahi hui at the Waikato University Marae in Hamilton. This was Awesome!™, with heaps of rangatahi and tamariki present and involved in a positive, loving experience of being Mihinare. The challenges some of these young people face are almost overwhelming, and the influence of gangs on rangatahi is becoming more noticeable nowadays. I'm sure some of the kids thought my red stole on the Sunday meant I was with the Bloods/Mongrel Mob! That’s how they are learning to see the world. I was so impressed watching the Manu Karakia lead the rangatahi through activities, through karakia and into a deeper faith in God. As Mihinare we have a powerful vision to offer our people: that we can love God and our neighbour while remaining fully Maori. Mean Mihinare Mean!

Images: top - Koinonia; some of the tamariki sing. 

Mihinaretanga II

Kia ora tatou!

So three weekends ago Tessa, Tapu and I travelled to Whangarei for the Te Tai Tokerau Mihinaretanga Manu Karakia wananga. This was a long but fantastic weekend, with the Manu Karakia really getting into their whakapapa as Anglicans and the sense that they connect with others across the world and back to Christ. Unfortunately while the feedback was generally very good I was accused of being inclusive in my teaching! How very much dare they!

The following Tuesday Andrew, Michael and I left for Nelson to take part in the Tikanga Pakeha youth forum. This is an annual gathering of young people from across the Dioceses coming together to strengthen their fellowship and develop their common mission. It was great to be there amongst them, sharing and getting to know them better across Tikanga. Amongst the things I learnt was that there is still much ignorance about Te Pouhere and our Three Tikanga Church and that the short pakeha want to work for Willy Wonka as Oompa Loompas when they get older.

From there it was straight on to Otautahi for the Te Wai Pounamu Kura Hotoke. This was once again an Awesome!™ experience. The whanaungatanga and whakapono expressed amongst those gathered is inspirational, and spending quality time with the rangatahi was great. We had Bible studies, workshops on various aspects of the Church and heaps of fun. We had a great day trip up to Hanmer Springs so the kids could swim, and as always the karakia was fun and meaningful – a difficult combination sometimes.

After 5 days in Otautahi I returned to Tamaki only to leave again for Rotorua for the first meeting of the Application Review Group, a subcommittee established by Te Waka Matauranga to further develop the implementation of our Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa strategic plan for theological education. This was actually a lot more fun than its sounds, and some great work was done… and more needs to be done over the next couple of months ahead.

And in the weekend just gone I went to Taupiri to tautoko a Manu Karakia as she led her tamariki in karakia and preached. This was a reminder to me of the huge potential possessed by rangatahi Maori, and puts gathering like Lambeth in perspective. But we’ve got a great team in Lambeth, so catch up on their doings here.

Images: Junior Oompa Loompas; Learning in Otautahi

Moe Mai

So there have been some very sad times since we last talked. On Wednesday 23^rd July Aunty Mere Knight QSM passed away suddenly at Middlemore hospital. Aunty Mere (82) has been a stalwart of the South Auckland Maori community for many years, and lived a life of true Christian service to her people and to those in need. Aunty Mere’s tangi was held at Te Karaiti Te Pou Herenga Waka Church in Mangere, a Church she had helped build for the newly arrived Mihinare in South Auckland. It was a beautiful week – a true celebration of her life. We also worked alongside and got to know better the beautiful people Aunty Mere worked with, Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau, Maori who work with the intellectually disabled in our communities. Mokopuna from the roopu completed the tukutuku in our Church under the direction of Aunty Mere.

Very sadly a couple of days after Aunty Mere’s burial another of our parishioners Whaea May Lemon also passed away. Whaea May (80) was another beautiful kuia whose life was a lesson in service to those around here and to her whanau. Although Whaea May had been unwell for some time she still carried out her ministry to those around here and came to Church every Sunday to worship the God she loved. Whaea May was taken up north and buried at Waiômio on Saturday.

So at our Church we feel a great loss and great pain, but we are also renewed by their whanau and the knowledge that we must carry on their ministry in the communities they loved.

Tena ko te hunga e tatari ana ki a Ihowa, puta hou ana he kaha mo ratou; kake ana ratou ki runga; ko nga parirau, koia ano kei o nga ekara; ka rere ratou, a e kore e mauiui; ka haere, a e kore e ngenge. Isa 40:31.

Kia ora tatou!

So I am still alive (if much reduced) and I have now transplanted my blogging efforts over to here http://tepou.wordpress.com/the-hirini-blog/

or, you can read (the vastly inferior) Michael Blog here http://www.pihopatanga.org.nz/blogs/tm/