Texas-based Rev. Dr Steve Elers is excited to be home for Matariki and to bring one of his students with him to share her love of hīmene Māori.
Te Mīhana Māori o Tāmaki Makaurau is hosting an evening of waiata and worship at The Holy Sepulchre on Saturday night, featuring Elers and LeTourneau University student Glory Griffin alongside Te Mīhana Collective and Kōringarau of Te Karaiti Pou Herenga Waka.
An associate professor at LeTourneau University, Rev. Steve, of Te Hui Amorangi ki Te Upoko o te Ika, has shared his mātauranga Mihinare with students through karakia, waiata and teaching, including the popular hymn Whakaaria Mai.
“[Glory] is really looking forward to coming here. She loves singing our songs, as do many of our students. Every class starts with karakia, scripture or waiata, and we regularly sing waiata in my classes.”
He met Glory, a student worship leader at LeTourneau, through a musical director who thought she would be the perfect person to join his Whakaaria Mai project.
“We met and went over the song, and she picked it up straight away. Because she had studied Japanese, she quickly connected with the pronunciation and really got into it. We ended up doing a professional recording of our version of Whakaaria Mai at our chapel.”
The project pays tribute to the connection between Canon Wī Te Tau Huata and Rev. Sam Rangiihu, who arranged the famous waiata for Billy Graham, a LeTourneau University board member during the 1960s and 1970s. Rev. Steve highlighted that connection during his interview process, and ultimately led to the creation of the project.
Based in East Texas, Rev. Steve serves within the Episcopal Diocese of Texas while continuing to share Māori expressions of Christian faith with local congregations and students.
“I would say the people there are like our Māori Mihinare back home — faith, family and food, in that order,” he laughs.
“After I first started taking karakia there, people would ask if I could do a blessing in te reo because it’s a beautiful language. Then they asked if I could introduce a hīmene they could learn.
“My students are always asking about Māori culture and how Māori came to Christianity.”
Providing those answers often takes him back to the lessons he learned through his formation in Te Upoko o te Ika.
“I was able to work effectively as a priest in the United States with the training and mentoring I received here at home. It really revealed to me how much I should value our training in Aotearoa.”
After attracting media attention with the Whakaaria Mai project, Elers received invitations to bring Glory Griffin to Aotearoa to share the results of the project here. Matariki provided an opportune time, as he was already coming home during the Texas summer break, and Glory recently graduating and getting married. Accompanied by Rev. Steve on the guitar, she will be singing Whakaaria Mai, and other waiata Māori she has learned, such as He Tikanga Whakapono and Ka Tirohia te Ripeka.