Taonga Advent 2015 by Anglican Taonga

ADVENT 2015 // No.50

Taonga ANGLICAN

MISSION

Families powered by God

Tikanga Ma-ori homes in on faith leaders for the wha-nau PEOPLE

From fugitive to family

Meet the Anglican couple who rescued two refugees VISUAL ARTS

Kororia ki te Atua

Introducing Darryn George: Nga-puhi artist who puts God front and centre

THE BIG QUAKES: FIVE YEARS ON

Walking the hard yards St Christopher’s goes the distance for people hurting in Christchurch

GOD’S KIDS AT ALL TIMES : : FAITHS BUILD BRIDGES : : RURAL MINISTRY REVISITED

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ANGLICAN TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

IN MEMORIAM

Bishop John Gray farewelled

bout 130 mourners turned up to Tokomaru Bay’s Pakirikiri Marae on November 18 to farewell Bishop John Gray. Bishop John, the first bishop of the Anglican Maori Diocese of Te Waipounamu, died on November 13 and lay in state at Te Hepera Pai in Christchurch before being taken north to his East Coast birthplace. John Robert Kuru Gray, who had Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu, Ngai

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Tamanuhiri and Rongowhakaata ties, was born in 1947, ordained deacon in 1982, priest in 1983, and bishop in 1996. Bishop John served as Vicar General to Te Pihopa o Aotearoa for 10 years, and also served on a host of General Synod and Pihopatanga bodies – including the St John’s College Trust Board, Te Kotahitanga, the Tikanga Maori Missions Council and the Anglican Missions Board. He campaigned consistently for Maori within the provincial church. He advocated long and hard to save Te Aute and Hukarere colleges from financial ruin, and was delighted when the SJCTB for instance, devised a rescue package for both schools. Bishop John was also a campaigner for indigenous rights within the wider

Communion through the Anglican Indigenous Network, and served a brief term as Secretary General of the AIN. Before ordination to the diaconate, Bishop John had a varied secular career – as a social worker, manager of a large security courier company, a private investigator and, earlier, as a shearer. Archbishop Brown Turei says Bishop John’s “ministry and courageous leadership within Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa and the wider Three-Tikanga Church will be sorely missed.” Bishop John leaves his wife Helen, son Robert, daughters Raquel and Rawinia, his mokopuna and extended family. Moe mai et te Rangatira, e te pononga a te Atua, moe mai.

ANGLICAN TAONGA

Anglican Taonga ADVENT 2015

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M I NI TS ES R I OF N AITH DIALOGUE

REFUGEES

MISSION

hen Raewyn Dawson heard Winston Halapua plead for a teacher to help Polynesia’s priestsin-training with their English… she knew she was getting The Tap on the Shoulder. At the time, Raewyn was at the 1994 General Synod in Nelson, as a Christchurch diocesan rep. She’s also an enthusiastic English teacher who, back then, had just resigned from a Christchurch high school to set up her own tutoring business. But when she heard Winston, then Dean of Suva’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, make that call – she knew God was speaking. It was time to set her own plans aside. And when Winston – who never misses a beat – asked what her husband Lawrence did (he was an accountant at Lincoln University) he said: “Yes please. We need a diocesan registrar, too.” So that’s how Raewyn and Lawrence Dawson came to be in Suva in 1996. They signed up for a three-year stint. But they were about to enter a commitment far longer than that. A commitment that would cost them more than they could foresee… And repay more than they could imagine.

Wellington City Missioner Tric Malcom reflects on a public artwork that sheds light on child poverty.

REGULAR 04 Worldwide: Brian Thomas on Barbie, Kiribati and the Manx BCP

Keren Segal shares insights on her Jewish faith.

DAIG members gather at Otago University: (L-R) Najib LaFraie, Greg Hughson, Steve Johnston, Ken Baker, Humaira Rasheed, Saima Ijaz, Judith Cowley, Robin Smith.

Kids at Kahurangi School tuck into their yummy lunch treats. Above right : Children line up under the lunchbox tree

Art with heart

lattering in the wind on the Wellington waterfront, 1500 lunchboxes nudge each other in a pohutukawa tree. Lit from within, on a cool but clear August night, the tree glows with blue, purple, green and pink plastic boxes. Like jewels or Christmas lights, they are mesmerising and slightly eerie. The boxes' hollow clatter mingles with children's laughter as they play in the tree. “The boxes are like unrealised fruit," one viewer remarks, "like our tamariki who can't reach their potential because of restrictions poverty imposes on them.” Auckland-based artists Donna Turtle Sarten and Bernie Harfleet assembled their installation – "Feed the Kids Too" – as part of Wellington's LUX light festival. The containers made their point bluntly: empty boxes for empty stomachs, reminding passers-by of city children who regularly go to school hungry. But not content to rest at naming the problem, the

You are now the artwork.

Smiles all round from children at Rata Street School.

artists then drew in community collaborators. At the close of the 10-day festival, the lunchboxes were taken down from the tree and given to the Wellington City Mission. The Mission set to work with food producers, teams of volunteers and local parishes to wash the boxes and fill them with over 1200 sandwiches and healthy snacks. Those brimming lunchboxes then went to children in low-decile schools connected through the Mission's 'Mission for Families (M4F)' mobile social work team. The struggling families M4F helps are usually referred from Plunket, GPs, schools, churches and other community agencies, and the M4F team sees some tough circumstances: poor housing, violence, regular shortages of food, hungry children, very low incomes, chronic health, people snared in debt to pay for everyday things, and parents who sacrifice all for their kids. But the team also sees hope and potential as it mentors families toward long-term sustainable change in their lives. From the two artists' point of view, each child, school and community they reached became actors in the artwork. “This box is a gift for you," said artist Bernie Harfleet to a group of enthusiastic kids, "because you are a gift to us. "Once you have eaten the lunch inside, you can put whatever treasures you like in it. "It is a treasure box because you are a treasure. You are now the artwork.” One girl exclaimed to her friend: “I can’t believe I got a green one and it’s

University’s “Jesus Week.”

Friendship across faith at St Hilda's Collegiate: Rear from left: Tink Brinsley-Turner, Jess Harwood, Andie Telfer, Humaira Rasheed, Isla Huffadine, Bindy Baxter, Gillian Townsley(behind), Georgia O'Malley. Front: Keren Segal and Saima Ijaz.

Back in Auckland, Donna Turtle Sarten and Bernie Harflet (pictured above) began another child-focused art project, for families and children needing extra warmth in their cold, damp houses. Named for its aim, the project's Facebook page asked donors to ‘Give a Kid a Blanket’. Over six weeks, supporters helped collect hundreds of blankets, with 26 businesses and individuals serving as drop off points across Auckland, and an additional one in Tauranga. Today, 1273 blankets have gone to children who were suffering a cold night's sleep, found through public health nurses' lists of 'clients in need'. https://www.facebook.com/Give-a-Kid-aBlanket-612453109010058/info/

I can't believe I got a green one and it's all mine.

all mine, and check out how much food is inside.” This artwork has both haunting and beautiful sides: haunting, for the children in NZ who go hungry each day; and beautiful because our tamariki are precious, a treasure. The Rev Tric Malcom is Wellington City Missioner.

Faith in real people As the Syrian refugee crisis unfolds, interfaith relations look less like a choice for New Zealand, and more like an urgent necessity. Most people escaping the Syrian conflict – and suffering at the hands of ISIS – are Muslim. And some will likely wind up here. How can we assure them – after all they've been through – that this a land of peace? Taonga editor Julanne Clarke-Morris meets a group of Dunedin-based Jews, Christians and Muslims who have worked on that for the past 14 years.

ack in 2001, when Al Qaeda attacked New York's World Trade Center, New Zealand media frequently reported terrorist links to the Islamic faith. The Kiwi Muslim minority felt exposed and vulnerable, as commentators failed to distinguish between peaceful and violent followers of Islam. In Dunedin, women wearing hijab (headscarves) faced verbal attacks on the streets, Muslim families received hate mail and Muslim students copped threats from their peers. The president of the Otago University Muslim Students' Association, turned to tertiary chaplain Greg Hughson for help. Together, they penned a letter to Critic, the varsity student magazine. "Both Christianity and Islam are against such acts of violence and terrorism," they

wrote. "Together we pray that no more innocent people will be harmed, and that people who do not deserve to be victimised will be treated with respect." As anti-Islamic tension rose, leaders from Dunedin's Jewish and Christian communities joined their Muslim counterparts to issue a message: anger against Al Qaeda cannot justify attacks on innocent Muslims. Jewish and Christian leaders wrote supportive letters to the media and offered to rally in front of the city's mosque – if need be – to prevent an attack. "Friendships were formed then," recalls Otago Muslim Association (OMA) president Steve Johnston, "that are still in place today. "We felt that these communities were genuinely here to look after us." Backed by both the Dunedin City Council and the police, a regular liaison meeting

evolved over the next three years into the Dunedin Abrahamic Interfaith Group (DAIG). Fourteen years on, the group still meets monthly to respond whenever racism, Islamophobia or anti-Semitism cause alarm, or outside events threaten relations between the faiths. Speaking to the Muslim Council of Wales this October, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby encouraged Anglicans to shift our interreligious focus from conflict. "The mainstream of each faith needs to generate a counter-narrative that acknowledges our differences," Archbishop Justin said, "and commits to resource and support one another in defiance of those who wish to divide us. "The counter-narrative must be so exciting and so beautiful that it defeats the radicalisers, with their message of hate and despair.” DAIG has built such stories of cooperation, drawing members from Afghanistan, Israel, Malaysia, Thailand, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Pakistan, Australia and the UK, alongside its local contingent. Anne-Marie Parsons joined DAIG eight years ago, from Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Port Chalmers. "When I first joined, people asked, 'Are you going to convert them?'" she says. "But that's not what it's about. "The message is this: You don't have to believe everything that your next-door neighbour believes, but you can still be friends." Anne-Marie always wears her Cursillo cross to DAIG, "to remind me what Jesus told

us, 'to love your neighbour as yourself'." "So I put myself in their position. "It is about opening your mind – and your heart." *

While DAIG stresses the peaceful in religion, it admits that faith can be used, and abused, to justify violence. This March, welcoming faith leaders to Lambeth Palace, Justin Welby acknowledged Christian fault in religious violence. "...we Anglicans, we Christians, know a great deal about killing each other, for purportedly religious reasons," he said, pointing to a portrait of William Laud, the last Archbishop of Canterbury to be executed on religious grounds. "We have no great mount of righteousness on which to stand, from which to judge the rest of the world.” DAIG's annual peace lectures provide a forum to grapple with tough questions. There, international experts – rabbis, clerics and scholars – nut out thorny religious and political subjects, using wisdom from their own faith traditions. Former Prime Minister David Lange gave the first address in 2004, when he critiqued the US invasion of Iraq, referring to his Methodist background of social justice. Since then, speakers have wrestled with issues from weapons stock-piling and war, to shalom and non-violence within Abrahamic faiths. Group members join the yearly Iftar meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, Jewish, Christian and Muslim women share henna painting during "Islam awareness week,” and interfaith group students turn out to Otago

28 Spirituality: Adrienne Thompson pursues a deeper source of prayer

Background research and interviews contributed by the Rev Greg Hughson, University of Otago Ecumenical Chaplain since 2000.

42 Film: John Bluck peers into Hollywood’s not-so-deep space 43 The Far Side: Imogen de la Bere revels in England’s forgotten byways Anglican Taonga is published by the Commission on Communications and distributed to all ministry units and agencies of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia – Te Haahi Mihinare ki Aotearoa ki Niu Tireni ki nga Moutere o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. Editor Julanne Clarke-Morris 786 Cumberland Street Otepoti – Dunedin 9016 Ph 03 477-1556 julanneclarkemorris@gmail.com Contributing Editor/ Web Editor Brian Thomas Ph 03 351 4404 bjthomas@orcon.net.nz Design Marcus Thomas Design info@marcusthomas.co.nz Distribution Aleshia Lawson Taonga Distribution Manager PO Box 6431, Dunedin 9059 taongadistribution@gmail.com Advertising Brian Watkins Ph 06 875-8488 021 072-9892 brian@grow.co.nz Media Officer Lloyd Ashton Ph 09 521-4439 021 348-470 mediaofficer@anglicanchurch.org.nz. Cover: Linda Kendrew (left) and Jo Sprott from Christchurch Community Response – whose volunteers have knocked on the doors of almost half the homes in the city. See page 22 for the story. Photo: Andrew Hewson

No way forward,

and no way back… It was a question of life or death, really.

1. DAIG peace lectures and online faith guides are at: www.dunedininterfaith.net.nz

The Diocese of Christchurch – spurred on by its young people – passed a resolution at its September synod calling for the immediate doubling of New Zealand’s refugee quota. That sailed through, driven by gusts of goodwill towards Syria’s desperate people.

Note: The 2016 NZ National Interfaith Forum will run from 26-28 February in Auckland, on the theme 'Building Bridges –Hearts, Communities, Humanity.' For more info go to www.interfaith.org.nz

But perhaps the most poignant contributions to that debate were from a few folk who know the real costs and rewards of reaching out to refugees. Lloyd Ashton has been speaking to a woman who has truly been there, and done that.

So Raewyn and Lawrence chose not to pass by on the other side. They invited Vivian and her son to move into their Suva home. Then, knowing that their time in Fiji would end, they applied, on humanitarian grounds, for a visa for Vivian and her son to live in New Zealand. They presented medical evidence of beatings and psychological damage – but they were turned down. They didn’t give up. Lawrence returned to New Zealand at the end of his contract but Raewyn stayed behind, teaching English to Chinese students and working part-time for the Diocese so she could support the three of them left in Suva. Lawrence, meanwhile, was amassing the documentation needed to appeal to the Minister of Immigration. That documentation, in part, said Raewyn

They refused to give up.

and Lawrence’s daughters, Judith and Rachel, also welcomed Vivian and her son into their family – and they understood that Vivian would share in their mum and dad’s will. In 2000, because of the “weight of their evidence,” Lianne Dalziel granted their appeal. *

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Raewyn and Lawrence Dawson in their Christchurch home.

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YOUTH

MISSION

Vivian and her son – who was 5 then – lived with the Dawson family for their first 12 months in New Zealand. “That was sheer hell,” Raewyn says. “Because she didn’t know how to live with someone else in a negotiating, compromising way. “She could go stony silent for days, like a teenager having a sulk. She’d never had anyone persuading her to share, or reprimanding her in a loving way. “And her language was incredibly… West Indian.” In those early days, Vivian’s anger could be spectacular, too. For example, there were a couple of times

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Raewyn first sensed that call to commitment in Suva’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, during weekly women’s Bible studies. Raewyn’s eyes kept being drawn to a younger woman who occasionally whispered in a heavy accent, and who became thinner and more withdrawn by the week. Turns out that Vivian is West Indian. Her father had had a relationship outside of his marriage, and that’s how she came to be. Her birth mother had died, her father had fled – and his wife closed ranks against Vivian, who was left behind. So she spent much of her childhood in an orphanage. At 18, she met and married a young Samoan man, whose parents were Presbyterian missionaries in the West Indies. Then, when her husband’s father, a matai, went to Fiji to take up a college post there, the young couple and their newborn son headed to Fiji, too. There wasn’t much keeping Vivian in the West Indies, after all.

But her move to Fiji was a descent into a deeper darkness. Her husband became violent – and when Vivian refused to kow-tow, his beatings became ever more vicious. Yet there was no scandal. Nothing was allowed to sully the reputation of the aiga. “She had no life,” says Raewyn, “and she was shrivelling up. “She couldn’t go forward, and she couldn’t go back. “I thought she would not live unless she had commitment from someone. “It was a question of life or death, really.”

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VISUAL ARTS

The George family as they were when the earthquakes hit. (clockwise): Heidi, Darryn, Karena, Sam, and Danielle. Darryn stands before one of his signature large scale canvases, Christchurch, Sept 2015.

Mission – a mode of existence John Tapene, of 'The Angies' – The Auckland Anglican Maori Club – leads a waiata to garnish Bishop George Connor's whaikorero.

Above top inset: John Rea of Scotland - and the International Anglican Family Network - greets a long lost colleague in the hongi line. Lower inset: Young Tongan followers of Jesus on stage during the Tikanga Polynesia celebration of mission.

Mission for every person is at the heart of Anglicanism.

36 Environment: Phillip Donnell summons prophets for the planet

tric@wgtncitymission.org.nz

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Confident it can support refugees, this October DAIG joined a coalition of community groups lobbying the Government to settle Syrians in Dunedin. But DAIG knows it cannot protect every newcomer from ignorant treatment. "There is plenty of interfaith work to do," says Greg Hughson, "to help New Zealanders become more tolerant and supportive neighbours to people of faith." DAIG’s online beginners' guides1 to Judaism, Islam and Christianity aim to build understanding, while the group regularly visits five Dunedin schools, including Anglican school, St Hilda's Collegiate. "Religious studies students have really resonated with meeting visitors of the three faiths," says St Hilda's chaplain, Dr Gillian Townsley. "The girls enjoyed hearing honest stories about families, religion, struggles and questions from young women close to their age. "After these visits, they have better understanding of religions, but also more respect and openness toward people who are Muslim, Christian and Jewish." Seeing religious people as people is what DAIG is about. Muslim PhD student Humaira Rasheed summed that up with a quote from Imam Ali on the day she visited St Hilda's: "Any person we meet is either a brother in faith, or an equal in humanity."

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26 Children: Diana Langdon greets God’s role in every childhood phase

ADVENT 2015

More than 400 people turned up at King’s College, Otahuhu, in October for the Common Life Missions Conference.

hey came from all walks, and all corners – including Africa, Australia, England and the Middle East – to reaffirm their conviction that mission, involving every person in the Communion, is at the heart of Anglicanism. Or, as the conference’s key speaker, the Rev Dr Chris Wright, later put it: “It’s not so much the case that God has a mission for the church, to be carried out by a few churchpaid professionals – as that God has a church for his mission.” Conference-goers feasted on what Robert Kereopa calls “a banquet of mission”. They heard, for example, John Rea from Scotland – one of the founders of the

International Anglican Family Network – lead a well-attended workshop on… wait for it… the importance of birth registration. Registration, it seems, is a necessary weapon in the war against child trafficking. Conference-goers heard, too, from an American theologian, the Rev Dr Jason Fout, on the remarkable growth of the Anglican Church in London. And they heard from Sir Anand Satyanand who, as a member of Transparency International, suggested that the church is in a “unique position” to combat the corruption and bribery that keep the world’s poor shackled. In this issue, though, Lloyd Ashton has chosen to tell the story of a guy who led packed workshops at the conference. A Maori priest who’s spearheading a strategy designed to take Tikanga Maori boldly into the Decade of Mission.

Hold my hands! Holly and Grace play together in the kid's zone. Pilgrims at St John's Johnsonville (L-R): Shanuki Dharmawardane(16), Holly Howard-Brumby(3), Grace MacIver(5) and Jakob Johnson-Frow(10).

Back to the future.

Every phase counts

Back to the whanau.

hen Arthur Hokianga rocked up to the Missions Conference he was travelling as he always does – with whanau in tow. His wife Bertha, their kids and assorted mokos – plus a small tribe of Te Tai Tokerau kaumatua and kuia, rangatahi and tamariki. They were there to support Arthur, who was running workshops on Minita-a-Whanau. That’s a new Pihopatanga mission strategy about ministry to the family, for the family, by the family. Anyway, it didn’t take long before the youngsters were whipping out their mobile phones and posing for selfies. Arthur, getting slightly hoha about that, told them to taihoa: “No selfies allowed!” he said. That’s when his floodlights flicked on. He’d found the perfect challenge for his

presentations on Minita-a-Whanau. “There are no selfies in this church!” he’d say. “Each one of us is responsible for including the whole whanau in our picture!” *

Arthur and members of the Hokianga whanau leading worship during the 2013 runanganui. (L-R): Kerianne, the Rev Rapiata (Arthur’s brother) Arthur, Arthur-Daniel and Marama. The three young ones are Rapiata’s children: all have music in their genes, and direct whakapapa ties to Waihirere, one of the powerhouses of kapa haka.

The record shows that the Rev Canon Arthur Hokianga is good at doing just that. You’ve just got to survey life at St Paul’s, Kamo, in Whangarei – or Te Kairaiti te Aranga (Christ the Resurrection) as it’s now known – to see. St Paul’s Kamo had been a co-operating parish but it withered on the vine. So the Diocese of Auckland bought the church outright a couple of years ago, and graciously gifted it to Te Pihopatanga o Te Tai Tokerau. When Arthur took charge there, he found just a handful of faithful hangers-on and not

There are no selfies in this church!

StraNdZ Enabler Diana Langdon reminds churchgoers that children and adults are partners in the pilgrimage of faith.

Children are active agents, walking with God.

photo surprised me on social media this morning. It was of my childhood hero, MacGyver, played by Richard Dean Anderson – except that he looked nothing like the lean action-man who inspired my brother and me to save up all our firecrackers and blow up our toy car. Time had turned this athletic machine into… well, a middle-aged man with white hair. Of course, ageing is part of normal life. But I doubt that today's MacGyver could escape from a suspended cable car, with the aid of a Swiss army knife and chewing gum, quite as easily as he did in the 1980s. Transformation can be subtle, gentle, subversive, difficult or beautiful. We live in an ever-changing society, switching jobs, houses, relationships and cities so often that we risk missing out on many of the transformations that make up

life’s journey. We often meet young people in our communities in a certain ‘phase’ of life – perhaps as the pre-schooler eating raisins in church, or the 7-year-old soccer ‘player of the day.’ Maybe we know them first as the 13-year-old gymnast who balances church and school commitments with the pressure of gym competitions, or the teenager reluctantly coming to youth group for the first time. And then what? Reggie Joiner, from the Re:Think Group, describes a phase as “a timeframe in a kid’s life when you can leverage distinctive opportunities to influence their future.”1 Nurturing a young person’s faith as they navigate the different phases of life is one of the most important tasks we have as a church. Robert Coles describes a child's faith journey as a pilgrimage, where children

are active agents, walking with adults and God throughout their lives. In our New Zealand Prayer Book baptism liturgy, we say to the newly baptised: “You are now a pilgrim with us.” As pilgrims, the children in our faith communities are on a pilgrimage with us. We’re in this together. A key focus of StraNdZ, the Tikanga Pakeha children’s ministry hub, is to encourage churches to walk with children for the long haul, providing strategic faith formation over the years. A child’s journey from birth till the end of high school covers 936 weeks. So what you do each week in the child’s life matters more than what you will do for them when they are adults. Every life phase a child goes through is crucial, with its own characteristics,

relationships and opportunities. “Childhood is not a transitional stage on the way to adulthood," wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his PhD thesis. "The child is the partner of God.” As you walk the faith journey together, give children words to express their beliefs, experiences to grow through, chances to take risks, examples to learn from, and safe communities in which to make mistakes. How do we make the most of each phase of a child’s life – preschool, primary, intermediate and high school years? • Celebrate the milestones: baptisms, dedications, starting school, birthdays and graduations – all are important! • Embrace each phase: don’t miss an important stage of a child’s life while you’re longing for another to kick in.

Honour the children you have in your community today. • Support and equip parents to navigate each stage and work as partners at pivotal transitions such as primary school to intermediate, intermediate to youth. • Provide an intergenerational community, where children can take risks, grow in their faith and connect with adults who will love, mentor and inspire them. As a church, let’s remember that each child is created in the image of God, and no matter what phase of life they’re in, we are pilgrims of faith together.

Paintings that point

to God

Diana Langdon is the StraNdZ Enabler. StraNdZ is the Tikanga Pakeha children and families' ministry hub of the Anglican Church.

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One this way, one that: Shanuki and Jakob share a Sunday pew.

I remember saying Atua, Atua, over and over again.

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Christchurch painter Darryn George (Ngāpuhi) is one of very few Kiwi artists who can live off their work. A rising star in Māori art since the 1990s, Darryn was handpicked in 2013 for a show at the prestigious the prestigious "Olympics of contemporary art" – the Venice Biennale.

For some, the Biennale offers a tempting taste of international fame and fortune. But that's not where Darryn's heart lies. His aim is to point people to God.

Julanne Clarke-Morris caught up with Darryn George in Christchurch.

arryn George is a seismic force in Maori art, but he’s adamant that the power and glory belong to God alone. That’s why he refuses to depict God, even if his works are steeped in God-language. Darryn, 45, is a painter and designer, and has headed the art department at Christ's College in Christchurch since 1999. His artwork on show in Venice was "The Folder Room," a 3D revisit of "The Lamb's Book of Life” using abstracted "files" to depict the Lamb of Revelation's ledger of saved souls. The Folder Room's reflective black walls mirror each another, stretching the piles of files back in a seemingly endless stack, which also reflect the viewer. Art and architecture historian at Auckland University, Dr Deidre Brown (Nga-puhi, Nga-ti Kahu), identifies Darryn George as a major player in this generation of Ma-ori artists. Like many of his artistic forbears,1 Darryn draws on traditional meetinghouse designs, but updates them through digital processing, and in conversation with international art. Darryn developed his abstract expressionist style while studying Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury (1993) and then for his Master's degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1998). "There is a strong sense of spirituality in his work," says Dr Brown. "With the loss of Ralph Hotere and Don Binney, Darryn is now one of

Ariki, Takuta, Atua: Darryn's abstract designs mix traditional Maori carving patterns with international art styles.

few contemporary artists who brings discussion of Christian faith into artistic spaces." Darryn's studio is lined with paintings of Ma-ori names for God. They form part of his "Prayer Series," a response to the Christchurch earthquakes. On September 4, 2010, Darryn and his wife Karena awoke at 4.35am, to the first of Christchurch's violent earthquakes. As the house roared, Darryn's first thought was for his two younger children, Heidi (6) and Sam (10), asleep upstairs. He knew at once that he couldn't get to them. "So I just started praying," he recalls. "I remember saying Atua, Atua, over and over again." Both kids upstairs were OK, and their big sister, Danielle, was in Timaru. But with phones down and power out, Darryn's mum and dad were still out of reach. "So I started praying again," he recalls. Later, when Darryn wanted to make art about the earthquakes – but not about broken buildings – he chose to paint his prayers. Each canvas shows oversized letters – ATUA, ARIKI, HEPARA, KAITIAKI (God, Lord, Shepherd, Keeper) – in a weave of red, black, white and grey, distinguished by different textures and patterns. "Sometimes the words are big," says Darryn, "they shout out to God. At other times they are small, like whispered prayers." In places, words are cut off or unfinished. "That's when the aftershocks would come round," says Darryn, "You'd be

halfway through a prayer and they'd stop you." White rubbings of paint shimmer round the letters, to show the light of God. In between, brilliant spots of red and blue flicker like emergency lights across the black panels. "Those spots of light appeared when we switched on the TV," says Darryn. "There were lights everywhere: police lights, ambulance lights, and neon lights above the medical centres. "People were lining up in the light, waiting to get the help they needed. "That's when it occurred to me. Those people are turning to the light. That's what we need to do after the earthquakes: turn to the Light." Darryn saw that start to happen at the Hagley Park memorial service for the February 2011 earthquake. "Hayley Westenra sang Amazing Grace," he says, "and you could feel people

People were lining up in the light.

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Features

Art with heart Tric Malcolm sees beauty in a critique of child poverty

Children of Abraham Dunedin Jews, Christians and Muslims gather as kin

As for me & my household Lloyd Ashton unpacks the vision behind minita-a-whanau

Angels on the threshhold

Lloyd Ashton catches up with Christchurch’s intrepid post-quake door-knocking teams

Robyn McPhail pleads for a new appraisal of country churches

Don’t farm us out

You gave me shelter

Kororia ki te Atua Meet Darryn George: avant garde Nga-puhi artist

Raewyn Dawson recounts the cost of caring for refugees

Support, not shame David Tombs asks how churches can better combat sexual violence

For the latest on the Anglican world, check out our website:

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NEWS

Worldwide

http://anglicantaonga.org.nz

Taonga’s online editor, Brian Thomas, puts his own take on offbeat stories that have crossed his computer monitor.

Dog in a manger hamsters as pictures of the Christ child. Little wonder that David Marshall, founder of the Meaningful Chocolate Company, is growling. ADVENT CALENDARS ARE making a comeback worldwide, except that pampered pets are squeezing baby Jesus out of the crib. The Daily Telegraph reports that Advent calendars are now two and a half times as likely to feature festive treats for dogs, cats and

His firm makes Christmas and Easter products for FairTrade, and he laments that only 400,000 Advent calendars in British shops this year will feature a Christian theme. By contrast, more than a million Advent calendars specifically for pets will hit retailers’ shelves.

Saints preserve us YET ANOTHER BASTION has fallen to the ubiquitous Barbie. After a year of opposition and outcry from churchgoers and rightwing activists, two South American artists have finally unveiled Barbie: The Plastic Revolution. Emiliano Pool Paolini and Marianela Perelli, from Rosario in Argentina, are depicting Barbie in religious guises as part of a Saints and Sinners exhibition at a small gallery in Buenos Aires.

The exhibition also features paintings of famous characters who have sinned in some way, along with 14 unique depictions of My Own Jesus.

“Stores are happy to cater for pet owners but don't think Christians want to give children a quality Advent calendar that connects with the Christmas story – it's barking!” snaps Mr Marshall. Check out your local bookshops to see whether Mr Marshall is just barking up a peculiarly English tree.

Each contributor has taken a day of Advent, thought about given texts, refracted them through a missional lens, and created an artpiece with a reflection activity. The whole set costs only $10, with proceeds going to the next creative project for the Anglican Decade of Mission, this time featuring musicians.

Closer to home, though, you can’t go past a set of Advent postcards featuring 27 artists from Invercargill to Tai Tokerau to Polynesia.

To order, phone Linda Dear at the Anglican Missions Board on 04 473-5172 or email info@angmissions.org.nz

In the Plastic Religion room, 33 Barbie and Ken dolls appear as Latin American saints or religious figures – from the Virgin of Lujan (Argentina’s patron saint) and Mary Magdalen to Moses, St George on a plastic horse, and the Grim Reaper.

While the idea may seem tacky, the execution is top shelf: each doll’s outfit reflects the detailing employed by traditional artisans to represent Mary and other saints.

Some are displayed in customised Mattel packaging, others in illuminated cabinets. Crucified Ken is nailed to a wooden cross, with flowing locks and loincloth, while Buddha Ken sits on the floor in the lotus position.

The artists claim to be religious, and are surprised and frightened by the controversy around their works. “We chose Barbie and Ken because they’re pop icons worldwide,” says Marianela. All of the works are for sale, but maybe it’s best not to tell your daughters.

Called to Kiribati ALL SAINTS’ DUNEDIN has a long reach. A parish couple, Rev Shirley Brunton and husband Warwick, recently arrived in the tiny atoll group of Kiribati to work with Volunteer Service Abroad – and already the work is piling up. Stopping off in Fiji, they asked for Archbishop Winston Halapua’s blessing on Shirley’s pastoral role, but ++Winston did better than that. Page 4

He formally commissioned Shirley as the first Diocese of Polynesia missionary to Kiribati’s I-Matang (Palagi) community. Warwick will use his skills in planning and management to help develop and strengthen the Kiribati School of Nursing as it moves from the Central Hospital to a refurbished campus nearby.

Theological College, where she was immediately offered a chaplaincy- English language support role as well as worship responsibilities. The college need for resources is great, she writes. “If you have Good News Bibles sitting unread or theological books less that 60 years old, we can use them. Please!”

Meanwhile, Shirley has already visited Tangintebu

The Bruntons’ email address is bruntonfamily@hotmail.com.

Shirley Brunton (left) leads worship at Tangintebu Theological College.

Resource materials can also be donated through All Saints' Dunedin (admin@allsaintsdn.org.nz).

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Cometh the Man MODERNISTS CAN’T DISPUTE the Book of Common Prayer’s extraordinary staying power. Now the Isle of Man, betwixt England and Northern Ireland, has given Cranmer’s masterpiece yet another stamp of approval by issuing five gold-inked Christmas postage stamps featuring the BCP. The island has a special affection for the old prayer book. In 1610 the Bishop of Sodor and

first Manx Gaelic edition of the 1662 BCP. This latest issue of Christmas stamps therefore marks the 250th anniversary of Man’s iconic publication.

Man, the Rt Rev John Phillips, interpreted the 1610 BCP for use on the island. Then in 1765 the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge went a whole lot further – by publishing the

The designer, local artist Julia Ashby-Smyth, drew inspiration from the Manx BCP prayers and collects from Advent to Epiphany, along with illuminated manuscripts, ecclesiastical texts and a 'Book of Hours' from the 18th century.

“The result is a reproduction of the colours and design elements used 250 years ago to create an authentic feel for the collection,” a spokesman for the Isle of Man Post Office says. For those puzzling over the meaning of each stamp, here are the translations: Niart (Wiseman), Grayse (Grace), Credjue (Faith), Shee (Peace) and Graith (Love). Simple, when you know the reasons for the season.

Sacre bleu says it was because Father Le Roy did not like the style of sculpture. That tallies with reports he earlier smashed another religious statue in front of a couple soon to be wed.

Father Jean-Jacques Le Roy, 55, the priest of Plestin-les-Greves in Brittany, shouted "One less!" as he smashed a statue of Jesus in his church – right under the noses of a visiting sacred art commission.

But Father Le Roy is pleading the holy innocent, saying he pushed the statue too hard while checking if it was properly attached to a wall.

Vicar-general Gerard Nicole

He’s also blaming the stress and fatigue of daily ministry – something that many clergy

may also sympathise with. "In our ministry we are called on from all directions,” he told a reporter. “There aren't many priests, there is a certain fatigue, irritation, stress – and it all came together at that moment.” Father Le Roy apologised after his fit of fury, but that didn’t stop his congregation dashing off a complaint to the bishop. As Taonga went to press, Father Le Roy was about to face a latterday inquisition.

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EVANGELICAL CLERGY, if not church wardens, may sympathise with the French parish priest who broke under the weight of too many graven images.

Hokianga gets it together A PASSIONATE LOVE affair with Northland’s Hokianga is centrestage of a newly released movie, Tumanako/Hope.

together to save the old Rawene Hospital and set up the Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust in the early 1990s.

It introduces 30 diverse families – representing local iwi, settler families and alternative lifestylers – who now call this wild and bountiful harbour “home.”

Fittingly, the movie kicks off in Waimamaku Valley with a New Orleans-style jazz band leading a procession down a dusty road towards a church where marchers will reaffirm their faith and atonement.

It’s also testimony to the power of community and grassroots activism, as director Susy Pointon depicts the spirit that pulled a multi-ethnic group

The Tumanako/Hope website evokes a carnival of the animals: “Cowboys riding horses, a woman leading a suckling calf,

a young family carrying a lamb, a kid goat and a tiny piglet join the parade of babies, children, young men and women, old greybeards and stick-leaners winding their way through the majestic hills towards the sea.” So follows a weekend on Whakamaharatanga Marae where the people eat, drink, dance, pray and talk about what brought them to the Hokianga, and the different ways they are working – through gardening, building, teaching, healing, music and political action – to leave a better world for their

children and grandchildren. As Susy Pointon says: “Everyone came here with some sort of dream. And then it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be. What I was interested in was how they adapted to the place.” No surprise that despite the things they fear – global warming, war, pollution, consumerism, economic and racial inequality – they are bonded by the conviction that there is Hope. Always Hope. Check the Rialto websites for a screening near you. Page 5

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MISSION

Wellington City Missioner Tric Malcom reflects on a public artwork that sheds light on child poverty.

Art with heart You are now the artwork.

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Kids at Kahurangi School tuck into their yummy lunch treats. Above right : Children line up under the lunchbox tree.

Smiles all round from children at Rata Street School.

I can't believe I got a green one and it's all mine.

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I N T E R FA I T H D I A LO G U E

ANGLICAN ANGLICANTAONGA TAONGA ADVENT 2015

Keren Segal shares insights on her Jewish faith. DAIG members gather at Otago University: (L-R) Najib LaFraie, Greg Hughson, Steve Johnston, Ken Baker, Humaira Rasheed, Saima Ijaz, Judith Cowley, Robin Smith.

University’s “Jesus Week.”

us, 'to love your neighbour as yourself'." "So I put myself in their position. "It is about opening your mind – and your heart." *

While DAIG stresses the peaceful in religion, it admits that faith can be used, and abused, to justify violence. This March, welcoming faith leaders to Lambeth Palace, Justin Welby acknowledged Christian fault in religious violence. "...we Anglicans, we Christians, know a great deal about killing each other, for purportedly religious reasons," he said, pointing to a portrait of William Laud, the last Archbishop of Canterbury to be executed on (in part) religious grounds. "We have no great mount of righteousness on which to stand, from which to judge the rest of the world.” DAIG's annual peace lectures provide a forum to grapple with tough questions. There, international experts – rabbis, clerics and scholars – nut out thorny religious and political subjects, using wisdom from their own faith traditions. Former Prime Minister David Lange gave the first address in 2004, when he critiqued the US invasion of Iraq, referring to his Methodist background of social justice. Since then, speakers have wrestled with issues from weapons stock-piling and war, to shalom and non-violence within Abrahamic faiths. Group members join the yearly Iftar meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, Jewish, Christian and Muslim women share henna painting during "Islam awareness week,” and interfaith group students turn out to Otago

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RURAL MINISTRY

Small but beautiful Rural ministry author Robyn McPhail takes a hard look at how we treat our smallest, most isolated faith communities. In the clash between urban and rural cultures, she says, country churches don't get the best deal.

You know your neighbours and interact with them, like it or not.

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n the 1980s Rogernomics, drought and sliding global commodity prices broke the backs of many farming communities. Today we face another â&#x20AC;&#x153;unholy trinityâ&#x20AC;? of weather, markets and government. Dairy farmers are under stress from global prices, a threatening El Nino and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. First time round, there were few rural support services. Local churches, social service agencies and farmers' organisations were alarmed at 'discounting,' where banks took control of farmers' personal finances, as well as farm accounts. Worse still was the threat of selling up. Shame became the norm, and for some it was overwhelming, leading to suicide. But farmers also gained a new understanding of depression. Three decades on, they remain alert to their neighbours' wellbeing. Though stressed themselves, church people in the 80s organised practical support and lobbied for better access to

government assistance. In mid-Canterbury, Presbyterian Support and Federated Farmers formed a mentoring organisation to help farmers deal with government agencies and banks, as well as offering counselling and farm advice. Rural support trusts were set up, and today government help and farmer networking kick in automatically when an adverse event is declared. In 2015 local churches are responding as before. Church people, their friends and family are still under stress. But as people of faith they look to offer support: through personal contact, social events, talking through worries and strategies, and speaking of it all in sermons and prayers. That's if and where rural churches still exist. But across the denominations, they are fast becoming an endangered species. Rural churches operate in different ways to meet different needs, compared with most churches in Aotearoa New Zealand. Most churches here are medium to large, urban or suburban, reflecting the

ANGLICAN ANGLICANTAONGA TAONGA ADVENT 2015

Caption here...

St Michael's Te Anau pamper their Mainly Music mums on Mother's Day 2015. Jenny Campbell leads John Franklin into Lumsden on a donkey, during the 2014 Otago-Southland hikoi. Regulars and ecumenical visitors spill out of St Mark's Broadwood, Hokianga.

size of their population base. Rural churches draw on far fewer people, within a limited local catchment. Unlike urban churches, they are not communities mustered round shared mission and faith perspectives. Rural life is based on neighbourhood relationships: in geographical, rather than chosen communities. You know your neighbours and interact with them, like it or not. Sometimes those relationships get in the way of church life. When someone has issues with another regular attendee, going elsewhere is not an option. Rural churches' biggest impact comes from community presence – of both the building and the people – not from wellpopulated Sunday worship. The building is a beacon: a pointer to something greater, a reminder of spiritual and ethical values that remain important to rural life. Christ-shaped people live in the community and are active for its wellbeing. Small groups living this incarnational way of being church deserve nurture.

And they need encouragement as valid churches, plus ongoing teaching to grow in their ministry. In contrast, much church policy is concerned with building the congregation. A 'good' church means numbers of 'signed up' members, while 'viable' church means those with enough money for a stipend. Christians in rural areas also face unhealthy demands from denominations. For co-operating ventures those demands multiply the paperwork, emails, responses to resources and campaigns required to keep each denomination happy. If we want to help farmers under stress we need to support rural churches better, and revisit number-focused policies about viability and measures of success. So why not assess viability on the quality of our relationships? Then help us grow there, not by numbers or dollars. My plea to the rest of the church is to recognise that a church community of purpose, with a gospel mission for its local district, is viable. Rural churches should be safe places for

Small communities can do God's work – with encouragement and support.

us to be ourselves among caring people who know we also need spiritual food to keep ourselves going. The best church response to rural crisis is to keep open these watering holes – for living water – in all the rural communities throughout the land. Places of hope, no less. Rev Dr Robyn McPhail is a Presbyterian minister who specialises in rural ministry issues. robyn@chirmac.co.nz Note: You can hear more from Robyn at next year’s Trans-Tasman Rural Ministry Consultation in Masterton, May 16-20, 2016. For more info or registration details, please contact: jenniferdawson@xtra.co.nz

Children

– the heart of all we do. 10 Beatty Street, Otahuhu 1062 | p: 09 276 3729 | e: info@atwc.org.nz | www.atwc.org.nz Page 11

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REFUGEES

No way forward,

and no way back… It was a question of life or death, really.

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They refused to give up.

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Raewyn and Lawrence Dawson in their Christchurch home.

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PEOPLE

“She is so paying back, eh?” *

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when dodgy drivers cut her off as she drove to chef school. Bad move. Because a) Vivian was riled up, and b) she had come from a violent society. So at the next set of lights, those road hogs found themselves facing a wild-eyed woman brandishing knives. “I talked to her so seriously about that,” says Raewyn. “We got through it.” But how? Well, one way was by buying her a house. “We didn’t think,” says Raewyn, “that Vivian’s relationship skills back then would make it possible to have a landlord without constant bust-ups. “So we just mortgaged our own house – and paid the deposit on a house for them. “That was a good decision. It was best for them – and best for us. “This other house was two streets away. It wasn’t next door but it was walkable.

Slaves must obey their masters…

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So I could still babysit.” *

But once Vivian was given that break, she showed how talented she was – and how much she could contribute. During her chef’s course, she’d dabbled in management studies, which led to a fullblown commerce degree. She worked three jobs to pay her way, but for seven years still found time to help out at the Christchurch Women’s Refuge. And to reach out in other ways, too. Take Oris, for instance. He was an Afghan classmate of her son’s. His older siblings had gone AWOL. So Horace (as his mates called him) was on his own, with his parents still stuck in a refugee camp. One day Horace turned up at Vivian’s place for a sleepover – except he didn’t leave for 18 months, when his parents finally arrived here. Vivian kept turning up for people. Christchurch’s tiny Caribbean community saw that, and suggested social work might be her thing. So she got her masters in that field, and scored a placement at a social service agency in the city. She was there for four years. Then, three years ago, she was headhunted for a supervisor’s job at an Auckland branch. In simplest terms: she’s now devoting her life to care of the three percent of Kiwi children most vulnerable to physical, sexual, psychological or emotional abuse. Raewyn chooses another way to describe this turn of events:

On the Monday morning I interviewed Vivian she was dealing with the death of a child. That child, born into a gang, had died the previous weekend. That’s why we can’t show you Vivian’s photo, because of the risks involved with her job. When she was living in Christchurch, for example, she was on the receiving end of a home invasion from a gang leader and a couple of his henchmen. Vivian says she views Raewyn and Lawrence as her parents by choice. “If they hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I would have done. “They were my parents, my counsellors, my supporters, and my town criers.” She acknowledges, too, that at times she’s given them grief. “I have a lot of hard and sad memories that I cope with. I still have terrible mood swings. “It’s hard when you’re not used to being shown love openly, and somebody does that to you with no questions asked, no strings attached. “They see the good, the bad and the ugly in you, but they still say: ‘Regardless of that, we love you and we can see the potential in you.’ “When Raewyn and Lawrence came into my life – that was the first experience I’d had of acceptance.” *

Vivian had grown up in the Episcopalian Church in the West Indies. These days, though, Vivian reckons she’s “not your typical Christian.” Because there are bits in the Bible she just can’t swallow. Such as Paul saying ‘Slaves must obey their masters’. That doesn’t go down well with a descendant of slaves. “But if you don’t believe in the greater good,” Vivian says, “then you set yourself up for failure. “My journey has taught me to show grace and humility.” In her work with broken families, she says, that’s vital. “Because at the end of the day, regardless of what’s going on, regardless of what’s happened, a family is being ripped apart. “A child is going to go and live with strangers. And that child will keep asking the question: ‘why is it that I’m the one who had

ANGLICAN TAONGA

Raewyn and Lawrence Dawson. Photo: Emma Smart.

to leave?’ “I have 50 kids on my caseload living in that uncertainty.” *

So: in Raewyn’s eyes, has the cost of their commitment been worth it? “Absolutely. “It all felt necessary. “The unconditional love thing felt needed, and we could do it. “The thing is, I started to love Vivian. “I love her… as I love my two daughters. “So I’ve got Judith, Vivian and Rachel. “And I’ve got two grandsons. One by Rachel, who is 4 years old and blond – and the other, this son of Vivian’s, who is nearly 21, and about 7ft tall, with his hair in dreadlocks.” *

Raewyn didn’t tell us about her own back story. But a couple of years ago, she wrote a piece about living through the Christchurch quakes which hints that her early life wasn’t easy. Raewyn was born in Wellington while her father was a prisoner of war. When he returned, she wrote, he was “emotionally damaged”. He bought a farm near Dunedin, and his seven children were “ruled by fear and hard work.” When the first of the Christchurch quakes hit in the early hours of September 4, 2010, Raewyn was pitched back into those memories. “We were all terrified at the crashing and creaking,” she wrote. “It was like a violent revisiting of my childhood for me.” There’s a paradox there, says Vivian.

ADVENT 2015

The unconditional love thing felt needed – and we could do it.

Because she believes that people who have survived haunting early experiences have a unique capacity to help others. “The greatest gift that a person can give,” says Vivian, “is when they have been through hurt and pain themselves, and they try and stop another person experiencing that same thing. “For myself and for Raewyn, we’ve been down a path where there have been some difficulties – but we’re still here. “And the reason why we’re still here is to make a difference.”

Supporting our communities in the Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay & Eastland • Early Childhood Education centres • Whanau Aroha and Family Services • Aged Care – retirement homes, hospitals and day centres

(06) 834 0376 anglicancarewaiapu.nz Cnr. Raffles & Bower St, Napier E enquiries@acw.org.nz

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SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Be not Otago University's Professor of Theology and Public Issues, David Tombs, plots the global timeline of changing attitudes toward sexual violence. While we've taken steps to end the culture of shame and silence, he says, churches could still do more to prevent abuse and reach out to survivors.

The rest of the world could no longer turn our faces

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afraid T

he last 20 years have seen a huge shift in awareness of sexual violence as a public issue. Before the 1990s, it was rarely discussed in public except when newspapers referred to sexual violence in war reports from distant places. Those reports, however, were usually sensationalist or superficial, and presented sexual violence as a side issue or private matter. None of that helped abuse survivors to come forward and receive help, or to have their stories heard. Although feminist commentators had stressed the social dimension of sexual violence since the 1970s, it reached mainstream thinking only through the 1990s conflicts in Bosnia and Rwanda. When international media publicised violence against women in those wars, the rest of the world could no longer turn their faces. Once sexual violence in military conflicts was out in the daylight, other sexual crimes began to receive greater public scrutiny, including domestic and family violence. The Beijing meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 1995 added momentum to that change when it challenged governments to ‘Prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls’ (Section 29).

While each country’s form of violence had distinctive features, they shared a common pattern based on abuse of power. Since 2011, the Anglican Communion has been part of the We Will Speak Out campaign (WWSO),1 a global coalition of Christian-based NGOs, church organisations and technical partners that aims to rid communities of sexual violence, through work with congregations and church leaders. The first step is for churches to show strong, positive leadership in local communities, demonstrating they are safe places where survivors need not fear a negative reception. 'We Will Speak Out' drew on Tear Fund's 'Silent No More' sexual violence report from armed conflicts in Liberia, the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, and highlighted churches’ untapped potential to prevent and respond to violence. In 2013, Tear Fund published another report on South Africa, ‘Breaking the Silence’, which showed high incidence of sexual violence in peacetime, and proved again that churches could play a crucial role. But to respond well, churches need: • strong community involvement, making them accessible and available to help

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• an understanding that care and protection for sexual violence survivors is urgent for pastoral mission We often fall short of these ideals by failing to reach out with care and love, or holding on to negative attitudes that increase survivors' loneliness and isolation. Sexual violence can involve severe physical injuries and lead to unwanted pregnancy or sexually-transmitted diseases. Because rape survivors carry a sense of humiliation and fear being stigmatised, they often fail to seek medical care. Positive action from churches can help change this. Some churches provide basic medical care, while others liaise with local services to ensure survivors get help. Churches that speak out against sexual violence, support survivors, and confront misplaced stigma can transform community attitudes. If churches take the lead, they create opportunities for survivors to raise their own voices and tell their stories. "The church contributes to our internal healing," said one survivor from Goma (DR Congo). Sadly, in most places old-fashioned, outdated attitudes promote blindness and silence. "Churches do know what is happening," said another survivor from the ‘Silent No More’ report. "But when it comes to doing something, they are lethargic." These are challenges facing not only overseas churches, but also Aotearoa New Zealand. Churches here could choose to be informed and raise awareness on issues

LUKE

ILLUSTRA

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ROJECT

Kiwi women march against rape culture this October. Photo: © Rape Crisis Dunedin, 2015.

like date rape, or rape within marriage. We could hold public institutions to account, and push for policy reviews in cases like the ‘roastbusters’ debacle. However, to have credibility as advocates, more churches need to commit to more than a superficial response. As Christians we can also critique underlying power relations and distorted identities that sustain and strengthen rape cultures at home and abroad. All of this takes us out of our usual comfort zone. Even worse, it may highlight how some Christian teaching on gender relations and sexuality have contributed to the problem rather than the solution. Some fear that sexual violence is not an appropriate church concern. But if we can learn from those working in this field, including our own agencies, these fears and worries should not stop us confronting the disturbing questions.

LUKE ILLUSTRATED GOSPEL PROJECT

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AOTEAROA

They do know what is happening, but churches are lethargic.

Dr David Tombs is Howard Paterson Professor of Theology and Public Issues at the University of Otago. david.tombs@otago.ac.nz Note: The International Anglican Women’s Network (IAWN) invited churches to take part in 16 Days of Activism, starting with White Ribbon Day on 25 November. This is a way to show we care, to learn and to reflect upon these issues when reading the Bible. The World Mission Council (Church of Scotland) recently published a sequence of seven Bible studies titled ‘A Gender Based Violence Bible Study’, which churches can download and as a resource to help further our discussion.

Two years in the making, combining leading Biblical Scholarship with homegrown artistic interpretation. This resource takes in 12 key passages of Luke's Gospel, giving them fresh voice through poetry, artwork, music and reflection. A perfect resource for preachers, service and homegroup leaders, just in time for the new lectionary cycle. This book brings the Bible home to Aotearoa.

A CONVERSATION WITH LUKE IN AOTEAROA

Book plus music resource CD: $30 (plus P&P) Book only: $23 (plus P&P) bulk discounts available Order online at www.illustratedgospel.org, email malcolm@knoxcentre.ac.nz or call 09 282 9337 Published by The Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership

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MISSION

Mission – a mode of existence John Tapene, of 'The Angies' – The Auckland Anglican Maori Club – leads a waiata to garnish Bishop George Connor's whaikorero.

Mission is at the heart of Anglicanism.

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More than 400 people turned up at King’s College, Otahuhu, in October for the Common Life Missions Conference.

ANGLICANTAONGA TAONGA ADVENT 2015 ANGLICAN

Back to the future. Back to the whanau.

hen Arthur Hokianga rocked up to the Missions Conference he was travelling as he always does – with

whanau in tow. His wife Bertha, their kids and assorted mokos – plus a small tribe of Te Tai Tokerau kaumatua and kuia, rangatahi and tamariki. They were there to support Arthur, who was running workshops on Minita-a-Whanau. That’s a new Pihopatanga mission strategy about ministry to the family, for the family, by the family. Anyway, it didn’t take long before the youngsters were whipping out their mobile phones and posing for selfies. Arthur, getting slightly hoha about that, told them to taihoa: “No selfies allowed!” he said. That’s when his floodlights flicked on. He’d found the perfect challenge for his

presentations on Minita-a-Whanau. “There are no selfies in this church!” he’d say. “Each one of us is responsible for including the whole whanau in our picture!” *

There are no selfies in this church!

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MISSION

Canon Arthur Hokianga expounds Minita-a-Whanau during a plenary session at the 2015 Missions Conference.

Blast from the past. That’s Arthur and Bertha Hokianga (at the right end of the couch) surrounded by whanau in 2007.

one youngster. Nowadays, though, there are 26 kids in Sunday school, a big group of young parents – aged between 25 and 35 – and Arthur has just sent the names of 12 young people to Te Pihopatanga o te Tai Tokerau to become liturgical assistants. He’s got another eight pakeke (adults) who are training as kai karakia (lay readers), there are Bible studies in homes, and they already have about 70 folk coming to church each Sunday. The concept of Minita-a-Whanau is simple, says Arthur: “It’s about equipping households with the tools we all need. The tools of karakia (prayer), oranga (healing) himene (hymns), karaipiture (scripture) and akoranga Paipera (Bible study.)” The irony, though, is that Arthur had never heard of Minita-a-Whanau till a couple of months ago. To explain: Te Runanganui (the General Synod of the Te Pihopatanga) adopted Minita-a-Whanau when it met in Wellington in August.

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I'm thinking: Why is he targeting me?

But because Arthur’s mother-in-law passed away during the hui, he had to bail without hearing any of that korero. Bishop Kito then came to the funeral and started selling Arthur on this new strategy. “I latched on,” says Arthur. “But I’m thinking: ‘Why he is he targeting me?’ “And then he said: ‘Well – you’re doing it!’” *

So: where did the Minita-a-Whanau concept come from? We need to back up here, and talk about Minita-a-Iwi – the ‘minister of the tribe’ scheme devised in 1970s by Bishop Hui Vercoe and Sir Paul Reeves. In fact, Arthur’s father-in-law, the late Archdeacon Bert Karaka (who for years had managed Winstone’s concrete block plant in South Auckland), was the very first minita-aiwi ordained – back in 1979, at Otiria Marae, in Moerewa. And for the 12 years before he came to Whangarei, Arthur was a minita-a-iwi himself – an ordained priest who earned his keep as a diesel mechanic. Today, there are dozens of minita-a-iwi. These faithful men and women are the backbone of Te Pihopatanga. That’ll never change. But within the Pihopatanga the desire grew to go further. So in July a small working group of the Tikanga Missions Council conceived of a missional plan that reaches right back to the smallest unit of the iwi – “right back to the household,” says Bishop Kito. “Right back to the home. Right back to the family.” *

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That plan calls for the commissioning of two minita-a-whanau for each whanau. Te Pihopatanga will provide these ministers with a bilingual version of the daily services in the Prayer Book. They’ll develop a Whanau Prayer Book, too, and Whanau Discipleship Workbooks. And they’ll provide diglot Bibles, along with resources for whanau grappling with the five Marks of Mission. They’ll probably go for a broad definition of whanau, Bishop Kito thinks. So you might end up with a couple of minita-a-whanau ministering to five or six households. The Pihopatanga will probably also opt for something less formal than licensing – but some form of validation, such as a commissioning by a bishop. In the north, Arthur Hokianga is the one chosen to roll out Minita-a-Whanau. “There was a natural fit there,” explains Bishop Kito. “And now Arthur’s even more intentional.” *

So how did Arthur get that way? Well, you need to go back to Manutuke, down Gisborne way, to pick up the thread. That’s where Arthur, who has Rongowhakaata connections, grew up. Occasionally, to satisfy his koro and nanny, he’d troop off to Toko Toru Tapu¸ the local Anglican Church. That was tough going for a young fulla. “We weren’t even allowed to breathe,” he says. “But sometimes, when you’re staying with your grandparents, you’ve just got to put the shirt and tie on.” Thankfully, something else was happening on the church front, too. One Sunday each month this couple would

ANGLICAN TAONGA

Kids will be kids. During the powhiri at Poho o Rawiri Marae in Gisborne, Runanganui 2013.

trundle up to Ohako marae in an old van, unload their display boards and Velcro cut-out figures and photos and guitars, and run a two-hour Sunday school. “It was beautiful”, says Arthur. “I remember listening to the stories about Samson, and David and Goliath, and they would have activities for us – and then they’d have a lunch with us. My brother and sisters and I still talk about those times.” Years later, Arthur found out that couple were, in fact, Brethren home missionaries. We won’t be holding that against them, either. Because at an early age, they’d taught Arthur about the importance of offering something relevant to the people in front of him. *

By the time he left Gisborne Boys’ High School, though, Arthur had pretty much jettisoned his Sunday school lessons. But God hadn’t jettisoned Arthur,

apparently. He headed up to Auckland as a 17-yearold, labouring on the team building the Mangere Bridge, and that’s when he met Hone Clarke. Arthur and Hone became mates and Hone introduced Arthur to his sister. And as soon as Arthur laid eyes on Bertha – well, he was history. Gone. Head over heels, he was. Anyway, this particular Sunday Hone drove Arthur out to Cape Rd, where you’ll find Te Karaiti te Pou te Herenga Waka (Christ, the anchoring point for the waka these days). Back then, though, there was no church. Just a two-storey house with a stack of shoes outside the door. “So I took my gumboots off,” says Arthur, “and the first thing I see inside is an altar, a cross – and my future father-in-law, Bert Karaka, in robes. “I thought: ‘My goodness! If I wanted to chase his daughter, I’d have to be part of that too!” Arthur’s chase after Bertha of course, was successful. He’d just turned 19 when they married – and that was 37 years ago. *

God’s chase after Arthur – that was successful, too. And God used Bert and Ani Karaka’s ministry to win that race. “Those two were always having church at home,” Arthur recalls. “They were always having Bible studies, and there wasn’t a day where we weren’t having karakia. “They were always praying for someone’s healing. We’d have meetings, discuss

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ADVENT 2015

If I'm going on mission, I'll take everyone with me.

our jobs, discuss everything, spiritual and physical. “What Bert and Ani did,” says Arthur, “actually became embedded in us. “Whether we were at home, at the beach or wherever – we would always stop and have karakia, and remember the things that we grew up with under Bert and Ani. “Today, when I look back at the whanau that Bert and Ani left, there are 109 of us – tamariki, mokopuna, partners, husbands, wives… “And every one of us is Anglican.” Arthur rejoices at being able to operate from Te Kairaiti te Aranga. “It enables us to do so much,” he says. “But if it burned down – that’s not the church I’m talking about. The church is the people. “And I’ve always been the one to say: if I’m going on mission, I’ll take everyone with me. “I’ll take kaumatua kuia with me – and I’ll take children, babies, too. “When I’ve got my wife and family with me and we’re doing ministry together… that’s powerful. That makes me feel proud – and that is Minita-a-Whanau. “And when you take this model into a church, it’s going to bring that church to life. “That church,” says Arthur, “is going to receive a lot of power.”

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ADVENT 2015

THE BIG QUAKES: FIVE YEARS ON

Willing to walk the

hard yards

The place was overrun with rats, stray cats and dogs

By Christmas, volunteers from the Christchurch Community Response team – which goes forth from St Christopher’s, Avonhead – will have knocked on the doors of 60,000 Christchurch homes. They’ll head out again in the

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New Year and by April will have reached another 5000 – nearly 50% of the Christchurch homes where people still live1. The aim of this mammoth operation, as Lloyd Ashton has been finding out, is simple: to deliver practical and pastoral help to the citizens of a bashedup city.

ANGLICAN ANGLICANTAONGA TAONGA ADVENT 2015

Janette Sprott, who is the Earthquake Recovery Co-ordinator at St Christopher’s Avonhead – and linchpin of Christchurch Community Response. Changing Christchurch for the better, one house call at a time. Photo: Andrew Hewson

emember the old country song: “I’ve been everywhere, man”? Well, the volunteer door-knocking team from Christchurch Community Response (CCR) could contribute a couple of verses: They’ve been to Aranui, Avonside, Avonhead, Belfast, Bishopdale, Bowenvale, Broomfield, Fendalton, HeiHei, Hornby, Islington, Merivale, Monavale, New Brighton, Northcote, Northwood, Redcliffs, Redwood, Riccarton, South Brighton, South Shore, Parklands, Wainoni, Wigram… Not to forget Shirley and Mairehau, which they’ll tick off early in 2016. In the aftermath of Feb 22, 2011 their aim was to deliver ‘first aid’ house repairs. Since then, CCR volunteers have dispensed broader help. At times that’s been tough going. In June 2012 they slogged through Parklands, where underground services were broken and water and sewer pipes were above ground. On the bitterest days, the water in those pipes froze – and Parklands people despaired that their neighbourhood had not been red-zoned. Later the door-knockers visited 1427 homes in Avonside where, as Janette Sprott, St Christopher’s Earthquake Recovery Co-ordinator writes,2 they were in a Mad Max world:

Flashback to March 2011: Geoff Bennett, of COTS Blockhouse Bay, unjams another Aranui door. The COTS repair team made more than 100 homes safe and secure again in 10 days.

“Many of the street signs were missing, so we didn’t even know what roads we were on... The place was overrun with rats, stray cats and dogs. The remaining residents feared prowlers at night, and the suburb was plagued by arsonists destroying empty homes.” That door-knocking crew – who are almost all retired, some in their 80s – didn’t flinch. Even when the weather was foul. In five years, they put off doorknocking on only six days. Bishop Victoria Matthews describes their efforts: “No one,” she told the 2015 Christchurch synod, “has done better in caring for their neighbour than Christchurch Community Response… The CCR volunteers have shown the love of Christ across the entire city.”

Help from the north So how did CCR get started? Soon after the February 22 quake, the Church of the Saviour (COTS) in Auckland’s Blockhouse Bay put out feelers to St Christopher’s. How would it be, they asked, if we sent a repair team your way? St Christopher’s put up the COTS repair team, then sent a door-knocking team ahead of them to find homes in the smashed eastern suburbs that needed their help. In the 10 days the Blockhouse Bay team was there, they made more than 100

When and where it all began – at St Ambrose church hall in March 2011. Back row (L-R): Robert Graham, Lyn Knight, Rev Eric Etwell, Geoff Bennett. Front row (L-R): Alan Keys, Judith Coomer and Valma Keys. Geoff came down from COTS in Blockhouse Bay – and all the other folk are from St Christopher’s Avonhead.

homes safe and secure again by doing minor repairs – unjamming doors, for example. One reason they were so effective was St Christopher’s already knew how to operate in the east. Back in 1990, St Christopher’s had set up a foodbank at St Ambrose, Aranui, and for the next 20 years it nurtured those eastern ties. So when disaster struck, the template was there – St Christopher’s became the base camp, with St Ambrose as the forward camp. Even before the Blockhouse Bay crew had left, people like Bob Henderson – who ministered at St Ambrose while driving cabs for a living – could see a model for the future. Long story short, CCR was formed. In the beginning, it was a partnership of churches intent on channelling help to Christchurch’s east – with St Christopher’s Avonhead at their hub.

The first step out of despair In mid-2012 CERA asked CCR to send its door-knocking team into Parklands. “They wanted to see how the people were,” says Janette. “But they felt we would be much better received than them because we had no agenda.” Indeed. Parklands was open to people who listened, and could link them with agencies who would help. Word of CCR’s approach spread. Page 23

ANGLICAN TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

THE BIG QUAKES: FIVE YEARS ON

and Parklands Baptist joined the St Christopher’s team. And in 2012, St Mark’s Presbyterian Church (Avonhead) and Rutland St Open Brethren (St Albans) added their heft to CCR’s work.

Retired. Ready. And willing

The tools of the CCR trade. Pamphlets, pens, clipboards, vests… and (out of shot) decent walking shoes. Photo: Andrew Hewson

Soon, local residents associations and community boards came calling, asking CCR to canvas their areas. Five years on, the CCR team still finds people at their wits’ end. People who’ve come to a standstill in their dealings with EQC, for instance, or with their insurers. Or people being bullied to sign-off shonky repairs, or getting the run-around in other ways. CCR’s knock on the door can be the first step out of despair. The team knows who can pluck people from these Christchurch nightmares – and they set up introductions. Agencies like the Earthquake Support Co-ordinator Service (ESCS) can put someone alongside a frustrated

householder – to go with them to meetings with EQC or insurance companies. Then there’s the Residential Advisory Service (RAS), staffed for free by community law students. “And 98% of the people we send there get a good resolution,” says Janette. The door-knockers also find stressed and depressed people and can refer them to counselling services. Or, if they’re willing, connect them with local churches. CCR is a real advertisement for co-operation across the body of Christ in Christchurch. Early on, with Aranui and Parklands in focus, volunteers from Grace Vineyard

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So who are these volunteers? A core group of about 50 come from St Christopher’s, some having served on CCR since the COTS building team came down. But that number grows, depending on the task in hand, says Janette. “We’ve just completed three weeks in Riccarton, and we had 108 volunteers help us there. “Each time we come into a community, people seem to think: ‘Actually, this is really worthwhile. Count me in’.” Almost to a person, the volunteers are retired. Many are in their 70s, some in their 80s.

Find, and fix Who pays for all that co-ordination work? At first, church partners picked up the tab so that Bob Henderson could quit driving taxis and work for CCR three days a week. St Christopher’s funded its own parttime Earthquake Recovery Co-ordinator – and Janette moved into that role in April 2011. When Bob went on mission to Tanzania midway through 2012, Janette stepped into the wider CCR role. She organised the Parklands operation. In 2013 the Ministry of Social Development agreed to fund CCR till August this year. And then, because CCR had got in behind the NZ Red Cross “Find and Fix Campaign” – that aimed to make homes weathertight before winter 2014 – the Red Cross decided to fund CCR till mid-2016. After that – who knows? But then, back in March 2011, who could predict what a vanload of volunteers would unleash? Notes 1. The 2013 Census records 147,516 dwellings in Christchurch City – and that figure includes wrecked homes. If they were still standing, they got counted. 2. In CCR’s soon-to-be-published booklet, ‘God is where the pain is.’

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ADVENT 2015

COMMENT

This Advent Jim White looks toward Christmas Island.

Whose Advent set thy people free How'd ya like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island? How'd ya like to spend the holiday away across the sea? How'd ya like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island? How'd ya like to hang a stocking on a great big coconut tree?

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or the last few years, Bob Dylan’s version of this song has helped me escape the season’s snow and holly, tinsel and tasteless tat. But this year Christmas Island sounds a different note, and the song won't have the same freeing bounce. Instead, “Christmas Island” brings to mind a longer phrase: “Christmas Island... Detention Centre,” and who would want to spend any time there? Our Australian friends and neighbours recently adopted an immigration policy reviewing the status of New Zealanders. And lo, they found some of us had broken the law, been violent, or in some cases committed serious crimes. This led the authorities to detain those who wouldn't leave Australia immediately. So some Kiwis found themselves in detention on Christmas Island, miles from anywhere or anyone they care about.

There are troubling aspects to Australia’s stance. Some of the crimes look trivial (though not all), and a number of detainees seem more Aussie than Kiwi: they have jobs and families in Oz, and have lived there for years. Plus, they have paid for their crimes already, so why punish them twice? Australia, of course, has the right to govern its own affairs, but while this action complies with law, it does not seem ‘cricket’ to do this, not to New Zealanders. Australia’s record on running detention centres is not good either. Human rights groups regularly raise concerns about Australian policies and practice. However, it is troubling too that we have begun to question our neighbour’s behaviour only when Kiwis are caught in one of these facilities. This may cause us to pause and think again about migrants and refugees round the globe, stuck in detention for years. Locking people up on arrival appeals to the logic of suspicion and caution that terrorism has multiplied – especially if we imagine the worst-case scenario behind a person without documentation, or the sketchy stories of how people got to be where they are. If they are innocent, we fear, why do they look so guilty? If they are benign, why do

they seem so threatening? Why don’t they just go back home? This Advent we travel once more with Mary and Joseph who were compelled by the state to move at a dangerous and vulnerable time. We look on as they reach their destination, only to be shown the meagre hospitality of a stranger amidst the clamour of a needy crowd. Before we agree that governments can lock away those who might appear on our thresholds, let's not forget that among those expected is Christ himself. Rt Rev Jim White is Assistant Bishop of Auckland. jwhite@auckanglican.org.nz

It does not seem cricket to detain them, not New Zealanders.

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ANGLICAN TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

YOUTH

Every phase counts StraNdZ Enabler Diana Langdon reminds churchgoers that children and adults are partners in the pilgrimage of faith.

Children are active agents, walking with God.

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ANGLICAN TAONGA

Pilgrims at St John's Johnsonville (L-R): Shanuki Dharmawardane(16), Holly Howard-Brumby(3), Grace MacIver(5) and Jakob Johnson-Frow(10).

Hold my hands! Holly and Grace play together in the kid's zone.

ADVENT 2015

One this way, one that: Shanuki and Jakob share a Sunday pew. Photos : Treasuring Hearts Photography

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ANGLICAN TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

SPIRITUALITY

Finding fresh hunger

for God

Why do we assume we should find time to pray?

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Spiritual director Adrienne Thompson tires of being told what her feelings for God should be, and how she should organise their time together. Prayer fits a busy life, she says, when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no longer a chore, but flows from a deeper source.

ANGLICAN ANGLICANTAONGA TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

Where do you meet God most often? Cath reflects on a beautiful day at Ross Creek.

hese days we can google any topic and find a hundred helpful hints. How to get fit or lose weight. How to manage your money or your marriage. How to maintain a prayer life in a busy working schedule. So I searched for ‘pray busy life’ – and sure enough, up came useful and interesting articles and lists galore. Try it! Ask a spiritual director about prayer and our eyes light up. This is our ‘subject’! Before you can blink we have shared a podcast, lent you a book, offered you an icon, handed you pastels and paper and told you where to buy a journal. But wait, there’s more… Not really. At least I hope not. The truth is, there are multiple ways of prayer and any or all of them can be deeply helpful in revitalising our prayer life. There’s definitely a time to explore and experiment. But before we leap into addressing the ‘problem’ of finding time and ways to pray in our busy lives, we might need to listen and look and ponder. What do we really want, deep inside? For a start, why do we assume we should make time to pray? We take it for granted. We’ve been taught not only that we should pray but that we should want to pray. That prayer should be a delight, not a chore. That prayer is essential to effective ministry. I remember exhortations from pulpits and books that told me not only what I should do in prayer but how I should feel about it. I should love God like I loved my boyfriend, only more. I should long to spend time in prayer, as I longed to be with my most intimate friends. I tried, but honestly, when it wasn’t guilt inducing it was simply tiresome – tiring and irritating.

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I think that occasionally we have slightly missed the point. Prayer has become the object, the goal. But actually, isn’t prayer the means rather than the end? And the end is – to know God, to know ourselves in God, and to align ourselves with God’s activity in the world. If you tell me that you’re not eating well, filling up with snacks and takeaways, never having a proper meal, I’ll be concerned about you. We might talk about your routine and help you find time to go to the vegetable market. I might give you some exciting new recipes. And that might be enough to get you back on the right track. But suppose you discover that underneath it all the real truth is that you’ve lost your appetite? You actually don’t want to eat. Talking about routines and recipes isn’t going to mend that. So the question might not be ‘how can I make more time to pray’ but ‘how is my sense of God?’ Am I noticing an emptiness or a gentle friendship; weary boredom or frustration; fearfulness or guilt? When I go deep do I find – perhaps to my surprise – that in my heart I actually do want God’s company more than anything? Can I take some time to wonder, to notice, and then to be gentle with what I find? The first book on prayer I read, when I was a teenager, was by C S Lewis. Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer is still a classic because, as the blurb on the back cover states, it ‘nowhere tells us how to pray but kindles afresh that hunger and thirst for God without which we would never pray at all.’ Yes. So in my busy life, what will kindle my hunger and thirst for God? When and where do I start to feel closer to God and how can I do more of that? Is it in nature? In listening to music or singing aloud? In liturgy, in

Is God nudging me to a response?

Scripture or in silence? Is it in study and reflection or in practically serving others? Do I notice God more clearly when I’m alone or with people? When I’m still or when I’m moving? Does God get my attention most often through words or through visual images? In church or on the street? As I start to pay attention to these questions I invite the Spirit to help me notice and discern what’s happening. Is God nudging me to a response? Perhaps now that I’m more aware of my own reality and my own relationship with God, now is the time to look at my life and see – not where to slot prayer in, but how to allow God’s reality to infuse my days. Now I may develop a new pattern or learn a new style of prayer, one in harmony with both my circumstances and my personality. It will feel easy some days, difficult on others. Habit will help me when motivation falters. Following the church year will keep me faithful to the big story. Different ways of prayer will stimulate me. The ultimate purpose remains: not the routines, not the prayers, but knowing God. Adrienne Thompson is a spiritual director and professional supervisor in Wellington. She is involved in the Stillwaters Community and Wellington Central Baptist Church. lekhika@paradise.net.nz

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ADVENT ADVENT2015 2015

MUSIC

Lift up your voices

acred music draws our spirits, Contemporary hymnwriter minds and bodies into worship. Marnie Barrell reflects It unites us with the church, with fellow Kiwi musicians past and present, and enlarges and composers on the work our vision of God’s kingdom. that goes into creating and choosing At its best, sacred music raises us out of music for worship.

We're at risk of losing touch with music making.

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ourselves, and into the timeless reality of God’s presence. "But music only becomes sacred when it serves the liturgy," says Lawrence Kimberley, newly appointed Dean of Christchurch’s Transitional Cathedral. A classically trained musician, Lawrence seeks music for worship that is not only beautiful, but builds community and leads hearts towards God. “As St Augustine wrote, ‘Whoever sings, prays twice." So while we soon forget spoken words, a song’s well-crafted lyrics may sink deep into our memories: to feed our imaginations, shape our theology and articulate our prayer.

When Lawrence scours the gamut of musical texts, he’s searching for rare gems that relate to today's theological understandings and echo biblical themes. But they must also sing well. A weak text struggles to carry prayer, he says, but the same can happen to a strong text, if set to dismal music. Chris Sparks, Associate Priest at St Saviour’s and St Nicholas’ in Christchurch, finds he increasingly chooses songs that turn singers’ thoughts to biblical themes. “Music with faithfully Scriptural words brings them to life, and helps them resonate around our minds and hearts over time,” he says. Chris came to faith while studying drumming at Jazz School. Today his church music ranges from Hillsong-style contemporary praise, through to old time hymns reworked for guitar, piano

ANGLICAN TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

St Paul's Symonds St rocks during "Worship Central" this November. Photo: Josh Kirk Christchurch choristers paint the town red outside the Transitional Cathedral. Christchurch Cathedral choir hit the right note.

and drums. He is captivated by Paul’s advice in Colossians 3:16, Let the word of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. “Paul envisages us teaching one another through music,” says Chris. “The horizontal and vertical dimensions are both here. We share this life-transforming message as we sing to God and to one another.” The problem common to all church vocal music is that communal singing is countercultural for many Pakeha today. "Most cultures take it for granted that everyone sings," he says, "but Pakeha often grow up as shy, inexperienced singers, intimidated by the perfection of recorded music. That puts us at risk of losing touch with music-making," he says. That’s why Pakeha need to work harder to promote singing as the norm, says Lawrence, and pass that expectation on to their children. Marnie Barrell agrees. "Song is our human birthright, with proven benefits for our physical and mental wellbeing." "Communal singing is among the treasures the church has preserved across the ages, while the surrounding culture forgets the art." "To lift our hearts to God in songs

of praise, lament, proclamation and encouragement is, as Cranmer expressed it, ‘meet, right, and our bounden duty.’" Contemporary NZ hymn writer, Colin Gibson believes song should speak from the writer’s heart to the singers', “I write many texts as an intensely personal response to something within my own or others’ life experience - joyful or tragic,” he says. “That personal emotion …even if invisible to the singer… remains the ‘beating heart’ of the text.” Colin demands his musical settings mirror the mood of his lyrics, so he perseveres until the right harmonies evolve. “It is a ‘heart world’ of the creative imagination,” he says, “as I sit at the piano searching for the best chord or melodic line.” Marnie Barrell enjoys writing hymns on themes otherwise little heard of. She searches out seldom-remembered saints, feast days or theological ideas to revive in song. With a well-known tune in mind, she ‘upcycles’ old hymns that tap into long-held devotional feelings, despite their original words that jar against our modern thinking. "I look for fresh metaphors that connect with our time and place," she says. For Marnie, hymns usually arise

Emotion is the beating heart of any musical text.

from her imagination or an emotional response. "But to write eloquently and concisely, with a logical flow of ideas, that is a discipline of the mind," she says. Marnie works with some untried creative images, but stresses that what we call classic hymns seldom attempted literal truth. "They created word-pictures that deeply nourish our imaginations, like the illustrations in a beloved book." she says, "The saints ‘casting down their golden crowns’ for example, is an ageless picture of ecstatic adoration." Good hymns belong to their culture, time and place, says Marnie, but their language should be timeless, plain and dignified. "Slang, or trendy terms will date too quickly – a single clunky word can render a whole hymn unsingable," she says. "New songs and hymns should enrich our treasury of devotional language that helps lift our hearts to God." Page 31

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ADVENT 2015

VISUAL ARTS

Paintings that point

to God

I remember saying Atua, Atua, over and over again.

Page 32

Christchurch painter Darryn George (Ngāpuhi) is one of very few Kiwi artists who can live off their work. A rising star in Māori art since the 1990s, Darryn was handpicked in 2013 for a show at the prestigious "Olympics of contemporary art" – the Venice Biennale.

For some, the Biennale offers a tempting taste of international fame and fortune. But that's not where Darryn's heart lies. His aim is to point people to God. Julanne Clarke-Morris caught up with Darryn George in Christchurch.

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ADVENT 2015

The George family as they were when the quakes hit. (clockwise): Heidi, Darryn, Karena, Sam, and Danielle. Darryn stands before one of his signature large scale canvases, Christchurch, Sept 2015.

Ariki, Takuta, Atua: Darryn's abstract designs mix traditional Maori carving patterns with international art styles.

People were lining up in the light.

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ANGLICAN TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

P EI SOUPAL LE A R T S V

Atua: painted prayer to follow the Christchurch earthquakes. Darryn George looks out from "Folder Room": a vision of the Lamb's ledger of souls, exhibited at Palazzo Bembo for the Global Art Affairs Foundation, in Venice 2013.

stretching upwards… opening up to God." But the moment was shortlived. Darryn wanted to remind his broken city that God was still there. So when landscape architect friend Craig Pocock suggested they design a wall garden for the 2013 Festival of Flowers, he seized the moment. Darryn's ATUA:KAITIAKI design came together with beds of brilliant red impatiens and black ferns, fixed to the

Canterbury Museum. He hoped his new sign of God would revive the line from Job 26:14, carved above the museum's entrance: Lo these are parts of His ways yet how little a portion is heard of Him. "The word ATUA was clear at first, but soon weeds grew in over the edges. You couldn't read God's name any more." Darryn saw many Christchurch people fall into the same pattern. "As the earthquakes faded and lives started growing back to normal, God disappeared for them," he says. *

The result: a room that reflects people back at themselves, bathed in light.

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In 2012 two visionary New Zealand art patrons, John and Jo Gow, commissioned a work from Darryn for their Waiheke Island sculpture park in Connell's Bay. But the indoor space they offered him turned out to be the visitor loos. "I thought ‘great, I get to paint the toilet.’ I wasn't so sure about that," he says. Still, Darryn accepted the challenge, and turned a hallway with a handbasin into

a place of spiritual contemplation. Now black and white vertical lines lift the eye above the room's reflective red walls. The ceiling of white rubber film shines with the light of 40 fluorescent tubes. The result: a room that reflects everyone who enters it right it back onto themselves – but bathed in a field of light. "When we saw the work we were blown away," says John Gow. "Many visitors are moved by the work, which evokes a sense of infinity in a spiritual way." These days Darryn is a teaching elder at Bryndwr Gospel Chapel, in the faith community where his parents, Rangi and Elinor George, modelled ministry throughout his childhood. "Dad was a Howard Morrison-type guy. He always had his guitar ready and a lot of Christian songs. "He organised Ma-ori Postal Sunday School in our area, too – a big evangelism thing – and he'd regularly go out to different halls and marae to run camps and events, play music and teach Bible stories."

ANGLICAN ANGLICANTAONGA TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

Caption...

Darryn and Craig Pocock line up next to Atua-Kaitiaki: their living reminder of God at Canterbury Museum. Above right: Darryn and Karena savour Venice at dusk, during the 2013 Biennale. A visitor contemplates "Waru," Darryn's painted room that recalls the biblical eighth day of resurrection.

Rangi George made a comment once that has stuck with Darryn when it comes to painting God. "When I was a little kid we watched a Sunday school play where this guy was dressed up with a beard, acting as God," says Darryn. "Dad leant over to me and said, 'You know, I'm not sure about that, it kind of lowers the tone’." "I agreed. It does lower the tone. "I couldn't paint God – or Jesus. I don't know how I'd be able make anything big enough." Darryn says that while his name is on the artwork, his wife Karena's could well be there, too. "Karena knows nothing about art or Ma-ori heritage, but she's brilliant with my

art. She's very practical, she's good at details and she does the books.” Karena helps elsewhere when she can, like scaling ladders to polish the room in Venice. She took the reins only once, for a large installation painted by signwriters to Darryn's design. They asked Darryn for colour by numbers, from a housepaint chart, but matching them left Darryn in knots because he’s colour blind. So Karena stepped in and saved the day. "It's a lot about teamwork," he says. Legendary Wellington art dealer Peter McCleavey (who died aged 79 this November) agreed. "Look out that studio door," he once

I agreed. It does lower the tone.

said to Darryn, after a long and heady talk about art. Pointing toward Karena, standing inside their weatherboard house, he said: "You might think you're a pretty good artist – but without her you'd be dog tucker." Note 1. Such as: Cliff Whiting, Para Matchitt, Jonathan ManeWheoki, Marilyn Webb, Buck Nin, Muru Walters and Matt Pine.

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ENVIRONMENT

At such a time as this Smaller carbon footprints are no longer enough to hold back the tide of climate change, says Phillip Donnell. Christians must raise their prophetic voice now, and call for no less than an overhaul of every human system on God's earth.

We need policy changes that make low-carbon choices easy.

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any Christians understand that to care for God's creation we must tread lightly on the earth: consume less and live more sustainably. But the urgency of climate change means smaller carbon footprints won't make the grade any more. "If emission reductions are to take place on anything like the scale required," writes Naomi Klein in her book 'This Changes Everything', â&#x20AC;&#x153;they cannot be left to the lifestyle decisions of earnest urbanites who go to farmers' markets on Saturday afternoons and wear up-cycled clothing. "We will need comprehensive policies and programmes that make lowcarbon choices easy and convenient for everyone," Klein warns.1 This Advent, as we look toward Jesus' birth, a kairos moment for creation will unfold in the Paris-based United Nations conference on climate change. At the first Advent, heavenly advocates heralded Jesus' birth and supported his ministry, but he still needed people to uphold his earthly work. Now God's creation needs our earthly help. People of faith could be a chorus of

prophetic voices, speaking out on climate justice and pushing for big-picture change. Do you worry about ecological degradation and climate change? Do you wish God's creation and human lives were not under threat? Do you hope for a time when we live in harmony with the earth? If so, now is the moment to advocate for change, to raise awareness and inspire the Christian community to act. The real work begins after this Advent's climate conference (Nov 30-Dec 11). Even if light dawns on lower emissions and letting go of fossil fuels, only large-scale structural, financial and political changes will give real traction against climate change. "If weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re prepared to call 111 to save a life," asks Christian environmentalist Matthew Sleeth, "why aren't we (metaphorically) calling 111 to save all life?" 2

What can we do? Pray, fast and take action for the climate Meet to pray and fast each month with like-minded people in your area: in a

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ADVENT 2015

caption here...

The Pacific Climate Warriors pray in St Peter's Square, Vatican City. Dunedin people turn out to the "Love the Earth" vigil at St Paul's Cathedral on the eve of Paris climate talks this November.

lunch break, at a home-group, or with the wider Christian community at a church or community hall. Pray for: • meaningful and just global climate agreements at UN climate talks • effective implementation of climate change goals • solutions for local climate justice problems Organise a film, guest speaker, climate service, or workshop on creation care and climate change. Write articles or blogs, prepare a display, and talk about the issues in social media. Help environmental organisations like A Rocha Aotearoa NZ by donating to their work providing educational resources and caring for the earth.

Promote church divestment from fossil fuels Start a campaign for fossil-fuel free churches and church disinvestment from fossil fuel companies. Sign petitions, write to investment decision-makers, organise a divestment seminar, or put a motion to governing structures.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba takes the lead at a multifaith climate change rally in Cape Town. Photos: 350.org

Only large-scale change will get us any traction.

Lobby local politicians Lobby for energy and climate policy reform in New Zealand, through: campaigns, letter-writing or hosting events. Ask political leaders to publicly commit to specific targets for climate change. European and UK Christian groups have made a pilgrimage toward the UN Climate Summit in Paris, where they converge for worship on Sunday, 6 December. Is it time for a climate change pilgrimage to parliament here? We are already halfway through Decade Zero, which marks the tipping point for environmental degradation, especially global warming. Yes, we should turn the lights off. Yes, we should all try harder. But ultimately this battle is about cultural and political change on a scale rarely seen before. "To serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title; it requires that we act, and with all the synergy this dire situation demands," wrote Archbishop Desmond Tutu.3

First and foremost that requires collective action, a massive grassroots movement on an unprecedented scale, applying pressure from below. Christian advocates are vital for 'such a time as this' (Esther 4:14). Phillip Donnell is on the national team of Christian environmental organisation A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand. phillip.donnell@arocha.org 1. Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism versus the Climate, Simon and Schuster, 2015. Pg 91. 2. Matthew Sleeth, Hope for Humanity Guidebook Part Two (Blessed Earth Series), Zondervan, 2010. Pg 105. (adapted) 3. Desmond Tutu, 'We Need an Apartheid-Style Boycott to Save the Planet', Guardian, 10 April, 2014. Note: On November 29, 2015 this Church's house of bishops released a statement advocating for an ambitious, fair and legally binding agreement from the Paris COP21 negotiations. See it online at: http://anglicantaonga.org.nz

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BOOKS

Biblical women face scrutiny on land TROUBLING WOMEN AND LAND: READING BIBLICAL TEXTS IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND.

Huldah), but the author does more than simply retrieve these biblical women from the text. Instead, she reads with a "postcolonial concern,"1 to expose and interrogate the complex politics of land conquest and colonisation of people, in which these female figures found themselves complicit. McKinlay also examines her context as “a woman born of settler heritage.”2 Her creative and powerful reading pairs Wakefield’s plan to settle New Zealand, “the land of promise,” (p. 48), with the daughters of Zelophehad's radical request for inheritance in the promised land (Numbers 27). While earlier feminist readings might have championed the daughters of Zelophohad's daring, McKinlay creatively converses with the biblical women to question their demand for land that belonged to others. Her “contrapuntal weaving”3 of the two stories, shows how history is often ideologically manipulated to hide the politics and violence of conquest.

BY JUDITH E. MCKINLAY SHEFFIELD PHOENIX PRESS, 2014, SCHOLAR'S PRICE £30 GILLIAN TOWNSLEY

ne strategy in early Christian feminist approaches to Scripture was to make visible the stories of women. They also focused on texts where women’s voices and experiences were present, but had been marginalised by traditional readings of the Bible. Feminist approaches to Scripture continue to evolve, and Judith McKinlay’s collection of essays on biblical women and land is an excellent example of current scholarship. Most chapters focus on a female character (such as Miriam, Rahab or

McKinlay’s book is both refreshingly creative and academically rigorous. Her honest examination of gender, race and power is particularly relevant to anyone who takes seriously the three-tikanga nature of our Anglican Church. “We, in twenty-first century New Zealand, are a people still grappling with a legacy of issues of power from our colonial past," writes Judith, "We have a very real need to hold up these documents of ‘collective memory,’ both from the Bible and our own historical past, for close scrutiny.”4 Dr Gillian Townsley is a biblical scholar and chaplain of St Hilda's Collegiate, Dunedin. gtownsley@shcs.school.nz 1-2. Judith E. McKinlay, Troubling Women and Land: Reading biblical tests in Aotearoa New Zealand, Sheffield University Press, 2014.(p.xv). 3-4. Ibid. Pg 56, pg 55.

Theology House Publications God’s Never Ending Story by Ken Booth The biblical story and the history of the Church: a lively and interesting six-part study course suitable for individuals or small groups. $20 per unit plus P&P. Discount for multiple copies: please ask!

Creating A New Zealand Prayer Book: A Personal Reminiscence of a 25 Year Odyssey 1964-89 by Bishop Brian Carrell $30 plus P&P; Kindle version $15.

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Stewardship: Through Lent with Mark by Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley and Peter Carrell The fourth in this extremely popular series (over 3,000 copies sold in 2015). Order now for study group use during Lent 2016. Earlybird rate $6 per copy (plus P&P) if ordered by 15 January 2015; $7 thereafter. 10% discount for bulk orders of 50 or more copies.

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Tui Tui Tuia: The Use of Maori in Worship in Te Tikanga Pakeha A 46-page must have guide for leaders of worship, produced by the Bicultural Education Committee of the Diocese of Christchurch. $10 per copy plus P&P. Discount for multiple copies: please ask.

Helen-Ann Hartl ey and Peter Carre

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Order with Les Brighton, Theology House admin@theologyhouse.ac.nz or phone 03 341 3399 www.theologyhouse.ac.nz

ANGLICAN TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

BOOKS

Unravelling our mission past ENTANGLEMENTS OF EMPIRE: MISSIONARIES, MAORI, AND THE QUESTION OF THE BODY BY TONY BALLANTYNE AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY PRESS 2015, $39.99. HUGH MORRISON

n his latest book, historian Tony Ballantyne presents a new way to reflect on Christian origins in Aotearoa. “Entanglements of Empire: Missionaries, Maori, and the Question of the Body” explores relationships between Maori and missionaries (both Wesleyan and Church of England) based in the Bay of Islands from 1814-40. Ballantyne sieves these early Northern exchanges through the filters of “imperial entanglement” and “contested bodies” to reveal how missionaries and Maori were linked by complex, shifting and

unpredictable connections. He begins with the sites of encounter: in mission homes and out in the field, at work, during other uses of time and in sexual transgressions. He shows how the two groups intermingled across work and trade, prayer and worship, travel and sharing, conversation and argument, and mutual concern in times of illness and death. His analysis then moves outwards into the abstract where, for example, he tracks Maori ideas and practices around death, which shaped missionary understandings of Maori cosmology and influenced their responses. He also investigates European notions of the “enfeebled” Maori body, which contributed to imperial intrusion and colonisation. In each case, Ballantyne's careful examination of sources avoids blunt readings that would cast missionaries or Maori as either heroes or villains. ‘[o]nce people and places were entangled,

or perhaps ensnared, in the webs of empire, it was difficult to control cross-cultural connections and it was impossible to unpick history,’ he writes (Pg 252). This volume is a valuable addition to historical analysis and conversation as we travel onward from the 2014 bicentenary. Dr Hugh Morrison is a senior lecturer at the College of Education, University of Otago. hugh.morrison@otago.ac.nz

Will you help to put Jesus in the hands of 1.4 million Kiwis at Easter? The Hope Project is a powerful multi-church initiative that’s working for Christian churches throughout New Zealand. Engaging through national TV, online and national booklet drops — public connections are being counted in the millions!* Lives are being dramatically changed, as evidenced by the many reports coming through — but we need your help to complete the task at Easter 2016. It’ll cost under 60 cents per home to provide this high quality publication to Kiwi households. Count it out — how many homes could you help to reach? Please partner with us and give to this very worthy cause by going online to: AllTogether.co.nz/donate * Cumulative total for TV, online and direct booklet deliveries over two phases.

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ANGLICAN TAONGA

ADVENT 2015

BOOKS

Theology in triplicate THE LION, THE DOVE, & THE LAMB: AN EXPLORATION INTO THE NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN GOD AS TRINITY BY BRYDEN BLACK EUGENE, OREGON: WIPF & STOCK, 2015 WWW.AMAZON.COM US$21 PLUS P&P PETER CARRELL

fireside chat with your mother-inlaw may not strike most Trinitarian theologians as the best route into a tricky subject, but Bryden Black, theologian and priest based in Christchurch, takes this route to very good effect. His book is worthy for the first few chapters alone, because they provide one of the clearest explanations of God as Trinity I have come across.

Thereafter, however, caveat emptor, the chapters become progressively demanding as Black takes the reader through scriptures that point to the Trinity, into the swirling theological and philosophical currents of the fourth and fifth centuries and beyond. The journey follows a route through Barth, Jenson, Pannenberg, Jüngel and McGrath (who supplies the foreword). Black’s pace and care in explanation is superb, even if the subject is heady. Trinitarian theology necessarily involves discussion of time, personal(ity) and relationships. Once into the depths of these issues (chapters 7-10) the discussion is highly technical and the book jumps from a B.Theol first-year introduction to a third-year ‘special topic’. This is no less so as Black, having

highlighted the difficulties exposed by advanced discussion in the last century, offers his own model in chapters 9-10 to take Trinitarian theology forward: Giver-GiftRecipient (hence the order of Lion, Dove and Lamb in the title). But this is an offering to operators at the highest level of Trinitarian discourse whose level helps them comprehend such topics as ‘Reiterative Eventfulness as Trinitarian Historicality.’ We are blessed to have a theologian of this calibre in our church and I look forward to learning what impact this book has on 21st century Trinitarian theology. Rev Dr Peter Carrell is Director of Theology House in Christchurch. director@theologyhouse.ac.nz

OVERSEAS AID

Vanuatu rebuilds after Cyclone Pam Gillian Southey reports how Christian World Service funds helped Vanuatu locals start again after the extreme storm that battered the island this March. Now, with help from the CWSsupported ACT Alliance, island communities are rebuilding their lives.

t is hard to survive in the aftermath of a violent cyclone, especially as storms intensify and communities have little outside support. When Cyclone Pam struck in March this

year, Allick Kason (18), who lives on Vanuatu’s Tongoa Island, lost his home to wind speeds of up to 320km an hour. Months after the cyclone, he and his family still live under tarpaulins, as they gather materials to build a home strong enough to withstand the next cyclone. “Because we lost our homes, we can't harvest water anymore," says Allick, "And we don't have a natural water source in our community." Instead, families have to walk to the beach where they dig for spring water beneath the sand. "But we can only drink this water at low tide, otherwise it is salty,” reports Allick.

Despite losing his home, Allick has worked hard since the storm. With tools and seeds provided through the ACT Alliance appeal, he has already planted and harvested kumala, the island cabbage. Warm ocean temperatures have now caused drought in parts of Vanuatu, where up to six more cyclones are likely before the season ends in April 2016. Another severe storm could well be among them. Please support the Christian World Service 2015 Christmas Appeal to help people like Allick and his family rebuild their lives and protect their homes and livelihoods for the future. For more info go to: http://christmasappeal.org.nz Gillian Southey is Communications Coordinator for Christian World Service (CWS). gillian.southey@cws.org.nz

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ANGLICAN TAONGA ADVENT 2015

LITURGY

Michael Godfrey suggests that prayer should take us out of our comfort zone.

Get down on your knees

t a recent synod service we were told: please sit to pray. Perhaps it was a health and safety directive: the cathedral offered safe, friendly, gluteus maximus contoured seats, but nowhere for a punter to kneel. Only a yoga-maestro could have easily contorted into the narrow confines and withstood the cold, tiled floor. So only the very stubborn knelt, most preferring the cosier, seated option. Sitting comfortably, however, is not the way to implore God’s creation-sweeping Spirit (Gen 1:2). We domesticate the Spirit and make chums of the Triune God at our peril. After all, Aslan is “wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.” Of course there’s no benefit to selfimposed agony. If physical kneeling is painful or impossible we may try kneeling “in the heart” – in much the same way that we achieve “liturgical silence” by slowing our hearts to enter sacred space. But where possible, actual kneeling can position us to pray. Yes, we may pray at the wheel of a car, the reins of a horse, a patient’s bedside, or quivering atop a ladder. But liturgical prayer is different. When did we decide that prayer should be cruisy? That it was a matey chat with Jesus? Fifteen years ago, in her book “Culturally Conscious Worship,” Kathy Black challenged us to embed our worship in cultural whakapapa, blending traditions to express worshipful intent. Earlier still, sociologist Catherine Bell noted that “required kneeling does not merely communicate subordination

to the kneeler, but produces a subordinate kneeler in and through the act itself.” It would be wrong to impose body language that is culturally inappropriate, whereas culturally appropriate body language for an individual or group can be illuminatingly, piercingly right. Liturgical theologians suggest the orans position of upraised arms for praise or intercession, but suggest knees are not a bad place to seek forgiveness. Matthew and Mark present a more dramatic body image for prayer – prostration – but that belongs to the most powerful “I am not worthy” moments of faith. Bent knees suggest a relationship of powerlessness to power. And however uneasy we may feel about abuses of “power”, it remains a fair attribute for God, who in Kendrick’s words “flung stars into space.” Body language has long had a place in Christian tradition, at least since Jesus knelt in Gethsemane. Bent knees reshape us to recognise that prayer to Almighty God is a far cry from chewing the fat over a beer at a barbie. The access we have in prayer, at least till set right in confession and absolution, comes entirely from the Triune Source of

All Being, so a little humility does no harm. Please sit to pray? I don’t think so. Rev Dr Michael Godfrey is dean of Waiapu Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, Napier. Dean@napiercathedral.org.nz Notes 1. Black, Kathy. Culturally Conscious Worship, St Louis: Chalice Press, 2000, pgs 111-114. 2. Bell, Catherine. Ritual Theory: Ritual Practice, New York: Oxford University Press, 1992, pg 100.

When did we decide that prayer should be cruisy?

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ADVENT 2015

FILM

No salvation from Mars John Bluck hopes for an other-worldly experience from The Martian, but finds it falls short on heavenly reach.

orty years ago I spoke at a film society conference on a theme that in retrospect seems slightly overblown: “The cinema as the chapel of the secular city.” I wasn’t invited back, but I still like the idea. With Matt Damon playing an astronaut left behind on Mars, alone in the universe, I expected a close spiritual encounter of at least the third or fourth kind. After all, here’s the ultimate survival story of man against impossible odds. I won’t spoil the plot, but this astronaut cum botanist learns to grow potatoes and irrigate them by recycling NASA space junk and starting a fire with wood shavings from a discarded crucifix. The tree of life, no less. Sounds hokey, but it’s not. The Martian is a terrific adventure about brave pioneers achieving great things together. The whole world watches the drama beamed live on giant TV screens from the red planet. Even China and America join hands to save the space mission – a heart-warmer for the whole family, unless you’re squeamish about composting toilets.

I'm looking forward to not dying after all.

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But unlike earlier space epics such as 2001 and Interstellar, this cosmic epic, for all its heavenly reach, is curiously uninspiring. Just as the first picture of the earth taken from outer space became an enduring image for people of faith, putting us in our place as human beings, space movies can be literally awesome, immersing us in the immensity and beauty of the universe. The Martian has touches of this, but the emotional drive of the movie is always focused on outsmarting the cosmos, rather than wondering and marvelling. Matt makes it home by what he calls “sciencing the #***” out of every problem, be that potato growing or patching up broken gear with gaffer tape. And while he’s sticking bits together on Mars, with all the ingenuity of an origami artist, NASA nerds down below use super computers to speed up the rescue mission. With the latest technology and the right attitude, you can do anything – that’s the message of this movie. Even death doesn’t have the last word, not even much of a sting. “I’m looking forward to not dying after all,” is the first text Matt sends back to Mission Control when he finally learns that help is on the way. Ironically, this film was released in the same week scientists discovered water flowing on Mars. Things may live up there, even if we don’t know what to call them yet. Suddenly, the idea that

earthlings may not be the only creatures in the cosmos has shifted from science fiction to reality. They may not be as glamorous as Matt Damon, but their very existence poses a challenge to the way we conceive God and do theology. For instance, would the Incarnation cover life on Mars? Is this what the biblical idea of the Cosmic Christ might embrace? Unfortunately, this movie doesn’t think these sorts of questions are worth bothering about. Director Ridley Scott, master craftsman though he is, doesn’t operate well in this spiritual territory. His not-so-big hit last year, Exodus: Gods and Kings, didn’t either. Maybe a sequel will show there’s more to life on Mars than astronaut Matt discovered, where more things grow than potatoes, and where the possibility of life beyond our own is allowed to challenge and redefine the way we live and believe. Bishop John Bluck is a writer living in Northland. blucksbooks@gmail.com

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ADVENT 2015

F R O M T H E FA R S I D E

Imogen de la Bere finds life revealed in her footsteps along the byways of rural England.

Shutterstock

At every step you are conscious of the past.

Treading the mortal path

iddle-class England is a nation of walkers. Not trampers or hikers or trekkers. Walkers. To put it in personal terms,

pub walkers. Clad in bright windproof jackets and sturdy boots, we face bravely into the wind and stride across the muddy fields, sharp with new green wheat. There is an ancient path across this field, even if the farmer pretends there is not. As we pass, one middle-aged couple reluctantly encountering another, we nod and smile slightly. We are English, after all. The glory of this walking is the ancient network of paths that overlays the countryside. You can’t see this on Google Maps. But you can see it on those wonderful Ordinance Survey sheets with castle ruins and Neolithic bumps marked out in Gothic script. The footpaths go everywhere, crisscrossing the country from end to end. Not just footpaths, but bridleways and byways. On footpaths you can walk. On bridleways you can ride a horse or a bike. On byways – who knows? They are roads that nobody has bothered to pave.

I like byways best. They are broad and useful, overhung by trees, rutted and dark. At every step you are conscious of the past. You can sense the rude boys and brigands, the merchants and yeoman farmers making their way down these old ways. They are just around the corner, the old folk, plodding along without any sort of sentimental baggage. When we walk we are closer to everything that matters. The past, nature, ourselves, God. That solid, undemanding, relentless pace, eating up the miles, releases us from the present, just as we are plunged into it. We cannot avoid the nettles, the mud, the dog-poo. They are immediate. But the wider world? The phone doesn’t work. We do not stop to check on Facebook, because how would we log-on? We are in a place that is no place, on a path leading solemnly to nowhere in particular, crossed by a dozen paths, also solemnly going nowhere much. We trudge along a dull, overgrown track, skirting the nettles. Then we emerge into a wide valley of great beauty. The skies stretch to eternity; the trees are pure gold.

Then we debouch onto a country lane. The odd Range-Rover whizzes by. Eventually there is a pub, full of cheerful locals having a Sunday roast, lubricated by pints of the local micro-brewed ale. The pub is called the George and Dragon, the Candlestick, the White Horse, the Boat, the Gibraltar Castle, the Old Fighting Cocks – each as characterful, literally, as the next. Each as curious, quirky and engaging as the network of paths that has led us thither. All is well with the world. I think of the English country walk (which I love so much) as a metaphor for life. We set out with enthusiasm, meet minor obstacles, tracts of boredom, tracts of glory, trudge on hopefully and are rewarded – by a pint of heavenly English ale. I’m looking forward to the after-life. Thank you, Divine Landlord, not a bad drop. Imogen de la Bere is a writer and director living in England. delaberi@googlemail.com

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