I put together the below video in support of GLBT people everywhere. For those of you who read this blog (all 10 of you) you will know that any issue of social justice is close to my heart and I have written on this particular issue before. Please check out the video and I will also post the transcript below…although I did ad lib a bit!
Kia koa, kia hari- Rejoice and be glad!
It Does Get Better!
Hi. I am the Reverend Christopher Douglas-Huriwai and I am an Anglican Minster here in Auckland, New Zealand and I am here to tell you that is does get better.
I know that for many of you out there it may seem as if “Christian” is just another word for “Homophobia,” believe me it isn’t. To be a Christian is to follow Christ and to follow Christ is perfect freedom and love. And while, I, myself am not a GLBT man, and I don’t for a second pretend to know firsthand the hurt that is all too often present in the lives of Gay, lesbian, Bi and Transgendered people as a result of Homophobia I do know some things. I know that love doesn’t call you Fag, love doesn’t call you a Dyke, love doesn’t condemn you because you have been fearfully and wonderfully made, just the way God intended.
I may only be one person, within a community that is too often seen to be homophobic or anti-GLBT, but please know, you have friends here and we are praying for you. Not for some sort of miracle cure to your “ILLNESS” we aren’t praying that the “GAY DEMON” be cast out of you. But rather we are praying that when you feel like hope is lost and the options are running out. When you feel like things are too hard and your light has grown too dim, remember that there are people here for you, praying for you, and there is a God that loves you, and so do we. IT DOES GET BETTER!
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts remain acceptable in thy sight o LORD our rock and our redeemer.
“Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Phillip called you.’”
Well whanau, I must have annoyed whoever puts our Ministry Team Roster together, because, as if preaching last week, the first Sunday in Ordinary time wasn’t hard enough, I have been put down again to preach this Sunday. Although it may seem like that is rather bad luck, I don’t think it is. The themes that were started last week continue this week and allow us another opportunity to reflect on what we are being called to do as we enter the year proper.
Last Sunday we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus and this week we follow on from that in the natural progression from baptism, to putting those baptismal obligations we spoke about last week, into action. During the season of Epiphany the themes we celebrate revolve around Jesus revealing himself to us and this week is no different. Here, this week with the calling of Phillip and Nathaniel we experience the revelation of Jesus in Galilee, a revelation that is revealed to us in his calling of Nathaniel.
According to Peter Woods, the imagery of the fig tree here in John points to the Old Testament idea of the Fig Tree being a place of blessing and comfort. On the other hand the fig tree in the New Testament is most often seen as a cursed place, an image of a withered fig tree is what we are given in Mark, chapter 11 . Although these two interpretations seem to be miles apart, and on different ends of the scale, it is this space that Nathaniel is occupying in this reading, and it is the place that we risk occupying too if we let ourselves slip into the “ordinary” this Ordinary Time.
This coming week marks a return for a lot of people. If they haven’t already, most people will be returning to work this week and although there is a few more weeks before uni and school starts back, book shops and malls are already starting their “Back to School” sales. Before we know it we will be lost in another year of School, work, and other priorities. It won’t be too long before we are all caught up in our own lives and our own issues, but one thing we must remember, even though thoughts of Christmas may be fast becoming a distant memory, is that we must take forward with us, into the year and the ordinary time, the spirit of Christmas and the Good News of the birth of Jesus Christ.
As Christians, wherever we go, and whatever we do, we carry with us the essence of our faith, the belief in Jesus Christ. This means, whether we like it or not, we are symbols of our faith and for Christ wherever we are. This responsibility calls us to live out our faith at all times. Not just at Christmas time or during Lent when we might be a little more conscious of our faith, but in all places and at all times. This calling to live out our faith is even more important during the normal, mundane times of our lives, and this time of the year is a good time to be reminded of that. Before the hustle and bustle of the year kicks in and we are truly overwhelmed by the pressures of life it is important to stop and reflect on our faith and what our faith calls us to do, before the year grabs a hold of us and before we know it, it is Christmas time once again and we have lost another year. Every interaction, every moment is an opportunity to live out our faith. That doesn’t mean that we should be standing on a street corner preaching or we should be actively trying to convert our friends, but rather that we should live our lives informed by our faith in Christ and become a walking, living testament to that faith. As St. Francis of Assisi put it, we are called to preach the gospel at all times, and only if necessary, use words.
Since October here in New Zealand, and all over the world there has been a group of people living out a type of faith. Since last year a movement called Occupy have been responding to what they perceive to be an injustice. The basic thrust behind the movement is an attempt to name and increase awareness about the inequality around the distribution of wealth and political power. Their main slogan is “We are the 99%.” This is reflective of the fact that 80% of the World’s wealth and power rests with a mere 1% of the population. The people involved in Occupy are responding to their beliefs, and their actions are being informed by those beliefs moving them to express their concern through various occupations throughout New Zealand and the world. Currently the movement in Auckland has occupations at Aotea Square, Queen Street, Albert Park and Victoria Park. Now, whether or not you support the movement, or think what they are doing is the best way of going about raising awareness, we cannot deny that this movement is at least doing something. Just like the people of the Occupy movement we need to let our beliefs and our faith inform our action. Of course, this doesn’t mean we all need to go and pitch tents outside Holy Trinity Cathedral, but rather that we need to be ready to step out in faith because of our beliefs. We need to be ready to leave the comfort and shade of our own fig trees in an attempt to effect change. To do this though we need to be constantly aware of our faith and the obligations that comes with being followers of Christ. This means not taking a place at the banquet table if our brother or sister is denied one, it means being ready to deny ourselves for the greater good, it means we need to preach the gospel, not with words but with actions.
Only when we, like Nathaniel leave our own fig trees can we truly effect change and whole heartedly live out our own calling in Christ to love and to serve. If we don’t we risk turning our fig trees into withered, cursed places of selfishness and greed, instead of life giving places of strength and foundation.
And so I leave you with those thoughts in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts remain acceptable in thy sight o LORD our rock and our redeemer.
When Michael texted me during the week to see if I could preach, I must admit I was a bit nervous. Not because I didn’t want to preach or because the thought of preaching scared me, but rather because here we are, only the second Sunday of the year, but also the first Sunday after all of the hype and excitement of Christmas, New Years and the Holiday Season. Today is a hard day to preach… For the past month we have been spoilt for options when it comes to preaching. We have had the dramatic lead up to Christmas in Advent, we have had Christmas Day itself, and last week was New Years day. In the Church calendar today marks the beginning of two “seasons,” today is the first Sunday after Epiphany, and the first Sunday in Ordinary time. Although these things make it hard to preach on a day like today, I think that it is on this very day where the meaning of Christmas hits home and becomes real. Just like we recited together at Midnight Mass on Christmas eve with the poem: The Christmas Hymn: “When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins:…” The rest of the poem goes on to tell exactly what the work of Christmas is: “…To find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among people, to make music in the heart.”
Christmas is a time of year where, more than any other time, the difference between the rich and the poor is made obvious. It is at this time of year when the struggles of those on the lower end of the Socio-economic scale become front page news and for this one time of the year, the spirit of Christmas calls us all to respond to this poverty that is all around us. Here and now, on this, the first Sunday in Ordinary time, it is good to be reminded that poverty doesn’t just affect people during Christmas but also on the other 364 days of the year. The Herald reported that this year’s turn out to the Auckland City Mission’s Christmas lunch was an all time high, and so many people turned up that some had to be turned away. It is now, after the struggles of the poorest of our community is no longer making it to the front page of our news papers that we should be responding to our calling to love and to serve. A calling that is inside every one of us that claim to be followers of Christ, a calling that is instilled in us at our baptism and nurtured for the rest of our lives.
Baptism, it is something that we do quite often here at Te Karaiti and in a couple of weeks we will be doing it all again as we welcome the Chanel and Tui who will be bringing their Children to be baptised. What a beautiful thing, a young newly married couple living out their faith in such a way that causes them to realise the promise, the potential and the hope that is signified in baptism. For Chanel, Tui and their whanau it will no doubt be an emotional time. Memories of past baptisms will come to mind…thoughts will turn to loved ones who couldn’t make it and still others who are no longer here. But the overwhelming feeling on the day will be one of joy.
This morning, although there will be no baptisms, we celebrate and remember all those things that baptisms mean; promise, hope, and potential…in the Baptism of Jesus. The gospel of Mark does not to have a Nativity Narrative, that is, there is no account of the birth of Jesus, instead we are taken directly to Jesus’ baptism.
Jesus’ seeking and acceptance of baptism is a sign of unity with and an example for us to follow. Although the baptism being offered by John was one of repentance, Jesus’ sinless nature meant that there was no sin needing to be repented, but rather the necessity for baptism and the importance of baptism was as a starting point, and an opportunity for a new beginning. For many, the baptism of Jesus signifies the beginning of his ministry, a new phase in his life. At this time of year and on a day in which we remember the Baptism of Jesus we are given an opportunity to reflect on the past year and think about our own new beginnings and the promise, hope and potential that the New Year brings. When we think of the bible and the theme of New Beginnings we most often call to mind the creation story in Genesis, but the bible is full of New Beginnings and this, the baptism of Jesus is an example of just that.
Here, today, we are given an opportunity to once again stop and reflect. First of all on the past year, the good times, the bad, the successes, the failures, the ups and the downs. But it is also an opportunity for us to look to the future, the New Year and see where our baptismal obligations are leading us, and what those obligations are calling us to do.
Here and now, as we remember the Baptism of Jesus, we are being called to reflect on those words of the baptism liturgy which call us to “walk in the faith of Christ, crucified and risen, to shine with the light of Christ.” Although the needs of the poor and the marginalised have all but disappeared from the front pages of our news papers, the calling still remains with us to respond to our baptismal obligation and be the light of Christ amongst those whose own lights may have grown dim. In order to do that we must firstly and whole hearted live out the words of the Christmas Hymn: “…to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among people…”
And so I leave you with those thoughts in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
In my brief career as a preacher I have come to the opinion that preaching is a true art form, and sermons a piece of art.
Like most works of art, there are things that work well and things that don’t. Things that depend on the viewers’ (or listeners’) perspective and things that are just plain horrible no matter what perspective you take. This means that the act of preaching and indeed the sermons themselves become a very intimate thing, almost to the point when the sermons themselves become a piece of you and a little bit of you is weaved within the sermon.
For these reasons some preachers (this one included) can become a little bit shy about preaching and our sermons. Of course there are those for whom preaching seems to be natural. I have been blessed to witness some true masters of this art form in action, most notably the Venerable Dr. Hone Kaa, Kaumatua Priest and Mentor for scores of ministers here in Aotearoa. I am convinced that the reason Matua Hone is so at home in the pulpit is because what he preaches at Church on Sunday he is living on Monday, Matua Hone’s faith informs his action. Matua Hone isn’t always the most eloquent preacher and at times he comes very close to “the line” and may even step over it, but what Picasso or Michelangelo could do with a paint brush, Matua Hone can do with words.
In an attempt to get over my own shyness and to one become a quarter the preacher that Matua Hone is, I have decided to post my sermons here from now on. I realise that that could mean this blog is about to deteriorate into a theological wasteland, but it is pretty much already that so why not go the whole hog!
Cold feet. It is a feeling mostly associated with blushing brides on their wedding days, not young men about to realize the calling of a lifetime, but in a way, I think this may be the most apt description for how I am feeling now, just a week out from my ordination to the diaconate.
If you were to ask me at the beginning of the year how I felt about my calling to ordained ministry, my answer would have been as quick as a bullet and I would have been 100% confident, now just 7 days away from ordination I am not so quick to answer. From the first time I felt a calling to ordained ministry I have always felt a sense of calm and relaxation in the call, perhaps it was because I was so young, or perhaps it was because it was still over 5 years before there was even the possibility of being ordained (in this province no one under the age of 23 can be ordained.) now, just a week before ordination and a mere few days before I join with the other 3 ordinands and go into retreat, I find my mind and heart reflecting, and indeed fluttering at the thought of what is to take place on the 11th of December.
Reflecting back on the last few years and the journey both Sharlene and I have taken in the church I feel humbled and amazed at both the people we have been privileged enough to work with and the experiences we have both had, together and on our own. From holding a Kuia’s (elderly lady) hand as we said prayers by her bedside, and returning the following week to bury her. To trips to Fiji and to Pine Ridge and the people of RedShirt, South Dakota, these experiences and everything in between have impacted on me hugely and have gone a long way to shape me, my ministry and my outlook, and it is to these experiences and the huge amount of people that my mind now turns to, one week away from ordination.
Although come 1pm on the 11th it will be my head upon which the bishop lays his hands, and it will be my voice responding to his questions I know that none of this would have been possible without the help, inspiration, mentoring and friendship of a whole host of people, not to mention the various experiences I have been lucky enough to have. It is because of that that I am able to respond to the calling to serve God in ordained ministry and it is because of that that come the 11th, my heart and mind, while still fluttering, will be secure and relaxed in the calling I have received, the calling I often talk about, the calling to love and to serve, only now I will serving as a Deacon in the Church of God.
For those of you who live locally, I extend a warm invitation to share with the church, the ordinands and our families this Sunday, the 11th of December at 1pm at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Khyber Pass Road as Brendon Wilkinson, Wayne and Jody Ashby and myself are ordained to the Diaconate.
Perhaps one of the most prevalent themes of the Gospel story is that of justice. Not just a superficial, forced type of justice, but a justice that permeates everything we do, a justice that is lived out and a justice that causes change. It is for that reason that Christ quoted from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and said,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
“We are the 99%.” This slogan has become somewhat of a house hold term over the last month. It is, of course is the catch phrase of the Occupy movement that is currently spreading all over the world. Beginning in America, Occupy has spread from South Africa to Japan, to the Czech Republic to Brazil, the Occupy movement is truly a worldwide event, and since the 15th of October Occupy has made itself at home in New Zealand.
According to their Facebook page, Occupy Aotearoa New Zealand exists as “…an expression of solidarity with the people occupying Wall Street as well as many of the other occupations around the world. We support the assertion that endless corporate greed compromises the political system and holds too much influence over our everyday lives. We stand for a truly democratic society of freedom, equality, justice and equity.” At first glance I was, at least in principal supportive of the Occupy Movement, but as the days and weeks have progressed I find myself less and less in support of Occupy. For me as an indigenous person, I find it very hard to reconcile the Occupy cause with that of my own people and indeed, that of native people the world over. Occupy’s slogan is largely based on the disparity between those who have the majority of the worlds wealth and their influence. It is largely regarded as fact that 1% of the world’s population control 40% of the world’s wealth, and in the eyes of Occupy that also means power. So far, so good, I have no issues with that as a basic issue that should be brought to light. My reservations come in on a more fundamental level, that being the baseline foundation of the movement and their mode of protest.
My people, our people have been occupied, formally at least, since 1840 and so when a movement springs up in New Zealand proclaiming the occupation of the country until we see a return to democracy and equality, I am sure you can understand why I would be a touch hesitant to stand in solidarity with the said movement. Our people have been fighting for the last 170 odd years for our very existence as Māori. Not for financial gain or in protest at a financial deficient, no, our needs are far more fundamental than financial. We have been fighting for our language, our histories, our culture, our land. We have been fighting for our very lives. All of those things that make us who we are, we have been fighting for. As an indigenous person in Aotearoa New Zealand I feel marginalised, sidelined and ignored as a result of the Occupy Movement.
At a very fundamental level, the Occupy movement is effectively an import. We imported the slogan, we imported the mode of protest, and we even imported the chants. In doing so, the organisers of Occupy Aotearoa New Zealand have introduced yet another tool of colonisation to this country.
While the protesters march down Queen Street, Māori are making up more than 50% of the Prison population. While the protestors are pitching their tents in Aotea Square, over 50% of Māori are living in the 3 highest deprivation deciles. While the protestors occupy Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, Māori are still fighting for rights to our Ancestral Lands.
I have said it before in my blog posts and I will say it again, as Christians our calling to love and to serve means that we should be concerned with injustice in whatever form it takes and wherever it occurs. A part of that responsibility is to ensure that our response to injustice doesn’t cause more hurt and pain and therefore simply perpetuate the cycle that injustice creates. This is where I feel Occupy Aotearoa has come up short. I must confess, like I said earlier, at first I thought Occupy was great. Finally, a response to corporate greed and power, but when I looked beyond the surface and reflected on the implications of the protest, especially on indigenous people I began to realise that this protest doesn’t in fact, empower the already weak. It doesn’t liberate the marginalised or release the captives. It doesn’t restore sight to the blind or let the oppressed go free. What it does do is highlight just how off the radar and unimportant issues of justice, especially justice for Māori, is in Aotearoa New Zealand, even among those who fight for better equality and justice. Perhaps if nothing else, that realisation for me is a worthwhile outcome of the Occupy Movement.
My Name is Christopher Huriwai, I am indigenous and I am the occupied.
I don’t usually post or present my sermons online or anywhere else other than in the Church or for the congregation they were written for, but I have decided to post my most recent sermon here. Given that the topic for this particular sermon is of such a wide reaching nature I thought it would be nice to share it. I will share the transcript below but for those of you who don’t have the time to read it I will post the video of my sermon. If nothing else, the video at least shows what a beautiful Whare Karakia (Church) Te Karaiti is.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my rock and my redeemer. AMEN.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seventimes.”
Our reading this morning continues the theme, and subject of this part of Matthew’s Gospel, namely that of living in community. Our gospel reading last week gave us ways in which we can resolve conflict within the community and within the Church and this week we continue that theme with a teaching on forgiveness.
Peter asks Jesus, ‘If someone sins against me how many times should I forgive them?’ Being Peter, he thinks he knows the answer and proposes 7. Here Jesus rebukes him and says, not seven, but seventy seven. Jesus then goes on to illustrate his point through the parable of the unforgiving servant.
Jesus’ command to not forgive someone 7 times, but 77 isn’t a literal command but rather says to us that we should always offer and be prepared to offer forgiveness. Not once, or twice or even seven times, but as many times as is necessary for that forgiveness to be taken. This means that as followers of Christ we are called to always be ready to offer forgiveness. We are called to always have our hands stretched out in forgiveness in the real hope that someone will accept it.
Every generation has it’s ‘news flash’ moments. Events that happen in our lifetimes that, no matter how old or young we are we can remember where we were and what we were doing. For my Dad, it was the landing on the moon. He had just left Primary School and was in 3rd form at high school in Gisborne. For my Mum, it was in 1977, she was 21 and Elvis Presley had just passed away. For me it was when I was 13, in 3rd form at Cashmere High School. I had PE for my first period this particular day and when I was getting changed my friend said to me, ‘have you heard? Someone has just bombed America.’
Today is September 11 2011 – the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and in churches all over the world there is a debate going on. Church leaders, ministers and preachers are wondering what they should do. Should they acknowledge this day? Should they ignore it? Should they just have a prayer and then move on with the karakia? Whanau, here, this morning we do acknowledge what happened on this day 10 years ago. We remember those who died; the passengers on the planes, the workers at the World Trade Centre, the people at the Pentagon, all those who died, we remember them. And with their loved ones we also reflect on the past 10 years.
The readings we do each Sunday here at Te Karaiti and at all Anglican Churches across the world come from this book, the lectionary. I am not sure who puts it together and who chooses the readings, but the readings for this morning, especially the Gospel are very helpful as we remember and reflect on the events of 9/11 and how the world has changed, if at all because of what happened on this day 10 years ago.
For the last 10 years America and several other nations around the world have been involved in a ‘War on Terror.’ This War on Terror was America’s response to the attacks of 9/11. Our gospel this morning is helpful in reflecting on the War on Terror and America’s response to 9/11. Where did this response come from? What was the foundation for this reaction? In light of our reading it seems that America may have been touch brash in their response to 9/11. Our reading this morning calls us all to forgiveness. The hard part here is, if America didn’t respond in the way it did then would we be better or worse off here and now, 10 years on. To be honest, I don’t know, but what I do know is that forgiveness doesn’t invade a country, forgiveness doesn’t launch a war, forgiveness doesn’t imprison people without trial, forgiveness doesn’t kill.
What we need to remember about 9/11 is that it didn’t happen in isolation. America wasn’t the only place in the world to change forever that day, nor were they the only people who would feel the pains of terrorism and war, no, the War on Terror ensured that scores of other innocent people would also experience the horrors of war. It is 10 years on and the people of America are beginning to return to some sort of normality. The rebuilding and creation of a memorial at Ground Zero are going well with the latter all but completed, people are starting to move around New York with more ease and most people aren’t nearly as nervous about flying as they were 5 years ago. But what about in the Middle East and Afghanistan? What about those innocent people who live in the countries where this War on Terror is playing out? It is important that here and now, 10 years on we remember them, those who continue to suffer as their homes and lives are torn apart by the ongoing war on terror, just as much as we remember those who died on 11th September 2001.
The real hard part about preaching on a day like today isn’t that I am scared I might say the wrong things, it isn’t that I am worried I may offend some people, it isn’t even the fact that Matua Hone is sitting at the back giving my sermon a score out of 10. The real hard part is that while this day, 9/11, is a day of sadness and tragedy; we know that right outside our doors is a community that needs healing, a community that needs love, a community that needs forgiveness. While thousands upon thousands of people died in the events of 9/11, and while that is a tragedy of epic proportions, we need to remember that here, in Mangere and in communities all across Aotearoa and the world; people are suffering and dying needlessly every day. It was just last week that Matua Hone himself was in the Herald speaking out against issues of child poverty.
As Christians, it is part of our calling to condemn anything that brings about suffering, from child poverty to hopelessness to war and unnecessary death in any form it takes. By virtue of our calling we are commanded to preserve life and ensure that its innate dignity is protected. Today is a reminder to us that we need to continually use our voices to condemn the ongoing War on Terror. America’s response to answer violence with violence was, simply put, the wrong one. Here this morning, our Gospel reading and our calling to follow Christ tells us how to respond to situations like these. We are called to respond from a place of love, a place of concern and perhaps most importantly, a place of forgiveness. True forgiveness demands that we don’t attach conditions or ultimatums, but rather offer freedom and wholeness. True forgiveness comes without any strings attached and is offered fully. Even when it seems that our offer of forgiveness is declined or goes unanswered we must respond to Jesus’ command to forgive seventy times seven if need be.
And so I leave you with those thoughts in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Suicide. The mere mention of the word is enough to stir our emotions, our memories and even move some of us to anger. It is no surprise then that the MP for Te Waiariki, Te Ururoa Flavell sparked such controversy with his recent column on suicide. You can read it here, but basically what the esteemed member of parliament said was that we shouldn’t celebrate the lives of those who commit suicide, instead we should bury them at the entrance of the cemetery (where people would walk over them) so their deaths will be condemned by the people.
As Falvell says, this is a hardline stance, but he is proposing it because he has seen firsthand the trauma and grief caused by suicide, and in his words “What else can we do?”
Like most people I have been touched by suicide, while my whanau and I have been lucky enough to not have a suicide in the immediate family, the effects of suicide are such that even when it occurs in the extended family or even a loose circle of acquaintances, everyone feels it s horrible presence no matter how distant. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Flavell’s article caused such a reaction.
Like everything, I think it is important to look to our faith when dealing with issues, especially issues like suicide that seem to have no reason, but hurt so much. One piece of scripture that comes to mind whenever I think of suicide is from Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
This passage sums up to me what I believe would be God’s response to any person who is convinced that their burden is so heavy, and they are so weary that the only way to be free from it is to end their lives. As I type these words I am very aware of the dangers of glorifying suicide, and please know that that is certainly not my intention. These words are not a way of legitimising suicide but rather a response to it. The real power in these words from Matthew’s gospel are in the fact that they are a calling to all of us to place our burdens on Jesus and free ourselves from the weight and tiredness that comes with those burdens. Through doing so, and responding to those words from Matthew, we free ourselves from those dark corners of our lives where some of us are sometimes moved to consider, and in the worse cases commit suicide. I believe our God is a god of love and while God would much rather see us live our lives and live them fully in him I cannot for a second fathom that God wouldn’t be waiting to receive any victim of suicide with open arms and offer them the paradise they were so tragically denied during their lives, that paradise that we are all entitled to.
From this perspective I must disagree with Flavell. I do not think that it is right for us, or anyone else to deny a grieving family a Tangi (funeral) or to bury a victim of suicide outside of the urupa (cemetery) by themselves. They were so alone in their lives, why would we condemn them to remain alone (even if only their mortal remains) in death? Even more than that, I am moved by my faith to respond to suicide in a way that is inspired by, and lives out the love of God as revealed to us in his son Jesus Christ.
I was (pleasantly) surprised last week when I was speaking to my mother and she asked me if I had heard that the Church of England had given the OK for Gay clergy, not only to be ordained, but to exercise episcopal ministry. I must say while my initial thought was full of doubt I still had the slightest hope in me that what she told me was true and that there had been a breakthrough. Sadly, my doubt was confirmed.
In a paper released last Monday the Church of England stated their position on Gay clergy in relation to the Equality Act. The main thrust of the paper is that Gay clergy will be allowed to hold any office in the church, including episcopal, if they are celibate. This paper maintains that there should be no discrimination based on orientation, but that it is the behavior that goes with the orientation that mattered.
While this is (arguably) a step in the right direction, one can’t help but feel that this is a final step and not an initial one. This paper effectively says that it is OK to be Gay as long as you don’t act on your inherent, God given sexuality. Not only is this an injustice against our LGBT brothers and sisters, it is a blatant injustice against the love of God. Any couple, heterosexual, homosexual or otherwise will testify to the intimacy, love, transformation and transcendence that occurs when making love. It is quite possibly the most intimate time and space that we share with another human being. It is the human response to love that we should all be able to express irrespective of sexual orientation, so to deny that expression of that intimacy, that love, to anyone is a grave injustice.
This paper is falling back on secular law as a scape goat to facilitate and empower a position of prejudice. This paper relies on the law that says marriage is to be between and woman and a man only. So what if a LGBT couple, who are legally married in another country go to minister in England? Will they be able to exercise their sexuality while one of them is also in active ministry? This (using the law to justify prejudice) is a tactic that is all to familiar around the communion. It has even been used here in the Church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia.
The canons of the church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia are clear; a requirement of ordination is Chastity. Chastity in the canons of this province is defined as “the right ordering of sexual relationships.” This statement is also explained in the Standing Resolutions where it says “the right ordering of sexual relationships is within marriage, if single then the person is to remain celibate.” Where does this leave our LGBT whanau? Where does this leave the church? It places our LGBT brothers and sisters in a very unfair position, either remain celibate and respond to your calling to ordained ministry or deny your calling to ordained ministry but live the fullness of who God created you to be. That is an unfair position to say the least, and to say the most, it is oppression of the worst kind.
It is easy to see now, how the church is using secular law to empower their prejudice. After all it isn’t the church’s fault that it is illegal for same-sex couples to be married, is it? Well, I have a radical idea, instead of waiting for the law to change how about we change the canons? Why not simply insert civil-unions into our existing canons so that the right ordering of sexual relationships is between the married and those in civil-unions? Of course that would be too easy…
The Church of England has not taken a step forward, all this paper does is rub salt into an already very sore wound and until we, as a church are ready to step out in faith and make a prophetic (as opposed to this pathetic) statement affirming the God given sexuality and sexual nature of all human kind than we are still no closer to fully living out the gospel of Christ, the gospel of love.
Tonight I attended the 27th annual HIV/AIDS Candlelight Memorial Service at S. Matthew-in-the-City here in Auckland. While we know that HIV/AIDS is not a disease unique to the gay community, the emphasis of the memorial was definitely on the impact that HIV/AIDS has had on the wider gay community here in New Zealand and abroad. As I sat there in this beautiful (Anglican) Church in the middle of New Zealand’s largest city, my mind began to tick over. I thought and reflected on many things, from the church’s action, or inaction in regards to the Homosexuality “issue” to the church’s unwillingness to make a definitive and prophetic statement on the “issue” of ordaining openly LGBT people. As I mulled over these ideas my mind turned to the upcoming Common Life Missions Conference that is to be held here in New Zealand in the coming week. While I have my own ideas on mission (mainly that of missioning to our own people before going overseas) it was not to those ideas that I instinctively turned, instead it was to the keynote speaker of the conference, the Most Reverend Ben Kwashi, Archbishop of Jos.
++Kwashi is probably most famous for the attacks that were carried out on him and his family during the religious unrest in Nigeria. He is also known as a motivational and electric preacher, evangelist and anti-gay cleric. This, to say the least, is cause for concern for myself and I hope the wider church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia. As ++Kwashi is the keynote speaker he is not here as a tourist, or visitor but as a (Arch)Bishop of the Anglican Church on an official visit. While this may all seem benign and he is simply here to inspire the conference with his powerful voice and electric charisma I genuinely think Anglicans across Aotearoa should be concerned for the message this sends to the international community and, probably more importantly to our LGBT brothers and sisters here in New Zealand. Our reception, and invitation no less to ++Kwashi sends the message that we support him, his diocese and by implication the church in Nigeria. Their views on Homosexuality and their lack of prophetic witness especially in light of the recent, sexuality fuelled violence in Nigeria is reason enough for us to maintain our distance from the Nigerian Church. So to invite a bishop of the church of Nigeria to Aotearoa- New Zealand flies in the face of what I thought it meant to be Anglican in these islands.
Some time ago the presiding bishop of TEC, Katherine Jefferts-Schori visited New Zealand. Not on an official visit, not to speak at a Missions conference, not on an official invite but as a “private citizen.” It even went so far that in one diocese of the Church in New Zealand she was forbidden from not only preaching (to which she was invited to do so by the Dean) but from entering the cathedral at all! While I can think of one reason(I wonder if the Nigerian Church’s stance towards TEC had anything to do with it?) for her not being here in an official capacity the fact that ++Kwashi is being shown more hospitality than the presiding bishop of TEC was even offered also sends a bad sign to the church in Aotearoa. It says that we are willing to fall into line for the biggest bully on the playground (Nigeria is the second largest province in the Anglican Communion) rather than prophetically support those on the margins. In short, we are willing to sell our soul to be popular with the right people.
Even if we were to ignore the issues I have already raised there are still several other reasons why I think it is absolutely ridiculous for ++Kwashi, or any bishop from Nigeria for that matter, to be received here in an official capacity. In 2005 the Nigerian Church reworded its constitution to redefine its view of the Anglican Communion. It no longer recognises provinces who are in Communion with Canterbury as part of the Anglican Communion but rather “all Anglican Churches, Dioceses and Provinces that hold and maintain the ‘Historic Faith, Doctrine, Sacrament and Discipline of the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” What does this statement even mean? From my reading of this part of their constitution it would mean that the Province of Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia aren’t even a part of the Anglican Communion according to the Nigerian Church. Why then are we even entertaining the remotest idea of receiving a bishop from the Church of Nigeria here in an official capacity? Not only is the Nigerian church redefining what it means to be Anglican, they are themselves contradicting the Anglican tradition that they profess to be so fervently defending. In 2006 the Reverend Martyn Minns was elected by the Church of Nigeria as the Missionary bishop for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. Minns was consecrated in Abuja, Nigeria and installed as Missionary Bishop in 2007. That consecration and installation alone is a more schismatic act than anything ever done by TEC or any LGBGT clergy and yet we, the Church in Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia are content to invite ++Kwashi not only to attend the conference but be the keynote speaker, the mind boggles.
I was expecting a few things when i decided to attend the candlelight service tonight; a predominantly LGBT congregation, a reflective mood and a good service, and I was right. What I wasn’t expecting however was the type of reflection that occurred. I wasn’t expecting to be challenged, I wasn’t expecting to be thinking about the state of the worldwide communion and I certainly wasn’t expecting to write a blog post when I got home. So I thank God for the time and the opportunity to reflect and remember. Not only about the horrors of HIV/AIDS but also to reflect on the challenges that face the wider church and all of us that call it home.
As I write this I am mindful of those who are affected by this horrible disease, both the sufferers and their loved ones. But mostly my mind turns to those who fought their battle with courage and strength and who are now at rest. Eternal rest grant unto them O LORD, and let light perpetual shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace, and rise in glory.
I am a twenty-something theological student at the College of S. John the Evangelist Auckland, New Zealand. I have been married since 2008 and my wife and I have been living in Auckland since 2009. I was ordained in 2011 in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa -New Zealand and Polynesia.
