Our parish had a
visitor in mid-February, a visitor with an eye for parish potential
and an understanding of our kind of context. The Rev Elizabeth
Mansill was here to conduct my Ministry Development Review, a process
adopted by the Presbyterian Church to ensure ministers remain worthy
of their Certificate of Good Standing. It also assists minister and
parish in developing the minister's gifts in a way that is responsive
to the particular parish context.
This was my second
review so Elizabeth built on observations of three years ago. This
time she came up with two very interesting general themes.
Firstly, she noted
that our congregations comprise people who are leaders. Not
just “pew sitters” but people living the Christian life in a way
that is effectively Christian leadership within their families and
community. In my words, you are all ministers; I am minister to the
ministers.
In years past,
Elizabeth noted, things were different. Now, with Sunday just
another day of the week, those who continue to participate in church
(or even to stay connected through a newsletter like this) are the
ones with real commitment to what the gospel is about. Elizabeth
encourages me to continue helping you recognise what you are doing in
your lives as gospel work. Also to help you develop gifts you
haven't thought you had and maybe even interests you'd never dream of
having.
Dare I say it, she
says that I need to aim at “doing myself out of a job”. In part
that is because no minister stays forever. In part the future will
likely bring changes we don't yet envisage.
The second theme is
Māori-Pākehā relationships. This, says Elizabeth, is an important
mission for our future, as a point of difference and a set of
relationships and skills to build on. And she was not just talking
about Kaeo. I quizzed her on that, but she was very clear that it was
both congregations she perceived as having this mission of building
understanding and reconciliation between Pākehā and Māori. And
there are things she recommends I do to help this be not just my
thing, but part of the parish identity.
She encourages me to
take people with me when I go to Māori related events. I will be
delighted to have company, so please let me know if you are
interested. Like an invitation I made some time back (and keep
meaning to renew) to come with me to Bible-in-Schools, at Riverview
on a Friday morning or Kaeo on a Tuesday afternoon, just to listen in
and spend some time with 10 and 11 year olds. So also the invitation
is now open, to come with me to a tangi, to attend a community hui to
help our young people, or to join the monthly service with the elderly folks at Kauri Lodge. In each case people would see
it as great community support.
Another suggestion
of Elizabeth's is to bring into worship other voices besides my own
to lead te reo portions. I can vouch for the benefit of having had
somewhere to practice speaking Māori in public. It means now that I
can lead tangi services in a way that seems to be much appreciated by
families and marae communities. And it means the kids at College
don't laugh at my pronunciation like they used to. Getting School
Cert by correspondence in Mid-Canterbury was only the precursor to
the real learning here. I say a big thank you to the Kaeo
congregation who have allowed this to happen over these years. The
Kerikeri congregation too, although I suspect some have other views
and we need to talk about it. Kerikeri is a town that looks so
different from the rest of Northland and we're more inclined to be
mono-cultural. I really am thrilled with the ability of many sharing
the grace at the end of the service, and the enthusiasm of some who
would like to learn it off by heart. But the old Latin adage holds:
festina lente – hasten slowly.
In any case, I
suspect there are more ways than these that our parish could claim
for ourselves this theme that Elizabeth identifies. Relationships
between Māori and Pākehā are an undeniable part of life in
Northland. Maybe we as a parish could make a difference. Centred in
Christ, we have the means to do it, to dig away at dividing walls
between people and open up understanding and respect, without which
the phrase “he iwi tātou – we are one people” doesn't yet
apply. Maybe this is our unique calling.
What ideas do you
have for us to be a parish of friendship and reconciliation?
And more generally,
what leadership in the Christian Way do you want to claim as your
unique calling as a follower of Christ?
Shalom,
Robyn
POSTSCRIPT:
I appreciated Diane's company when I went to listen to Whangaroa
presentations to the Waitangi Tribunal. Our Whangaroa people did us
proud and it was important for some of their Pākehā friends to be
there. With a Māori parishioner on each side of me it was a moving
moment when Nuki Aldridge said: “We acknowledge that this land now
has two peoples – Māori and Pākehā – Pākehā being the people
who came later to these shores and stayed here with our people. This
we cannot change, nor do we wish to change it.”
