The Builders of the Anglican Church 	September 1
in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
A number of significant people in the history of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia are remembered individually in the Calendar, but the growth of the church in the South Pacific owes a very great deal as well to many, many others, who by their faithful service and enthusiastic support have shaped the church that we have inherited.
The initial shape was given by the members of the Church Missionary Society, whose work among the Maori people laid the foundations of Christianity among many of the tribes. The work of the Church Missionary Society lasted beyond 1840, but faded significantly during the wars of the 1860s. The missionaries were ably assisted in many cases by their wives, who toiled and laboured alongside them.
The next major development involved those who helped the formation of the church in the new settler colonies. These people were intent on establishing their familiar church in a new land, but without the English connection with the state. A focus as always was The Book of Common Prayer, or its Maori translation, Te Rawiri. Along with that went the hymns and music of the Church of England.
The next generation was dominated by the work of establishing parishes and churches. Parishioners raised funds to erect buildings, mostly in the familiar style of the nineteenth century Gothic revival, and they provided for the plant and equipment for the many activities of the church. An emerging significant body was the Mothers’ Union, in origin a product of the late nineteenth century concern for purity and godliness. In many respects it gave women a status denied them in the decision making processes of the church.
The wars and the depression dominated the early decades of the twentieth century. A growing social concern was reflected in the work of the city missions in the major centres. The younger generation of church people benefited from important developments in Bible classes and in youth groups, which were a significant feature of many western countries from the 1920s.
The inclusion of the islands of the South Pacific in the church goes back to Bishop Selwyn’s time. Although the Anglican Church in Melanesia became a separate province in 1974, the association with the Diocese of Polynesia (founded in 1925, but with a long historical prelude) remains an important component of the church’s life.
The characteristic feature of the post-war phase has been a willingness to build a distinctively New Zealand church. The leadership of the church was by then found from among New Zealanders themselves. In the fields of liturgy, social attitudes, and the place of women in the ordained ministry, the Church of the Province became increasingly confident about its own convictions and insights. The charismatic movement from the 1960s onwards made a significant impact. In the unique nature of New Zealand’s race relations, the church has heeded not only the emerging strong voice of the Maori church, but has taken seriously its Polynesian partner and tried to address the issues of cultural diversity. All this is reflected in the church’s new name: “The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia”.
Thus, the work of individuals and groups has built up the church, and it has developed a distinctive style among the churches of the Anglican Communion.
For Liturgical Use
While the Calendar commemorates by name the most important and well known figures of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, there are many others who have contributed to the building up of the church. Their efforts in their day, from the beginning of the nineteenth century till today are remembered with gratitude and heartfelt thanksgiving.
Sentence, Prayers and Readings as in A New Zealand Prayer Book - He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa, page 662-663.