The future mission and ministry of Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa as a flourishing indigenous Church will be under discussion when Te Rūnanganui gathers in Te Matau a Maui (Hastings) later this month.
The opening pōwhiri of the 22nd session of Te Rūnanganui will be held at Ōmahu Marae, Fernhill before convening at the Toitoi Events Centre from Thursday 28 September and concluding with a Eucharist at Napier Cathedral at 10am, Sunday 1 October.
Te Rūnanganui is the biennial synod (decision-making body) of Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa, the Māori Anglican Church.
Archbishop Don Tamihere, Te Pīhopa o Aotearoa, specifically chose the Ōmahu venue for the pōwhiri to ensure the church did not forget this and other Hawke’s Bay communities severely affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, particularly as climate change continues to have a severe impact around the world.
He said acknowledging and supporting the post-cyclone recovery efforts of the whole Mihinare community strongly influenced his decision.
During the cyclone, the flooding Ngaruroro River burst its banks sending a deluge of water and silt through dozens of homes and properties leaving the township of Ōmahu devastated. The marae, school, church and at least 60 homes were red- or yellow-stickered. The urupa was upturned and kōiwi scattered across the community.
More than 300 people attended the first karakia when their minister the Rev Zhane Tahau Whelan was able to return there.
Displaced whanau are still living at Ōmahu and surrounding marae. Local leadership has gone from recovery to response mode and Ōmahu has re-emerged as an influential ministry hub for ‘te rohe o te Matau a Maui’.
Archbishop Don looked forward to welcoming the more than 130 members, observers and guests to the event.
Guided by its 2023 theme Te Oranga Ake: Flourishing as an Indigenous Church, the Rūnanganui aims to endorse and empower grassroots ministry, highlight the importance of indigenous-led Anglican leadership and engage with Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa in setting a vision for the next two years.
Its business is driven by the mission of Te Pīhopatanga to realise Te Oranga Ake.
Guests from across the Anglican Communion attending the Anglican Indigenous Leadership Initiative will join the Rūnanganui as observers and keynote speakers.
Special guests include Archbishop Chris Harper, Indigenous Archbishop of Canada; Archbishop Marinez Bassotto, the first woman to serve as an Anglican bishop in South America, now the first female Primate of Brazil; Bishop Chris McLeod, National Aboriginal Bishop of the Anglican Church in Australia; and Dr Kwok Pui Lan, expert in post-colonial and Asian feminist theology, and Deans Professor of Systematic Theology at Candler School of Theology Atlanta, Georgia.
Nearly all the accommodation in Hastings and Havelock North has been booked for Te Rūnanganui guests.
Te Rūnanganui, the 22nd since Te Pouhere (the revised constitution) established the Three Tikanga Church in 1992, occurs biennially. Members sit for two years. They provide synodical governance for Te Pīhopatanga and from within their membership elect a standing committee Te Rūnanga Whāiti, which meets between each sitting of Te Rūnanganui.
Te Rūnanganui is the representative body for tikanga Māori within the Church and comprises three houses – lay, clergy and bishops.