Samuel Marsden 		May 12
Priest and Missionary 
The Apostle of New Zealand
Samuel Marsden has been described as the apostle to New Zealand. It is by no means an inappropriate term, for it was through Marsden’s determination and initiative that the first Christian mission was established in New Zealand.
Samuel Marsden was born on 25 June 1765 at Farsley in West Yorkshire, and it was there that he grew up. He encountered the religious revivals of the eighteenth century, including Methodism, then in 1786 he accepted the help of the Elland Society to train as an evangelical clergyman. In Yorkshire and later in Cambridge he came in contact with members of the growing evangelical circle of the Church of England, who were committed to vital personal religion and social reform, including the abolition of slavery.
Before completing his degree, Marsden was invited in 1793, through the influence of William Wilberforce, to become chaplain to the penal colony in New South Wales. He and his wife Elizabeth arrived in Sydney in March 1794. There Marsden joined Richard Johnson. They were the clergy to the colony, Johnson at Sydney and Marsden at Parramatta, 35 kilometres inland. For some time after Johnson returned to England in 1800, Marsden looked after both districts.
Three things dominated Marsden’s life at Parramatta. He became involved in farming, and enjoyed it immensely, both for itself and as a benefit to the new community. He proved to be one of the most skilful farmers in the district. Secondly, he accepted appointment as a magistrate, perhaps unwisely, for it allied him firmly with the governor and other officials against the mainly Irish convicts, and damaged his reputation as a chaplain to all in the colony. Partly in reaction to this, and partly because of his own evangelical convictions, in the third important development, he became closely associated with the London Missionary Society, of which he was the official local agent for the Pacific from 1804.
It was to Parramatta that some visiting Maori from New Zealand began to come soon after Marsden’s arrival. He made them welcome and provided them with accommodation, and they visited him in his new Church of St John at Parramatta. Marsden was impressed by these visitors and determined to find some means of benefiting them by the arts of civilisation and the good news of the gospel. With this in mind, Marsden went to England in 1807 and put to the Church Missionary Society a proposal for a mission. Since clergy were reluctant to take on such arduous duties, Marsden formed the idea of a mission of artisans who could lay the foundations for civilisation, teach useful techniques, and be ambassadors for the gospel.
Marsden obtained the permission he sought and returned to Australia in 1809 with William Hall and John King and their families on the “Ann”. It was on this journey that Marsden renewed his acquaintance with the Nga Puhi chief Ruatara, who had travelled to England to see King George III, and who had been put on board the “Ann”, in poor health and with his goal not achieved. Ruatara had been one of those who had spent time with Marsden at Parramatta. Marsden nursed Ruatara back to health, and realised that in this encounter he had potentially solved the problem of protection for his missionaries in New Zealand.
Back in Parramatta, Marsden faced new difficulties. In the wake of the “Boyd” incident, no captain would venture near New Zealand. Marsden bought the “Active”, and sent Hall and King, with the addition of Thomas Kendall, who had joined them, on an exploratory journey to the Bay of Islands. Towards the end of 1814, Marsden was finally able to take Kendall, Hall and King and their families to Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands, where they would be under the protection of Ruatara. He then launched the mission with a service on Christmas Day 1814. After some further exploratory visits in the area, he returned to Australia and his duties as chaplain there.
Marsden returned to New Zealand on six further visits of varying length. He came bringing new missionaries; he came to settle disputes and discipline the missionaries who engaged in trade in arms, to encourage and exhort, to organise the work, and to deepen his acquaintance with his Maori friends. In the early years, he countered the refusal of Governor Macquarie to let him go to New Zealand by accepting increasing numbers of Maori at Parramatta and teaching them agricultural and other skills there.
After 1823, when the New Zealand mission was given more adequate local leadership by Henry Williams, Marsden’s visits had a more relaxed style in which he could indulge more his fascination with the country and its people. His final visit in February to June 1837 had the air of a triumphal procession. Marsden was now almost seventy-two and was received with great deference by Maori chiefs in the north, and visited as many of the mission stations as possible. He was blunt and plain-spoken and could be touchy, but was without pretensions. He was very generous with his time and his money in the cause that was so dear to his heart. He died on 12 May 1838 and was buried in the churchyard at Parramatta.
For Liturgical Use
Samuel Marsden began the first Christian mission in New Zealand. He was born in 1765 and became chaplain of the penal colony in New South Wales in 1794. There he met and welcomed Maori visitors and conceived the idea of a mission to New Zealand. Having obtained the backing of the Church Missionary Society for his project, Marsden set up the first mission station in New Zealand under the protection of the Nga Puhi chief Ruatara in the Bay of Islands in 1814. Marsden returned to New Zealand on six further visits to oversee the mission. He died on 12 May 1838.
Sentence
Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, says the Lord. 	Isaiah 45:22
Collects
Gracious and eternal God,
you called Samuel Marsden
to lead the first mission to the Maori people;
grant that, following in his footsteps,
we may bring to this land
the good news of great joy
in Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Jesus,
you send your apostles
to bring good tidings;
when Samuel came to Aotearoa,
the task was more difficult than he supposed.
Prince of peace,
when Maori and pakeha meet together,
keep us humble, we pray.
Psalms	96	100
Readings
Isaiah 49:1-6		The spread of good news
2 Corinthians 4:5-10		The pain of apostleship
Luke 2:8-14		News of great joy
Post Communion Sentence
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.	2 Timothy 2:1