MARCH 2008OCTOBER 2010

By Paul Titushe earthquake that rippedCantabrians from theirsleep on September 4thwas a turning point inmany lives. To varying

degrees it damaged buildingsand belongings, disrupted dailyroutines, and shook people’ssense of well-being.

Churches – again bothproperty and people – wereamong those that took the bruntof the violent event. During theedgy days of aftershocks and thefollowing weeks of subsidence,Touchstone contributors gatheredthe stories of the congregationswho were affected.

Methodist Church of NZgeneral secretary Rev DavidBush says a large percentage ofthe worst damaged publicbuildings in Christchurch werechurches. All denominations –Baptist, Anglican, Catholic,Methodist, and Presbyterian –had seriously damaged buildings.

“It is not surprising since alot of churches date back to thefounding of the city and manywere built in stone and brick asstatements of the prominentposition churches believed theyhad in the community,” Davidsays.

He observes wooden churchbuildings generally fared better

than masonry. For example, the132-year old wooden church inthe suburb of Richmond wasunscathed while the younger 114-year old brick hall next to it wasseriously damaged.

Immediately after the quakeit was obvious that fourMethodist Churches were badlyaffected. These were theWoodend Methodist Church andin Christchurch the DurhamStreet, St John’s Bryndwyr (homet o t h e M o r a i a F i j i a nCongregation), and RichmondMethodist Churches. Later it wasevident that damages to thechurch building and the hall atChristchurch North Methodistand the hall at BeckenhamMethodist were more serious thanoriginally thought.

Some landmark formerMethodist church buildings alsotook serious knocks. Notably, theRugby Street Church formerly inSt Albans Parish and now hometo a Chinese Methodis tcongregation, and the EdgewareRoad Church, now home to aCoptic Orthodox congregation.

A f t e r t h e q u a k e ,congregat ions made newarrangements to worship, oftenwith the help of others. In somecases these are temporary and thelong-term future is uncertain.

By the third week inSeptember detailed engineers’

reports on the damaged buildingshad not been done.Therefore itwas not known how extensivethe damage was or what the costsof restoration or replacementwill be.

Methodist ConnexionalProperty Committee executiveofficer Greg Wright says theMethodist Church will manageall earthquake damaged buildingsas a single claim.

“The earthquake was onemeasurable event, so we willmake one claim and pay oneexcess. Handling the claim in acombined fashion, gives us anumber of advantages. We willget maximum flexibility in ourinsurance, we will be able toprioritise the work that has to bedone, and we should be able tocontract engineers and builderson a long term basis rather thanfor one off jobs.

“We have appointed theprofessional project managementcompany Arrow International tolook after the claim and therestoration work. They willprioritise the work that has to bedone with input from theinsurance company and thesynod.”

David and Greg say theasses smen t o f damagedproper t i es wi l l va ry incomplexity. Some will be simpleto sort out and others will require

a lot of conversation involvingaffected parishes, the synod andinsurers.

“The complex cases will bethose in which the cost ofrestoring the old building and thecost of replacing it with a newbuilding are nearly the same,”David says.

There is a tension betweenthe value and memoriesembodied in heritage buildings,and the benefits inherent in newbuildings made with modernmaterials and configured forcontemporary worship.

Rev Mary Caygill articulatesthe heritage value of DurhamStreet Church. “Some peoplesay it is just a buildingand it should bebowled but thatis not a decisionto be takenlightly. Buildingsho ld peop le ’sh i s t o r i e s .Generations off a m i l i e s h a v egrown up in thesechurches.

“My ancestors help buildDurham Street . I t is amonument to the vision andenergy of New Zealand’s earlyMethodists. It was the first

m a j o r s t o n e c h u r c h i nChristchurch. The service tocelebrate its opening was heldthe day the foundation stone ofthe Christchurch AnglicanCathedral was laid.”

For the rest of this story andmore articles on the earthquake

see pages 7 - 9.

AFTER QUAKE,

CONGREGATIONS LOOK TO

REBUILD LIVES, BUILDINGSAFTER QUAKE,

CONGREGATIONS LOOK TO

REBUILD LIVES, BUILDINGSTop: Parishioners Rev Barry Harkness, Rev Jean Bruce and ElaineHassall point out the damage to the Woodend Methodist Church.Bottom: The Coptic Orthodox Church and hall on Edgeware Roadin Christchurch were extensively damaged.T

2 TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010

N E W S

Lively, vital churches comein all sizes, locations, andsettings says a new studycommissioned by the UnitedMethodist Church in the UnitedStates.

Despite their differences,they share some common factorsthat work together to influencecongregational vitality. Thismeans what works to make thosechurches energetic and growingcan work for other churches too.

Dynamic churches with higha t tendance , g rowth andengagement tend to haveinspirational topical preaching,lots of small groups includingprograms for children and youth,and a mix of both traditional andcontemporary worship services.

Other factors includeeffective lay leaders, rotating layleadership, and ministers whowork at developing andmentoring lay leaders.

An essential finding of theresearch was that it is thecombination of factors that createvitality, rather than any one ortwo.

“We’ve taken a data-drivenapproach to identify what worksfor thriving congregations largeand small, both rural and urban,all over the US,” says BishopGregory Palmer, chair of the Callto Action committee thatengaged a global consulting firmto conduct the study. “Whilethere’s no silver bullet, webelieve these findings can leadto vitality for many morecongregations.

“Lively churches offer morethan one style of worship. Theywork hard to make preachinginteresting and relevant. Theyencourage more lay members totake on leadership roles. Theystart small groups and keep themgoing,” Gregory says. “If morechurches do these things, webelieve we will see measurablepositive results over time.”

The United MethodistChurch says data for the studywas gathered from varioussources in the Church to gainstatistically reliable information.This included interviews with

people throughout the Church,group meetings, and surveystargeted at different groups. Dataon attendance, growth, andengagement from more than32,000 United Methodistchurches in North America wasanalyzed.

Key drivers of vitality wereconsistent regardless of churchsize, ethnicity, and geographiclocation. Some factors wereinfluenced by church size andregional area. Large churchesthat are representative of theircommunity and have ministerswho spend more time onpreaching, planning and leadingworship tends to be vital.

In southern regions of theUS, the length of tenure of theclergy as pastors had an impact,while in the northeast, vitalitywas related to ministers spendingmore time on personal devotionand worship. In the west,churches that are representativeof the community and have apastor that leads in thecommunity are more vital.

The study identified otherfactors that did not appear tohave a significant impact onvitality, including whetheroutreach programs are local orglobal, the number of programsfor adults and young adults, theuse of experiential activitiesduring worship services, lengthof sermon, type of music usedin traditional services, andwhether the pastor graduatedfrom seminary or not.

The Call to Action steeringteam was created to develop aplan that will lead to reorderingthe life of The United MethodistChurch for greater effectivenessand vitality.  Palmer said that theinformation will be used todevelop recommendations abouthow the denomination shouldorganize, the role of its leaders,and how the church’s culture,structure and processes can bealigned in ways that supportvitality in congregations.

The full report is availablef o r r e v i e w a twww.umc.org/vitalcongregations.

“God saw everything that hehad made and indeed it was verygood (Genesis 1:31).

Creation, is the foundation ofChristian doctrine, and is thestarting point for any theologicalreflection on the issue of climatechange, says the MethodistChurch of the United Kingdom.

O u t o f t h i stheological reflection areport outlining carbonreduction measureswas c rea ted andpresen ted to theMethodist Conferencein April.

“The risks andimpacts of climatechange are increasingand this presents theMethodist church withboth a theological andpractical challenge,”the report says.

The carbon reduc t ionmeasures in the report highlightwhere the problems in the churchare currently and provide feasiblesolutions to effectively curbcarbon emissions.

Currently the MethodistChurch in the UK has an energybill of 17 million pounds perannum.

This equals a carbon footprintequivalent to 120,000 tonnes ofcarbon dioxide, a significantcontribution to the markedincreases in greenhouse gasemissions released into theatmosphere since the latter partof the 21st century.

The church acknowledgesthere is an urgent need for radical

cuts in greenhouse gas emissionsin order to prevent damage tohuman populations and the massextinctions of plant and animalspecies.

“In this context closing ourears to the voices of those mostvulnerable to climate changewould be nothing less than giving

up our claim to be disciples ofChrist,” the report says.

This year ’s Methodis tconference has responded to thechallenge of climate change withseveral practical resolutions in itscarbon reduction report.

Local churches in the UnitedKingdom are being encouragedto sign up to a ‘Hope in God’sFuture’ policy, with the guidanceof an appointed person who willraise awareness around climatechange.

“It is estimated that significantfinancial and carbon savings canbe achieved by churches thatchoose to s ign up to aConnexional carbon reductionservice,” the report points out.

Parish stewards will be

responsible for the interiordecoration and furnishing, and forensuring energy efficiency of theparsonages.

“For presbyters and deaconsit would mean a reduction inenergy bills and improved controland comfort of their place of workand living space,” the report says.

Parishes will alsoundertake measures tomeet the potentialenergy efficiency ratingof their churches,meeting a minimumenergy eff ic iencyrating.

I t i s a l s orecommended thatparishes should providesmart meter devices tohelp ministers tocontrol their electricityuse.

Parishes were also encouragedto fund government sponsoredsmart driver training forpresbyters, deacons and layemployees.

And if deemed appropriate,ask critical questions about travelwithin the parish for preachersand for congregations.

The Methodist Church in theUK recognises the way ahead willbe a considerable journey for itscommunity.

“While we live in an age ofindividuality and immediacy thisis a journey not of individuals butof a community, the people ofGod and the people of the earthwhich requires us to build for thefuture rather than for immediatereturns.”

UK Methodists pledge to shrink carbon footprintStudy uncovers

what makescongregations succeed

TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010 3N E W S

The presidentialt e a m o r g a n i s i n gMethodist Conference2010 in PalmerstonNorth wants it to be atime of spirituality andcelebration as well asdec i s ion making .

Incoming presidentRev Desmond Cooperand vice president SueSpindler have givenConference the theme‘Tell out my soul’. Thisphrase is from theMagnificat, the sectionof Luke’s Gospel thatrecounts the exchangebetween the VirginMary and her pregnantcousin Elizabeth.

“The Magnificatexpresses humility andgrace toward God andit has an undercurrentof feminism,” sayDesmond and Sue. “Weexpect Rev Jim Stuartto address some of thesethemes in his dailydevot ions dur ing Conference .”

Sue and Desmond will ‘tell out theirsouls’ when they give a joint presidentialaddress in which they will talk about theirown faith and convictions.

“We will also challenge the Churchto be bold, brave about life, and articulateabout what it means to have faith today,”they say.

The presidential teampoints out that this is the98th Conference of theMethodist Church of NewZealand. New Zealand’sPrimitive Methodists andWesleyans came togetherin 1913 to form theMethodist Church, and aswe near that centenary it isa time to begin celebrating,they say.

Conference is, ofcourse, a time when theChurch makes decisionsabout i t s l i fe . Thepresidential team expectstwo issues held over fromlast Conference to be majorones this time around aswell.

“The last Conferenceconsidered the proposal tomove toward a two-yearp r e s i d e n c y, ” s a y sDesmond. “That proposalwas rejected and theCouncil of Conference wasasked to do more workon it.

“Several proposals were put forward– a co-presidency, a presidium and termsof two, three and even five years. TheCouncil of Conference has given thematter serious consideration. In its reportto Conference it will present a proposalon the presidency for consideration.”

The Governance and ManagementTask Force report will also return to

Conference this year after having beenconsidered around the Connexion atAugust Synod meetings.

The presidential team invites theConference to consider the businesssessions as 'Theology at work' rather thanbusiness.

“We want to convey a sense thateverything is sacred and it is importantto bring a sense of that to our decisionmaking. When we make decisions, wewould like to have delegates considerwho benefits, who suffers and what theSpirit is saying to the Church.”

Conference makes about 200 decisionsover the course of its three working days.To lighten the mood and refocus people’sthoughts, Desmond and Sue have invitedthree speakers to address Conference.They are co-leader of the Maori PartyPita Sharples, imam of the Wellingtonmosque Mohammah Amir, and syndicatednewspaper columnist Rosemary McLeod.

“We have also revamped the workingsessions by having shorter businesssessions and reporting times. The intentionis that this will allow for more discussion,”they say.

Another highlight of Conference willbe a youth event on Saturday night afterthe induction and retirement services.Called ‘Connex: YouthVoice @Conference’ it will give young peoplefrom around the Connexion theopportunity to share their thoughts andexperiences. Presentations are welcomein any format so Sue and Desmond expectto see lively expressions of youthfulenergy.

www.arts.auckland.ac.nz | 0800 61 62 63 | txt 5533

Study Theology at The University of AucklandThe School of Theology’s programmes provide

opportunities for you to explore religious beliefs and

practices within one major world religion, namely

Christianity, through the exploration of Biblical

Studies, Christian Thought and History, Spirituality

and Ethics and Justice.

Please visit the School of Theology’s website for more

information: www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/departments/theology

Contact Susanne Gomes

Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 86672

Email: s.gomes@auckland.ac.nz

Young people onstage at

Conference 2010Young people are signing up to

provide Methodist Conference 2010and inspiring, challenging, funevening!

Youth f rom a round theConnexion are invited to prepare ashort item or presentation for theSaturday night of this year’sMethodist Conference in PalmerstonNorth.

The title for the event is ‘Connex:Yo u t h Vo i c e @ C o n f e r e n c e ’ .

Vice president elect Sue Spindlersays she is excited that an opportunityhas been made during Conferenceweek for youth to have their say.“I’m sure it’ll be a real highlight!”

Everyone is welcome to comeand enjoy the evening at no charge.

Any young people who are keento participate should contact thenational Tauiwi youth co-ordinatorTe Rito Peyroux by the end ofOctober.Email:tauiwiyouth@methodist.org.nz.

So ask yourself what might yousay to the church. And then get readyto say it.Connex:YouthVoice@Conference,Saturday 6th November, 7-9pm, FirstFloor Conference Room, ConventionCentre, 354 Main Street,Palmerston North.

Desmond Cooper.

Sue Spindler.

Conference 2010 to besoul-filled and celebratory

4 TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010

O P I N I O N

Advertising Pieter van den BergPhone (03) 310 7781, Fax (03) 310 7782Email pietermarjan@paradise.net.nz

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Production Julian DoesburgPublisher The Methodist Publishing Company

Printer The Ashburton GuardianAd Deadline 15th of the month preceeding publicationLetters Deadline 15th of the month preceeding publicationSubscription Changes 10th of the month preceeding publication

Opinions in Touchstone do not necessarily reflectthe offical views of the Methodist Church of NZ.

Gillian WatkinWhen I returned home to the

Hawkes Bay from Auckland on theMonday after the earthquake, Ilooked about. I looked at the houseand all through the garden andimagined what it would be like brokenand cracked.

This was not a dramatic act, ratheran acknowledgement of fragility andthe strength of all we hold dear. Doesthis ground have a memory? In 1887a large quake moved the river fromthis location way out in two directionsquite a distance away, hence ourbeautiful loam soil on a riverbed fivefeet down.

My mother had an expression:‘holding on for dear life’ and that iswhat we all do when our world isshaken. But as Colin Gibson wrote“No feather too light, no hair too fine,no flower too brief in its glory, no dropin the ocean, no dust in the air, but iscounted and told in God’s story.” Wedo have something to hold on to.

To our friends in Canterbury, knowthat while you are surrounded bybrokenness, silt and fractured groundall around you have a company ofpeople waiting to step up whereverthere is need. However, most of usknow while we can “hold the Christ-light for you, in the night-time of yourfear” there is a lonely difficult roadahead for many.

When crises strike it is the smallthings that motivate the spirit and thesmall things which can magnifyheartache. There will be no ‘closure’.To have you and your home placesreturn to wholeness and wellbeing isthe prayer of all. Here in Hawkes Bayit is well known that ‘the big one’

shapes you and your place, and yourlandscape forever.

It is Mental Health Awarenessweek 4-10 October. The theme for theweek is: Flourishing for everybody –Feel good and function well.

Kia whitianga te ra, ka hihi, kawhakamana, te ha, te he, kia whaikikokiko, kia puawai te Mauri. Thesun arises with each new day; its raysbeckon opportunities to all livingthings.

The publicity for Mental Healthweek states that “Flourishing is ameasure of mental health that has beendeveloped within the last decade andcan be used to determine the level ofpositive mental health in populations.When someone is flourishing theyexperience, most of the time, positiveemotions, positive interest andengagement with the world aroundthem and meaning and purpose in theirlives”

This ideal is a nameplate on theroad of life, something to aim at.

It is spring: the season ofrebuilding, of new possibilities. Theseemingly barren earth suddenlypresents us with a plant, some leaves,and some treasure we thought wasgone forever.

Kauri and totara are planted bythose who know that they will not seethe fully grown trees in their life time.We plant a garden knowing but notthinking that someone or somethingcan tear it apart one day. But the storyof God’s people is always a story ofrestoration.

Our lives are an act of faith. Weso often say we have faith but reallywe are faith.

From the backyardTo the editor,I have been the executive officer for Uniting

Congregations of Aotearoa New Zealand(UCANZ) for two and a half years and in thattime I have become very much aware of theprivilege and challenge of thinking nationallyrather than locally.

UCANZ has an administrative functionand seeks to serve the mission of God thatexists within Cooperative Ventures and partnerchurches. There is, in a very real way, abalancing act to be done. The guideline paperthat will be presented to church meetings inOctober and November seeks to redress someof the imbalance that currently exists.

I’ve had the opportunity to look throughthe old minute books of the Joint NationalCommittee on Church Extension (JNCCE )from the late 1960s through to the 1990s whenthe Negotiating Churches’ Unity Council wasformed. I found it sobering reading, especiallybecause I am too young to remember the debateitself.

The hopes and dreams that the partnerchurches could unite were very real, and theywere crushed by the failure to unite. But theCooperative Ventures throughout New Zealandcontinue to be a witness to that dream and avisible sign of an ecumenical spirit. Today thechurches have no desire to unite but all haveaffirmed their commitment to the partnershipsentered into at a local level. The proposedguideline seeks to affirm that local partnershiprather than try to create an artificial connectionat regional or national levels.

Two key concepts that arise in the paperare around our understanding of partnershipand oversight.

The proposal seeks to strengthen thepartnership aspect of churches in CooperativeVentures. It focuses on the real level ofpartnership – at the local church – rather thantry to create an artificial partnership at regionalor national levels. The fact that cooperativeventures are partnerships is central to our verybeing, and this needs to be affirmed by thenational churches and by the local churches.

To be in partnership means workingtogether, sharing resources, supporting each

other and affirming the unique contributionseach makes.

Cooperative Ventures are a witness thatchurches can work together in ministry andmission. A partnership model supports thesection of the Act of Commitment (signed in1967 and affirmed in 1984) that calls on thechurches to “do together many of the things,which in the past we have done separately.”

One risk of moving away from thepartnership model is to declare that the churchescannot work together, something thatCooperative Ventures would want to stronglydeny. But partnerships come with both privilegeand responsibility. Cooperative Ventures areprivileged to benefit from the resources of alltheir partners but they are also obliged torecognize their partner’s ethos, history andsupport.

The second key concept centres on theunderstanding of church oversight. If oversightcontinues to be seen as simply an administrativeoverlord then we may be on a path to obscurity.

The paper emphasizes that oversight is apartnership activity and something that mustbe shared. It challenges growing isolationismand congregationalism. And it gives greaterpermission for partner churches to work throughconcerns at a local church level, but as partners,not authorities.

This should challenge the partner churchesto work together on dealing with the very realissues that exist in local churches. It may alsochallenge the local churches to face theirsituation – supported by the resources of theirpartner churches.

What is clear is that the new churchenvironment is not like that of the 1970s whenChurch Union was seen to be within reach.Changes in church and society have demandedchanges to how organisations function andstructure themselves. In presenting the guidelinepaper the Standing Committee of UCANZ isseeking a way forward that celebrates thepartnership of our churches, reflects the needsof parishes, and develops a form of church thatfunctions in our modern society.

Rev Peter MacKenzie,UCANZ executive officer

Proposed UCANZ guidelineswould bolster partnership

To the editor,Rev Mark Gibson’s letter to the editor in

the August edition of Touchstone about theMethodist Church of NZ’s investments in RioTinto was raised at the August leaders’ meetingof Trinity Methodist Church Howick-Pakuranga.

Whilst our combined knowledge of thedetail of Mark’s concerns was limited, he wonenough support for this letter to be proposed.

Our concern is whether Touchstone has anyplans to investigate the position further, to writean editorial on the issue, or to invite furtherresponses from readers.

Trinity Church’s presbyter Rev PrinceDevanandan will be raising the question ofsupport for this kind of company through theConnexion with particular reference to theChurch’s policy on ethical investments.

Your response to this letter will be read withinterest.

George Tyler, Leaders’ meeting secretaryTrinity Methodist Howick-Pakuranga

Editor’s reply: As stated in another letterto the editor in the August edition of Touchstone,this year the Investment Advisory Board hassought input from Synods and other groups

within the Methodist Connexion on the topicof investment. The Board will use this input toprepare a policy on ethical investment.

The Investment Advisory Board’s executiveofficer Greg Wright is responsible to write thatpolicy, and he intended to present it toConference 2010 in November.

Greg is also the executive officer of theMethodist Connexional Property Committee.He informs me that virtually all his time hasnow been diverted to dealing with the aftermathof the Canterbury earthquake and it is unlikelythat the policy statement on ethical investmentwill be ready by November.

Nevertheless, he says, a policy on ethicalinvestment will be presented to the Connexionas soon as possible. While the deadline tosubmit comment on ethical investment was July31st, people can still make a submission toGreg on the topic through the Connexionaloffice.

Touchstone welcomes any comments on thetopic. We intend to explore the topics of ethicalinvestment as well as ethical consuming in up-coming editions.

Concerned about Methodist investments

From the backyard

Told in God’s story

TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010 5N E W S A N D V I E W S

Psalm 46 starts with the words ‘Godis our shelter and strength, always readyto help in times of trouble.’ Then it goesstraight into the serious stuff. ‘So we willnot be afraid, even if the earth is shaken’.

No doubt this would have been anextremely frightening and traumaticexperience. Nevertheless, the Psalmreminds us of the quiet deep within, thatwe hold onto when everything about hasbeen devastated (this can also be calledliquefaction). So while the reader ispicturing the mountains falling into thesea, in the background the choir is singingquietly, over and over, ‘The Lord Almightyis with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.’

We were reminded of this Psalm onour visit the week after the Canterburyearthquake. We watched members of the

Durham Street congregation (plus otherswho’d joined the service at the FalkinghamCentre), bring broken items to place beforethe alter, tears flowing.

Perhaps the essence of those defiantwords ‘so we will not be afraid, even ifthe earth is shaken’ flowed through theworship in silent prayer. Later, at thedelayed Father’s Day Fijian service at StStephen’s because their new church at StJohn’s was severely damaged, the men ledthe prayers and sermon.

Did we imagine it or was there a similarconfidence despite the aftershocks thatechoed verses 4-5? ‘There is a river thatbrings joy to the city of God. God is inthat city, and it will never be destroyed.’Is that city the quiet centre within eachperson who joins the Psalms choir ‘the

God of Jacob is our refuge’? In the foyerafter the service we felt a jolt and lingeringshake.

The children running around in thehall quietened for at most 15 seconds thenwent back to their noisy play. Do even thechildren know the words, ‘in the dawnGod will come to our aid’ somewhere deepwithin their being?

Then the massive storm bringing deepsnow to the south and floods to the north,just on the first anniversary of the tsunamiin Samoa and Tonga would have somedoomsayers rejoicing!

We, the members of the Psalmist’schoir respond quietly from our ground ofbeing, ‘The Lord Almighty is with us, theGod of Jacob is our refuge.’

Plainly when we had a brief look in

the doors of the Civil Defence emergencywelfare centre at Kaiapoi, there was asimilar air of order and competence.Something about the way people werecommitted to helping others took the shockout of the disaster. We all pray ‘save usfrom the time of trial’ each time we repeatthe Lord’s Prayer. The amazing thing isthe strength we find from within when weare put to the test.

These things are not sent to try us.They happen. They are part of being on aliving planet. They are part of being alive.‘The Lord Almighty is with us; the Godof Jacob is our refuge.’ May the peace ofChrist be with you as the media focuseson other things and you pick up fromwhere you find yourself three weeks afterthe earth first shook?

P R E S I D E N T I A L T E A M R E P O R T S

By Bill WallaceThose of us who live in Christchurch have

to a greater or lesser extent had our propertiesand bodies shaken up as a result of the 7.1earthquake and it’s hundreds of aftershocks.However it is not just buildings, earth andbodies that have been shaken.

A leaflet that my daughter shared with mepointed out that earthquakes can often seriouslyshake our belief systems. The result for somepeople is that they experience a wake-up calland rush back to church. For others the reverseis true. It seems to me that our response dependson what sort of God we believe in, how we seeour place within the cosmos, and how weunderstand the relationship of God to the cosmos.

For those who believe God intervenes in theprocesses of the cosmos to alter them or stopthem, earthquakes and other natural disasterspose an enormous problem. If God is a just Godthen why do these disasters usually affect thepoor much more than the rich?

A clue to the answer is to be found inMathew 5:45 where Jesus is reported as saying“God makes his sun to shine on bad and goodpeople alike and gives rain to those who dogood and to those who do evil.” In other wordsGod does not interfere with the processes of thecosmos.

These evolving processes exist for the benefitof the cosmos as a whole and not primarily forthe benefit of human beings. This involves usin a reassessment of the place of human beingswithin the cosmos. No longer can we believethat the Earth is the centre of the solar system,nor that our solar system is at the centre of thecosmos. The cosmos appears to have no centreand we are not even at the centre of our galaxy.So it really is not much use to urge God to hearour prayer if our prayer asks God to intervene.

How then does a God of love fit into all ofthis? In the cosmos we find two apparentlyopposing forces, that of competition and thatof cooperation. The major evolutionarydevelopments have occurred throughcooperation. If oxygen and hydrogen had notcombined there would be no water in the cosmosand consequently no life. If unicellular organismshad not joined together there would be no higherforms of life.

The most developed form of cooperation ishuman love. To be thoroughly functional itnormally needs to be a mutual activity of givingand receiving. However some people manageto love unconditionally that is to say withoutrequiring anything in return.

Such people appear to be in touch with that

deep well of love within them which can becalled the Inner Christ, ‘that of God’, or theirtrue I AM. This well is in fact more like a riverthat is connected to the loving energy of God,an energy that is present everywhere and knowsno limits.

So if the earthquake has shaken our beliefsystems then maybe we can move on todiscriminate between the things which we cannotchange and the things which we can.

Instead of believing in a God who is confinedsomewhere out there in space we can believein a God who is everywhere and who is alreadywithin us. All that is required of us is that welet go and in the silence become aware of thepresence of God.

In this Way of the Christ we then can growto trust the mystery of the unknown rather thanour static ‘unshakable certainties’.

Earthquakes and shaky beliefs

Alan Upsonand

Lana Lazarus

THE STRENGTHWE FIND WITHIN

THOUGH ROCKS MOVEBy Bill Wallace

Tune: Stuttgart (WOV 200, MHB 242)

1. Though rocks move and wheels fall silent,Though foundations twist and shake,We will trust God's seismic lovingMoving with each power-filled quake.

2. If our hearts and minds feel shatteredBy the threat of new ideasWe can let God's love and myst'ryLead us far beyond our fears.

3. When Christ's pilgrim way embracesPaths beyond our reason's homeWe will trust the seeming chaosAnd the love which lets us roam.

4. At the journey's end God's wisdomBids us travel ever onTracing all the threads that show usWhere the wandering Christ has gone.

Bill Wallace says he wrote this hymn sometime ago but it is obviously appropriate atthe present moment.It addresses the fact that buildings are notthe only thing that may move on theirfoundations. As Paul Tillich pointed out 40years ago, the traditional foundations ofthe church are shaking.Bill suggests we need to discover new waysto build the Church as institution and beliefsystem.

Bruce Tasker, Mt AlbertI wish to respond to Stewart

Patrick’s strong questions in hisletter to the editor in the Augustedition of Touchstone. ‘Why wouldanyone want to wreck (the Gospel)by incorporating Spong’s beliefs?’he asks.

I do not want to get into makinganyone right or wrong, good or bad,in this debate. I love the followersand faithful too much for that. In thelast two paragraphs, of Patrick’s letterreaders will see why we have aproblem in t rans la t ion andinterpretation of the scriptures. Hisuse of the word ‘wreck’ in this contextis over the top and diminishes thevalue of his view.

My daughter is at LaidlawCollege (the old Bible College).Included in its theological teachingis much modern theologicalscholarship that we in the pewsseldom hear. Among them are thatJesus probably never heard himselfcalled Jesus or Christ, as they areGreek terms attached to gentileinterpretations. Also, that the Jewishworld view was a three tier viewwhereas Jesus’ world view was amono-tiered view (“You have seenme, then you have seen my Father.We are one”) and that thepagan/gentile worldview was twotiered.

Can we imagine the anxiety ofJesus, not long before the crucifixion,when he said that his followers hadn’tunderstood him, yet? They wererepeatedly putting his mono-tieredworldview into the two tierpagan/gentile context. Jesus wantedliberation from that view and thesalvation of fullness that he offeredhis followers from his mono-tieredview.

By the time 1 Timothy 3:16 waswritten the gentiles were inascendancy in the early church andits Jewish population was becominga minority. The two-tier spin wasbeing put on everything because thatway of thinking was for centuries.Within the first two centuries the earlychurch had lost or replaced much ofJesus’ mono-tiered teaching with thepopular two-tiered view.

Like Spong, JD Crossan (Catholicpriest and advisor to the Vatican),shows tremendous scholarship in hisbook, The Birth of Christianity. I

don’t always agree with either butthat doesn’t mean I shouldn’t readthem or that they and other topscholars are trying to destroy thechurch they love.

It is more about completing anddetailing our understanding in theknowledge that the early church gotsome things so very wrong. Thereare many sources available, otherthan the Bible, that tell us the waythings were such a short time ago.

My own field was geography,which tells its own story. NorthernLake Galilee is prone to squalls. Thetranslation to squall would be morecorrect than to a storm as is the casein the story of Jesus calming thestorm. Squalls in the area hit suddenlyand pass in seconds, seldom longerthan 15 seconds.

The inexperienced people on theboat became panicky and may haveeven stood risking upending the boat.Jesus shouted at them to be peacefuland still and not to rock the boat. Butthe storytellers made the theme moreimportant than the reality. The themewas to show that Jesus had commandover nature, that he could commandthe waves and “even they obey him.”Why?

One of my interests is wine. Isearched for the origins of winemaking. Viticulture began in thesouthern reaches of frost in SouthernGalilee. That means betweenNazareth and Capernaum. The sourceof water for grape growing was oftenfrom springs. These springs exist inthe limestone country betweenBethsaida and Tyre, which used itssource of fresh water to withstandthe armies of Alexander the Great fora long time.

Springs near Cana were used tosweeten wine. Not unlike a winecooler. The drunken comments of thebiblical character of keeping the bestwine till last suddenly make a lot ofsense. So does the “walking on water”story when you know your geographyof around Bethsaida where the Jordanflows into Lake Galilee, as do manyother favourite Bible stories.

Maybe, for the memory of theauthentic Jesus, our evangelism needsto free itself from the “drunken”adherence to the two-tier world ofGreek dualism and really hear thewords of Jesus, “Peace, be still,”you’re rocking the boat, “I am Onewith my Parent.” Are you? Why?

Wreckage, who’s wreckage?

6 TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010

N E W S A N D V I E W S

Speaking in the language ofyoung people: “What’s up?What’s up in youth ministry atOnehanga?

Onehunga Cooperat ingParish’s response to this questionis that it is blessed with a largenumber of Sunday schoolchildren, teenagers and youngpeople. The parish is verydetermined to achieve a long-termvision to progress youth ministry.

Presbyter Rev Ikilifi Pope usesthe metaphor of the rugby scrumand the ‘tight five’ to describeyouth ministry at OnehungaCooperating Parish (OCP).

OCP has two churches, GreyStreet and St Stephens. The parishcaters to five youth groups, whoseroots are in the five congregationsthat call the parish home.

Four are at Grey Street: anEnglish-speaking group, a Samoangroup, a Cook Island group, anda Niuean group. The fifth groupis at St Stephens.

In the Tight Five each of thef ive youth groups takesresponsibility for its ownoperations. By doing so, theyindependently initiate programmesthat meet their particular needs.

At the same time, the fivegroups are interconnected andweave their activities together.The combined youth hold monthly

activities and services. Throughthe parish, the OCP youth havelinks to the Auckland MethodistSynod’s youth activities andPresbyterian youth activities.

Ikilifi says the ‘Tight Five’want to make change and betteroutcomes in the life of its youngpeople.

“Rather than just manageyouth programmes, the youthembody their faith throughachievements and positiveattitudes. They have expandedbeyond general youth programmesto train youth leaders and helpthem develop their capabilitiesand potentials.”

Ikilifi says this starts byidentifying the need of individualsand then plots assistance on thatbasis.

“To illustrate, some youngpeople have potential but areblocked from success by havingbehavioural issues such as norespect for others and negative,violent attitudes. Kids with theseattitudes need sessions on selfesteem, handling peer pressures,anger management and any otherrelevant training that can providepositive attitudes.

“I have no doubt that youthwill be able to practice their faitheffectively when they areequipped with these skills.”

Another illustration, Ikilificites is youth who want to jointhe police or army. The first stepthey need to take is to get a fulldriving licence. With the help ofthe church young people whowant to pursue a career in thatarea can get started while theyare at high school. By the timegraduate, they have their drivinglicence and they can apply to jointhe police or army straight away.

“Currently, our youth areworking on a healthy eatingproject coordinated by mycolleague Rev Fakaofo Kaio and

funded by the Auckland DistrictHealth Board. The projectprovides the young people whoregister vegetable seedlings, sothey can plant their own gardenin their backyard.

“The expectation is that youthwill learn how to provide forthemselves and their family.Learning skills inspires them tothink positively and be responsiblefor their life, family, church andcommunity.”

Ikilifi says the ‘Tight Five’endorses a holistic theologicalapproach caring for the wholebeing of the youth. As the fivegroups work together it benefitsthe young people themselves, theirfamily and the community.

The backbone of this approachis a mentoring system in whichyouth ministry teams providesupport to their peers to handlethe pressures they face.

“We would like to see theChurch support us in this effort.I am inspired by the idea that JohnWesley used in his sermon on theCatholic Spirit.

“If we think alike please offeryour hand (2Kings 10:15). In otherwords, if you believe the workthat we do is vital to our church,families and community supportus with any resources that mayhelp our youth ministry.”

Study Theology from your home

Introduction to Biblical Studies: Wellington 20-22 JanuaryReading Women in the Bible: Christchurch 24-27 JanuaryIntroduction to Theology: Christchurch 27-29 January

Whether it’s an L.Th for potential ministry, or a paper or two for your personal interest and knowledge, we can fit serious part-time courses around your lifestyle.

For further information contact the Academic RegistrarPhone 0800 667 969 | eidts@xtra.co.nz | www.eidts.ac.nz

Residential Schools 2011:

From 2011, the Theologydistance programme offered by theDepartment of Theology andReligion at the University of Otagowill have a very different look.

Currently, students receive acoursebook of notes and readings,and then take part in two-houraudioconferences at two-weekintervals.

“Our students really appreciatethe audioconferences, since they putthem in touch with their lecturersand fellow students,” says Dr TimCooper, who co-ordinates thedistance programme. “So we don’twant to lose the audioconference.Instead we’re going to add to them.”

The new approach involves a‘blended learning’ model thatinvolves online discussion and face-to-face teaching, as well asaudioconferences.

Teaching days will take place inAuckland, Wellington, Dunedin andone other regional centre. Timbelieves that the best way to learn isby being in the same room as thelecturer and classmates. “It’s greatto be able to provide that classroomexperience to distance students.”

The potential of a blendedlearning model is that each aspectbuilds on the other to enhance thelearning experience.

The new model was trialled inone paper this year. Tim says thatexperience showed how the teachingday supplies a layer of communitya n d c o n n e c t i o n f o r t h eaudioconferences and the onlinediscussion.

He is convinced that the changeswill only enhance the studentexperience, and says he’s lookingforward to seeing it in place in 2011.

Otago revampsdistance education

Established by Conference 1978 for the secure investment of the Church’s Funds

Investments measured against ChurchGuidelines for Socially Responsible Investments

To the editor,I wrote this poem after listening to the atheist scientist RichardDawkins. Although Richard is very eloquent, his world view isone-eyed.In my view, life is enhanced by the love of God and that cannotbe eclipsed by anything else, not even reason, Dawkins primarytool.

Desmond Cooper,Wellington

Haggard – a poemHaggard by reason’s relentless and untamed tauntsWe stand lonely in a speechless, concrete century, ifWithout conviction, without a God for our times.For all the concrete notions of reason it is just that,Concrete.

Concrete will always appear solid but always cracksUnder time’s continuous reformation.Whereas God – now there’s a continuous thread for you,A thread of tender strength –Stronger than a spider’s web in a Wellington wind.

And so beautiful, as to astound us.In this, our God is beyond reason,Even beyond beauty, or belief,And certainly beyond all we set in concrete.

Tight Five at the heart ofOnehunga youth ministry

The Onehunga Cooperating Parish’s Cook Island youth group.

Poetic response

The Chinese Methodist Congregation that now owns theRugby Street Methodist Church in Merivale is confident itcan restore the heritage building to is former glory. It is notso sure about the adjacent hall, however.

Pastor Simon Goh says the congregation took ownershipof the property in March. It was fully insured and now thecongregation is waiting for engineers’ reports to see what canbe rebuilt.

“We do not want to take down the church. It has a lot ofhistory and the whole community wants to see it stay,” Simonsays. “Initial reports on the hall are that it is not feasible torebuild it. We are not so concerned about it because it wasnot a heritage building.”

After an engineers’ assessment showed that cracks in thebell tower, a crane was brought in to remove the bell and itnow sits in front of the church.

Although the Chinese Methodist Church is not affiliatedwith the New Zealand Conference, it has worship at the UpperRiccarton Methodist Church for some time. It has now returnedthere.

Simon says the Chinese Methodist Church in NZ isindependent though it has links to the Malaysian MethodistChurch. There a five Chinese Methodist congregations in thiscountry – in Auckland, Tauranga, Dunedin, Wellington andChristchurch. There are about 150 Chinese Methodists inChristchurch.

“No one in our congregation suffered serious propertydamage so we were quite blessed. It is good that we have alocation to worship at Upper Riccarton. Some churches can’tfind a place a place to worship.

“When we moved to our new church some of thecongregation stayed at Upper Riccarton. Now we are all backthere together, and it gives us a chance to reboot and considerour future.”

TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010 7C A N T E R B U R Y E A R T H Q U A K E

From Page 1On the other side of the

argument, David cites the aftermathof Napier earthquake as an exampleof the rejuvenation that can takeplace in the wake of a disaster.“Napier was rebuilt with characterbut it is not the character that wasthere before the earthquake of 1931.Napier was rebuilt using the bestdesigns, methods and technologiesof the day.”

The Methodist Connexion doesnot have a building fund that wouldpay to restore churches if this wouldcost more than replacing them. Theparish would bear the additional costof restoration. Mary says theDurham Street parish council is fullyaware of this and is prepared toconsider its implications as it decidesits future.

David says while capital fundsare held by individual parishes, theearthquake does provide theopportunity for the Christchurchparishes to have a discussion abouthow the Methodist Church rebuildsits presence in the city and how thecost of that rebuilding is shared.CONGREGATIONS REBUILD

LIVES, BUILDINGSCONGREGATIONS REBUILD

LIVES, BUILDINGS

By Cory MillerA slightly wonky golden cross, a red Christ

candle, and a silver chalice were among the fewfamiliar symbols salvaged from the 150-year-oldbuildings of Durham Street Methodist Church.

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake that rockedChristchurch made the church unsafe for use butnevertheless the congregation came together inworship a week later.

In the unfamiliar setting of the FalkinghamCentre at WesleyCare rest home, the Durham Streetcongregation gathered for its first Sunday servicesince the quake.

A large flax mat sat on the floor in front of thecongregation, a woven symbol of theirconnectedness.

Rev Mary Caygill called the congregation tocome forth and share their stories on the mat.

“Let us remember Christchurch as it was andour lives before the earthquake,” she says. “Weplace these symbols here in loving memory of theworld as it was last week.”

Rev Jill Van de Geer is a member of thecongregation. She placed pieces of a gift she hadbeen given to mark the end of her term as generalsecretary of the Methodist Church.

Jill’s nine-year-old granddaughter, Aleisha,placed her great-grandmother’s broken china onthe mat.

But the earthquake didn’t just break things, italso seemed to have the ability to repair items.Philip Seddon had an antique clock that hadn’tworked for almost a decade.

“In the aftermath of the earthquake I was lookingaround, checking for damage when we heard thechiming,” he says. “It was the clock, it had startedworking again and since the quake it hasn’t stopped!”

Another member of the congregation, SueSpindler, spoke of a broken dream. The day theearthquake hit was her daughter, Raukura’s weddingday.

“A dream was broken of a wedding in animportant place [Durham Street Church], for myfamily. But thanks to everyone, despite part of thedream being shattered the day turned out to be anunforgettable.”

Mary said in the past week she had seen thecommunity incarnated through acts of kindness,generosity and love.

“When the earth heaves our first thought goesto the planetary forces that dwarf us,” she says.“They may flatten cities but it is love that willrebuild.

“It is this love, central to church, parish andmission that will hold us together through the nextweeks as we continue to connect with one anotheras we rebuild our lives.”

Methodist Church president Rev Alan Upsonand vice president Lana

Lazarus, were also presentat the service.

T h e y w e r e asymbolic reminderthat this congregationis part of a largerMethodist Connexion.

“We are here as aliving reminder that

you are not alone. Weare with you as much aswe can be. We can’t

s t a n d i n y o u rfootsteps, but we can

walk along sideyou,” said Alan.

Chinese Methodistsaim to restore

Rugby Street church

Churches throughoutChristchurch were

severely damaged in theearthquake. Pictured: the

hall at Rugby StreetChinese Methodist

Church.

Displaced from their own church,the Durham Street congregation

has gathered at borrowed premisesfor services.

Pastor Simon Goh says his congregationintends to restore its Merivale church.

Durham Street congregationshaken but strong

8 TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010

C A N T E R B U R Y E A R T H Q U A K E

• A bequest to the Methodist Mission Aoteoroais an investment in the future.

• A bequest enables the Methodist Mission, inpartnership with your legacy, to provideopportunities for change and social justicewithin our community.

• A bequest in conjunction with the MethodistMission ensures that the tradition, integrity,security and practical strengths of theMethodist Movement will work in conjunctionwith your gift and your memory.

To ensure your legacy lasts longerthan footprints in the sand, contact;Ruth BilverstoneConvenor, Methodist Mission Aoteoroa23 Tarbottons Road, ASHBURTON, 7700.

Phone: 03 307 1116Email: bilverst@xtra.co.nz

“The greatest use of life is to spend itfor something that will outlast it.”William James

Leave a

Lasting

Legacy

FOR ENQUIRIES:P.O.Box 45- 081, Te Atatu Peninsula

E-mail • tatunion@ihug.co.nzMarianne Phillips • (09) 834 1452Barbara Sedon • (09) 837 4778

U N I O N C H U R C HMethodist & PresbyterianCelebrating 100 years ofworship on the Peninsula.

TE ATATU

17 to 25 OCTOBER 2010

The Christchurch MethodistMission and its staff were resilientin the face of the Canterburyquake.

T h e M i s s i o n a n d i t sWesleyCare complex of rest home,h o s p i t a l a n d r e s i d e n t i a laccommodation have providedaged care services for more than60 years. Never before has it hadto cope with events like this.

Mission executive directorMary Richardson says allWesleyCare staff have beenremarkable.

“The Mission could not haveasked for more, especially whenyou realise some staff sufferedmajor damage themselves andwere still ready to be back helpingothers.

“Early Saturday morning,unrostered staff accompanied byhusbands, partners, sons anddaughters spontaneously arrived.They joined rostered staff, rolledup their sleeves and got on withcleaning up and helping residentscope.”

With no power or elevators onSaturday and still of only limiteduse throughout the week, mealshad to be carried around thebuildings. It meant cooking onBBQs and ferrying food trays upfour flights of stairs. For five daysthe complex had to use bottledwater and staff had to cope withnights of aftershocks.

“Residents’ lives too, weredisrupted. Some lost possessionsthat carry many memories of pastyears. But they have been resilientand understanding,” Mary says.

The Methodist Mission’sCommunity Services staffreconfigured their whole serviceto respond to this crisis. They havebeen operating at emergencycentres, out of cars, at the mayor’s

relief offices and in family homes.Mary says the imagination of

it social workers enabled theMission to respond to thesecomplex circumstances.

The Christchurch MethodistMission is one of the SouthIsland’s largest social services withalmost 200 staff. In addition toaged care, it provides child andfamily services, emergencysupport and early childhoodeducation.

Staff kept administration andmanagement going despite thedisaster. Mary says the Missionthanks its IT support team forsalvaging servers and getting themrunning elsewhere, the financeteam for getting payroll out, andproperty team for tirelesslyinspecting and repairing damageand contacting contractors andassessors.

“The Methodist Mission’sDurham Street offices and facilitieshave been damaged and notfunctioning at present. Being partof a network of social serviceagencies has been so important,”Mary says.

“The Anglican City Missionhas offered space to continue someservices. Christchurch NorthParish has offered office andmeeting space. PresbyterianSupport and many others have allprovided practical support.Methodist Missions and localparishes through out the countryhave offered moral and practicalsupport.

“The kind of dedication we’vehad from our staff and the supportwe’ve had from churches andmissions around New Zealand, hasdemonstrated a very practicalcommitment to not just words butaction.

Christchurch MethodistMission responds in the crunch

Trinity Darfield breathes sigh of relief

While the epicentre of the Canterbury earthquakewas said to be Darfield, local residents say it wasactually to the southeast, closer to Burnham.

Built largely on alluvial gravels rather than sandor former swamp land, most of Darfield escaped theworst effects of the big shake.

Although Trinity Darfield Church suffered abroken window and damage to the organ, membersof the congregation counted themselves lucky.

Trinity Church is unique. It was built as a jointuse building by the local Methodist, Presbyterian andAnglican Churches.

The Methodists and Presbyterians later formed acooperating venture. Today Anglican and Cooperatingservices are held on alternate Sundays and mostpeople who worship there attend both.

Anglican vicar Rev Susan Baldwin led the serviceat Trinity on Sept 12th. She urged people in thecongregation who needed to talk to do so, and othersto listen.

She reminded the congregation to consider theneeds of others in the community and that earthquake

itself was only the beginning of a long period ofrebuilding and healing.

If it could talk, Trinity’s organ could tell a storyor two about earthquakes. Built in 1914, it wasoriginally housed in Masterton Methodist Church.

Trinity parishioner Betty Green lived in Mastertonduring the 1940s, and she vividly remembers the 7.2Wairarapa earthquake that struck near the town inJune 1942.

Apparently the organ emerged from its firstearthquake largely unscathed because, when theMasterton parish decided to build a new church, theorgan went to Trinity Darfield.

The organ arrived in Darfield in 1991 and wasrestored under the guidance of two organists, HughStevenson and John Dodgson.

Hugh says the extent of damage to the organ isyet to be fully determined. The supports that hold thebig pipes were broken so the pipes fell, and the racksupporting the mechanism was cracked.

The proof will come when the pipes are back inplace and wind pressure is applied.

Organist Hugh Stevenson surveys the damaged organ at Trinity Church, Darfield.The damaged pipes have already been removed

Staff have worked in difficult circumstances to keepthe Christchurch Methodist Mission moving.

TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010 9

We appreciate any and all art works submitted

We ask $10 per entryThe people’s choice scoops the pool!

Exhibits will be displayed and judged at ourevening meal, and then moved to Conference

venue itself for everyone’s appreciation

enquiries to beckmeth@clear.net.nz

The Evangelical Networkinvites Methodist artistsonce again to submittheir work for

Conference WEEKEND7 November 2009Our theme thisyear is

F A I T H

We will be meeting on Sunday evening for a light meal andentertainment with the Liberal Society, at Double Shotz Café,

138 The Square, Palmerston North from 6 p.m.and $20 per head for a light meal.

Please indicate to Rev Alan K Webster or Eric Laurenson yourinterest so that we can cater intelligently

C A N T E R B U R Y E A R T H Q U A K E

As September 4 approached Sue Spindler andMark Gibson were preparing to celebrate thewedding of their daughter Raukura to PhillBeattie. The wedding was to be held at DurhamStreet Methodist Church, and the couple hadbeen planning the event for more than a year.

Just minutes after the quake struck a distraughtbride and a determined bridegroom were on thephone to one another. They knew Durham StreetChurch would have been hard hit by the quake,and the lack of power and water in many parts ofthe city meant there was a l so a b igquestion mark over catering.

Sue saysD u r h a mS t r e e t

Churchholdsavery

special place in our family’s life and history butthe couple decided it did not matter where they gotmarried in the grand scheme of things.

A phone call to the caterer was reassuring. Thereception venue, Christchurch Netball Centre, hadpower and water. Another function room wasavailable for the ceremony.

“So the wedding was definitely still on. It feltlike we spent much of that morning on the phone,as we tried to get hold of as many people as possibleto let them know what was happening,” Sue says.

There were further challenges to come. Thebouquets were all ready but in a shopping mall thatwas cordoned off. The orders of service, altarflowers and some special props for the ceremonyhad all been left in the church after the rehearsalthe night before. Nevertheless, everything wassafely collected.

Sue says you would never have known any ofthe above once the wedding got under way. It wasa very moving testimony to Raukura and Phill’slove and commitment to each other that it wasalmost the dream wedding that had been plannedall along.

“Everyone went the extra mile to makesure it would be a wedding to remember. Wesang ‘Love Divine’ unaccompanied withgusto. The aftershocks kept coming but wekept our fear at bay with laughter andtogetherness contributed to our fortitude.”

As Mark said in his speech to thecouple, “Not even a 7.1 magnitudeearthquake can stop this couple. Anearthquake can disrupt every human plan,

but it cannot destroy love.”

Earthquake wedding day

The day after the Canterbury earthquakewas Father’s Day, and Christchurch’sMoraia Fijian Methodist Congregationplanned a special Father’s Day service.

The quake was not kind to thecongregation, however, and the service wascalled off.

The Fijian congregation moved into theirnew home at the St John’s Church inBryndwyr on April 1st of this year. The oldstone church was damaged in several placesby the initial quake.

A tall chimney broke, the roof separatedfrom one of its end walls, and it appears thata crack extends from one side wall of thechurch, right through the floor and the otherside wall.

Rev Peni Tikoinaka says the hall hasescaped undamaged and it may be possiblefor the congregation to meet there eventually.

In the meantime, however, with the nearbychurch still unsound, it has been able to finda temporary home at St Stephens Church inRussley. The Fijian congregation will worshipthere in the afternoons and it joins the English-speaking congregation and a Zimbabweancongregation who use the premises.

On September 12th the Moraiacongregation held its Father’s Day Serviceat St Stephens. Several fathers read biblepassages and all the fathers present sang aspecial hymn together.

They were joined by Methodist Churchpresident Rev Alan Upson and Central SouthIsland Synod assistant superintendent RevNorman West.

Alan and vice president Lana Lazaruspassed on messages of sympathy andsolidarity from around the Connexion andaround the world. Lana conveyed messagesof support from the World Council ofChurches and the Christian Conference ofAsia.

In his message to the congregation Alansaid “We have not stood where you stand orexperienced what you have experienced butwe stand beside you and we are praying foryou.”

Alan said the Connexion’s earthquakeappeal has received a very positive responseincluding a large grant from the RobertGibson Trust to support secondary and tertiarystudent affected by the disaster.

By Hilaire CampbellEarthquakes don’t play favourites and

some churches in and aroundChristchurch have been hard hit. KnoxPresbyterian Church in the inner city isred stickered as it is unsafe to use.

It lost a roof gable but managed to saveits magnificent Celtic cross. It was nursedto the ground like a baby by rival demolitioncompanies. “I can’t thank them – Frews,City Salvage and others – enough,” saysRev Geoff King. ”It was an act thatexemplified community spirit.”

So was the quake a natural catastropheor the act of a wrathful God? Geoff saysthe question raises a whole constellation ofquestions. What’s the nature of your faith?Where does the church fit?

“The idea of a punishing God doesn’twork for me, and I think that if your world

view is heading in that direction you havea problem.

“I’ve no doubt these issues will bediscussed among us in the coming weeks.That is the significance of a faith community– to explore meaning.”

Geoff says belief is less important rightnow than a community of belonging.

“Most people haven’t experiencedanything on this scale, and what they needpsychologically is a place of safety andsecurity; a chance to reconnect. It may bejust a hug.”

“Where I put myself is somewhereb e t w e e n o v e r d r a m a t i s i n g a n dunderestimating the effects,” says Geoff.“Some are suffering, but there’s aspontaneity of caring, and it’s coming fromeverywhere, not just the paid Ministry team.”

On 12 September St Andrews at Rangi

Ruru hosted a combined service for Knox,Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, and StPauls’ Trinity Pacific, which is under thePresbyterian umbrella.

“We don’t like the reason for it,” said aSt Andrews woman, “but we are enjoyingit. Our small congregation of 30 has swelledto 700.”

Ron Keating is a Knox elder who tooktime from his work as mayor of Waimakaririto be with fellow parishioners. “It’s likeextended family,” he said. “At a time likethis I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

Geoff describes Knox as an inclusive,liberal congregation, part of a progressiveChristian network. There are over 300people on the church role; 130 attendregularly. They come from a range ofsocio-economic groups and cultures.

“Some of those in wealthy areas have

had their houses condemned; no one isimmune.”

Having a church background makes nodifference either, said a woman whose son’shouse was demolished. “I’ve never felt sofrightened.”

But Geoff says one old chap is stillcounting his blessings. His wife is cuddlierthan she’s been in years.

“We have our own systems of pastoralcare but I think the scale of this is a challengeto churches to look outside their ownpatches,” Geoff says. “I’d like to seeindividual congregations coming togetherto focus on wider community needs –rebuilding, family dislocation, anddownstream of that, psychological help fortrauma. The churches have reserves andtrust funds; it’s what they choose to do withthem.”

K n o x c o n g r e g a t i o n r e c o n n e c t s a f t e r t h e q u a k e

Fijian fathers’ back on their feet

Meeting in another church in their parish, Fijian Methodistscelebrated Father’s Day a week late.

Raukura andPhill Beattie

“ W h a t y o ubelieve shapes howyou act. How youact results in life ordeath, for yourselfor others, as ineveryday life, onlymore so.” Thisobservation sets thefoundat ion for

Rebecca Solnit’s fascinating book on howpeople deal with catastrophes and naturaldisasters such as earthquakes.

Her book is appropriately entitled ‘AParadise Built in Hell: the ExtraordinaryCommunities that Arise in Disaster’. Solnit’spremise is that disaster offers us momentaryopportunities to demonstrate our best humanqualities such as compassion, generosity andthe ability to cooperate for the commongood.

Originally I hadn’t planned to includeSolnit’s book in my Library of Faith but then

the Darfield quake rattled our house, knockedbooks everywhere, broke china and gaveme a good shake up. It was ‘a moment intime’ I shall never forget.

Later that morning people left theirshaken homes to assess the damage and tosee how their neighbours were doing. To mysurprise I met neighbours I never knew Ihad. Surrounded by the damage, wediscovered each other as neighboursconnected by the consequences of the quake(including the lack of power and water) andthe desire to help each other.

“Horrible in itself,” Solnit admits,“disaster is sometimes a door back intoparadise, the paradise at least in which weare who we hope to be, do the work wedesire, and are each our sister’s and brother’skeeper.”

Jesus’ teaching seems to parallel Solnit’sanalysis of courageous human responses todisasters especially in the story of the GoodSamaritan in Luke’s gospel. Jesus took the

young lawyer’s initial question, ‘And whois my neighbour?’, and turned it upsidedown. First, he told the lawyer the story ofthe Good Samaritan. Second, after tellingthe story, he reframed the lawyer’s questionby asking, ‘Who is a neighbour to one inneed?’ and finally, before the lawyer couldlaunch into a theoretical debate, Jesuschallenged the lawyer to ‘go and showmercy’. In other words as Solnit affirmsfrom her study of disasters: what peoplebelieve shapes how they act.

Solnit’s book demonstrates how disastersopen up new possibilities for people. Forsome people, she argues, disasters becomemoments of transformation that liberate themfrom the destructive priorities of everydaylife, while opening up a more expansive ideaof what it means to be human with a strongersense of society.

But Solnit also explores the other sideof disaster: the way authorities often exploitdisasters by trying to impose their agenda

in the name of a quick return to normality.“Panic,” she writes, “provides a premise fortreating the public as a problem to be shutout or controlled.”

This kind of ‘elite panic,’ she says, isinevitable. She observes, “In a disaster thereare two populations: a great majority thattends towards altruism and mutual aid anda minority whose callousness and self-interest often becomes a second disaster.”

In the end Solnit encourages all of us tolearn what disasters can teach us about thecapacity of the human spirit to build paradisesout of the damage and debris. “Disastersometimes knocks down institutions andstructures and suspends private life, leavinga broader view of what lies beyond. The taskbefore us is to recognise the possibilitiesvisible through that gateway and endeavourto bring them into the realm of the everyday.”

Disasters can become moments of grace.

L I B R A R Y O F F A I T HBy Jim Stuart

The first Sunday in October isdesignated World Communion Sunday.This is a very meaningful and valuablecommemoration because it is of vitalimportance to all Christians.

Throughout the centuries, all Christianshave met together to remember the lastmeeting of Christ with his chosen disciplesbefore he was taken to his death. Althoughdifferent parts of the Church celebrate itd i ffe ren t ly, i t i s bas ica l ly thecommemoration that binds us all together.

We remember the very first account ofit by St Paul. We must bear in mind thatPaul’s epistles were all written before theGospels, so although Paul himself wascalled later and did not take part in theevent that the Gospels record, we mustrealise that he was part of the life of theearly Church and would have known howits worship was celebrated.

When Paul describes in I Corinthians11:23-33, the basic way in whichCommunion was celebrated we can surelyaccept it as being the earliest account:

“The Lord Jesus, on the night he wasbetrayed, took bread, and when he hadgiven thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This ismy body, which is for you; do this inremembrance of me.’ In the same way,after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘Thiscup is the new covenant in my blood; do

this, whenever you drink it, in remembranceof me.’ For whenever you eat this breadand drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord'sdeath until he comes.”

It appears that, from what Paul says inthe short section of the chapter immediatelybefore this statement, some Christians hadgot into a habit of having a kind of bring-and-share supper in Church. They werenot really sharing, however. They separatedout the rich from the poor and failed totruly worship the Lord in what they weredoing.

This is clearly why Paul is adamantthat they must remember what Jesus hadinstructed them to do, and it seems that theChurch did take what he said seriously.Basically we continue to follow histeachings today.

It is true that different parts of theChurch do emphasise different ways ofbringing out the meaning of theCommunion service. Catholics andOrthodox emphasis the fact that Jesus,when he was crucified the day after thelast supper, was representing and fulfillingthe sacrifices that had been the basis ofworship in the Temple, both for Jews andpagans.

Indeed, these sacrifices persisted afterJesus – in the case of Jews until the Templewas destroyed by the Romans, and in the

case of pagans all the time that theirreligions continued.

Christians were the first people to stopanimal sacrifice altogether. In the earlyyears of the Church, when Christians livedamong pagan peoples, it was very oftentheir refusal to take part in the localsacrifices to the gods that called attentionto the fact that they were Christians. Thiscaused them to be persecuted duringperiods when Christianity was declaredillegal.

Catholic liturgy expands on the wordsfrom Corinthians as quoted above butPaul’s words are there in the Canon of theMass, and the extensions are meaningfulto all Christians. For example, ‘Upon thesethings (i.e., upon the bread and wine) bepleased to look with a kindly and sereneexpression and accept them as you werewilling to accept the gifts of your worthyyoung man and the sacrifice of yourpatriarch Abraham’.

Over the centuries, when the earlyProtestants withdrew from the CatholicChurch, they were called upon to explaintheir beliefs and justify what they held tobe true. Queen Elizabeth I was challengedto say what she believed about he Eucharist.Her father had, of course, separated fromthe Roman Church and she came to thethrone after her sister had reverted to the

Catholic Church. Elizabeth’s response tothe question is recorded as:

“Christ’s was the word that spake it.He took the bread and break it;And what that word doth make it,That I believe, and take it.”It is difficult to argue with that wording!It does seem to me that, however

closely we feel we must follow the literalmeaning of Jesus’ statements, he was afterall, sitting there with the bread in his hands,so he could not be claiming that it wasliterally his body. It must represent hisbody.

We should accept that we are all unitedas one Christian people when we share inthe communion. Let us quote from Paulagain (I Corinthians 10:16-17):

“Is not the cup of thanksgiving forwhich we give thanks a participation in theblood of Christ? And is not the bread thatwe break a participation in the body ofChrist? Because there is one loaf, we, whoare many, are one body, for we all partakeof the one loaf.”

Let us indeed partake of the bread andwine with joy in our hearts, rememberinghow through the centuries, Jesus has metall his followers in this way, and haspromised to go on meeting us until hecomes again to call us all to himself.

10 TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010

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By Graeme WhiteOne of the papers discussed by

Auckland Synod at its August meetingwas the UCANZ paper on oversight.It was accepted with little comment.Since that meeting, though, I havebeen challenged about the directionthat the paper suggests. In theCombined Auckland JRC we decidedthat we should make it the major focusfor our October meeting.

The paper proposes a CoordinatingPartner that shall take over some of thetasks that have been the responsibilityof the Joint Regional Committees. Thisis largely because in some areas thereis not an effective JRC or even afunctioning JRC, so something needsto happen. Among the tasks is theresponsibility for parish reviews. It isoften difficult to get the personnel tocarry out these reviews.

We need to ask, however, howeffectively the partners conduct parishreviews. I was at a meeting recentlywhere a minister made the commentthat they thought that presbytery had

given up doing parish reviews. Just toprove us wrong, the report of a parishreview was presented at last month’spresbytery meeting but it is the firstthat I have seen for a long time. Neitherhave I seen many Methodist visitationreports presented to synod, and thosethat are, are usually conducted late,often years later than the date theyshould have been done.

If the partner churches are notreviewing the denominational parishesevery five years, or whatever the agreedterm is, how can we expect CVs to bereviewed at the approved time, by thosesame denominational partners? I don’tbelieve we can.

So is it a return to the status quo?In the Auckland JRC we have a welldeveloped programme for doing parishreviews. It works well except whendelays are requested by denominationalpartners because of lack of personnel,or the parish itself because it isexperiencing something out of theordinary. Unfortunately I know that thisis the exception rather than the rule.

Many JRCs have been struggling tocarry out this task.

Is it possible to have a one-size-fits-all solution? Recently I wasinvolved in a symposium at TrinityTheological College on CooperativeVentures that was held because anumber of students may well enter aCV as their first appointment. Someoneasked, ‘How important is it to attendJRC meetings?’

My immediate response was ‘veryimportant’. Methodist representativeon UCANZ Standing Committee RevNigel Hanscamp replied by saying “Itdepends on the context”. He is right.

JRCs vary in effectiveness and inmakeup. Originally they were made upof church leaders but as organic unionhas slowly disappeared from thehorizon, JRCs have evolved on an adhoc basis. Now who makes up the JRCdiffers from one part of the country toanother.

Could it be that the paper on parishoversight could be adopted in thoseparts of the country where there is no

effective JRC, and those who have aneffective JRC will carry on as theyhave? Who decides what is effective?Is the effectiveness of a JRC governedby the commitment of two or threepeople? Take them out of the equationand we might have a completelydifferent picture.

If both partners and JRCs are unableto do an effective job for the CVs isthere a third or possibly fourth way?

For the first time in its history, theCV movement has a full-time executiveofficer. This means more work can bedone from the UCANZ office. Shouldthe executive office be responsible tosee that the parish review takes place,along with ministry appointmentreviews? The executive officer wouldthen appoint a convenor and advise thepartners who would make theirappointments to the review team.

This may hopefully bring theuniformity across the country that islacking at present. Or is there somebetter way?

Is uniformity possible for our diverse CVs?

Partake of bread and wine with joy

DISASTER – GATEWAY TO PARADISE?

TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010 11O U T R E A C H

Christian World Service is invitingchurches to join a global week of actionon the right of all people to adequate,healthy food from 10 – 17 October.

The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance(EAA) of which CWS is a member is partof a growing global movement calling fora change in the way food is grown, sold,distributed and shared.

In response to new figures indicatingthat one-sixth of the world’s populationare hungry, the Rev Dr Tolbert Jallah,general secretary of the Fellowship ofCouncils of Churches in West Africareflected on the riches he says surroundcommunities in Africa suffering fromhunger, stating that, “in the midst ofabundant resources, God's people are stilldying of hunger.”

T h e F o o d a n d A g r i c u l t u r eOrganisation (FAO) and the UN WorldFood Programme announced in Septemberthat 925 million people are estimated tosuffer from chronic hunger this year, a

small decrease from the 1 billion estimatedin 2009.

“Nothing much is worse than theanxiety of a parent desperately trying tofind food for her hungry son or daughter,”says CWS campaign coordinator GillianSouthey. “Yet the global food systemsfocus on what is best for global foodcorporations and supermarkets.”

There is growing international concernas to how the world will feed itself, butnot enough attention paid to the criticalneeds of vulnerable small-scale farmerswho can improve a family’s food security,the EAA believes.

This year’s week of action focuses onstories and experiences of women. Theworship material explores food from agender perspective and was prepared bythe EAA. CWS will be adding somepartner and New Zealand specificresources in coming weeks. Resources areavailable from PO Box 22652,Christchurch 8142 or at www.cws.org.nz.

By Greg JacksonA message from earthquake ravaged

Haiti was one of the most touchingcommunications CWS received after theCanterbury earthquake. The good wishesfor staff and the people of Canterburycame from Haitian partner, the InstituteCulturel Karl Leveque (ICKL).

This group has been helped bydonations from CWS supporters for someyears.

It was amongst a tide of calls andmessages from partner groups that includedrecent visitor to Aotearoa New Zealand,Constantine Dabbagh, the director of thechurches’ Department of Service toPalestinian Refugees in Gaza.

The messages were a welcomereminder that the work carried out by CWSand funded by supporters here has touchedhearts and lives since we began in 1945.

Two weeks after the quake hit, theCWS national office is still unsafe becauseof large quantities of broken glass, and itswindows boarded up. Staff and volunteershave continued to work from home andtemporary offices kindly provided by TradeAid.

On a personal level, as media officer,I have found the proximity to two majorearthquakes in one year borders on thesurreal. In March two months after thedevastating earthquake tore apart Haiti, Iaccompanied John Nduna the head of theworld's second largest aid and development

agency ACT Alliance.Haiti did not have our great good

fortune as 250,000 people lost their livesand another 1.5 million made homeless.Their quake struck at 5pm, ours at 4.36am.Theirs was a 7.0, ours 7.1.

The aftershocks in Haiti were not asfrequent as ours but they were oftenferocious with a 5.9 and 6.1 in the tally.Their aftershocks triggered a mass exodusfrom the quake torn capital Port-au-Prince.Ours have also produced a quietermigration of the traumatised and frightenedincluding my own partner and sons.

Watching the Canterbury earthquakestory unfold has left me amazed yet againat how universal some experiences are. InHaiti and in Canterbury there was a steepupswing in birth figures brought on by thestress following the earthquake. There wasalso a surge in the number of peopleattending church.

The day after our quake as I washanded chimney bricks that had beenpassed from neighbour to neighbour, Iremembered how Haitians told me of doingexactly the same thing with their debris.

In Haiti I heard countless tales ofkindness and compassion amongst thesurvivors. Here where my partner stays ina donated home and our sons temporarilyattend the Dunedin Steiner School, I havemet this same generosity of spiritfirst hand.

PakistanFloods

“Please continue to support CWS appealsfor Pakistan floods so that we can providelife-saving assistance. Blessings and thanksfor your prayers.” Marvin Parvez, ChurchWorld Service Pakistan.

Five years ago it was an earthquake; last year it was conflict on theAfghanistan border; now, millions of Pakistani people have againlost everything in the biggest floods on record.

PLEASE DONATE NOWPAKISTAN FLOODS APPEALCHRISTIAN WORLD SERVICEPO Box 22652, Christchurch 8142PH 0800 74 73 72 • www.cws.org.nzCWS is a registered charity. #CC22288.

You can, and do, make a difference

Global week of action on hunger

A tale of two earthquakes,Haiti and Canterbury

Christian World Service staffer NickClarke is enjoying the irony of leavingquake ravaged Canterbury for flooddamaged Pakistan to find that Internetaccess is better in Pakistan.

“At least I've got internet access here whichmay well not be the case where we live forquite some time,” Nick says. His own homeneighbourhood had been amongst those hardhit by the Canterbury earthquake.

It was a bizarre change of circumstancesfor the aid and development worker who isused to returning from trips to places in traumaand crisis to places of peace and stability.

His visit to Pakistan had already beenarranged by CWS partner, Church WorldService Pakistan/Afghanistan before theCanterbury quake. Nick says he decided to goahead with the trip because the sort of recoveryexpertise required in Canterbury was alreadyavailable here and had proven to be of high

quality.In his latest email Nick reported that he

had quickly been deployed by grateful Pakistancolleagues into assisting with communicationswith global partners.

“The scale of this Pakistan emergency isjust immense. It is the biggest in Pakistan'shistory, the biggest ever for the United Nations,and it is taking place in a very difficultenvironment,” he says.

The security situation continued to betenuous while the actual physical environmentwas often both hilly and difficult to access.

The scale of the disaster was spelt out inan update from Church World Service P/Awhich pointed out that even as floodwatersreceded in the north, towns and villages in thesouth were still being submerged. An estimatedseven million people would be homeless forsome time yet. They needed immediate reliefwhile the fast approaching winter was causinghuge concern in the north.

Church World Service medical coordinator,Dr Qamar Zaman says he is deeply worriedabout the rising disease challenges. “Snowbegins as early as October in the north bringingfreezing temperatures and increased respiratoryinfection,” he says.

Lack of food and proper nutrition wouldput many at risk, especially the young andelderly. An estimated 500,000 women areexpected to give birth within six months andthis group needed both health services andprotection from the freezing temperatures. Aswell as meeting winter needs, aid was alsorequired to equip people to regain economicand emotional independence in the difficultrecovery phase.

Nick Clarke is expected to be in Pakistanproviding support for at least a month.

The CWS Appeal for Pakistan remainsopen. Donations can be sent to PO Box 22652,Christchurch 8143 or at www.cws.org.nz.

Pakistan treads water as flooding persists

Disease and hunger are constant threatsin villages affected by flooding.

Post earthquake Port Au Prince. At the present slow pace of clearance, earthquakerubble will remain for decades. Photo by Magnus Aronson ACT/Alliance.

12 TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010

R E V I E W S

It takes a brave and prophetic voice tochallenge the predominant mantra thatmarket forces and growth is good. It takesan inspired voice to suggest that climatechange reduction is also possible if weaddress income and opportunity inequalitiesacross the world. It is brave to write a bookarguing that economies should stop growingwhen millions of jobs have been recentlylost.

But intuitively I think we all know thereis something wrong, and this book goes along way towards explaining what and why.

This is what Wilkinson and Pickett have done in thisbook. From wide and in-depth research over 30 years, theyshow that simple growth in people’s incomes is not thepanacea to resolving evident social ills. They say we in thedeveloped world are rich enough and that economic growthhas gone as far as it can to improve quality and quantity oflife. Being better off does not improve our perception ofhappiness.

They examine social wellbeing indicatorslike life expectancy, imprisonment rates, druguse and educational achievement and rankthem against a measure of income equalityrevealed by the income differences betweenthe top 20 percent and the bottom 20 percent.

In those countries having smaller incomeinequality there is much less social dis-ease.Conversely, greater inequality causes shorter,unhealthier and unhappier lives across allsociety’s socioeconomic levels

Using publically published data from theUN and others, they have created a series of

graphs whose patterns look similar, and which documentthe prevalence of a vast range of social ills. On almost everyindex of quality of life, or wellness, or deprivation, thereis a gradient or line of significance, showing a strongmatching between a country's level of income inequalityand its social outcomes.

Almost always, Japan and the Scandinavian countriesare at the favourable “low” end, and almost always, the

UK, the US and New Zealand are at the unfavourable “high”end.

The book’s opening pages are depressing, almost makingyou want to shut it fast. They say “We find ourselves anxiety-ridden, prone to depression, driven to consume and withlittle or no community life.” Taking the statistics broadly,they may be correct, but many readers simply won't feellike that.

Nevertheless at its conclusion there are rays of hope.By addressing the inequality issue seriously, as is nowhappening legislatively in the UK, we can bring about socialwellness within and between countries. In so doing, we canintegrate this with the need to work towards a world thatcan have a sustainable climate.

For me this work has been another revelation thatengaged my scientific, logical mind and also touched mycompassionate heart. This book has the potential to changeour mindsets and thus save the world. When I look at thelife of Jesus of Nazareth, I see the battle for equality laidbare even then. Now it is our turn.

By Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett2009, Allen Lane, 331 pagesReviewer: Michael Dymond

The Spirit Level:Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better

Is it appropriate to pray that we will findparking spaces? This is a question theauthor raises. No definitive answer isadvanced as the book is intended to promotethought and provoke discussion.

The author sets out to have a conversationabout what it means to pray, about whetheranything really happens in prayer, about whyor whether God listens and what we ought,or ought not, to say in prayer. Questions fordiscussion are appended to each chapter.

Christian Prayer for Today is part of aseries of resources for the study by non-experts of significantbiblical texts, creeds and Christian practices. Prayer isdescribed as participation in God.

The author wants us to understand that, in prayer, weenter into communion with God. If we are serious aboutattending to the movement of God’s Spirit within us, a dailyroutine may be helpful although prayer need not be restricted

to specific times or places. We may praywherever we find ourselves in the midst oflife, but prayer is not just something we do.It is God who initiates the relationship andcalls forth our prayer.

Christian prayer is prayer in the name ofJesus. This means praying in a way that isconsistent with Jesus’ character andrecognising the living presence of Christ aswe pray.

But this does not mean that Christians arejustified in making exclusive claims for the

validity of their prayers or for regarding the prayers of otherreligions or traditions as lacking spiritual validity.

As the author states: “Christians need not be afraid oflearning wisdom from people who have developed patternsof contemplation and prayer apart from faith in Jesus Christ.”Humility and willingness to learn from others are expressionsof Christian grace and, if we are not gracious, our prayers

cannot really be in Jesus’ name no matter how well framedthey may be.

Comment is made on the place of lament when all wefeel able to do is cry out to God in pain or anger, and onthe important role of silence as we listen to God. Prayerdoes not always have to be expressed in words.

There is a helpful focus on the lack of a sense of God’spresence which is not to be confused with lack of faith, aswell as what it means to speak of God answering prayer.God’s response may well emerge in the very act of prayingas is suggested by Jesus’ encouragement to “ask, seek andknock.” Significantly, there is preference for attending tothe whole range of biblical images for God, and notrestricting our address of God only or mostly as “Father.”

For those looking for a devotional resource this is notthe book but it does raise issues that might be helpfullyexplored in discussion, which after all, is the author’sintention.

Review copy supplied by Epworth Books.

By Martha L. Moore-Keish,2009, Westminster John Knox Press, 91 pages.

Reviewer: John MeredithChristian Prayer for Today

The Epistle of the ApostlesBy Julian Hills

2009, Polebridge Press, 132 pagesReviewer: Jim Stuart

Over the last century, a gradual, quietrevolution has been taking place in biblicalstudies. A small group of biblical scholarshave been exploring what might be called‘the other Bible’; that is, those otherChristian writings which existed alongsidethe Bible.

Most Christians tend to take the contentsof the Bible for granted but remain ignorantof these many other writings from the firstthree centuries which were not included inthe Bible. One of these books is the EpistulaApostolorum or The Epistle of the Apostles.

The significance of The Epistle of the Apostles was firstdiscovered by Kirsopp Lake (1872-1946) a professor ofearly Christian literature and ecclesiastical history at HarvardUniversity. Lake declared the Epistle an immensely valuablework which enriched our knowledge and understanding ofsecond century Christianity.

The well-known German biblical scholar Adolf

Deissmann claimed The Epistle washistorically the most valuable find providingus with important new insights into earlyChristianity. The editor of this book, JulianHills, declares that the book “breathes thespirit of the emerging ‘Catholic’ (or Great)church vs ‘Gnostic’ church debate”.

One of the major problems of Biblicalstudies has been the fact that Christianityduring the first three centuries was extremelydiverse and factional. As Hill points out, TheEpistle reflects a particular response to one

early form of Christianity known as Gnosticism.One interesting aspect of The Epistle, is that, although

first composed in Greek, it has been translated into manyother languages. This included Coptic, during the fourthand fifth centuries; Latin about the same time, and a dozenEthiopian manuscripts as late as the 16th to the early 20thcentury.

Coptic and Ethiopic texts usually don’t belong to the

discipline of church history so it is highly unlikely that textssuch as The Epistle would receive the attention and studythat have been given to other more familiar texts. ThusHill’s observation that the writing has experienced “relativeneglect”.

The translation of The Epistle attempts to reflect thespirit of the various languages in which it circulated.However, in particular, this translation tries to give theparticular flavour of the Coptic and Ethiopic texts whilepreserving “the echoes of the Greek original”.

This is not a book for everyone. Rather it is a specialisttext providing valuable information and insights into someaspects of Christianity in the first three centuries. Readerswho are interested in Christian Gnosticism and a refutationof it will find this book makes interesting reading. The bookis an important contribution especially at a time when it isvital that we understand and appreciate the extraordinarydepth and diversity of global Christianity.

Interview withMike Riddell,

writer/producer ofThe Insatiable Moon

TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010 13R E V I E W S

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© RMSAnswers: MoseShem, AbednegOded, MiriaMoses, SalomElizabeth; MeraBithiah, VashtIshmael, AhaBathsheba, RacheLeah, SaraIscah, prisCAndace, ShebAbigail, pauLydia; TamaRebekab, EvEunice,GabrieLuke, PriscillAquila, LoTwo, NaomIsaac, IsaiaHOsea, LabaNoah, SilaSusanna, ElkanaHannah, LevIsaachar, JosePHaroah, AnaniaSapphira

A film review by Steve TaylorO N S C R E E N

It has taken many a month for themoon to cast its golden glow on thisKiwi film. Mike Riddell, currentlywriter, and formerly Ponsonby Baptistchurch minister, wrote his first workof fiction in 1997.

The Insatiable Moon introducesJohn, walking the streets of Ponsonby,with a commitment to bless everypassing wall and bench. And his friendArthur, who believes he is the secondson of God. With their boarding houseunder threat f rom Ponsonbygentrification, Arthur senses a missionfrom God, first to save his psychiatrichaven and second to shower his loveon the Queen of Heaven.

Kiwi movies tend to be bred witha dark underbelly, from the hauntedhills of Vigil to the buried secrets of InMy Fathers Den. The Insatiable Moondeals with the clash between mentalhealth and urban gentrification, andhas a similar potential. Happily, themovie demonstrates a simplecommitment to bless contemporarylife, infusing human pain and sufferingwith an earthy humour and gentlemystery.

The movie, directed by Mike’s wifeRosemary, includes a number of well-known Kiwi actors, including RawiriParatene (best known as Koro in Whale

Rider) as Arthur and Sara Wiseman(Danielle in Outrageous Fortune) asMargaret, the Queen of Heaven.However any Kiwi Oscars surelybelong to Arthur’s boarding housecompanions, including Ian Mune, LeeTuson and Rob McCully.

Two scenes – one pastoral, the otherprophetic – remain etched in one’smemory long after the final credits roll.These scenes showcase Mike Riddell’sremarkable talent, the artist’s ability tosketch life, the mystic’s eye for thespiritual in the ordinary.

The first is the funeral of John(Mike Innes) and the pastoral dramacreated by the open microphone andthe pain of colliding narratives. Itallows a superbly theological reflectionon God and the suffering of beinghuman. The scene is a must see for allthose who stake allegiance to a God oflove in a world of suffering.

The second is the public meeting,another collision of narratives, this timeof a developer with Ponsonby locals.Arthur’s entrance is superb, a powerfulenactment full of strength, oratory andtenderness. This is another must-seescene for all those who yearn forprophetic transformation in our urbancommunities today.

The Insatiable Moon debuted in

July at the New Zealand Film Festival,and becomes a general release at Rialtocinemas throughout New Zealand fromOctober. Pleasingly, it gainedcommendation from the Mental HealthFoundation.

Less commendable is the efforts ofthe New Zealand Film Commission,who pulled its promised funding. Thismeans that credits can only roll becauseof the persistence of Mike andRosemary and many other believers inthe power of story and the potential ofhuman creativity.

Nevertheless, The Insatiable Mooncasts a few shadows. Plot purists willpoint to a proliferation of charactersthat make for a slow paced beginning.Theologians will expect more evidencethan a cold Kiwi pie as proof ofresurrection. Ethicists will remainuneasy about the centrality of adulteryfor human transformation.

Gladly, such shadows seem to growstrangely dim in the light of the magiccast by The Insatiable Moon and itscelebration of people, Ponsonby andhuman possibilities.

Rev Dr Steve Taylor is director ofmissiology, Uniting College, Adelaide.He is the author of The Out of BoundsChurch? (Zondervan, 2005) and writesregularly at www.emergentkiwi.org.nz.

Mike Riddell describes himself as raconteurwith a love of film and storytelling. Born inPorirua, he was a church minister and universitylecturer before he became a writer of numerousbooks on spirituality.

Touchstone film reviewer Steve Taylor caughtup with Mike as he put the finishing touches tohis latest project, turning his book, The InsatiableMoon into a film.

Steve: The Insatiable Moon is such a Kiwistory. What were some of the inspirations?

Mike: Not only Kiwi but very local in thesense of emerging from the urban village ofPonsonby. The main inspiration for the film wasof course the person Arthur, who used to comeand visit me and try to persuade me he was thesecond son of God.

But beyond that it was my encounter with thepsychiatric community and other down and outstucked away in boarding houses in the back streetsof Ponsonby. As the area became gentrified, therewas a delightful culture clash which providedplenty of humour and pathos. Interestingly, giventhat it is such a Kiwi movie, we're getting a greatreception in the UK, where we have a distributiondeal, and the US.

Steve: Very few New Zealanders are publishedfiction writers, let alone find their fiction becominga movie. Tell us about the journey from book toscreen?

Mike: It's very unusual for an author of a bookto be involved in its adaptation for the screen.Novelists are generally too precious about theirmaterial to allow it to be chopped around for thescreen. When I was approached by the UKproducers to do the screenplay, I jumped at thechance but knew very little about screenwriting.I was lucky that we spent eight years indevelopment, it gave me a chance to learn thecraft, and put some distance between the noveland the script.

Continued on Page 15

‘Special’ Sundays in October include World Communion Sunday, White Sunday for Samoan children and youth, Weekof prayer for World Peace, Industrial Sunday and Reformers of the Church Sunday. As with anything concerning peoplerelationships are key and complex.

Understanding each other and respecting difference can be tricky. Sharing stories and recognising things in common canbe a starting point. The following puzzle is more complex than usual but each pair below have something in common andstories to share. Note: merging names – given letters end one name and begin the next.

SOME BIBLICAL RELATIONSHIPS

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14 TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010

Welcome to Kidz Korna. We usually hear of disastrous earthquakes in countries overseas.I’m sure that all of you have been thinking of the people in Christchurch, especially the children,who have been affected by the earthquake in our own country.

It is hard to imagine how frightening it must have been. How are you all getting on with theposters for Conference? By the time you read this Conference will only be four weeks awayand if you are sending your work to me I will need it by October 29th at the latest.

I am really looking forward to finding out what you all love about Church.

EARTHQUAKE!!Kids from St Marks Church in

Christchurch: (from left) Merrill, Ivan,Brent, Rose, Nicole and Rebecca.

Sasha (aged 9)About a week before the

earthquake Sasha got ab o o k c a l l e d

‘Earthquake’. It is adiary of girl who livedin Napier during the

1931 earthquake. Littledid Sasha realise thatwithin a week, shewould be experiencingh e r v e r y o w nearthquake.

Sasha was shaken upby the earthquake,and her house wasb a d l y d a m a g e dthough it is still safe

to live in.

After the quake shekept reading her

‘Earthquake’ book. It gave her the idea to write her own

earthquake diary. She says she will read it to her one-year-

old brother, Tristan, when he’s older.

Nicole (aged 12)My sister Rebecca and I both dived under our beds. It waspretty scary with all the aftershocks. We stayed under ourbeds until it got light.

Our TV fell on the floor but it was okay. Our water cylinderwas broken. We used a lot of our survival kit.

We had a battery radio and phone, and we boiled our water.Watching the news and knowing the possibility of a bigaftershock has been the hardest thing for me.

Getting back to school was good. Our teacher has a large sinkhole in his back yard, and a crack right through his house.

Liam (aged 11)I was in bed asleep. When I woke up, I realised we were havingan earthquake. It felt like the whole house was shaking. Iknew it was a big one, and it was scary.

I thought the house was going to fall down. I wanted to getoutside, but mum told me to get under the dining room table.

Under the table there were more aftershocks. I felt reallytired and just wanted to sleep. We began texting people, andused the cellphones as a torch.

It’s been good not having to go to school but not sleeping inmy own bed has been the hardest.

Merrill (aged 10)When the earthquake arrived I woke up. I panicked and ranto mum and dad’s bedroom. We all ran outside. After it stoppedwe went back inside and hid under the table in the dark.

We were scared. I thought all of Christchurch might bedestroyed. None of us have been through an earthquake likethis before.

The chimney on our house was damaged, and a few thingsinside like a vase. The hardest thing has been feeling like ourfamily is small. We miss all our family in the Philippines.

Rose (aged 7)I felt scared, and I didn’t know what was happening. We gotunder the table, and after a little bit I began to get myconfidence back. But I hated it in the dark with all theaftershocks.

The hardest part was when we had the big aftershock and Ilost my confidence. It also feels hard that some of the buildingsI see when I go to school won’t be there now.

I haven’t wanted to go into my bedroom because it is upstairs,and that’s where I got the big fright. That day one of my oldersisters got married. It felt quite weird being a flower girl onthe same day as a 7.1 earthquake.

Sasha attends NewBrighton Union Church.

The answer to each question is a number. Get them all right and the

numbers will add up to 98.

1) How many tribes of Israel were there?

2) How many plagues did God send to Egypt?

3) How many brothers (including half brothers) did Joseph have?

4) How many disciples did Jesus call to follow him?

5) How many days did Jesus spend in the wilderness?

6) How many letters written by Paul are in the New Testament?

Solution to last month’s puzzle: CORINTHIANS

PUZZLE --- ADD IT UPIF YOU ARE INSIDE:• DROP to the ground. Take COVER by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture.

HOLD ON until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table nearby, cover your head with your armsand crouch in an inside corner of the building.

• Stay away from windows, outside doors, and anything that could fall, such as lights or furniture.• Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes (unless you are under something big that

could fall).• Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. People get hurt when they try to leave

or move to a different place in the building.IF OUTSIDE:• Stay there. • Move away from buildings, streetlights, and power lines.

WHAT TO DO IN AN EARTHQUAKE

Christchurch kids talk about the earthquake…

WHAT TO DO IN AN EARTHQUAKE

For children to love church, it isnecessary to develop churches that lovechildren.

This is the notion behind a newMethodist Church initiative to makecongregations more welcoming, inclusive,and safe for children.

Called ‘Kids Loving Church’, theinitiative aims to provide congregations andSunday schools throughout the Connexionthe ideas and resources they need to enhancechildren’s ministry.

The Mission Resourcing office inAuckland has set up a task group to developKids Loving Church. Mission Resourcingdirector Rev Nigel Hanscamp says theinitiative is moving forward along a numberof paths.

The task group will prompt churches toadopt practices that maintain the safety ofchildren, help worship leaders better engage

with children, and provide congregationssources of information on various aspectsof children’s ministry.

“We are adopting the Childsafeprogramme, which helps churches developsafe practises for keeping children and youngpeople safe in a variety of settings.

“A number of New Zealand churcheshave taken up Childsafe, which is availablethrough the Scripture Union’s SafeHereTrust. We are setting up a pilot programmeto run in the Manukau region. It will runacross all the cultures in the Tauiwi synods– Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and Palangi.”

Lay preachers and other worship leadersare being encouraged to examine how theyinclude children and young people duringworship. We are also exploring how we canwork with Trinity College’s Lead Worship!programme and the Ecumenical Institute ofDistance Theological Studies (EIDTS),

which have papers on children’s ministry.The task group has appointed Esme Cole

to the role of children’s ministry initiator.Esme says her task is not so much to developresources for children’s ministry as it is toinform people how to find the informationthat is already available and to help developa community of those working in children’sministry.

Esme says churches are already using anumber of programmes for children’sministry – the Uniting Church of Australia’sSeasons of the Spirit, Dynamite Bay,Scripture Union’s Way2go, and Kingswayare some of the programmes Palangichurches are using.

Sinoti Samoa has translated someprogrammes with New Zealand context intoSamoan , and Vahefonua Tonga is usingmaterial from Tonga augmented by materialfrom former superintendent Rev Taufa Filiai.

“The task group will be in place for 18months. Our main goal is to establish anetwork of support so people can shareinformation.

For example, following the earthquake,churches in Canterbury asked for materialto help children cope with trauma. Insteadof everyone searching the Internet, we sentout one email with links to a number ofresources.”

Esme says it is important to rememberthat children become young adults, andyoung adults will be the Church’s future layand ordained leaders.

At Conference 2011, the Children’sMinistries Implementation Taskgroup willbring a proposal to the church indicatingpossible future directions for nationalchildren’s ministries.

Kids loving church and vice versa

About 99 percent of the allocatedstorage areas in our church buildingsfor parish archives and records are totallyinappropriate.

A church tower where the bells nolonger call members to worship and dustand damp filter through wire mesh‘windows’, or the church basement wherewater rises periodically to ankle depth,or the unexplained concrete vault in thefloor of the old church all fall far shortof the standards required to protect ourfragile historical documents.

Then there is the attic in the old hallwhere the temperature fluctuates to thedegree that lacquer covered books andloose papers are now so gummed togetherthat to separate them will do damage. Andthere is the so called security and fireproof safe so crammed with records thatthe door no longer closes, or the old fridgethat leaves spotty traces of mould –evidence that moisture hangs around evenyears after non-refrigerated use.

These examples are just a few locationsthat have housed some of our Churches’archives. I haven’t even mentioned thecorners of church halls and cupboards thathouse vermin, silverfish, borer and otherpaper-eating undesirables.

And don’t let’s forget the many personalstorage facilities provided by generousoffice-bearers, local businesses, and banks.As time passes and members move on, the

location of these records is forgotten andparish collections are lost and destroyed.The parish returns of 1931 suggest evenfurther obscure storage locations: “in thevestry stationery press”, “laid to rest in theManse study”, “old records found in wash-house”, and “in pantry of Managers’vestry”!

A glance at ‘Lost Archives’ on thePresbyterian Archives web site is a sobering

reminder of how susceptible our recordsare when poorly housed, to fire, floods,decay, neglect, theft or ‘acts of God’.

The story is repeated time and again,“All records seem to have been lost”,“Incomplete, nothing prior to 1907”,“Destroyed by fire in 1884”, “Early recordscannot be found”, “Old records presumedto be burnt”, “No trace of old records”.Although prefaces in a number of recentparish church histories lament this loss,Churches continue to overlook all thenecessary precautions required if a parishwishes to retain its records on churchpremises.

The fire and water damaged recordsfrom a recent arson attack on a church hallforced me to question once again thewisdom of parish collections remaining inthe parish. In this case the accumulationof 75 years of papers stored in cupboardsin an unprotected hall has resulted in notonly the hall being gutted and demolishedand its contents destroyed but the recordsseriously damaged. More than likely thehall will be rebuilt but not so the records.

It is impossible to restore burnt andwater damaged records to their former‘glory’. Once charred and soot damagedthe paper weakened by fire and water willcontinue to deteriorate in coming years.With no insurance cover for salvage andconservation of the paper records, the coston the Archives Research Centre to

undertake this work is high and willprobably result in a minimum amount ofpreservation only being carried out.

Nowhere in New Zealand is exemptfrom the effects of weather and geologicaldisturbance, as the recent devastatingCanterbury earthquake reminds us. Manyof our buildings do not meet currentbuilding standards so every precaution isnecessary to protect our ‘taonga’. ThePresbyterian Archives Research Centre,however, has been relocated into a spacewhich now meets international buildingand archival standards. Although not quitea state-of-the-art archives building, it issecure, vermin free, earthquake proof, witha sprinkler system throughout, and climatecontrol environment for storing records.

We encourage parishes who continueto retain their archives and records to giveserious consideration to transferring them.The collections are fully processed andcatalogued to enable access to both theparish and researcher. The burden toprovide a secure and appropriate storagefacility becomes the responsibility of theArchives and is removed from theindividual parish.

For further information please makecontact with the director of archives,Yvonne Wilkie, ph 03 4730776.

TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010 15N O W A N D T H E N

By Yvonne Wilkie, director of archives.

Natural disasters timely reminderto consider how archives stored

Marriage registers damaged by damp after40 years storage in a concrete vault.

Four congregations + three denominations= one community

By Cory MillerRural communities are on the decline

and as a result many churches arequestioning their future.

One small church in Central Taranakihas decided to join a Local EcumenicalProject (LEP) as a way to ensure it willcontinue to serve its community.

LEPs take shape when congregationscross denominational boundaries to unitesmall churches. These churches pool theirresources together to create a strongercommunity.

In 2008, two churches in the town ofStratford – St Stevens Methodist and HolyTrinity Anglican – joined together to forman LEP. Recently the Methodist-Presbyterian Cooperating Parish, whichhas congregations in the towns of Elthamand Kaponga, decided to join the StratfordLEP.

Superintendent of the Central NorthIsland Methodist Synod, Rev Tony Bell,says the combined grouping will make abigger and more fitting church.

Tony says the ageing and shrinkingcongregation asked themselves what they

were leaving for the future. How couldthey ensure a lively church in the years tocome? He says they saw only two options.

“One – you either just accept the waythings are, and allow the church to slowlydie out. Or two – you find a solution tocreate an active and rejuvenated churchthat looks to the future.”

Tony says the church was not ready togive up so it looked for a solution.

Its solution lies in sharing the resourcesand strengths of the different parishes thatcome together as the new Stratford LEP.However the exact shape of this newproject is yet to be decided.

Rev Peter Barleyman, the Anglicanrural regional deacon for Taranaki, says“What the congregations can do togetheris yet unknown. The exact shape and formis still to be decided but we do know thereis a lot of potential.”

As part of an LEP, Tony says thecongregations will keep their ownproperties and accounts but will cometogether for support and ministry.

“No buildings will close but resourceswill be used more economically,” he says.

“Instead of multiple units dealing withmultiple issues we will be able to pool ourresources to make single units dealingwith single issues.”

Tony says each congregation will havethe freedom to make their own decisions,though ultimately there may be somejoining of congregations.

“The new union makes sense, as manyof the parishes join together throughoutthe month for various occasions, yet comeSunday are separated by a great divide.”

Both Tony and Peter say this divide isunnecessary because the differencesbetween the four different congregationsand three different denominations are notan issue.

“We can maintain different styles ofworship, and rather than focus ondifferences,” we should focus on how wecan support each other in the Kingdom ofGod.”

Tony says, “We agree to have ourdifferences, to honor and to value them asa gift. What we have in common is morethan what separates us.”

P R E S B Y T E R I A N A R C H I V E S

Eltham-Kaponga Cooperating Parish’s two congregations - St Marks and St Johns - have joinedthe Stratford Local Ecumenical Project.

Steve: What kept you going?Mike: To be honest it was a combination

of stubbornness and belief in the story. Thereare a lot of people around the world tryingto make films but not many get there becauseof the constant hurdles. Our core creativeteam always believed that it would be wellreceived by audiences if we could just get itbefore them. I personally felt something ofa responsibility to tell Arthur's story.

Steve: You once talked about theimportance of fiction for your own spiritualjourney. What does the Insatiable Moon offerto the contemporary Kiwi quest?

Mike: Immersion in stories is the essenceof spiritual growth. Stories have the powerto engage and lead us forward at very deeplevels. The Insatiable Moon is a story aboutpeople on the margins, and the humanity andinsight that exist in their midst.

Broken people often have an innatespirituality that is fresh and raw in comparisonto institutional religion. I think the film is anaffirmation of the very real spirit that existseverywhere in human life and it championsthe divine in unlikely places.

Mike Riddelldiscusses

Insatiable MoonFrom Page 13

Mike Riddell

16 TOUCHSTONE • OCTOBER 2010

Ne hoko foki ‘i he ‘aho 5‘Aokosi 2010 ‘a e kakato ‘o eta‘u 1 ‘o e fakaevaha ne hoko ‘ihe ngoto ko ia ‘a e vakafefolau‘aki fakalotofonuaPrincess Ashika ‘i he potu tahiHa‘apai ‘i hotau ki‘i fonua, Tongamonu‘ia. Ko ia ai na‘e lavafakahoko hono malangafakamanatu ‘i he falelotuLotofale‘ia, Mangere, hili pe ‘ae Fakataha Vahefonua Tonga OAotearoa ‘i he mahina Aokosikuo toki maliu atu. Pea fakafeta‘ine ‘omi ‘e he ‘Otua ‘a e SekelitaliLahi ‘o e Siasi Uesiliana ‘oTonga, Faifekau Toketa TevitaHavea, kene fakahoko ‘a emalanga ‘o e fakamanatu.

Na‘e kole ‘i he houa malanga‘o e Vahefonua Tonga O Aotearoa‘a e ongo hiva ‘a Onehunga moMangere ke na toe hiva ‘i hemalanga fakamanatu ‘o e si‘i kaupekia kuo nau fonualoto ‘i he

moana vavale ‘i he PrincessAshika ‘i he ‘aho 5 ‘Aokosi 2009.Na‘e molumalu pea faka‘ei‘eiki‘a e houa malanga ni koe me‘atonu ai ‘a Pilinisi Tungi, ‘EikiSione Ika Mafana pea mo ‘Eiki‘Etani Tuku‘aho. Na‘e lava maifoki moe Hai Komisiona Tongaki Nu‘u Sila ni, Siaosi Taimani‘Aho mo hono hoa pea mo e ‘EikiMinisita Nu‘u Sila ni ki hePasifiki, Georgina Te Heuheu.Na‘e tokolahi ‘a e kau faifekaumei he ngaahi siasi kehekehe pene nau lava mai pea ne fakatefua‘i he feohi‘anga ni mo e kaufakafofonga mei he ngaahi ‘otumotu Pasifiki hono kotoa. KoFaifekau Toketa Tevita Koloa‘iaHavea na‘a ne fai ‘a e fakakoloam a l a n g a m o e p o u p o ufakalaumalie ki he ngaahi familina‘e huki tonu ‘iate kinautolu ‘ae fakaevaha ni, pea pehe ki hetaha kotoa pe na‘e ‘i he

feohi‘anga fakamanatu ni.Fakamalo atu kia Salote HeletaLilo, Heamasi Halasili mo SemisiFaka ‘os ik imu l i ‘ i honofoko tu ‘u tu ‘u ha ngaah ipolokalama fisifisimu‘a pehe, ketau fakatahataha ai ‘o fakamahinohotau Tonga ‘i he ivi ‘o efe‘ofa‘aki.

Kuo Tolona e ‘ao na‘a taufe‘ao mai mo ia,

Ko e manafa ‘o e puputu‘ukuo malona.

‘Io, ko e toafa ‘o e lo‘imata‘iakuo hange ha pupunga matavai,

Pea ko e loto ta‘e toli‘a kuofakalotofale‘ia.

Hili ‘a e kelesi ‘o e feohi‘angani, pea fai ‘a e fe‘iloaki ‘a ee moee, pea matuku leva he kuo ha‘u‘a e momoko ‘o e po‘uli. Moume‘a aa. Faiongoongo TanakiTatafu.

Folofola: Saame 34:18. He ko e loto lavea ‘oku ofiki ai ‘a e ‘Eiki. Pea ‘oku ne fakamo‘ui ‘a kinautolu‘oku laumalie mafesi.

Fakatapu kia Hou‘eiki, kae ‘uma‘a ‘a ha‘a tauhi fonua.Fakatapu ki he Faifekau Sea ‘o e Vahefonua Tonga OAotearoa, mo e kau Faifekau kotoa pe, pea pehe ki hekaunga fononga pilikimi kotoa ‘i he ‘Eiki, kae ‘ataa mu‘amo kita ke fakahoko atu ‘a e Fakalotofale‘ia ‘o e Mahinako ‘Okotopa 2010.

Na‘e fatu ‘e Tevita ‘a e Saame 34 ko ‘ene manatu kihe taimi na‘e tu‘u ai ‘i he ‘ao ‘o ‘Akisi ko e tu‘i Filisitia‘o Kati (1 Samiuela 21: 10-15). Ko e fakakaukai ia ‘aTevita lolotonga ‘ene hola takai ‘i hono kumi ia ‘e Saulake fakapoongi, he kapau ‘e hola holo pe ‘i he ngaahifeitu‘u lotofonua ‘o ‘Isileli, tokaange pe ha ‘aho kuoma‘u ia ‘e Saula ‘o fakapoongi. Ko ia na‘a ne fakakaukauai ke hola ki ha feitu‘u ‘e ‘ikai lava ‘a Saula ‘o ‘alu kiai. Ko e ‘uhinga ia ‘ene fakakaukau ke hola ki Kati peko Filisitia, he ‘oku lolotonga manavahee ‘a Saula ia kiFilitia. ‘Oku fakamatala ‘a 1 Samuiela 21: 10-15 ki heanga ‘o Tevita ‘i he taimi na‘e a‘u atu ki Kati kia ‘Akisi.Na‘e puke ‘e he kau sotia ‘a ‘Akisi ‘a Tevita ‘o ‘ave kihe tu‘i, ‘o nau fakamatala kia ‘Akisi: “Ikai ko Tevita ‘enako e kaimelie ‘o e fonua? ‘Ikai ko Tevita ‘ena na’e fai ki

ai ‘a e hiva ‘a e kau fefine ‘‘A e taa ‘e Saula ‘a e afee,kae mano ‘a Tevita’”. Na‘e liliu ‘e Tevita hono anga ‘o‘ene to‘onga ke hangee ha taha ‘oku uesia hono ‘atamai.‘One kokohi holo he matapaa ‘o e matanikolo mo koahono ngtu. Pea fekau ‘e ‘Akisi ke ‘ave mama‘o meiateia: “Ko ho‘omou ‘omi ‘a e vale na, ke toe kanoni ‘aki ‘ae kau vale ‘o Filisitia.” Kaikehe, ne hao ai ‘a Tevita peane fa‘u ai ‘a e Saame 34 ke fakavikiviki‘i ‘a e kau mai‘a e ‘Otua ki he‘ene mo‘ui. Mou kau mo au ke viki ‘aSihova, pea tau hakeaki‘i hono Huafa fakataha (v 3). Si‘itu‘utamaki koee na‘e tautapa, pea ongo‘i ‘e Sihova. Peane fakahaofi mei hono faingata‘a kotoa. (v 6)

Ko e Saame ko ‘eni ‘oku fakamahino ai ‘e Tevita‘oku hoifua ‘a Sihova ke tokoni‘i ha taha ‘oku ‘apasiakiate Ia. ‘Oku mou mea‘i ‘a e lea ‘APASIA ‘i he‘etau leafakafonua, ko e fotunga ia ‘oku tau fotu ‘aki ki he Hau,pea mo hou‘eiki – ‘oku tau fotu mo e fotunga ‘apasia ‘ofakahaa‘i mei he‘etau to‘onga. Ka ko e ‘apasia ‘oku‘uhinga ki ai ‘a Tevita ‘i he Saame 34 ‘oku kehe ia meihe ‘apasia kuo u lave ki ai ‘oku tau ngaue‘aki kia hou‘eiki.‘Oku ne fakamahino he Saame ni ‘oku ‘ikai fiema‘u ‘ae TO‘ONGA ‘APASIA IA KIA SIHOVA. Ketau fakahaa‘ihotau fotunga ‘i tu‘a ‘oku tau ‘apasia, kae lolotonga ia‘oku hanga kehe hotau loto, he tetau fakangalingali atu

kitautolu ‘i tu‘a, ka ‘oku ‘afio mai ‘a Sihova ia ki loto.Mou ‘apasia kia Sihova ‘a e kau lotu ‘a‘ana: He ‘oku‘ikai ha masiva ‘a e kau ‘apasia kiate ia. (v 9) Ko efounga ‘o e ‘apasia ‘oku fai mei loto ‘oku lave ki ai eveesi 11-14: Ha’uaa, faanau, ‘o fanongo mai: Kau akokiate kimoutolu ‘a e ‘apasia kia Sihova. Lama ho ‘elelomei he kovi. Mo ho loungutu mei he lea loi. Afe mei hekovi, ‘o fai lelei; Kumi ki he melino, ‘o tuli ki ai.” Peane toki pehee he veesi ‘o e ‘aho ni: “He ko e loto lavea‘oku ofi ki ai ‘a e ‘Eiki, pea ‘oku ne fakamo‘ui akinautolu‘oku laumalie mafesi.” Ko kinautolu ‘oku nau fai meiloto ‘enau ‘apasia kia Sihova, ‘oku ofi mai ‘a e ‘Eiki ‘ofakamo‘ui kinautolu. Ko e lea ia ‘a Tevita mei he‘enea‘usia ‘i he ‘ao ‘o ‘Akisi ko e tu‘i Kati. Na‘e hao ‘o ‘ikaifakapoongi ia ‘e Saula koe‘uhi ko e fai mei loto ‘ene‘apasia kia Sihova. Pea na‘e hao meia ‘Akisi koe‘uhi peko ‘ene ‘apasia ki he ‘Otua na‘e fai mei he uho ‘o honoloto. Ko e uki ia ma‘atautolu ‘i he Mahina fo‘ou ni. Ko‘etau fotu ki he ‘Otua ‘oku fai ‘aki ‘a e loto ‘oku laveamo e laumalie kuo mafesi mo tukulolo kakato kia Sihova.‘Ihe huafa ‘o e Tamai mo e ‘Alo mo e Laumalie Ma‘oni‘oni.‘EMENI.

Faifekau Vaikoloa Kilikiti.

Fakalotofale’ia

FAKAMANATU TA‘U 1 FAKAEVAHA PRINCESS ASHIKA

Kau fakaafe fakalangilangi ‘o e malanga fakamanatu ‘o e fakevaha he Princess Ashika.(Mei to‘ohema ‘otu mu‘a) Pilinisi Tungi, ‘Eiki Sione Ika Mafana, ‘Eiki ‘Etani Tuku’aho, Sekelitali LahiSUTT, Faifekau Tevita Havea, Faifekau Setaita K Veikune, Haikomisiona Tonga ‘i NZ, Siaosi ‘Aho,

Faifekau Tevita Kilifi Heimuli.

Kaveinga ‘o e Mahina: Ke tau mo‘ui ‘apasia kia Sihova.

Ako Faka-Faifekau PuleKolisi Wesley

Kuo tali ke kau ‘a e Puleako ‘o e Kolisi Wesley, Ian Faulkner,he ako faka-faifekau ‘i he Kolisi Trinity, ko e ‘apiako Faka-Faifekau ‘a e Siasi Metotisi Nu‘u Sila, hili ‘a e lava lelei ‘a engaue ‘a e Komiti Sivisivi ‘o e Kau Kanititeiti (CandidatesAssessment Team). Kuo tali ai ‘a e toko 6, kau ai ‘a e PuleakoKolisi Wesley kenau hoko atu ‘o kamata ‘a ‘enau polokalamaako faka-faifekau ‘i he Kolisi Trinity ‘i he ta‘u fakaako 2011,pea ko e toko 1 ‘oku toloi ke toki kamata ‘i he ta‘u fakaako 2012kae tokanga ke fakakakato ‘a e ngaahi fiema‘u kehe he ta‘u 2011.Kuo tali mo e toko 1 ke hoko atu ke ako Tikoni pea tau fakafeta‘iai pe ki he Tu‘i ‘o e Langi ‘oku kau ‘a e toko 3 Tonga he toko6 tenau kau ki he ako faka-faifekau.

Ko e anga ‘o ako ‘e fakahoko ‘e he toko 8 ‘e pehe ni:(i) Ian Faulkner - ako faifekau lea faka-papalangi(ii) Suresh Chandra - ako faifekau lea faka-papalangi(iii) Neti Petaia - ako faifekau lea faka-Ha‘amoa(iv) Iremia Amatuana‘i - ako faifekau lea faka-Ha ‘amoa

(kae toloi ta‘u 1)(v) Kuli Fisi‘iahi - ako faifekau lea faka-papalangi(vi) Manoa Havea - ako faifekau lea faka-papalangi(vii) Sione Lea‘aetoa - ako faifekau lea faka-Tonga(viii) Megan Whitehouse - ako tikoni lea faka-papalangi

‘Oku fai atu ‘a e talamonu ki he kau ako ko eni hono kotoapea fakatauange ke fai tokonia ‘e Sihova ‘a e ngaahi ako kotoakoe‘uhi ho ho‘omou tali ‘io ki he‘ene ui.

PukoleaVAHEFONUA TONGA ‘O AOTEAROA

Koe si‘i kau hiva mateaki ‘o e malanga fakamanatu. Kuo holo‘ae ta’u ia, ka koe le‘o ‘oku hange ko e ha‘ape ‘a Kingi Tevita