D01 001 **[089 TEXT D01**]
D01 002 ^*0The division appeared to be caused more by the morality of the
D01 003 issue than by its legality. ^Prior to the Assembly the Auckland
D01 004 Presbytery had voted 37-31 against the Law Reform Bill and
D01 005 conservative congregations had dissociated themselves from their
D01 006 church's stand. ^The North Invercargill Church Session said it would
D01 007 *'further the spiritual decline of the Church and the moral
D01 008 disintegration of society**'. ^It later called for anyone supporting
D01 009 homosexuality to repent before God and nation.
D01 010    |^The Associated Churches of Christ sought to study the problem
D01 011 more closely and seek ways in which homosexuals could be helped. ^They
D01 012 recognised the need for a decision on the question of moral judgement
D01 013 and for medical research and law reform.
D01 014    |^The official position of the Catholic Church has adamantly
D01 015 opposed reform. ^Homosexual practices are unnatural, disordered
D01 016 behaviours and contrary to the will and goodness of God. ^On the other
D01 017 hand the Church has always been committed to the forgiveness and
D01 018 acceptance of sinners and set its face against the ostracism and
D01 019 persecution of the homosexual himself. ^But any campaign to promote it
D01 020 as morally acceptable could not be supported. ^Cardinal Thomas
D01 021 Williams, Catholic Archbishop, strongly opposed Fran Wilde's Bill. ^It
D01 022 would not, he felt, further the real interests either of homosexual
D01 023 persons or of society as a whole. ^Any decriminalisation would simply
D01 024 suggest to many people that homosexuality is socially and morally
D01 025 permissible, for the law is the touchstone of what is morally and
D01 026 socially acceptable. ^*'Its power to mould public opinion, social
D01 027 mores and community moral standards cannot be
D01 028 under**[ARB**]-estimated**'. ^But the Catholic view has often been
D01 029 challenged by both priests and lay folk. ^Notable opponent has been
D01 030 Father Felix Donnelly, senior lecturer in medical health at the
D01 031 Auckland Medical School. ^He has frequently claimed support from many
D01 032 churchmen of different persuasions. ^God is more concerned, he says,
D01 033 with the quality of the love relationship than with the form of it.
D01 034 ^In May, 1980, his right to preach or teach or hear confession was
D01 035 revoked by Bishop \0J. Mackey since *'he rejects the normative value
D01 036 of the church's teaching**'.
D01 037    |^The traditional view of the Anglicans has been that all sexual
D01 038 acts outside marriage are sinful. ^The homosexual has had four
D01 039 options: abstain, direct sexual impulses into creative, non-sexual
D01 040 pursuits, seek clinical help to normalise his sexual orientation, and
D01 041 consider heterosexual marriage. ^This attitude, too, has changed, as
D01 042 the Church has become more conscious of its pastoral responsibility.
D01 043 ^In 1979 the Christchurch Anglicans voted for decriminalisation and
D01 044 opposed discrimination of the homosexual. ^However, they did express
D01 045 concern that their stand was not to be seen to be encouraging
D01 046 homosexual behaviour. ^A number of members left the church and many
D01 047 others were caused deep grief. ^A petition opposed to the Synod's
D01 048 decision was circulated. ^It charged that the report treated the
D01 049 entire subject inadequately in that it did not take into account the
D01 050 power of God to heal and change lives. ^It was also one-sided in its
D01 051 Scriptural content. ^Two years later Dunedin Anglicans likewise came
D01 052 out in favour of decriminalisation although it**[SIC**] was a little
D01 053 more cautious.
D01 054    |^In 1985 the Anglican Church as a whole, via its Public and
D01 055 Social Affairs Committee, produced a special document calling for
D01 056 restraint, sensitivity and tolerance in our attitude toward
D01 057 homosexuals. ^It concluded that *'there is no completely consistent
D01 058 Christian line that homosexual behaviour is wrong**'. ^The former
D01 059 abhorrence of many Christians of the homosexual act has changed: *'^A
D01 060 number of church people have been prepared to accept that homosexual
D01 061 relationships are not necessarily evil**'. ^Homosexuals are not
D01 062 *'abnormal**' only *'different**'. ^The Scriptural references are
D01 063 waived**[SIC**] away because of the great gulf between the Biblical
D01 064 world and ours. ^The Dean of Auckland, the Very \0Rev. John Rymer,
D01 065 cannot agree. ^He finds it difficult to grasp that homosexuality is a
D01 066 legitimate alternative to heterosexuality. ^Reform of the law is
D01 067 tantamount to giving approval to a practice unacceptable to many of us.
D01 068    |^A sign of the new thinking was the establishment of a gay church
D01 069 in Auckland, on Anglican Church property. ^Gay churches had their
D01 070 origins in Los Angeles in 1968 and have since spread around the world.
D01 071 ^There are over 200 in the United States alone, including two gay
D01 072 synagogues, ministering to 30,000 homosexuals. ^The Auckland
D01 073 Metropolitan Church was formed in 1975 at \0St Matthews-in-the-City,
D01 074 the inspiration of five clergy *- a Catholic priest, three Anglican
D01 075 priests, and a Presbyterian minister. ^It was necessary, they felt, to
D01 076 establish an independent church because of vocal and bitter opposition
D01 077 to the acceptance of homosexuals from a minority in the established
D01 078 churches. ^The congregation grew to about 150. ^The creed was
D01 079 basically that of the major Christian churches except that it was
D01 080 non-judgemental.
D01 081    |^In 1980, as a result of the death of its officiating minister
D01 082 and a subsequent contretemps with the American headquarters the church
D01 083 split in two. ^One group moved a mile away and retained its links with
D01 084 the world**[ARB**]-wide homosexual church under the leadership of an
D01 085 ex-Baptist minister who had retrained in the United States as a
D01 086 homosexual pastor. ^The new Auckland Community Church stayed at \0St
D01 087 Matthews under the pastorship of an Anglican priest, \0Rev. \0K.
D01 088 Benton, who was officially commissioned by the Anglican Church. ^This
D01 089 group maintains its links with the mainline churches and is
D01 090 accountable to them. ^It professes to carry out an ecumenical outreach
D01 091 to the gay community. ^Ministers of other persuasions often help in
D01 092 worship.
D01 093    |^The \0St Matthews congregation has received considerable
D01 094 financial aid from the Anglican Church *- about *+$8,000 over the past
D01 095 three years. ^The Methodists and Presbyterians have also contributed
D01 096 smaller amounts although the Auckland Presbytery turned down a request
D01 097 for *+$3,500 in 1985, in line with its opposition to the Law Reform
D01 098 Bill; a contribution to a homosexual church would appear to be
D01 099 compromising. ^The Catholics are unofficially supportive though not
D01 100 financially. ^Other donations come from the gay business community and
D01 101 nightclubs, as well as from weekly offerings.
D01 102    |^The homosexual church congregations consist mainly of male
D01 103 homosexuals although there is a small percentage of women and some
D01 104 non-gay Christians. ^There is a wide cross-section of society and age
D01 105 range. ^The \0Rev. Benton hit the headlines in 1984 for refusing to
D01 106 marry two homosexuals, but he gave them a blessing instead.
D01 107    |^Major dissension was generated both in the Church and wider
D01 108 community in 1985 first by the introduction of the Law Reform Bill to
D01 109 Parliament and second, by the circulation of a petition opposing it.
D01 110 ^The discord was boosted by official sponsorship of the petition by
D01 111 the Salvation Army. ^For the first time the Army stepped out of its
D01 112 religious and social service role and took on the mantle of voluntary
D01 113 campaigners in the pseudo-political arena. ^While the Army displays
D01 114 its typical care and concern for those with homosexual tendencies and
D01 115 will do all in its power to provide understanding and help, it firmly
D01 116 opposes homosexual practices. ^Indeed, homosexual practices
D01 117 unrenounced render a person unacceptable as a Salvation Army soldier
D01 118 just as acts of immorality between heterosexuals do.
D01 119 ^Decriminalisation will lead to corruption of the young, they believe,
D01 120 and increased immorality. ^So the order was given to marshal their
D01 121 forces and march through the country to gain the largest petition in
D01 122 New Zealand's history. ^The petition itself was couched in the names
D01 123 of two former Christian mayors and supported at public meetings by
D01 124 four Members of Parliament, three of whom had strong Christian
D01 125 backgrounds.
D01 126    |^The effect on the country was electric. ^It brought out into the
D01 127 open latent Christian conflict. ^Petitions were torn up and defaced.
D01 128 ^They were stolen from petitioners' letter-boxes. ^Liberals accused
D01 129 conservatives of bigotry yet showed similar intolerance themselves.
D01 130 ^Indeed, Christian reaction to Christian anti-Bill campaigners was
D01 131 often less than Christian and quite spiteful. ^Salvation Army members
D01 132 were upset at not being consulted. ^Their chiefs had no mandate. ^A
D01 133 television drama series based on the work of the Salvation Army was
D01 134 canned. ^The Broadcasting Corporation could not be seen to be backing
D01 135 a political force which was polarising the people.
D01 136    |^Some churches allowed the petition to circulate freely. ^Others
D01 137 outrightly refused. ^Still others had lengthy, sometimes testy,
D01 138 discussions on whether it should or should not be circulated. ^Bitter
D01 139 arguments ranged over the meaning of Scripture, the origins of
D01 140 homosexual tendencies, the morality of the act, and the consequences
D01 141 of liberalising the law. ^Public meetings were disrupted by irate
D01 142 homosexuals and Christian liberals in their crusade for change.
D01 143 ^Emotions ran high. ^There were claims of people being pressured to
D01 144 sign. ^And counter-claims. ^Public debate brought sneers and jeers
D01 145 from liberals whenever the Bible or God was mentioned. ^Confusion.
D01 146    |^A few incidents. ^Fifty people tried to disrupt a public church
D01 147 service of 900 in Christchurch, organised in opposition to the Bill
D01 148 and in support of the petition by Baptist, Brethren, Methodist, Maori
D01 149 Evangelicals and charismatic churches. ^The Pentecostals attracted
D01 150 1200 to the Auckland Town Hall but successfully excluded protesters.
D01 151 ^Activists forced the cancellation of a meeting organised by the North
D01 152 Shore Reformed Churches. ^They comprised 70% of the audience.
D01 153 ^Democratic debate proved impossible amidst the foot-stamping, jeers
D01 154 and verbal abuse. ^In Christchurch's Cathedral Square 3,000 sang
D01 155 choruses and prayed at an open air public meeting arranged by the
D01 156 Coalition of Concerned Christians, a group of conservative business
D01 157 and professional people. ^Individual ministers from mainline churches
D01 158 were present. ^But Anglican Cathedral authorities turned down their
D01 159 request for use of the cathedral in the event of inclement weather.
D01 160 ^The Select Committee received more submissions on the Bill than ever
D01 161 before.
D01 162    |^History will show whether the Salvation Army was justified in
D01 163 singling out this issue to battle. ^Their action certainly fired
D01 164 debate which helped clarify the pros and cons. ^And it brought them
D01 165 closer to the right**[ARB**]-wing of Christian activity than to the
D01 166 mainline group. ^The Associated Pentecostal Churches, consisting of
D01 167 some 400 causes, were strong opponents of the Bill and organised many
D01 168 of the public meetings. ^The Lutherans also opposed. ^Homosexuality
D01 169 was seen as a corruption of the natural human instincts implanted by
D01 170 God's order of creation.
D01 171    |^And in Parliament? ^Hansard debates show tremendously diverse
D01 172 reactions, emotional and rational. ^The divisiveness with which a
D01 173 number of Members labelled the churches existed in the country's
D01 174 parliamentary chambers too. ^It is difficult to determine the effect
D01 175 of Christian views on {0MP}s' decisions. ^Conservatives tended to
D01 176 stress the moral issues more than the legal. ^Liberals of a Christian
D01 177 leaning tended to enlist organisational church support for reform and
D01 178 name known Christian individuals as part of the growing body of
D01 179 informed opinion. ^Conservatives countered with lists of those
D01 180 churches not in support. ^Only the occasional {0MP} launched into any
D01 181 personal testimony or Christian dissertation. ^One, for example,
D01 182 dismissed the Sodom and Gomorrah story with a nicely researched piece
D01 183 of modern Biblical criticism. ^But most of those who mentioned the
D01 184 churches, and this only accounted for 35% of all speakers, tended to
D01 185 quote what the churches said in submissions rather than express their
D01 186 own personal opinions. ^And it was mostly the liberal {0MP}s who used
D01 187 the church in their arguments. ^One can conclude that Christian
D01 188 argument as such had little to do with the outcome of the debate.
D01 189    |^The homosexuality issue split the Church down the middle,
D01 190 polarising liberals against conservatives, reformers against promoters
D01 191 of the status quo. ^It was an issue which caused pain and democratic
D01 192 dissent within parishes of both liberal and conservative persuasions.
D01 193 ^The overt political alignment of some churches disturbed not a few.
D01 194    |^The secret of much unhappiness centred on the question of
D01 195 morality. ^Are homosexual acts immoral or not? ^Parishioners wanted a
D01 196 clear lead. ^But in their single-minded concern for social justice the
D01 197 prophets failed to give them that lead. ^It may well not have been the
D01 198 issue but to the thousands of Christians not caught up in the various
D01 199 pros and cons it was important. ^Is homosexuality in the same category
D01 200 as adultery and incest or not? ^Silence. ^Clergy hesitated. ^In some
D01 201 quarters there was the suggestion that they would feel justified,
D01 202 under certain circumstances, of recognising two homosexuals in
D01 203 marriage, given the opportunity.
D01 204    |^The {0NCC}'s endorsement of decriminalisation was interpreted by
D01 205 some as favouring the homosexual lifestyle.
D01 206 *#
D02 001 **[090 TEXT D02**]
D02 002 *<*6RACISM *- *4a personal journey*>
D02 003    |^*0As a schoolboy in wartime New Zealand, I cannot recall
D02 004 ever meeting any Maoris or being aware of any problem of race
D02 005 relations. ^As a rugby enthusiast, I knew about George Nepia *-
D02 006 the famous Maori All-Black. ^We learnt a Maori haka which we
D02 007 chanted at important school rugby matches. ^We were proud of the
D02 008 Maori battalion then fighting overseas. ^But the idea that there
D02 009 were any problems or injustices in the relationship of Maori and
D02 010 Pakeha never entered my head.
D02 011    |^The first glimmerings of concern came to me about 1949
D02 012 when I was a student at Edinburgh University. ^Paul Robeson, the
D02 013 famous black singer from America, visited the University and
D02 014 spoke at the University Communist Society. ^I went along *- lured
D02 015 by the chance of a free concert, but with trepidation as I
D02 016 ventured into a communist meeting for the first time in my life.
D02 017    |^The hall was packed. ^Paul Robeson sang and then spoke.
D02 018 ^He never mentioned communism. ^But I will never forget his
D02 019 moving plea for the oppressed blacks of America. ^He said many
D02 020 things which Martin Luther King said 15 years later. ^King became
D02 021 a hero. ^Robeson was treated as an outcast and his appeal for
D02 022 justice ignored. ^But for me *- the talented, dignified giant of
D02 023 a man made me realize for the first time the evils of
D02 024 discrimination on the grounds of race.
D02 025    |^More studies followed and my first stint as a parish
D02 026 minister. ^The issue of race largely faded into the backgound of
D02 027 my life. ^The Suez crisis, the Russian invasion of Hungary and
D02 028 the Sputnik were uppermost in my thoughts.
D02 029    |^A new chapter of my life began in 1958 when I returned to
D02 030 New Zealand to be the first minister of the Taupo Baptist Church.
D02 031 ^I had hardly moved in when I was appointed as part-time chaplain
D02 032 to the prisons of Hautu and Rangipo. ^Suddenly I was ushered into
D02 033 the world of the Maori. ^I struggled to relate the Gospel to the
D02 034 Maori inmates who made up the bulk of my prison congregations. ^I
D02 035 was deeply moved when a young Maori I had helped, presented me
D02 036 with a carving he had made in prison. ^Sometimes I visited Maori
D02 037 homes in the backblocks and was struck by their poverty compared
D02 038 with the affluent Pakeha homes in Taupo. ^But as far as race
D02 039 relations was concerned, my thoughts were on Martin Luther King
D02 040 in America and the horrors of apartheid in South Africa.
D02 041    |^In the 1960's the focus of interest for most of us was
D02 042 overseas. ^I would have been astonished if anyone had seriously
D02 043 suggested that New Zealand was a *'racist**' society. ^That word
D02 044 was hardly used then to describe this country. ^We talked of
D02 045 *'race relations**' or *'racial prejudice,**' but *'racism**' had
D02 046 oppressive and vicious overtones which we felt did not apply to
D02 047 New Zealand.
D02 048    |^That view slowly died in the 1970's. ^In 1970 the World
D02 049 Council of Churches set up a Programme to Combat Racism
D02 050 ({0P.C.R.}). ^It aroused fierce controversy because of its
D02 051 humanitarian grants to African liberation movements. ^As chairman
D02 052 of the National Council of Churches in New Zealand's Executive
D02 053 and then from 1974 as its General Secretary, I found myself
D02 054 having to defend the {0P.C.R.} ^I read numerous reports, met
D02 055 people who were the victims of racism and became thoroughly
D02 056 convinced the {0W.C.C.} was right. ^It was not enough for the
D02 057 churches to pass pious resolutions about racism. ^More positive
D02 058 action was needed.
D02 059    |^As a delegate to the {0W.C.C.} Assembly at Nairobi in
D02 060 1975, I voted wholeheartedly for the continuation of the
D02 061 {0P.C.R.} and its declaration that
D02 062 **[LONG QUOTATION**].
D02 063    |^I still thought, however, that racism was primarily
D02 064 overseas. ^Only slowly did it dawn on me that racism was also a
D02 065 New Zealand problem. ^One thing that helped was an {0N.C.C.}
D02 066 grant to the Polynesian Panthers *- an Auckland action group
D02 067 whose activities included demanding better housing for
D02 068 Polynesians. ^The symbolic grant (to help pay for a full-time
D02 069 housing organiser) aroused a great deal of hostility. ^It made me
D02 070 aware of some real injustices in our own society.
D02 071    |^Over the next few years, the tide of Maori discontent
D02 072 began to rise *- highlighted by the Land March, Bastion Point,
D02 073 the Raglan dispute, the Haka Party incident at Auckland
D02 074 University, and the emergence of the new Maori ecumenical body *-
D02 075 Te Runanga Whakawhanaunga I Nga Hahi O Aotearoa from the old
D02 076 {0N.C.C.} Maori Section.
D02 077    |^In response to this rising tide, the {0N.C.C.} launched a
D02 078 consultation on *"Racism in New Zealand,**" which met in Hamilton
D02 079 in 1979. ^For the first time I heard Maori leaders talk openly
D02 080 about the racism they had suffered over the years. ^I became
D02 081 aware of their deep and growing anger at the injustices done to
D02 082 their people. ^It was there that I first grasped the difference
D02 083 between *'personal**' and *'institutional**' racism. ^Up until
D02 084 this point I had largely thought of racism as personal prejudice
D02 085 and discrimination against people of another race. ^Now I heard
D02 086 Maori people saying *"^The *1system *0is always in favour of the
D02 087 Pakeha. ^We feel disadvantaged all the time.**"
D02 088    |^The following year I attended a consultation in the
D02 089 Netherlands on *"The Churches Responding to Racism in the
D02 090 1980's.**" ^I heard testimony after testimony of suffering caused
D02 091 by racism. ^The delegates were challenged to do something about
D02 092 it in their own countries.
D02 093    |^I came back and addressed many meetings. ^What struck me
D02 094 was that most Pakeha did not really believe racism was a serious
D02 095 problem in this country. ^They recognised that personal prejudice
D02 096 existed in some areas, but the idea that health, education,
D02 097 justice and welfare systems were somehow loaded against the Maori
D02 098 was hard for many to stomach.
D02 099    |^Another problem I faced was that as a Christian I wanted
D02 100 to be a reconciler, a bridge-builder. ^I inwardly cringed at the
D02 101 confrontationist tactics some suggested. ^But slowly I learned
D02 102 that there can be no true reconciliation without justice.
D02 103 ^Reconciliation does not mean that we can return to a
D02 104 hypothetical pre-conflict situation. ^It means first unmasking
D02 105 evil and putting right what is wrong. ^As Allan Boesak, the South
D02 106 African church leader, put it, *"^Reconciliation is not cheap.
D02 107 ^It cost Jesus the cross.**"
D02 108    |^Out of this kind of experience, duplicated by others in
D02 109 the {0N.C.C.}, we launched a five-year educational programme to
D02 110 combat racism in New Zealand. ^Workshops, seminars, the promotion
D02 111 of the Maori language and a wide range of other activities were
D02 112 all used to raise the awareness of Pakeha to the reality of
D02 113 racism in New Zealand. ^The programme still continues.
D02 114    |^There is much ignorance and apathy yet to overcome. ^The
D02 115 monocultural approach of too many churches and institutions must
D02 116 be stripped away. ^Too many Pakeha are ignorant of the Treaty of
D02 117 Waitangi and do not want to be bothered with the effort to
D02 118 understand Maori culture and feelings.
D02 119    |^Yet there are signs of hope. ^The report of the Bicultural
D02 120 Commission of the Anglican Church on the Treaty of Waitangi is
D02 121 already opening the door to new possibilities of partnership. ^A
D02 122 recent report giving a Maori perspective on the Department of
D02 123 Social Welfare has been taken up at the top level.
D02 124    |^I find it tempting now to sit back and let others fight
D02 125 the battle against racism. ^When that mood comes upon me, I
D02 126 remember the advice I got from a black American. ^I had asked him
D02 127 what I should do about racism in New Zealand. ^He replied,
D02 128 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D02 129 *<*4Angus MacLeod*>
D02 130 *<*6DIALOGUE*>
D02 131    |*"^Cooeeee!**" ^It was Pam at the back door. *"^Just popped
D02 132 in to say I'd pick up the children for Pony Club this weekend.
D02 133 ^Must be about my turn.**"
D02 134    |^Jane was in the kitchen, slicing meat for the freezer.
D02 135 *"^Come in, Pam. ^Wendy's here as well. ^We've been nattering.
D02 136 ^How are things anyway?**"
D02 137    |^*"Not so bad.**" ^Pam sat down. *"^Roger's very busy. ^His
D02 138 Council work takes up a great deal of time. ^Last night's meeting
D02 139 went on to all hours. ^He came home quite steamed up. ^It seems
D02 140 some deputation arrived wanting Maori to be accepted by the
D02 141 County Council as an official language. ^As Roger says *- who the
D02 142 hell do they think they are? ^We all know the language is dying
D02 143 anyway.**"
D02 144    |^Jane nodded in agreement. *"^I know. ^We've been through
D02 145 that sort of thing on the {0PTA}. ^It only needs one city teacher
D02 146 to try to push it. ^Remember that one last year? ^Do you think
D02 147 she'd listen? ^She couldn't understand that introducing Maori was
D02 148 a waste of time. ^*1Our *0children need to get on with basic
D02 149 subjects, and the Maori kids have a hard enough time making their
D02 150 way in the real world without having to learn another
D02 151 language!**"
D02 152    |^*"Can I take over, so you can have a talk with Pam?**"
D02 153 offered Wendy, who had been sitting silently.
D02 154    |^*"No thanks. ^Just about finished. ^But while Pam's here,
D02 155 we can put her in the picture about the Care and Share morning we
D02 156 are starting in the parish. ^It was John's idea at our Bible
D02 157 Study last week. ^A way of helping each other during the farming
D02 158 crisis. ^Actually things got a bit steamed up there, too, didn't
D02 159 they, Wendy.**"
D02 160    |^But Wendy just looked uncomfortable.
D02 161    |^*"Sometimes I wonder about John,**" Jane went on. *"^He's
D02 162 been the minister for the valley for three or four years now.
D02 163 ^You'd think he would know better. ^We were having a good study
D02 164 on the place of the covenant in the Old Testament when for some
D02 165 reason John compared it with the Treaty of Waitangi. ^The next
D02 166 thing we knew, there was Amanda going on about how we have a
D02 167 responsibility as Christians to protect Maori beliefs and customs
D02 168 *- that the Treaty should be upheld so that Maoris can have
D02 169 special claims on land, forests, water *- all that sort of
D02 170 thing.**"
D02 171    |*"^Oh Amanda!**" ^Pam's voice dismissed her. *"^She's only
D02 172 playing at farming with her small holding, her organic vegetables
D02 173 and such like. ^I've heard her at Garden Circle meetings and even
D02 174 at Women's Division. ^Says land should have a spiritual
D02 175 significance. ^Don't take any notice of her.**"
D02 176    |^*"Well I think she's really bad news.**" ^Jane couldn't
D02 177 forget Amanda.
D02 178    |^*"Here we are *- fighting to save our farms and she has
D02 179 the nerve to say that the Maoris had been forced off their land
D02 180 for years because of economic difficulties. ^I always thought it
D02 181 was poor management. ^Any rate, the way things are going, they
D02 182 might get it all back. ^Do you realise how many Maori Trusts have
D02 183 taken over leases in this district lately?**"
D02 184    |^*"John said at our study group that we should look at land
D02 185 from a Christian perspective,**" Wendy put in. *"That we don't
D02 186 really own land, but hold it in trust.**"
D02 187    |^*"What?!?**" ^Pam's voice rose. *"^All those years Mum and
D02 188 Dad worked and paid off the mortgage on the farm to pass on to
D02 189 us? ^Don't own it? ^It's ours all right. ^I know that Roger says
D02 190 that any so and so who cuts across our property to get to the
D02 191 lake will be hauled up for trespassing very swiftly. ^Remember
D02 192 the battle we had last year about discharging run-off from the
D02 193 sheds into our stream? ^Roger won that! ^Not our land *- that's
D02 194 ridiculous!**"
D02 195    |^*"John was brought up on a farm too,**" said Jane. *"You
D02 196 would think he'd understand. ^But Otago, wasn't it? ^Well of
D02 197 course. ^There are not many Maoris down there. ^I don't expect
D02 198 they have a problem.**"
D02 199    |^*"The Meritos were a nice family when they lived down the
D02 200 road.**" ^It was Wendy.
D02 201    |^*"Oh yes,**" Pam agreed. *"^They kept to themselves but
D02 202 the children always looked clean. ^Which reminds me. ^Sorry to
D02 203 hear you won't have help once the calving is over, Jane. ^That's
D02 204 tough.**"
D02 205    |*"^Yes, it's going to be hard on Don. ^He works long enough
D02 206 hours as it is. ^But we can't afford to keep the Wharekuras
D02 207 on.**"
D02 208    |^*"Where will they be going?**" asked Wendy.
D02 209    |^Jane shrugged. ^*"To some relatives, I suppose.**"
D02 210 *#
D03 001 **[091 TEXT D03**]
D03 002 *<*4Four: Flesh and Sinew*>
D03 003    |^*0A number of concerns about the diaconate will now be apparent.
D03 004    |^They have to do with the status of deacons. ^Are they
D03 005 ministerial or lay? ^If they are *"equal**" in status what does that
D03 006 mean exactly? ^How is it expressed? ^And if they are not equal what
D03 007 does that mean? ^How do they carry out their functions and where?
D03 008    |^Mild anxiety on all sides tends to accompany the raising of
D03 009 these issues. ^Some presbyters are protective of what they see to be
D03 010 special rights pertaining to their order. ^Some deacons naturally feel
D03 011 uneasy when they sense their order is being relegated to second class
D03 012 status. ^And lay people have not had the benefit of the knowledge that
D03 013 both orders have of their own ministry and are sometimes doubly
D03 014 confused.
D03 015    |^In this section we will explore some of these issues.
D03 016 *<*4Deacon as Minister*>
D03 017    |^*0There is plenty of evidence to affirm that the Methodist
D03 018 Church sees its deacons as fitting into the succession of those who
D03 019 have been called *"minister**" in the church until recently. ^Many of
D03 020 the roles being developed by deacons would have been willingly
D03 021 accepted by ministers a few decades ago when their pastoral charges
D03 022 were not so large and scattered. ^There was an expectation that the
D03 023 minister would engage in a wide range of community-based ministries
D03 024 and it was these aspects of the work that first began to feel the
D03 025 pinch when inflationary pressures reduced the availability of paid
D03 026 agents. ^More and more ministers felt compelled to restrict themselves
D03 027 to activities that could be clearly seen to be related to the direct
D03 028 life of the local congregations.
D03 029    |^It remained fashionable for some churches to boast of how
D03 030 *"their**" minister was active in important areas of community life
D03 031 but, as time went on, this sort of involvement tended to disaffect
D03 032 small but growing minorities within the congregations. ^The ministry
D03 033 of the deacon permits some of these roles to be taken up again as
D03 034 *"ministerial**" tasks for which ordination and the accompanying sense
D03 035 of discipline and authorisation are appropriate. ^As deacons are
D03 036 likely to be part-time in this community involvement and also
D03 037 self-supporting to the extent that the congregation's financial
D03 038 commitment is minimal there is every reason to believe that there will
D03 039 be wide support for their ministry.
D03 040    |^Another aspect of the *"ministerial**" nature of the Diaconate
D03 041 is to be found in the Conference's decision that deacons should be
D03 042 *"ordained**". ^Deaconesses were set apart for the Order in
D03 043 *"dedication**". ^History could have offered other alternatives to
D03 044 ordination. ^The transitional deacon of time past was not always
D03 045 ordained: many deacons were *"made**"; priests *"ordained**"; and
D03 046 bishops *"consecrated**". ^However, the Methodist church chose to
D03 047 ordain deacons and its first services of ordination after the 1976
D03 048 legislation included both deacons and presbyters.
D03 049    |^The distinctions that were made in the two ceremonies tended to
D03 050 appear to reflect on the different (=*"lower**"?) status of the
D03 051 diaconate but there was no doubt that all ordinations on those
D03 052 occasions set people apart to ministerial orders. ^Conference would
D03 053 prefer to concentrate on the unity of these two orders rather than on
D03 054 the difference between them, however unsuccessfully its chosen liturgy
D03 055 actually demonstrated this.
D03 056    |^The Plan for Union also is clear in its statement that bishops,
D03 057 deacons and presbyters are all ministerial orders. ^The Methodist
D03 058 Church's acceptance of the Plan was part of the spirit which prompted
D03 059 the restoration of the two-fold ministry in 1976. ^Here, as elsewhere,
D03 060 is emphatic evidence that the diaconate is envisaged as a ministerial
D03 061 order.
D03 062    |^The Connexion also went to some trouble to affirm that the
D03 063 equality of its orders of ministry demanded that they should be both
D03 064 paid the same standard stipend. ^The consultation which looked at this
D03 065 issue was conscious that the diaconate, as expressed in full-time
D03 066 people at that time was largely female and single, whereas the
D03 067 presbyterate was primarily male and married. ^Issues of human rights
D03 068 were at stake in determining whether or not all should receive the
D03 069 same stipend. ^On assurances from the church that the standards of
D03 070 entry, education and performance were identical for each order
D03 071 (assurances that were not completely consistent with some of the
D03 072 realities of the situation) their consultant recommended that the
D03 073 standard stipend should apply to both. ^This was a further indication
D03 074 of the Conference's confidence that deacons were to be seen in
D03 075 ministerial terms.
D03 076    |^The official position at least seems to be quite clear. ^At the
D03 077 1983 Conference the General Secretary stated that all references in
D03 078 the newly adopted Law Book to the word *"minister**" included both
D03 079 deacons and presbyters. ^It is worth noting, of course, that the use
D03 080 of the word minister is a little confusing. ^It is a short step from
D03 081 there to the word *"ministry**" to describe these ordained people and
D03 082 this is a misuse of the term. ^Ministry is of the whole church. ^To
D03 083 use it to describe one or more orders of ordained ministry is much
D03 084 less than helpful.
D03 085    |^But in the sense being discussed here, deacons are clearly of an
D03 086 order of ordained ministry.
D03 087 *<*4Not Only Ministerial*>
D03 088    |^*0Deacons, however, are not limited by being seen as a
D03 089 ministerial order. ^Their calling is distinctly different from that of
D03 090 the presbyters.
D03 091    |^It is clear, for instance, that deacons are not in Full
D03 092 Connexion with the Conference. ^This has been a difficult concept for
D03 093 some people to grasp. ^The traditional understanding of Methodism is
D03 094 that to be in *"ministry**" is to be in Full Connexion. ^Presbyters
D03 095 are admitted to Full Connexion on resolution of the Conference and are
D03 096 granted rights and status in the ecclesiastical institution, its
D03 097 discipline and polity. ^They are then ordained to the ministry of word
D03 098 and sacrament and pastoral care. ^Ordination need not precede the
D03 099 bestowal of the rights of Full Connexion but the two are, at the very
D03 100 least, inseparable.
D03 101    |^They may correspond to the membership concepts implicit in
D03 102 having one's name added to the electoral roll of the local Methodist
D03 103 congregation by its Leaders' Meeting and being confirmed (or baptised
D03 104 on profession of faith) in a service of worship. ^The former bestows
D03 105 certain privileges and responsibilities in the institutional
D03 106 congregation and is a condition on which the latter becomes the
D03 107 universal act of the whole church by which she acknowledges the call
D03 108 of God to all his people to engage themselves in his mission. ^The one
D03 109 is an expression of the *"gathered**" nature of the denominational
D03 110 church; the other the sign of the universal nature of the family of
D03 111 God. ^Methodism has always held these two in careful balance. ^Each is
D03 112 expressed in its setting apart of presbyters.
D03 113    |^Deaconesses, in the original form of the diaconate in the
D03 114 denomination, did not enjoy the privilege of sitting in Conference in
D03 115 their own right. ^It may also be a reflection on the ambivalence of
D03 116 the Connexion's thinking that it could not grant them status as
D03 117 *"representatives**" either. ^The lawbook did not originally speak of
D03 118 *"lay representatives**" in every instance: there used to be
D03 119 *"ministers**" and *"representatives**", but, even so, deaconesses
D03 120 were treated differently and two of them represented the Order.
D03 121    |^Ministers who had accepted the discipline of being in Full
D03 122 Connexion enjoyed the right to attend Conference. ^However, even this
D03 123 right could be amended; it is not inconceivable that Conference could
D03 124 rule that those in Full Connexion should be invited only to every
D03 125 second conference or even fewer.
D03 126    |^However, it has been made quite explicit in recent years that
D03 127 members of the diaconate may be appointed as *"lay**" representatives
D03 128 if their parishes or employing bodies choose to do so. ^This is
D03 129 something of an anomaly. ^Deacons are clearly not *"lay**" in the
D03 130 sense of being part of the \*2LAOS *0which is not ordained. ^But
D03 131 Conference is also stating that they are not quite in the same
D03 132 category as those who are in Full Connexion.
D03 133    |^Some see real strength in this position. ^The new diaconate is
D03 134 able to enjoy relative freedom from the institutional structures of
D03 135 the church. ^It could be a blessing to be less involved in
D03 136 ecclesiastical housekeeping. ^Indeed, if a truly community-facing
D03 137 ministry is to be pioneered it could well be that becoming a part of
D03 138 the church *"machine**" could impede the deacon's capacity to fulfil
D03 139 that ministry. ^It may be a fact of life that formerly those who
D03 140 offered for ordained service in the church tended to be very much
D03 141 involved in day-to-day organisation of her life and work. ^It is also
D03 142 a fact that those whose ministry most effectively sets forth what the
D03 143 diaconate is all about are moving sideways out of this structure.
D03 144 ^They are finding that all their energies are *- and should be *-
D03 145 taken up in ministering as servants in the needy community and that
D03 146 there are others who can involve themselves in the routine
D03 147 administration and fellowship of the congregation.
D03 148    |^The presbyter cannot possibly choose to take this stance. ^The
D03 149 presbyter is first and foremost involved in and with the local
D03 150 congregation and gives a ministry of leadership to and around its
D03 151 life. ^By contrast, the members of the congregation enjoy a natural
D03 152 freedom to move in and out of its life exercising their ministries
D03 153 wherever they find themselves. ^This same freedom is now extended as a
D03 154 gift to those who are ordained as deacons. ^They are still accountable
D03 155 but they are less caught up in the accounting. ^They should certainly
D03 156 report to parish meetings or other bodies about their work but this
D03 157 may well be somewhat remote from the usual agendas of such meetings.
D03 158 ^Indeed, many of the people may feel more in tune with the work of the
D03 159 presbyter because it is nearer to their experience.
D03 160    |^This kind of freedom is truly appreciated and jealously
D03 161 safeguarded by deacons. ^It releases them for new opportunities of
D03 162 service in the community. ^It enables them to bridge the gap between
D03 163 sacred and secular, between church and community, and it is one of the
D03 164 profound marks of their calling that, in this sense, they participate
D03 165 fully in the ministry of the \*2LAOS, *0the whole people of God. ^Thus
D03 166 they are readily able to identify with lay people in their ministry in
D03 167 the community; they make appropriate *"models**" of ministry for
D03 168 laity; they are best able to motivate lay people. ^They do not stand
D03 169 aside from the task as sidewalk supervisors but step in and get their
D03 170 hands dirty. ^They are like the *"player coach**" who not only advises
D03 171 the players but gets out on the field with them where the game is to
D03 172 be played. 
D03 173    |^Deacons should cherish this privilege. ^To argue about who is
D03 174 *"first**" in the orders of ministry is to miss the point; to aspire
D03 175 to *"status**" is to compromise the essence of the diaconate which is
D03 176 to serve and not to ask for any reward. ^To occupy one's thoughts with
D03 177 whether or not one is truly seen as a proper *"minister**" is to deny
D03 178 oneself the right and the opportunity to act in ministry. ^To imagine
D03 179 that the restricted form of service to which the presbyter is tied is
D03 180 a superior way of being a follower of Christ is to be blind to his
D03 181 call to go out into the world as the servants of all.
D03 182    |^Deacons have fewer institutional ties, wider horizons, and more
D03 183 opportunities of direct service in the style of the Master.
D03 184 *<*4*"A Full and Equal Order**"*>
D03 185    |^*0This phrase is now readily attributed to James Barnett since
D03 186 the publication of his book of that subtitle. ^But it is a principle
D03 187 that has been enshrined in the thinking of the {0N.Z.} Methodist
D03 188 Church during most of the last decade. ^While there are many ways in
D03 189 which the diaconate is seen as different from the presbyterate this
D03 190 does not, of itself, imply a lesser importance attached to the
D03 191 ministry of the former. ^In reminding itself that it needed to listen
D03 192 to those who were warning it against an order which might be
D03 193 interpreted as giving special status to some people, the Conference
D03 194 declared that the same warning needed to be directed towards the
D03 195 Presbyterate.
D03 196 *#
D04 001 **[092 TEXT D04**]
D04 002 ^*0When anti-Catholic bigotry flared at later periods the causes
D04 003 were other than any deliberate policy of the Canterbury
D04 004 Association, which accepted that the Church of England would
D04 005 sponsor this last application of Wakefield's theory to developing
D04 006 New Zealand. ^Certainly when Father Petitjean provided brief
D04 007 leadership on his visit to Christchurch the small Catholic
D04 008 community there was well treated:
D04 009 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D04 010 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 011 **[END INDENTATION**]
D04 012    |^The three acres nominated as Catholic Reserve were at the
D04 013 south east corner of the town, a part of what is now the
D04 014 Cathedral and schools complex in Barbadoes Street. ^Petitjean's
D04 015 additional application in 1857 for annual financial grants to
D04 016 establish and maintain schools, parallel to those allowed to the
D04 017 different Protestant sects, was refused.
D04 018 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 019 ^Three years later this difficulty was righted when Father
D04 020 Chataigner took up permanent residence in Christchurch and
D04 021 presented a formal document showing him to be the official
D04 022 delegate of Bishop Viard, the head of the Church in the South
D04 023 Island.
D04 024    |^But it was only in its later planning stages that
D04 025 Canterbury was envisaged as an Anglican settlement. ^The
D04 026 Association for Founding the Settlement of Canterbury was set up
D04 027 as an off-shoot of the New Zealand Company early in 1847, and by
D04 028 the time its first pamphlet was published in the middle of the
D04 029 following year it was clearly committed to an Anglican
D04 030 foundation. ^Prior to this, however, there seemed to have been
D04 031 some shopping around to find a religious group that would restore
D04 032 flagging interest in the New Zealand Company. ^One writer
D04 033 comments rather cynically of Wakefield:
D04 034 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 035    |^There was more than a nibble at the Catholic Church.
D04 036 ^Edward Jerningham Wakefield related that his father had sent him
D04 037 to confer with Archbishop Whately, Anglican bishop in Dublin,
D04 038 about a colonisation scheme. ^And Frank Petre of a prominent
D04 039 Catholic family, and later architect for the Christchurch
D04 040 Catholic Cathedral, recalled:
D04 041 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D04 042 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 043 **[END INDENTATION**]
D04 044    |^In the pre-Adamite years (up to the end of 1850) a total
D04 045 of around 270 baptisms had been recorded, but outside of Akaroa
D04 046 these included few children of European parents. ^On 16 December
D04 047 1850 when two of the first four official migrant ships arrived at
D04 048 Lyttelton, Se*?2on was at Purau on the opposite side of the
D04 049 harbour baptising two young Maori men. ^He would have known the
D04 050 *1Charlotte Jane *0heralded the beginning of an Anglican
D04 051 invasion, and the convoy would have had little of immediate
D04 052 priestly interest for him. ^Almost certainly he was on foot and
D04 053 could not have gone into Lyttelton to join the welcome; for the
D04 054 day after next he was on the other side of the hills and the
D04 055 harbour baptising a child of European parents at Pigeon Bay.
D04 056    |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 057 ^There was no explicit record of any Catholics among them, not
D04 058 even among the *'loose elements**'! ^But a few must have arrived
D04 059 like Petitjean's contraband, for among the 21 baptisms listed in
D04 060 1851 before the August retreat to Wellington, there were two
D04 061 children of English or Irish parents at Lyttelton. ^During
D04 062 Se*?2on's visits of 1854 there were a few more similar baptisms,
D04 063 but hardly enough to indicate the number of Catholics Petitjean
D04 064 found by 1857.
D04 065 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D04 066 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 067 **[END INDENTATION**]
D04 068    |^In retrospect it is difficult to assign fault anywhere.
D04 069 ^In the background was friction between Pompallier and Colin *-
D04 070 the Marist Founder and General *- who wanted better spiritual and
D04 071 material care of his men than the Bishop was providing. ^Until
D04 072 this and other administrative problems were solved Colin refused
D04 073 to send more priests to New Zealand. ^In Europe the Society of
D04 074 Mary had to consolidate to provide stability for its on-going
D04 075 mission involvement, especially as part of Oceania was becoming
D04 076 an English rather than a French sphere of influence. ^In 1850
D04 077 Colin had accepted a parish in Whitechapel, an Irish stronghold
D04 078 in the East End of London. ^Within a couple of years it had six
D04 079 French Marists serving close to 10,000 dispossessed Irish who
D04 080 were living mostly in bitter poverty. ^It was a good proving
D04 081 ground for priests destined for an English speaking mission in
D04 082 New Zealand and elsewhere, but it was no place to recruit
D04 083 vocations. ^By the time Petitjean was writing his letter thought
D04 084 was being given to launching a college and novitiate in Ireland
D04 085 itself. ^A further commitment was to Romford in Essex where Lord
D04 086 Petre had provided a church. ^In staffing it for close to 20
D04 087 years the Society of Mary provided an opportunity for some of its
D04 088 priests preparing for New Zealand to cut their English teeth. ^So
D04 089 when the complainant confronted Petitjean about Christchurch
D04 090 having no priest, the blunt facts were that in his first five
D04 091 years in the new diocese Viard had lost seven priests for a
D04 092 variety of reasons and there had been no replacements. ^Petitjean
D04 093 lamented the effects of this:
D04 094 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D04 095 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 096 **[END INDENTATION**]
D04 097    |^One bright spot in this nine-month visitation of the south
D04 098 in 1857 was finding a nucleus of a future church:
D04 099 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D04 100 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 101 **[END INDENTATION**]
D04 102    |^On the next leg of his journey, Banks Peninsula to Otago,
D04 103 Petitjean travelled *1\gratis *0on a schooner owned by Johnny
D04 104 Jones, the Australian sealing lad turned whaling/ farming/
D04 105 trading entrepreneur, then based in Dunedin. ^Not to be outdone,
D04 106 Irish Captain Dixon offered the priest free passage any time he
D04 107 wanted to travel with his ship, and sealed the promise by taking
D04 108 up a collection from his crew for a church in Canterbury. ^Even
D04 109 more, when next in Sydney, Dixon contacted \0Mrs Ellen Corcoran
D04 110 (possibly a friend Petitjean had made on his 1842 begging trip
D04 111 there), and she collected *+32.10.0 for the same cause. ^Back in
D04 112 Wellington, Dixon left money with Viard, who in due time would
D04 113 send it on to Christchurch for the church under construction
D04 114 there.
D04 115    |^From the time Petitjean dated his letter at Dunedin on 21
D04 116 November 1857, it took a further two and a half years before the
D04 117 priest he prayed for so ardently was permanently appointed to
D04 118 Christchurch. ^In the meantime Se*?2on spent the first three
D04 119 months of 1859 around Christchurch and Banks Peninsula, and
D04 120 mid-year Moreau stopped briefly at Lyttelton while travelling to
D04 121 and returning from Otago. ^Viard's letters show his continuing
D04 122 anxiety for priests for the South Island. ^While Se*?2on was
D04 123 still in the south the Bishop had difficult decisions to make.
D04 124 ^Three priests arrived in Wellington, the first Marist
D04 125 reinforcements for 16 years and everybody wanted them. ^He filled
D04 126 the gap left at Otaki by Comte's decision to return to France,
D04 127 and he sent two more men to Taranaki. ^Viard always saw the Maori
D04 128 as the first responsibility of the Society of Mary. ^The Taranaki
D04 129 Maori were reported as still being comparatively untouched by
D04 130 European life; there were few Protestant missionaries among them.
D04 131 ^Moreover there were growing fears of an outbreak of war against
D04 132 the European settlers and the bishop hoped (vainly, as it proved)
D04 133 that extra priests would help defuse an explosive situation.
D04 134    |^An added reason why Viard gave Taranaki priority over
D04 135 Canterbury was that he had already asked Frederick Weld to search
D04 136 for an English speaking priest for Christchurch. ^Weld, a
D04 137 prominent Catholic, sheep farmer and politician, had developed
D04 138 interests in Canterbury via the sheep station he and his cousin,
D04 139 Charles Clifford, had established at Stonyhurst on the coastline
D04 140 at the southern bank of the Hurunui River, by driving sheep
D04 141 overland from Marlborough. ^Towards the end of 1858 he left on a
D04 142 business and family visit to England armed with letters
D04 143 authorising him to engage a priest for service with Viard. ^He
D04 144 was unsuccessful. ^One avenue he explored was to approach his
D04 145 cousin William Clifford, Bishop of Clifton, who undertook to
D04 146 sound out All Hallows College, Dublin, but delayed doing this
D04 147 till just two weeks before Weld was due to sail again for New
D04 148 Zealand.
D04 149 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D04 150 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 151 **[END INDENTATION**]
D04 152    |^Viard's hopes were dashed when Weld arrived back without
D04 153 any promise of a priest for Christchurch. ^Fairly early on in
D04 154 their Oceania endeavour Marists had set up a supply depot in
D04 155 Sydney. ^In 1857 Father Victor Poupinel, at 42, was appointed
D04 156 there to have general oversight of the whole missionfield, and to
D04 157 liaise with Marist headquarters in France. ^He was a man of
D04 158 charm, tact and prudence who proved he could rough it in the
D04 159 field as well as drive a desk in Sydney; his letters are a quarry
D04 160 (still only partly worked) of detailed facts about the Pacific
D04 161 mission for the next fifteen years. ^It was to him Viard appealed
D04 162 when Weld's search for a priest proved fruitless: *"the south of
D04 163 this diocese is in a pitiable state.**"
D04 164    |^Recently arrived in Sydney was Father John Chataigner who
D04 165 at 39 was getting acclimatised and learning English after 12
D04 166 years of seminary and college teaching in France. ^He had
D04 167 persisted in requesting foreign mission work. ^One letter to
D04 168 superiors read:
D04 169 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 170 ^Poupinel, without waiting as he should have for directions from
D04 171 Lyons, took it on himself to cut short Chataigner's allotted time
D04 172 in Sydney for learning English and sent him to Viard for
D04 173 Canterbury. ^He arrived in Wellington on 26 April 1860.
D04 174    |^By 1 May, Viard was writing to France that when it came to
D04 175 finding an experienced companion for Chataigner the choice fell
D04 176 between Moreau and Se*?2on; the latter was chosen, partly because
D04 177 he had had more experience of the south than Moreau, and partly
D04 178 because he was thought to have the more suitable temperament to work
D04 179 congenially with Chataigner. ^At 53 Se*?2on was now a veteran of
D04 180 19 years strenuous experience in New Zealand. ^After the
D04 181 heart-breaking abandonment of Akaroa in 1851, while stationed at
D04 182 Otaki and the Hutt Valley, he had made three further trips to the
D04 183 South Island, at least one of which included walking back from
D04 184 Dunedin to Christchurch. ^It is not clear when Se*?2on left
D04 185 Wellington for this definitive appointment to Christchurch but,
D04 186 on 23 May, Viard was writing to him at Port Cooper where he had
D04 187 arrived after a quick visit to the Popplewells and others in
D04 188 Dunedin. ^Nor can Chataigner's arrival be dated precisely, but
D04 189 his first baptismal entry is for 27 May at Lyttelton.
D04 190    |^It seems that the two priests lived in Lyttelton for a
D04 191 start, probably with the Healey family. ^By the middle of July
D04 192 they were (as Viard had advised) renting a cottage in Tuam
D04 193 Street, Christchurch. ^But then, to the Bishop's dismay and
D04 194 against his instructions, they entered into a contract for the
D04 195 building of a church-presbytery for *+300. ^Somewhat against his
D04 196 better judgement Viard borrowed *+150 at 10% a year and sent it
D04 197 to Christchurch in two instalments: *"^My position is becoming
D04 198 even more vexatious in order to help you in your difficulties.**"
D04 199    |^Having seen the problems that Bishop Pompallier's reckless
D04 200 borrowing had created in Auckland, Viard had no wish to find
D04 201 himself in similar straits and the constant anxiety of his
D04 202 episcopate was financing the mission as the diocese developed.
D04 203 ^In a letter to the Superior General Chataigner later wrote:
D04 204 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D04 205 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D04 206 **[END INDENTATION**]
D04 207    |^The two priests had been in Canterbury for about three
D04 208 months before a recognisable group of Catholics arrived on the
D04 209 *1William Miles *0on 22 August *- 44 of them. ^The *1contraband
D04 210 *0era was closed at last. ^There is no clue now left to explain
D04 211 why they arrived together, why that particular ship carried an
D04 212 unusual quota of Catholics. ^Judging from the names remaining,
D04 213 the majority were Irish. ^Bad weather on their arrival confined
D04 214 them to the immigration barracks for their first three days. ^On
D04 215 the Saturday, their first opportunity to explore Lyttelton, they
D04 216 met Chataigner leading a small funeral procession. ^He offered to
D04 217 stay overnight, and celebrate Sunday Mass for them. ^They boosted
D04 218 the normal local congregation of three women and two men. ^When
D04 219 they arrived at the Christchurch barracks a few days later,
D04 220 Chataigner was there to greet them. ^Mass was offered the
D04 221 following Sunday in a room of the Royal Hotel, and the
D04 222 congregation of newcomers was augmented by a handful of others.
D04 223 ^The priests' cottage at Tuam Street West backed on to the hotel;
D04 224 both were owned by a Catholic, \0Mrs Thompson. ^After Mass
D04 225 Chataigner invited the men to meet at his cottage and there
D04 226 announced that the Provincial Government had directed him to
D04 227 build on the Catholic Reserve or risk forfeiture, as the three
D04 228 year time limit on starting to use the grant of land was
D04 229 expiring.
D04 230 *#
D05 001 **[093 TEXT D05**]
D05 002 *<*4Daily Work*>
D05 003 *<*0John 5:1-18*>
D05 004    |^A political turn has been given to the reply of Jesus to the
D05 005 Pharisees, who were angered that he should heal a cripple on the
D05 006 Sabbath, *"^My Father is a member of the working-classes still *- and
D05 007 so am I!**"
D05 008    |^He had approached the paralytic, afflicted for the past
D05 009 thirty-eight years, with what must have seemed a most insensitive
D05 010 question, *"^Do you want to get well?**" ^An even greater shock
D05 011 followed in the command to do the impossible. ^*"Rise to your feet,
D05 012 take up your bed and walk.**" ^And he did.
D05 013    |^Orthodoxy did not generally condemn an action of mercy on the
D05 014 Sabbath. ^It was acceptable to carry a cripple on his pallet, but for
D05 015 him to lift up his own stretcher was work. ^What made his critics'
D05 016 antagonism even more fierce was that Jesus should offer justification
D05 017 by reference to God's way in the world. ^It had long been a matter of
D05 018 Jewish debate how God could keep the Sabbath (Genesis 2: 2) and
D05 019 sustain the universe. ^They argued that, while God ceased from any
D05 020 physical effort, God was still life-giver.
D05 021    |^Philo worked it out to his own satisfaction allegorically. ^The
D05 022 reasoning was precarious but Jesus moved into this area confidently
D05 023 and with an incontrovertible declaration that God is always working,
D05 024 just as the sun is always giving light. ^The present tense of the
D05 025 verbs indicates continuity.
D05 026    |^There was a double error in the attitude of the Pharisees here,
D05 027 first in the shift of the Sabbath concept into negative restriction.
D05 028 ^In various contexts, the term can suggest division of time but more
D05 029 frequently cessation, *"^Stop what you are doing.**" ^Allow in
D05 030 *"quietness of heart**" the full enjoyment of living, a day in which
D05 031 all the other days are gathered up, sharing and savouring the victory
D05 032 of creation. ^The Sabbath represented fulfilment in rest and shalom.
D05 033    |^In their usage, however, it had come to be the sign of
D05 034 difference from other days, and from other people, leading to the
D05 035 second misunderstanding which could set a legal nicety above the
D05 036 welfare of the person. ^It set also a sharp dichotomy between work and
D05 037 worship. ^This was contrary to biblical intention, where the one word
D05 038 labodhah means both *"work**" and *"worship**". ^To this there was no
D05 039 reply. ^For the Pharisees it was the point of no return. ^They were
D05 040 now more determined than ever to kill him.
D05 041    |^They had been confounded from within their own Torah where work
D05 042 is integral to the life of the People of God. ^If, among Greeks, toil
D05 043 was demeaning, to be left to menials, an Ecclesiasticus could equate
D05 044 it with prayer:
D05 045 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D05 046 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D05 047 **[END INDENTATION**]
D05 048    |^It was in line with his Rabbinic training that Paul advocated
D05 049 the *"worker-priest**" approach, combining a good pair of hands as a
D05 050 tent-maker with ministry. ^There is no contradiction biblically
D05 051 between honest toil and the worship of God, the word *"liturgy**"
D05 052 itself deriving from \leitourgia, signifying service, both secular and
D05 053 religious.
D05 054    |^Could the roadside sign be put at the door of a church,
D05 055 *"^Danger, people at work**"? ^The Minutes of early Methodist Class
D05 056 Meetings were often almost identical with those of meetings of local
D05 057 Trade Unions. ^Methodists today still take their stand on their Social
D05 058 Creed, in commitment to the dignity of work, the right to employment,
D05 059 and to social justice.
D05 060 |*?31*?31
D05 061 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D05 062 ^Work as an expression of divine life is a gift to humanity. ^To share
D05 063 the divine stewardship over the world is part of the meaning of the
D05 064 phrase *"image of God**". ^Work is a means of fulfilment and healing,
D05 065 a test and expression of character.
D05 066 **[END INDENTATION**]
D05 067 |*?31*?31
D05 068 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D05 069 ^When, in the Genesis story, Adam and Eve left the garden, they took a
D05 070 spade with them. ^Work was in no sense a punishment. ^The shadow of
D05 071 self-sufficient pride fell across it to bring an accompaniment of
D05 072 *"thorns and thistles**" and division. ^It tended to become
D05 073 depressing, often depersonalising.
D05 074 **[END INDENTATION**]
D05 075 |*?31*?31
D05 076 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D05 077 ^For the Christian, the redemption of work, as of all things, is
D05 078 through worship. ^By the continual working of the Spirit, whatever is
D05 079 attempted and offered builds up, not only the life of the community,
D05 080 but with it the realm of right relationships.
D05 081 **[END INDENTATION**]
D05 082    |^Through the one calling to be a Christian, all work becomes
D05 083 vocation.
D05 084    |^*"With them that love him, he cooperates in all things for
D05 085 good.**"
D05 086 *<*4The Company of Faith*>
D05 087 *<*2ALL SAINTS*>
D05 088 *<*0Ecclesiasticus 38, 44    Hebrews 11:1-12:3*>
D05 089    |^In the Christian Year, to make sure that just no one was
D05 090 overlooked, a common festival was instituted for All Martyrs.
D05 091    |^By the fifth century, this became the Feast of All Saints.
D05 092 ^Originally celebrated at Easter, it was transferred to the first of
D05 093 November. ^Then it came to be recognised that there are so many other
D05 094 Christians who may not be particularly distinguished, members of one's
D05 095 own family, also, who lived and died in the faith. ^They too should be
D05 096 remembered in gratitude and commended to God.
D05 097    |^A eucharistic memorial was thus observed on All Souls Day,
D05 098 November 2nd. ^While there is a long list in the story of the Church
D05 099 of those *"of whom the world is not worthy**", there are far more of
D05 100 them than found in any Church Calendar. ^Around the prophets, the
D05 101 apostles, the Pauls, Augustines, and Wesleys, giving support, helping
D05 102 to continue the influence of the message, there are in the background,
D05 103 the circles of the Anonymous. ^They constitute a host that no one can
D05 104 number.
D05 105    |^So the writer to the Hebrews speaks of being surrounded by the
D05 106 *"great cloud of witnesses**". ^He is thinking probably not of a host
D05 107 of spectators, cheering on present runners in a race in the arena, but
D05 108 of those who have kept looking, not at us so much, as at the one who
D05 109 endured the Cross, *"the pioneer and perfecter**" of faith.
D05 110    |^The letter to the Hebrews was written in a time of change and
D05 111 crisis. ^Under the pressures, old established institutions were coming
D05 112 down. ^Deep cracks in society, long concealed, were becoming visible
D05 113 as if an earthquake had passed through. ^The struggle for the soul of
D05 114 the world was, as the writer put it, shaking heaven and earth. ^This
D05 115 is always the time of a great temptation, when the first enthusiasm
D05 116 has gone, to move out from under.
D05 117    |^It is debated whether the particular desire here was to merge
D05 118 into the protection of paganism (Moffatt, Scott), to revert to the
D05 119 permitted national religion of Judaism, into the old order (Nairne),
D05 120 or simply to hold back from the struggle, to stagnate and refuse to
D05 121 move on into the new world (Manson).
D05 122    |^The writer insists first of all that the world is in the grip of
D05 123 conflict. ^Not that chance impersonal forces have got loose and out of
D05 124 hand. ^God, who is not caught by surprise in these events, is actually
D05 125 the author of change. ^God's arms are around the world, shaking it,
D05 126 that the old unworthy and impermanent things may come tumbling down,
D05 127 that *"the things which cannot be shaken may remain.**" ^As the writer
D05 128 says, *"^It is a wonderful and awesome thing to fall into the hands of
D05 129 the living God**" (10:31). ^*"Our God is a consuming fire**" (12:29).
D05 130    |^It is at this point, as happens in Ecclesiasticus 44, that the
D05 131 writer sets out before his readers, as an encouragement, a great
D05 132 Westminister Abbey Roll Call of honour of the leaders of the pilgrim
D05 133 people. ^It is a strange list from Abel onwards, Noah, Abraham, Sarah,
D05 134 Moses, also Rahab the harlot, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtah, David
D05 135 and the prophets.
D05 136    |^Far from perfect, limited in understanding, the Abrahams and the
D05 137 Baraks had one thing in common, a heroic grasp of the unseen in faith,
D05 138 a willingness to face death itself in their pursuit of the goal. ^The
D05 139 biblical *"saint**" was someone consecrated to God, not as having
D05 140 arrived at a point of perfection but rather as being on a road from
D05 141 the old life to the new.
D05 142    |^Jesus is the goal, the trail-blazer, always out in front, giving
D05 143 encouragement, incentive, and leadership. ^We cannot go into any area
D05 144 of life in which he is not there already. ^The acceptance of the
D05 145 Cross, in the *"joy set before him**" provides the evidence,
D05 146 *"therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be
D05 147 shaken**" as members of the perpetual fellowship of faith.
D05 148 |*?31*?31
D05 149 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D05 150 ^Down the road along which some benefit or enrichment to life has
D05 151 come, there stands a cross. ^Blessing is given to us freely but it has
D05 152 come at cost to someone else. ^We are always *"in someone's debt**"
D05 153 ({0R.L.} Stevenson).
D05 154 **[END INDENTATION**]
D05 155 |*?31*?31
D05 156 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D05 157 ^Even the best that comes out of the past is incomplete without the
D05 158 contribution of the present and the future. ^The promise belongs to
D05 159 all the ages.
D05 160 **[END INDENTATION**]
D05 161 |*?31*?31
D05 162 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D05 163 ^On All Saints and All Souls Days, the invitation comes to take up the
D05 164 torch of faith, to merge into that continuity of healing influence
D05 165 that runs right through the life of this world. ^It means believing in
D05 166 something, shaking off the besetting disloyalty that trips us up, as
D05 167 with children in a sack-race, and going out *"beyond the camp**" of
D05 168 the merely traditional to the Christian altar which lies outside the
D05 169 city wall.
D05 170 **[END INDENTATION**]
D05 171    |^At the Eucharist, we give thanks within a vast company. ^In some
D05 172 Scandinavian churches, the communion rail is semicircular, its ends
D05 173 against the back wall, completed, as they say, on the other side in
D05 174 the Communion of Saints.
D05 175    |^The sacramental conveys the unseen reality. ^A student once went
D05 176 to study in Germany, lonely and isolated in his lack of the language.
D05 177 ^On the Sunday he went to a Church of his persuasion he found nearby.
D05 178 ^Some words were familiar and he could join in the Amen. ^Recognisable
D05 179 were the actions of obedience in the breaking of the bread and the
D05 180 sharing of the cup. ^At the conclusion, the custom in this Church was
D05 181 for the congregation to stand and join hands in a circle of
D05 182 fellowship. ^He knew he belonged.
D05 183    |^By gesture, symbol, touch, example, and by the Spirit we are
D05 184 gathered into the family of faith.
D05 185 *<*4The Word of Affirmation*>
D05 186 *<*2PENTECOST 24*>
D05 187 *<*0*=I Chronicles 16:23-36    Revelation 3*>
D05 188    |^There are certain Hebrew words which have, around the world,
D05 189 remained in the vocabulary of celebration.
D05 190    |^Hallelujah conveys, as no other the mood of thanksgiving,
D05 191 *"^Praise ye, Yahweh; glory to God in the highest**". ^Amen is the
D05 192 other, a word which sometimes is reduced casually to a fullstop at the
D05 193 end of a sentence, *"^That's that! ^The prayer, the service, is
D05 194 over.**"
D05 195    |^The root meaning of Amen conveys suggestions of firmness,
D05 196 certainty, fidelity and reality. ^Cognate with it is the verb used of
D05 197 Abraham who, when glimpsing something of the purpose of God in
D05 198 history, *"Made himself secure in it.**" ^He said Amen to it. ^It is a
D05 199 little weakened when translated into Greek with the rendering *"^So be
D05 200 it**", becoming less a declaration than a wish.
D05 201    |^It is the word of the congregation that was so important in
D05 202 Hebrew usage. ^When they recited the Shema' *"^Hear O Israel, the Lord
D05 203 our God is one Lord**" all the people would respond with their Amen as
D05 204 a public witness that truly they believed it. ^This was their faith.
D05 205    |^When the early Christians carried over into their worship many
D05 206 of the hymns and prayers of the Synagogue, it was natural that this
D05 207 word too should come across into their liturgy with even richer
D05 208 significance.
D05 209    |^Paul's complaint to the Corinthians was that, if their service
D05 210 were given over to undisciplined and unintelligible emotionalism, the
D05 211 uninitiated could hardly join in the Amen (*=I \0Cor 14: 16). ^It was
D05 212 used both as a response, *"^This indeed is our prayer; may it be
D05 213 so,**" and as assent to a credal affirmation. ^Curiously, in the
D05 214 hymnbook, the Amen has sometimes been omitted as if it belongs solely
D05 215 to prayer. ^In recent practice, it has often been taken away from the
D05 216 congregation altogether and restricted to the pulpit.
D05 217    |^The Amen is furthermore a term of commitment, saying *"^Yes**"
D05 218 to the great Christian insights, not only in word but with life
D05 219 itself, using it not in detachment but to grasp truth with both hands.
D05 220 ^Jerome reports that the congregational Amen would sound like *"the
D05 221 fall of water or the noise of thunder.**"
D05 222 *#
D06 001 **[094 TEXT D06**]
D06 002 *<*544: 1900 to 1920 *- The Maori Christian Churches*>
D06 003    |^*0By the beginning of the twentieth century the economic
D06 004 and social status of the Maori was beginning to rise. ^The census
D06 005 of 1901 showed that their population which had reached its lowest
D06 006 ebb in 1896 was again beginning to rise. ^By 1921 it regained the
D06 007 level held in 1858, though the Maori percentage of the total
D06 008 population was drastically altered *- making up only 4.5 percent,
D06 009 compared with 48.5 percent four decades earlier. ^Improvements in
D06 010 health services and living conditions, and growing immunity to
D06 011 introduced diseases increased expected life-spans, so the future
D06 012 of the race began to look brighter.
D06 013    |^Economically the situation in New Zealand generally was at
D06 014 a peak. ^From the 1890s to 1920, mainly as result of the
D06 015 development of refrigerated carriers, a boom in farming greatly
D06 016 increased the wealth of the country. ^Many Maori, landholders and
D06 017 labourers, shared in this new prosperity. ^The First World War
D06 018 not only kept up overseas markets for meat, dairy products, and
D06 019 wool, but Maori presence in the war effort further increased the
D06 020 standing of the race in European eyes. ^Perhaps even more
D06 021 importantly, it helped promote among the Maori themselves a new
D06 022 feeling of Maori nationalism and racial mana.
D06 023    |^Great cultural changes were also occurring at this time.
D06 024 ^Maori graduates in several areas of learning were taking their
D06 025 place in official positions, one Maori politician was a cabinet
D06 026 minister and on occasions filled the position of Acting Prime
D06 027 Minister. ^The view of the Young Maori Party was that the future
D06 028 of the Maori lay in full integration with the Europeans and
D06 029 adherence to his ways. ^Under this new system of secular
D06 030 leadership the Maori began to exert a little influence in the
D06 031 political field, though it was clear that any improvement in
D06 032 their lot was the result of coming to terms with European rule
D06 033 rather than opposing it.
D06 034    |^It was, then, a time of change from religious to secular
D06 035 leadership, and this was reflected in the situation present
D06 036 during the period.
D06 037    |^By the year 1900 most of the great Maori religious leaders
D06 038 of the past decades were dead. ^Paora Potangaroa, Te Maiharoa, Te
D06 039 Ua Haumene, and Titokowaru had all died during the 1880s; Te
D06 040 Kooti, Te Ra Karepe and Rangawhenua the two priests of the Pao
D06 041 Miere response, and Mahuki Manukura followed during the 90s. ^The
D06 042 movement of the Northland prophetess Remana Hi had declined and
D06 043 was no longer active. ^The few who were alive after the turn of
D06 044 the century were not only in their old age but their former
D06 045 influence had lessened. ^The Bay of Plenty prophet Himiona Te
D06 046 Orinui passed away in 1904, and Te Whiti and Tohu, the two giants
D06 047 of Parihaka, both died in 1907. ^Matenga Tamati lived until 1914,
D06 048 but his peak period of popularity occurred early in the new
D06 049 century also.
D06 050    |^Rua Kenana, whose Iharaira response did not start until
D06 051 1904, began as a prophet in the pattern of those of the former
D06 052 period, therefore in this work his movement is considered with
D06 053 those of the period 1860-1900. ^It is interesting, though, to
D06 054 note that the change which occurred in the movement after 1915
D06 055 brought it more in line with those connected with this later
D06 056 period. ^Whereas in its earlier days Rua himself resembled an Old
D06 057 Testament-type prophetic figure and the community lived a
D06 058 separatist existence more in line with Hebrew tradition, in the
D06 059 later period he saw himself as a christ to his people and the
D06 060 emphasis was more on millennial beliefs. ^Furthermore, this
D06 061 alteration came about after the Government's display of enforcing
D06 062 its secular power over the prophet's religious standing.
D06 063    |^Further considerations possibly also assisted the
D06 064 alteration in religious response from one form to another. ^In
D06 065 the former decades when the people sought to improve their
D06 066 position of seemingly inevitable coming defeat, they turned to
D06 067 the scriptures and followed theories based on notions inspired by
D06 068 Old Testament stories of miraculous deliverance. ^In this way
D06 069 they attempted to support their resistance by backing it with
D06 070 notions of divine will which included prophecies of victory.
D06 071 ^Such movements fulfilled their purpose of uplifting the spirits
D06 072 of the people involved, but they were often less effective in
D06 073 solving specific problems, such as regaining lost land. ^While
D06 074 they had great social value, therefore, they also often failed to
D06 075 live up to eventual expectations, particularly in the fulfilment
D06 076 of their more dramatic claims such as apparently divinely
D06 077 inspired promises, and prophetic predictions.
D06 078    |^In addition, at this time the Christian mission had been
D06 079 active in New Zealand for a full lifetime, and several
D06 080 generations had grown up experiencing its teachings as part of
D06 081 their own culture. ^To the present Maori, the principles and
D06 082 practices of the Europeans, including those of the Christian
D06 083 faith, were familiar because they had become absorbed into their
D06 084 own tradition.
D06 085    |^When many of the Maori gave up Christian worship in the
D06 086 preceding decades, they often continued to study the scriptures,
D06 087 and this factor prepared the way for an eventual return. ^As
D06 088 early as 1889, the Wanganui chief Waero spoke to Father Cognet of
D06 089 the Catholic mission, assuring him that the Maori prophets were
D06 090 not enemies of the church. ^Furthermore, he said, their time was
D06 091 now over *-
D06 092 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D06 093 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D06 094 **[END INDENTATION**]
D06 095    |^While some returned to membership of the established
D06 096 churches, in other cases forms of Maori Christianity had
D06 097 developed and were supplying the spiritual needs of the people.
D06 098 ^The new movements were Christian churches, but the emphasis was
D06 099 on their Maori character. ^This development was necessary because
D06 100 of the separation between Maori and Europeans during the period.
D06 101 ^The population, though presumed one under law and government,
D06 102 was composed of two societies which co-existed side by side, yet
D06 103 separated by their different traditions and situations.
D06 104    |^This was reflected in the formation of separate missions
D06 105 within the activities of the churches. ^The established
D06 106 denominations had developed separate Maori sections and yet these
D06 107 still came under European control. ^Rather than accept the
D06 108 implied lesser status of their section, the Maori wanted their
D06 109 own churches which would be self-governing.
D06 110    |^But there were other reasons which also supported the
D06 111 desirability of separate worship. ^The two societies laid their
D06 112 emphases on different aspects of the Christian teachings and use
D06 113 of the scriptures. ^The Maori, because of their recent social
D06 114 history and continuing spiritual needs, still found more
D06 115 fulfilment in liberation theology and millennial beliefs than did
D06 116 the Europeans. ^There was also a need for more personal
D06 117 involvement in the practice of worship than was provided for in
D06 118 most established churches.
D06 119    |^The attitude of many Europeans to things which were sacred
D06 120 caused a further area of separation. ^The Maori, whose traditions
D06 121 taught him to revere anything of a sacred nature, had always been
D06 122 dismayed at the way in which such objects, places, and subjects
D06 123 were regarded by others, and this often led to the conclusion
D06 124 that their own race might be more suited to teaching the
D06 125 Europeans of such matters than the other way around.
D06 126    |^All these factors combined to produce a movement towards
D06 127 the establishment of a further group of distinctly Maori
D06 128 religious responses. ^Often membership in one of the established
D06 129 churches was retained while the main energy of the people was
D06 130 devoted to more regular worship in one such additional response.
D06 131 ^Overall, though, participation in the European-controlled
D06 132 churches often remained low while alternatives flourished.
D06 133    |^This trend was also reflected in the Mormon Church which,
D06 134 after an encouraging start to its Maori mission during the 1880s
D06 135 to 1900, declined markedly after this time until by 1940 it was
D06 136 very depressed.
D06 137    |^Examination of the three main movements included in this
D06 138 period *- The Church of the Seven Rules of Jehovah, Te Hahi o te
D06 139 Wairua Tapu (The Holy Ghost Mission), and the Ratana Church *-
D06 140 shows that the response of the Maori following the turn of the
D06 141 century contained many rather different characteristics from that
D06 142 of the previous period. ^Whereas the tone was formerly one of
D06 143 reaction, it now changed to reconciliation; from separatism to
D06 144 support. ^Rather than a series of movements which largely
D06 145 rejected Europeans and their beliefs, it was time for the
D06 146 formation of Maori Christian churches which mainly upheld the
D06 147 values and beliefs of the Europeans while still acknowledging the
D06 148 special needs of the Maori.
D06 149    |^As in the decades before, the movements tended to centre
D06 150 around a prophet or prophetess, but the role of this founder was
D06 151 not as pivotal as it was previously. ^While they still provided
D06 152 the original inspiration, the trend was now towards the
D06 153 establishment of a more structured organization with different
D06 154 members forming orders of functionaries and taking part in the
D06 155 affairs of the body.
D06 156    |^Similarly to most of their counterparts in the decades
D06 157 before, the central figures were members of one of the orthodox
D06 158 churches before they set up their response, as were the majority
D06 159 of their followers. ^What was different in this time was that
D06 160 they felt they retained that membership *- their own movement
D06 161 being regarded more as complementing their former church rather
D06 162 than replacing it. ^In the case of *'Seven Rules**' the Anglican
D06 163 Church was referred to as the mother church, or the adult bird
D06 164 from which the offspring had hatched out. ^Mere Rikiriki
D06 165 supported the mission work of the Anglican and Methodist churches
D06 166 in the area, and Ratana encouraged a revival of church membership
D06 167 until difficulties forced the establishment of a separate body.
D06 168    |^Each of the founders claimed to have received revelation
D06 169 from God so can be likened to those of the past who also believed
D06 170 they were divinely appointed. ^Rather than the Old
D06 171 Testament-style prophets who characterized the previous decades,
D06 172 however, the twentieth century figures were simpler religious
D06 173 leaders who also fulfilled the role of evangelist. ^The image of
D06 174 many of the earlier prophets was that of the traditional tohunga
D06 175 overlaid with aspects of one or several biblical models; now the
D06 176 more usual attitude was to reject the ways of the past and adopt
D06 177 the new. ^Whereas preceding prophets had often allowed some
D06 178 acknowledgment of the traditional atua, and utilized some of the
D06 179 arts of the tohunga, the ones of this time were usually opposed
D06 180 to such things *- probably at least partially because of the
D06 181 passing of the Tohunga Suppression Act of 1907.
D06 182    |^The view of God also underwent some alteration even though
D06 183 the name Jehovah was still most favoured. ^The image of a divine
D06 184 deliverer who was expected to avenge the wrongs done to his
D06 185 people and scatter their enemies, gave way to something more in
D06 186 line with Christian teachings. ^Instead of the one indivisible
D06 187 and all-powerful god as presented in the Hebraic scriptures,
D06 188 Jehovah was now made up of the three members of the Trinity, and
D06 189 was to be loved rather than feared. ^The Ratana Church combined
D06 190 the ideas as *"Jehovah *- Father, Son, and Holy Ghost**".
D06 191    |^Consequently, the long-standing belief that the Maori were
D06 192 descendants of the Israelites and were therefore assured of
D06 193 deliverance by right, also altered. ^A more orthodox Christian
D06 194 view began to take over and by 1920 {0T.W.} Ratana was preaching
D06 195 that the Maori had been chosen by God from all other peoples of
D06 196 the world because of their worthiness at this time. ^Now the
D06 197 emphasis of teaching was on such topics as faith in God, the
D06 198 avoidance of sin, and the salvation possible through Christ.
D06 199 ^Aspects of the rejection of Christian practices which were
D06 200 widespread in earlier times were now mainly absent.
D06 201    |^The millennial expectation in this period, therefore, was
D06 202 for the coming of the Kingdom of God, a state which included no
D06 203 notion of separatism through race, though perhaps through belief,
D06 204 following Christian doctrine.
D06 205    |^One of the most notable alterations occurred in the new
D06 206 attitude to the Government. ^Maori politicians were taking their
D06 207 place in parliament, but the change in attitude manifested itself
D06 208 in a more spiritual way with the Church of Seven Rules basing its
D06 209 doctrine on the idea of the divine mandate of the British king.
D06 210 ^The mission of the prophet {0T.W.} Ratana had two equal sides *-
D06 211 the spiritual and the material, with the second concentrating on
D06 212 having Ratana candidates elected to the Maori positions in the
D06 213 House of Representatives.
D06 214 *#
D07 001 **[095 TEXT D07**]
D07 002    |^All lay ministers need to have a profound love for the Eucharist
D07 003 and a vital faith that through reception of Christ's body and blood
D07 004 they are given the power to live, love, joy and suffer in union with
D07 005 him as they carry out whatever \*1diakonia *0he assigns to them.
D07 006    |^Attending daily Mass is itself a most valuable ministry of
D07 007 prayer for the needs of the whole world, and there are those called by
D07 008 the Spirit to concentrate all their self-offering for others in this
D07 009 one act each day.
D07 010    |^\0St. Peter wrote that we are *"a chosen race, a royal
D07 011 priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the
D07 012 praises of God**" (*=I \0Pet. 2. 9), and Vatican *=II quoted his words
D07 013 and applied them to the laity.
D07 014    |^All the baptized *"are consecrated into a spiritual house and a
D07 015 holy priesthood**", are called to offer themselves *"as a living
D07 016 sacrifice**" as they *"exercise that priesthood by receiving the
D07 017 sacraments, by prayer and thanksgiving, by the witness of a holy life,
D07 018 and by self-denial and active charity**" (*1Church, *010).
D07 019    |^Lay ministries derive from this priesthood of the baptized.
D07 020 ^Only the ordained minister can consecrate the elements and officially
D07 021 offer them for us to God at the altar. ^But all of us are meant to
D07 022 join ourselves with that offering in a spirit of total self-giving.
D07 023 ^All prayer is offering the sacrifice of praise that glorifies God,
D07 024 but the Eucharist is the supreme act of praise. ^After participating
D07 025 in it *"as worshippers whose every deed is holy, the laity consecrate
D07 026 the world itself to God**" (*1Church, *034).
D07 027    |^Within the unfolding of the Eucharist, the lay minister of the
D07 028 Eucharist performs a duty of loving service that calls for especial
D07 029 devotion, reverence, dedication and humility. ^No human being is
D07 030 worthy to consecrate, receive or give the Lord's body to others. ^Yet
D07 031 he calls some to do this, and they respond in awe and overwhelming
D07 032 love if they realize the significance of their calling.
D07 033    |^If they have been chosen for the right reasons, and not because
D07 034 they have influence, social position, connections with the hierarchy,
D07 035 or have lived in the parish all their lives, and if they have been
D07 036 properly instructed and prepared before induction, then they will come
D07 037 to their ministry with deep humility.
D07 038    |^Their devotion to the Eucharist will be evident in the
D07 039 sacrifices they make to attend Mass and receive Communion on at least
D07 040 some weekdays as well as Sundays. ^When giving Communion to others,
D07 041 they are also making a spiritual, silent impact through the quality
D07 042 and intensity of their own faith, hope and love.
D07 043    |^All lay ministries, if faithfully carried out, lead to growth in
D07 044 holiness in both the minister and those they serve, but of its very
D07 045 nature the eucharistic ministry offers special graces if the minister
D07 046 is prepared to receive them. ^It costs to open oneself to receive a
D07 047 grace, and from those to whom much is given a great deal is going to
D07 048 be asked by God. ^Our individual response to his proffered graces is a
D07 049 matter of our own choice, and our willingness to accept the
D07 050 consequences flowing from those graces.
D07 051    |^Every time a minister of the Eucharist holds the Lord between
D07 052 her fingers, Jesus is asking her to make a deeper commitment of
D07 053 herself to him and others. ^He is asking that her heart be opened
D07 054 completely to become one with his heart, that she submit to his usage
D07 055 in whatever way he desires, entering into a total sharing of his
D07 056 servanthood with him.
D07 057    |^Only those who live each hour of each day in unremitting effort
D07 058 to respond to this summons to total commitment, know what the cost is.
D07 059 ^They are the ones who are responding fully to the vocation of
D07 060 eucharistic minister.
D07 061    |^As well as distributing Communion at Parish Masses, the minister
D07 062 may be appointed to do so to the sick or housebound or elderly. ^This
D07 063 is a special extension of his ministry, involving personal
D07 064 relationships with people who may be in need of spiritual comfort and
D07 065 refreshment by word of mouth as well as sacramentally.
D07 066    |^Often such people are lonely and need befriending, someone to
D07 067 talk to, to share suffering or problems with, to cheer them up, to
D07 068 give \*1koinonia. ^*0The minister's personal warmth and empathy are
D07 069 part of the eucharistic presence of Jesus that he bears sacramentally
D07 070 with him. ^He comes to give Jesus in all possible ways to the person
D07 071 he serves.
D07 072    |^A minister of the Eucharist may also be called upon to baptize,
D07 073 to perform the rite of viaticum for those seriously ill or in danger
D07 074 of death, to lead and conduct paraliturgies and celebrations of the
D07 075 Word, to read the gospel.
D07 076    |^In areas where there is no priest or where there is religious
D07 077 persecution, the minister's role becomes extremely important, and his
D07 078 duties diverse. ^As priests die and there are no newly ordained ones
D07 079 to take their place, a body of reliable, spiritually awakened,
D07 080 competent, dedicated, reverent and freely available eucharistic
D07 081 ministers in a parish becomes a necessity.
D07 082    |^Perhaps one of the reasons why God permits the shortage of
D07 083 clergy to become acute is precisely so that lay women and men will be
D07 084 trained to participate fully in a whole range of ministries as the
D07 085 best possible way of fulfilling their common vocation of sanctifying
D07 086 the secular order.
D07 087    |^*4Ministers of the Word: ^*0The reading of the epistle, lesson,
D07 088 psalm, and prayers of the faithful at the Sunday Eucharist is not a
D07 089 ministry to be lightly undertaken. ^It is necessary to be a really
D07 090 good reader, if possible expert.
D07 091    |^What are the qualities called for?
D07 092    |^The reader needs a personal knowledge and love of the bible not
D07 093 derived only from the Sunday readings. ^To read with all the nuances
D07 094 of meaning in a passage of scripture, she should be able to relate
D07 095 that passage to the rest of the bible and to have the kind of
D07 096 spiritual enlightenment concerning it that comes only from prayerful
D07 097 study and personal application of God's Word to her own life.
D07 098    |^She also needs to pronounce correctly names of people and
D07 099 places, and any other unfamiliar words. (^I once heard a reader tell
D07 100 us about an *1urchin *0instead of a *1eunuch *0throughout the whole of
D07 101 the passage about Philip and the Ethiopian.)
D07 102    |^Her delivery must be first class. ^Her voice and diction ought
D07 103 to be clear, and pitched to be heard by everyone in the church, taking
D07 104 into account the presence or absence of a microphone, its qualities,
D07 105 and its correct placing in relation to her mouth.
D07 106    |^She is reading to people, so she needs to look at them
D07 107 frequently without losing her place. ^Her delivery should be
D07 108 unhurried, her tone of voice and modulations in keeping with the type
D07 109 of passage, her own sincerity and faith evident in every word she
D07 110 says. ^This of course implies conscientious practice beforehand.
D07 111    |^It is God's Word she is proclaiming in a ministry of \*1kerygma.
D07 112 ^*0She must aim at getting through to everyone present, having
D07 113 beforehand asked the Holy Spirit to help her to do so, and to read to
D07 114 the glory of God, not for her own self-importance.
D07 115    |^Her reverence and dignity need to be apparent as she approaches
D07 116 and leaves the sanctuary and stands at the lectern. ^If she leads the
D07 117 congregation in the psalm and prayers of the faithful, she should make
D07 118 it apparent by her manner that this is an act of worship she and they
D07 119 are doing together.
D07 120    |^A really good reader in the spiritual sense as well as in
D07 121 technique is a great asset to the Mass. ^Her expertise can well be
D07 122 used in expanding her ministry to include training others to proclaim
D07 123 the Word of God in a similar way, though with each individual's
D07 124 personal stamp of style and authenticity.
D07 125 *<*2CHAPTER SEVENTEEN*>
D07 126 *<*4Welcomers*>
D07 127    |^*0It is unfortunately true that people repeatedly say they are
D07 128 not made welcome at the Catholic church, other people do not bother to
D07 129 greet or stop to talk to them, and that no one finds out whether they
D07 130 are new parishioners, transitory visitors, regular holidaymakers, or
D07 131 members of the parish that no one has taken notice of for years.
D07 132    |^One young mother said desperately to me, *"^I've finally thrown
D07 133 in my lot with the Baptists. ^I've got to have that fellowship, and
D07 134 they give it. ^You don't get it in our church.**"
D07 135    |^Another, the Anglican wife of a non-practising Catholic who
D07 136 wanted his four children brought up as Catholics but did nothing about
D07 137 it himself, did a religion course herself, took them to {0CCD}, had
D07 138 them baptized, and then the marriage broke up. ^With custody of the
D07 139 children, she moved to another town. ^Here she put them in the
D07 140 Catholic school and took them to Mass herself every Sunday.
D07 141    |^No one called at her home, welcomed her to the parish, invited
D07 142 her to join anything, spoke to her after Mass, made an effort to
D07 143 include her or draw her into the Church. ^With different treatment she
D07 144 would probably have become a Catholic. ^She was pitifully lonely as a
D07 145 solo parent with a traumatic background in a strange place where she
D07 146 knew no one and her children were of a different denomination from
D07 147 herself.
D07 148    |^Such stories could be added to indefinitely, covering all age
D07 149 groups and circumstances.
D07 150    |^Please God, now more and more parishes are becoming
D07 151 laity-orientated and organized with a variety of ministries,
D07 152 loneliness will become much less common.
D07 153    |^The Sunday Eucharist is the usual coming together occasion of
D07 154 parish members. ^Below, are listed several ministries that, if put
D07 155 into operation, could help make people feel at home.
D07 156    |^*4The Welcomers: ^*0These are people who relate easily to
D07 157 others, including strangers, who have warmth of manner and smile,
D07 158 whose tone of voice is friendly, who remember faces and names, who
D07 159 have the lovingkindness of Jesus in their hearts.
D07 160    |^Their ministry is to be there, wearing name tags clearly
D07 161 visible, at all entrances and exits before and after Sunday Masses,
D07 162 greeting people, introducing themselves, giving information verbally
D07 163 and by printed sheet on activities going on in the parish, welcoming
D07 164 new parishioners and visitors with maybe the presentation of a little
D07 165 buttonhole posy and an invitation to the parish cup of tea in the hall
D07 166 after Mass.
D07 167    |^They would consist of both women and men, rostered so that
D07 168 enough are on duty each Mass every Sunday to be available to as many
D07 169 people as possible. ^The followup is to mingle with people outside
D07 170 after Mass, noticing especially those on their own, or looking lonely
D07 171 or lost, or inclined to slip away as if they are feeling they do not
D07 172 fit in and no one is going to bother to speak to them.
D07 173    |^The ministers' aim is to help such people feel they belong, yet
D07 174 without pressuring or being overwhelming or garrulous. ^If they will
D07 175 come to the cup of tea in the hall, then introductions can more
D07 176 readily be made there. ^Having found out what the lonely ones or
D07 177 newcomers are interested in, the welcomers can introduce them to
D07 178 leaders of groups, or arrange for those leaders to phone or call.
D07 179    |^In a \*1koinonia *0parish no one should feel left out. ^Some
D07 180 people are much less gregarious than others and prefer to be alone a
D07 181 lot of the time. ^That is no excuse for their not being made welcome
D07 182 and told where and how they can meet up with others if they wish to do
D07 183 so.
D07 184    |^*4Ushers *0are also welcomers in their unobtrusive way. ^If they
D07 185 smile and are gracious as they show people to their seats, that is in
D07 186 itself an act of kindness and welcome.
D07 187    |^*4Newsletter Distributors *0not only stand at the entrances
D07 188 making sure everyone receives a sheet, but by their smiles and warm
D07 189 manner also help diffuse the spirit of lovingkindness.
D07 190    |^*4Music: ^*0Although the organist (or guitarist, violinist,
D07 191 flautist, or whatever) and the choir or congregation singers are not
D07 192 officially welcomers, their ministry of making a glad and beautiful
D07 193 sound has a great deal to do with helping people experience the
D07 194 Eucharist as a joyful occasion.
D07 195 *#
D08 001 **[096 TEXT D08**]
D08 002    |^*0{0WACB} was prepared to think big, spread its
D08 003 evangelical wings. ^\0Dr Harry \0C Spencer of the {0USA} put it
D08 004 grandly: *"^The {0WACB} can give to each member a sense of
D08 005 participation with others of all nations, races and cultures, in
D08 006 a tremendous, titanic, terrifying struggle with unrighteousness
D08 007 and godlessness.**"
D08 008    |^More prosaically, it wanted a body of broadcasters who
D08 009 could think out together the possibilities and problems of
D08 010 religious witness through the electronic media. ^Many of its
D08 011 members were broadcasting organisations like the {0BBC} or the
D08 012 Dutch {0NCRV}. ^Others were church-based broadcasting stations,
D08 013 especially in the {0USA}. ^Some were church-originating
D08 014 activities like our {0CTC}, involved in though not operating a
D08 015 broadcasting network.
D08 016    |^Meetings of the central committee ranged far beyond
D08 017 administration: ideas, techniques, understanding; these were what
D08 018 members wanted to talk about. ^A psychologist demonstrated
D08 019 marginal awareness. ^A sociologist reminded that television can
D08 020 be escapist, pretending to share in world events while remaining
D08 021 comfortably at home. ^We met satellites, learned about the threat
D08 022 of a neo-colonialism through a commercially profitable monopoly
D08 023 of satellite transmission, and we voiced a strong case for
D08 024 providing satellites for educational and cultural advancement of
D08 025 under-developed countries. ^Peace-Sat in the Pacific was one
D08 026 direct outcome.
D08 027    |^What is now a familiar argument about the behavioural
D08 028 impact of television was aptly illustrated by the {0WACB}
D08 029 president, Bishop Berkeli of Oslo. ^Norwegian soccer fans, he
D08 030 told us, no longer applaud sedately as they used to when a
D08 031 favourite wins a goal, they storm the field. *"^They have seen on
D08 032 their screens that this is the way it is done under other and
D08 033 warmer skies. ^Consequently they try it themselves.**"
D08 034    |^A fruitful, though sometimes frustrating result of the
D08 035 world fellowship was to pick up ideas and methods of approach
D08 036 from others. ^Only rarely was a programme suitable for import,
D08 037 some were too costly; some would require too much editing and
D08 038 subtitling, many were simply not available. ^Much more likely was
D08 039 to use the idea and build our own programme around it.
D08 040    |^It was revealing to see how American unfettered private
D08 041 enterprise works in religious broadcasting. ^Required by their
D08 042 charters to give time for *"public service**" programming,
D08 043 networks and stations ranged in their treatment of religion from
D08 044 friendly and appreciative cooperation to *"graveyard slots**"
D08 045 (like 2 {0am}) in an otherwise entirely secular, commercial
D08 046 operation. ^Many stations were church-owned and oriented, but
D08 047 sometimes religion could be brazenly commercial; some of the less
D08 048 orthodox sects beamed their material towards an unblushing appeal
D08 049 for funds.
D08 050    |^Some churches had their own production studios, or
D08 051 supported them. ^The United Presbyterian Church in New York
D08 052 (since merged into the Presbyterian Church {0USA}) produced
D08 053 30-second *"spots**" for use in the same way as commercial
D08 054 inserts, but with a crisp Christian message.
D08 055    |^The Methodist centre in Nashville, Tennessee, and Family
D08 056 Films in Hollywood, and others, went for longer productions,
D08 057 mostly storytelling that did not shrink from bringing a religious
D08 058 insight into a social problem.
D08 059    |^European programmes were often exciting in their
D08 060 innovative use of cartoons, puppets, silhouettes, especially for
D08 061 children's programmes; though one could not help feeling
D08 062 sometimes that the techniques were more impressive than the
D08 063 thoughts they conveyed.
D08 064    |^One encouraging spin-off of these encounters was the
D08 065 opportunity to help some of the *"younger**" churches. ^Along
D08 066 with others, I was called on to conduct broadcasting workshops,
D08 067 especially in Asia and the Pacific, but also in the Middle East.
D08 068 ^Our New Zealand *"intermediate technology**" methods appeared to
D08 069 be more applicable than those from wealthier and more
D08 070 technologically advanced American and European networks.
D08 071    |^{0WACB} joined with another inter-church body to become
D08 072 the World Association for Christian Communication; it has since
D08 073 gradually grown to be more of a funding and mission-oriented
D08 074 body, less of the forum for church broadcasters it started out to
D08 075 be. ^But it still has a useful place in interchange of ideas.
D08 076 *<11. *2NEW DIRECTIONS*>
D08 077    |^*0In 1971 I returned to parish work, and a Methodist
D08 078 minister, the \0Rev Michael Jackson Campbell, was appointed in my
D08 079 place. ^Michael was an experienced broadcaster and had been the
D08 080 Auckland liaison for the {0CTC}. ^He brought to the work a
D08 081 background of management expertise as well as churchmanship, and
D08 082 was well suited for the changes about to take place, not all of
D08 083 his own making.
D08 084    |^Formidable among those changes were:
D08 085    |1. ^The assumption of direct control by {0NZBC}. ^Radio New
D08 086 Zealand and the two television channels each appointed
D08 087 *"consultants**", who were the directors of Anglican, Roman
D08 088 Catholic and Presbyterian broadcasting. ^The system worked to the
D08 089 extent that the consultants were able to give time and thought to
D08 090 that responsibility, and to the extent that the broadcasting
D08 091 authority concerned welcomed the consultant's input.
D08 092    |^In theory it looked as though the earlier desire shown by
D08 093 the churches and their directors for more involvement by the
D08 094 broadcasting authority was to be fulfilled. ^In practice rather
D08 095 less than that was accomplished. ^It might be said that the new
D08 096 system fell between two stools, it was neither a church-directed
D08 097 presentation of the churches' thinking, nor was it the kind of
D08 098 direct control by the corporation which was the practice in
D08 099 {0BBC} and {0ABC}.
D08 100    |^One incidental result was that now talent was paid, not
D08 101 lavishly maybe but in the same way as in other Talks programmes.
D08 102 ^This was a new feature in religious broadcasting; till then
D08 103 broadcasters in religion were *"voluntary**", giving their time
D08 104 and abilities without cost to broadcasting.
D08 105    |^Paradoxically, the innovation may have contributed to the
D08 106 problems that were to come.
D08 107    |^Another result was a new definition of the term *"main
D08 108 stream**", widening its scope and paving the way for inclusion
D08 109 not only of minority ecclesiastical interests, but of
D08 110 non-Christian and non-religious devotional broadcasting.
D08 111    |^Programmes generally soon ceased to originate from church
D08 112 initiative, and were more selectively decided by corporation
D08 113 staff. ^This was to have a profound effect on the attitude of the
D08 114 churches themselves.
D08 115    *|2. ^Another major change, partly resulting from the new
D08 116 overall control by the corporation, was the demise of the
D08 117 Churches Television Commission, at the end of 1972. ^No longer
D08 118 responsible for programme planning and preparation, the {0CTC}
D08 119 had little relevance in its existing form.
D08 120    |^But because the churches felt the need for some form of
D08 121 inter-church cooperation, which would have to be independent of
D08 122 {0NZBC}, a *"committee of directors**" came into existence,
D08 123 comprising the specialists of five of the broadcasting churches.
D08 124 ^This later merged into a revival of the Churches Committee on
D08 125 Broadcasting. ^{0CCB} began as an ad hoc body set up in 1968 for
D08 126 the purpose of presenting church submissions to an Enquiry
D08 127 concerning proposed legislative changes in broadcasting. ^The new
D08 128 {0CCB} became a consultative body for the churches, and has
D08 129 operated with qualified success, not always realising its
D08 130 potential in organising church interest and presenting the voice
D08 131 of the church to broadcasting.
D08 132    *|3. ^A third major change was within the Presbyterian
D08 133 Church itself, with the merging of its committee on Radio and
D08 134 Television into a new Department of Communication, along with
D08 135 other areas of the church's communication interests: Publicity,
D08 136 *1Outlook *0and others.
D08 137    |^This had been foreshadowed to some extent by the close
D08 138 cooperation and interrelationship of the committees dealing with
D08 139 aspects of communication. ^An example of this was the way the
D08 140 Radio and Television committee and the Publicity committee had
D08 141 pooled their equipment to provide a public address and recording
D08 142 system for the General Assembly. ^Another was the assistance the
D08 143 Publicity committee gave in providing photographic material for
D08 144 television programmes.
D08 145    |^The broadcasting director, Michael Jackson Campbell, was
D08 146 appointed Director of Communication.
D08 147    |^Eminently successful as an administrator, he fielded the
D08 148 additional responsibility with ease, though it inevitably
D08 149 resulted in an attenuation of his involvement with broadcasting.
D08 150 ^He continued to be assiduous and forward-looking in preparing
D08 151 many significant programmes for radio and in guiding the
D08 152 televising of church services. ^When the church's Research and
D08 153 Development studio became operational in 1978, a project I was
D08 154 called in to help get off the ground, it was put to good use in,
D08 155 among other things, training ministers in the arts and skills of
D08 156 communication. ^A programme of selection from the Presbyteries
D08 157 brought a regular stream of (mostly young) ministers who were put
D08 158 on video, and guided under Michael's leadership to a more
D08 159 effective visual use of their communication abilities.
D08 160    *|^In addition to these administrative changes, there were
D08 161 changes in programming. ^Some came by decision of the
D08 162 broadcasting authorities, some by action or default of the
D08 163 churches themselves.
D08 164    |^*"Readings from the Bible**" was transmogrified into
D08 165 *"Reflections**" and later *"Soundings**", with a wide compass,
D08 166 not always necessarily Christian nor, for that matter,
D08 167 recognisably religious. ^Television altered the pattern of its
D08 168 programming, so that in place of a regular and varied diet
D08 169 supplied by the churches, the medium offered a limited number of
D08 170 cohesively arranged formats, frequently prepared by highly
D08 171 motivated independent groups. ^\0TV1 set up a Resource Group, in
D08 172 an effort to gain more apt programming acceptable to both the
D08 173 churches and the channel, but without noticeably successful
D08 174 results.
D08 175    |^By 1977 the broadcasting subcommittee of the Presbyterian
D08 176 Department of Communication could note that *"it had no direct
D08 177 control over broadcast programmes but could only suggest, advise
D08 178 and assist with material, talent \0etc.**"
D08 179    |^With swift ease, church input into the selection and
D08 180 preparation of radio and television programming waned signally, a
D08 181 change accelerated by the curtailing of the {0CRAC}. ^Once the
D08 182 integrating policy-making and overall selecting body for radio
D08 183 religious broadcasting, it was replaced by a diminished Religious
D08 184 Broadcasting Advisory Committee, meeting three times a year, as
D08 185 an advisory body only.
D08 186    |^No doubt frustrated at no longer having any direct line of
D08 187 command, the churches seemed less concerned to make broadcasting
D08 188 a priority in their planning or their funding.
D08 189    |^This, at a time when Christian observance generally was
D08 190 ebbing, when {0BCNZ} was becoming more vocally aware of its
D08 191 dependence on commercial revenue, and when *"right-wing**"
D08 192 religion, often not church-oriented, was becoming more
D08 193 aggressive, with evident result on its *"leverage**", meant that
D08 194 there were profound pressures on the style, content, placing and
D08 195 presentation of religion on both radio and television.
D08 196    *|^In 1985 Michael Jackson Campbell retired, after a notably
D08 197 effective 14 years of leadership in an increasingly demanding and
D08 198 widening range of communication matters.
D08 199    |^His place was taken by \0Mr Ian Harris, a Methodist layman
D08 200 with a background of journalism, and with a keen sense of the
D08 201 importance of religious broadcasting.
D08 202    |^In the new regime, radio programme patterns, under direct
D08 203 Radio New Zealand control, showed only a marginal change in form,
D08 204 though considerably more in organisation and content.
D08 205    |^A typical run-down would be:
D08 206    |^On Sundays: a hymn session, a morning church service
D08 207 relay, limited in origin to six main centres, and an evening
D08 208 studio worship or talk session, with usually a late afternoon
D08 209 talk or documentary programme.
D08 210    |^On weekdays, *"Soundings**": readings on aspects and
D08 211 implications of beliefs; a weekly news and views programme, with
D08 212 additional irregular programming as occasion offered.
D08 213    |^Commercial stations (Community Network) had occasional
D08 214 *"spots**" and short programmes mostly from the Christian
D08 215 Broadcasting Association.
D08 216    |^The Concert network carried occasional major talks and
D08 217 music programmes of high quality. ^Its Lenten series have been
D08 218 significant, and series like the 1989 *"The Good Book**" from
D08 219 {0BBC} have been informative and stimulating.
D08 220    |^On television the churches had little direct input. ^For
D08 221 church service relays the churches could make suggestions, but
D08 222 the choice and all production matters lay with {0TVNZ}. ^A valued
D08 223 programme *"Praise Be**", with music and commentary, had a wide
D08 224 appeal.
D08 225    |^A Sunday afternoon programme, of varying format and
D08 226 content, was for some years supplied by interested groups. ^In
D08 227 1987 a Religious Unit, centred in Christchurch, became
D08 228 responsible for all television programming, with a Presbyterian
D08 229 minister, the \0Rev Chris Nichol, appointed as a staff member.
D08 230 ^The Unit approached its task with imagination, looking for
D08 231 positive ways of bringing a religious dimension to an
D08 232 increasingly secular community outlook.
D08 233    |^Private stations, outside the orbit of {0BCNZ}, in general
D08 234 had little religious programming other than a token input at
D08 235 Christmas and Easter. ^Radio Rhema, a declaredly Christian
D08 236 operation, maintained regular transmission of programmes, with a
D08 237 background of religious recognition, on its network of stations.
D08 238 *#
D09 001 **[097 TEXT D09**]
D09 002 ^*0Kemp's solution was to remove the name of the Tabernacle from
D09 003 the clubs and encourage his young people to leave them. ^Sporting
D09 004 activities with the *'unchurched**' connoted for Kemp a dangerous
D09 005 worldliness that should be avoided at all costs. ^Membership
D09 006 consequently became secularised.
D09 007    |^While such anti-worldly stances point backwards to puritan
D09 008 moral ethics and typical revivalist taboos, they clearly point
D09 009 forward to some aspects of the American fundamentalist battle for
D09 010 civilisation. ^In the early twenties in America the battle for
D09 011 the Bible had become synonymous with the battle for civilisation.
D09 012 ^By the mid-twenties, allegedly sexually-suggestive dancing had
D09 013 come to symbolise dangerously modern trends, in which biblical,
D09 014 cultural and moral issues were fused together inextricably. ^In
D09 015 the context of an attack on ballroom dancing, John Roach Straton
D09 016 claimed that the Bible *'is the foundation of all that is decent
D09 017 and right in our civilization**'. ^For Kemp, then, the only answer 
D09 018 was to go back to the Bible, a Bible understood literally where 
D09 019 ever **[SIC**] possible, a Bible bolstered up**[SIC**] the inerrancy
D09 020 theories of the Princeton theology, and a Bible that was seen as
D09 021 a map by which to understand the contemporary world as the
D09 022 prophetic jigsaw fitted together. ^Kemp believed that he could
D09 023 guarantee the survival of evangelical religion only by insisting
D09 024 on individual moral purity and maintaining the purity of
D09 025 evangelical teaching unpolluted by modernism. ^Kemp needed
D09 026 evangelistic warriors, prayer warriors and young people, prepared
D09 027 to do battle royal for the fundamentals. ^In the process, the
D09 028 most important element in being a Christian became as complete as
D09 029 possible a separation from *'the world**'. ^An evangelical
D09 030 Christian who went into a dancehall incurred the risk of being
D09 031 judged not only theologically unsound, but almost beyond
D09 032 redemption if such aberrant behaviour continued. ^Kemp realised
D09 033 that mere denunciation of social evils would be ineffective in
D09 034 preventing the downslide of evangelical religion in New Zealand.
D09 035 ^Too much concentration on his almost mesmeric preaching power
D09 036 and colourful sermons entitled *'The devil of the dance**', *'The
D09 037 curse of the cardtable**', and *'The menace of modernism**' could
D09 038 hinder recognition that Kemp was far more systematic than merely
D09 039 denouncing.
D09 040 *<*=IV*>
D09 041    |^My claim that Kemp was the prime interpreter of American
D09 042 fundamentalism in New Zealand in the 1920's is based primarily on
D09 043 his adoption of a thorough-going fundamentalist strategy. ^On
D09 044 Kemp's arrival in Auckland, no proto-fundamentalist figure was in
D09 045 a position to exercise national leadership in a nascent
D09 046 anti-modernist movement. ^Few interdenominational institutions or
D09 047 conferences existed, which could act as disseminators of American
D09 048 fundamentalist theology. ^Any fundamentalist leader who wished to
D09 049 make a national impact would have to create new institutions
D09 050 *1{ex nihilo}. ^*0Kemp was the only person to achieve this. ^His
D09 051 prominence within Baptist and revivalist circles meant that he
D09 052 could create the institutional base for fundamentalism in New
D09 053 Zealand and set definite fundamentalist objectives in each of his
D09 054 spheres of influence, while at the same time maintaining his
D09 055 older revivalist sympathies. ^The four areas I wish to discuss
D09 056 are: Kemp's Fundamentals Conference, the Tabernacle Mid-Week
D09 057 Bible Study, the New Zealand Bible Training Institute (now called
D09 058 the Bible College of New Zealand), and his fundamentalist
D09 059 journal, *1The Reaper, *0which soon became the most efficient
D09 060 disseminator of fundamentalist theology in the Dominion.
D09 061    |^First then, the *'Conference of Christian Fundamentals**'.
D09 062 ^Kemp was the first minister here to plan and host an
D09 063 identifiably fundamentalist campaign. ^Two years earlier in 1919,
D09 064 the establishment of the Pre-Millenial Advent Society was
D09 065 evidence that conservative forces had started to re**[ARB**]-
D09 066 group around premillenialism, which had through {0P.B.} Fraser's
D09 067 efforts become a symbol of anti-modernism. ^Kemp's conference
D09 068 featured nineteen speakers from a range of denominations and was
D09 069 endorsed by ministers from as far away as Ashburton and Wanganui.
D09 070 ^He intended to provide the most searching treatment of *'the
D09 071 fundamentals**' in New Zealand to date, and all speakers
D09 072 recognised the need to make a clear corporate stand for those
D09 073 fundamental evangelical truths being attacked by modernists
D09 074 abroad. ^Revivalism and fundamentalism were brought together by
D09 075 the \0Rev. Percy Knight, of Pitt Street Methodist Church, who
D09 076 addressed contemporary fears in his lecture on *'The Dearth of
D09 077 Conversions caused by Present Theological Tendencies.**' ^Wider
D09 078 concerns centred on the subjects of justification, regeneration,
D09 079 the victorious life, and various aspects of the second coming of
D09 080 Christ, showing that fundamentalist theology always drew from the
D09 081 older revivalist and evangelical traditions. ^Relationships
D09 082 formed here provided the basis of an emergent fundamentalist
D09 083 alliance. ^Kemp planned to make the fundamentalist summer
D09 084 conference a national institution. ^However, the failure of Kemp
D09 085 and his fundamentalist allies to identify a national modernist
D09 086 enemy meant that the impulse to hold national fundamentalist
D09 087 conferences on an annual basis could not be sustained. ^The local
D09 088 Anglican and Methodist theological colleges were far from being
D09 089 hotbeds of modernism. ^{0P.B.} Fraser's alienated position within
D09 090 his own denomination after trying to take on the Presbyterian
D09 091 theological hierarchy was a solemn warning of the possible
D09 092 consequences of sharply focussed heresy-hunting efforts. ^The
D09 093 conference did not lead to a cohesive national fundamentalist
D09 094 movement against modernism, while in Australia a similar
D09 095 *'Conference on Fundamentals**' in 1922 led to the launching of
D09 096 the fundamentalist Bible Union of Australia, which still
D09 097 functions today.
D09 098    |^Kemp's national strategy to fight modernism in the
D09 099 denominations and guarantee the survival of evangelical religion
D09 100 found its main expression in the decision to found his own
D09 101 national fundamentalist lay training centre, the New Zealand
D09 102 Bible Training Institute, or {0N.Z.B.T.I.} ^It ran along the
D09 103 lines of the original Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, but
D09 104 differed substantially. ^Students and staff had to sign a
D09 105 doctrinal statement that was very narrowly fundamentalist in its
D09 106 formulation. ^With the support of several Auckland businessmen
D09 107 Kemp was able to establish and lead an institute, which stood for
D09 108 *'the Inspiration, Authenticity, Historicity, Infallibility, and
D09 109 Inerrancy of the Bible, and its recognition as the Word of
D09 110 God**'. ^The systematic countering of liberal theology from the
D09 111 time the doors opened in March 1922 made it one of the most
D09 112 efficient disseminators of fundamentalist theology in the
D09 113 Dominion. ^Together with Kemp's vastly successful Mid-Week Bible
D09 114 Study, the {0B.T.I.} provided the focus of a new
D09 115 interdenominational alliance of fundamentalists who would
D09 116 cooperate for a variety of evangelical and fundamentalist
D09 117 purposes. ^The {0B.T.I.} was one of Kemp's most important
D09 118 fundamentalist legacies. ^One year after Kemp's death in 1933 a
D09 119 Brethren member of the tutorial staff identified Theological Hall
D09 120 Principal John Dickie as a theological foe to be contended with.
D09 121 ^Within less than a generation evangelicals who wished to enter
D09 122 the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or Anglican ordained
D09 123 ministries regarded preparatory study at the {0B.T.I.} as an
D09 124 obligatory fortifying of their faith against the alleged
D09 125 liberalism of the theological colleges.
D09 126    |^A third strategy catered for those who wanted to be
D09 127 fortified against the *'colossal evil**' of modernism, but who
D09 128 could not give up two years for full**[ARB**]-time biblical study
D09 129 at the {0B.T.I.} ^Two weeks after his arrival Kemp held his first
D09 130 Mid-Week Bible Study, which was the first interdenominational
D09 131 meeting in Auckland to take people systematically through the
D09 132 Bible. ^Attended mainly by Baptists, Presbyterians, Open
D09 133 Brethren, and some Methodists, the Mid-Week Bible Study was
D09 134 deliberately time-tabled so that it wouldn't conflict with
D09 135 people's other church commitments. ^Kemp demanded stern and
D09 136 assiduous study from the start. ^Once the book of Deuteronomy was
D09 137 reached, Kemp made it clear in a public advertisement that he
D09 138 intended to defend it from attacks which had made it a 
D09 139 *'storm-centre of critical controversy**'. ^He reassured those
D09 140 disconcerted by liberal theology of the old certainties, which
D09 141 included Mosaic authorship of the entire Pentateuch. ^Within
D09 142 three months five hundred people were attending the lectures.
D09 143 ^During the summer his premillenialist and anti-cultural
D09 144 fundamentalist concerns dominated, as the Thursday evening
D09 145 lectures became part of a Bible and Prophetic series. ^The huge
D09 146 crowds who gathered to hear Kemp discuss *'The Tyranny of
D09 147 Democracy**', *'Anti-Christ, the Superman**', and *'The Great
D09 148 Tribulation and who will pass through it**' attested to the
D09 149 definite appeal Kemp's doctrinaire approach had in a time of
D09 150 great uncertainty and rapid change. ^In a city where church
D09 151 attendance had never involved more than a very small proportion
D09 152 of the general population, Kemp's dispensational premillenialism
D09 153 seemed to account for the apparent emptying of the pews of the
D09 154 established churches, and provided a powerful critique of
D09 155 contemporary society.
D09 156    |^In 1924 Kemp felt that the threat of modernism was so
D09 157 great that he needed to devote the whole year to a series *'The
D09 158 War in the Churches *- Modernism \0v. Fundamentalism**'. ^This
D09 159 drew heavily on his knowledge of the contemporary modernist/
D09 160 fundamentalist controversy in America. ^In contrast to the
D09 161 mainstream of Baptist thought in New Zealand, Kemp refused to
D09 162 view the controversy as a totally foreign phenomenon, of little
D09 163 local significance. ^He claimed that repercussions were manifest
D09 164 in *'every part of the Globe where the Protestant Faith has been
D09 165 embraced.**' ^He claimed modernism in the religious life of the
D09 166 nation was lowering moral standards. ^False doctrine was creating
D09 167 false standards of morality. ^He boldly claimed that: *'^Every
D09 168 fundamental position of the orthodox school has been attacked,
D09 169 and we would be traitors to our trust if we maintained what is
D09 170 nothing short of a criminal silence.**' ^Kemp refused to accept
D09 171 the judgement of the moderate Baptist leader, the \0Rev. {0J.J.}
D09 172 North, that the differences between conservatives and liberals
D09 173 had been *'stupidly overstated.**' ^During this year Kemp charged
D09 174 modernists with unethical behaviour, called on local defenders of
D09 175 the faith to fight this battle in the Spirit of Christ, and
D09 176 alleged that modernists' rejection of the *'supernatural
D09 177 origin**' of scripture, the *'infallibility of Christ**', the
D09 178 *'Virgin Birth of Jesus**', the vicariousness of his death, the
D09 179 *'fact of His bodily resurrection**', and *'the personal return
D09 180 of the Lord Jesus Christ**' made them necessarily soft on sin.
D09 181 ^Although quite willing to attack modernism in the United States
D09 182 from a comfortable distance, Kemp did not go on to attack the
D09 183 Presbyterian Theological Hall for teaching biblical criticism, or
D09 184 the Anglican and Methodist theological colleges in Auckland. ^His
D09 185 antagonism towards modernism resembles more closely the ritual
D09 186 animosity of some American fundamentalists, than the British
D09 187 tradition of genuine theological interchange among disputants.
D09 188    |^The last main fundamentalist strategy Kemp adopted was to
D09 189 publish a monthly journal, called *1The Reaper. ^*0From its beginning
D09 190 **[SIC**] March 1923 it helped create a sense of modernist threat
D09 191 to local evangelicalism, by its careful reporting of developments
D09 192 in the American fundamentalist/ modernist controversy. ^Unlike
D09 193 the stands for orthodoxy in Fraser's journal *1The Biblical
D09 194 Recorder, *0Kemp's journal softened its consistent stand against
D09 195 modernism by appealing to broader evangelical and revivalist
D09 196 concerns. ^The first issue left no doubt as to where Kemp stood
D09 197 on the famous five points, that became the last rallying position
D09 198 before the spectacular collapse of the conservative party. ^Kemp
D09 199 promised readers that the *1Reaper *0would emphasise the weighty
D09 200 truths of the inerrancy of the scriptures, the deity of our
D09 201 blessed Lord, the virgin birth, his immaculate life, his
D09 202 sacrificial death and bodily resurrection, and his imminent
D09 203 return. ^Kemp showed his complete agreement with his American
D09 204 co-religionists in calling for disloyal modernists to *'cease to
D09 205 wear the livery of the Church and enter other fields.**' ^Six
D09 206 years later when world-wide depression hit New Zealand, Kemp's
D09 207 monthly journal had an unassailable place in evangelical homes
D09 208 throughout the Dominion. ^Despite financial hardship a thousand
D09 209 continued their subscriptions. ^From unambitious beginnings as
D09 210 the main disseminator of biblical teaching from the Auckland
D09 211 Baptist Tabernacle, the *1Reaper *0had become one of the most
D09 212 efficient means nationally of disseminating fundamentalist
D09 213 theology.
D09 214    |^Lastly, although not specifically part of Kemp's
D09 215 fundamentalist strategy, Keswick-style conferences played an
D09 216 important role in sustaining the fundamentalist subculture in New
D09 217 Zealand. ^The Ngaruawahia Convention, pioneered by a member of
D09 218 Kemp's congregation in 1924, gave evangelicals an alternative
D09 219 Easter camp to attend. ^Although the convention's main
D09 220 significance lay in the realm of revivalism, fundamentalism was
D09 221 evident in the device of text-proofing. ^Those evangelicals who
D09 222 wanted to avoid the usual Bible Class Easter Camps, for fear of
D09 223 meeting *'Methodist Modernists**' and the like, could be
D09 224 fortified against such liberalism in a few days' intensive
D09 225 contact with conservatives of like-mind.
D09 226 *#
D10 001 **[098 TEXT D10**]
D10 002 *<*4Letters*>
D10 003 *<*5Keeping Ourselves Safe *4damaging*>
D10 004    |^*0I urge all parents and interested adults to take the
D10 005 opportunity, if possible, to view the video tapes that go with
D10 006 the *1Keeping Ourselves Safe *0programme, which will be
D10 007 compulsory in our schools from 1989 unless steps are taken now.
D10 008    |^I have seen these tapes and feel parents must be present
D10 009 if these tapes are shown to their children. ^Not all the
D10 010 programme is bad, but the bad is very bad.
D10 011    |^The message is bad by inference in parts and could be
D10 012 easily misinterpreted, causing major family upsets and bringing
D10 013 about nightmares, bedwetting and sleepwalking.
D10 014    |^The children will be afraid of all males *- except,
D10 015 perhaps, for Mummy's boyfriend, de facto or second husband *-
D10 016 who are not portrayed as possible sexual abusers of children,
D10 017 which is contrary to the impression given by the crime reports
D10 018 we see in the papers.
D10 019    |^Let's give our children, who are our future, something to
D10 020 respect us for by first viewing these videos and then demanding
D10 021 that the damaging parts of the programme be removed.
D10 022    |^Don't take the word of others. ^View them for yourself.
D10 023 *<*4Beverly Merle Price*>
D10 024 *<*0Hamilton*>
D10 025 *<*4Error of unity*>
D10 026    |^*0Obviously Adrian Bates (Alternative View on Unity,
D10 027 August 16) was disquieted in a way similar to myself over the
D10 028 recent article by the \0Rev Francis Foulkes.
D10 029    |^The way unity is often promoted these days suggests that
D10 030 its promoters think it validates whatever they're into. ^But
D10 031 you can be united in error as you can be in truth.
D10 032    |^Unity can very easily become a manipulative tool, a sort
D10 033 of big stick to beat people into line.
D10 034    |^But in Scripture, unity is always based on truth.
D10 035    |^One line says it's okay to be united, so long as you're
D10 036 all *"moving in the Spirit.**"
D10 037    |^If it is even faintly suggested that the *"moving**" is
D10 038 in another spirit and that therefore false doctrine is being
D10 039 promoted, one may be met with the *"deafening silence**" \0Mr
D10 040 Bates referred to, or with statements akin to, *"How can it be
D10 041 wrong if it feels so right.**"
D10 042    |^Inevitably one will be charged with being divisive.
D10 043 ^Perhaps even the really heavy stick will be swung over you *-
D10 044  that the suggestion constitutes blasphemy against the Holy
D10 045 Spirit which is, of course, unpardonable.
D10 046 *<*4\0R. Maclachlan*>
D10 047 *<*0Porirua*>
D10 048 *<*4Giant issue of *5Challenge*>
D10 049    |^*0Congratulations on your giant issue of *1Challenge.
D10 050 *0It was really good to be able to recount in print all the
D10 051 many ways God has enabled *1Challenge *0to grow.
D10 052    |^May it get stronger each week in the way it uplifts
D10 053 Christ and tells of his infallible Word.
D10 054    |^It's time you sent us or published another update with
D10 055 photos of the staff so that we can bring you before the Lord
D10 056 daily.
D10 057 *<*4 *- \0D. Laugesen*>
D10 058 *<*0Christchurch*>
D10 059 *<*4Writers' School*>
D10 060    |^*0The Christian Writers' School surely highlights the
D10 061 concern of many Christians about the damaging influence of the
D10 062 media in our society today.
D10 063    |^Anti-Christian sentiment is frequently presented by the
D10 064 media, unbalanced by the Christian point of view. ^Even
D10 065 respectable periodicals, once regarded as impartial, now bend
D10 066 to what we see as undesirable trends.
D10 067    |^May I suggest that Christian shops can help stem the
D10 068 atheistic, immoral tide by refusing to stock periodicals which
D10 069 contain this kind of material.
D10 070 *<*4 *- Alan Clarkson*>
D10 071 *<*0Birkenhead*>
D10 072 *<*4Theology in dark*>
D10 073    |^*0In Palmerston North an attempt by scientists and
D10 074 theologians to bring a ray of hope to a fearful world, at an
D10 075 Australasian Conference on Science and Theology in Action,
D10 076 ended in the theologians confessing that they were as much in
D10 077 the dark as the scientists were.
D10 078    |^This was predictable, as both scientists and theologians
D10 079 had spoken of evolution as the only possible explanation of the
D10 080 beginning of things and of God as a product of the human mind.
D10 081    |^It was explained later that those who believe in a real
D10 082 God had not responded to the invitation to speak at the
D10 083 conference. ^There will be another conference next year and the
D10 084 few Christians who attended this year are praying that God will
D10 085 inspire some of his servants to speak up for him then.
D10 086 *<*4*- Nigel Gore*>
D10 087 *<*0Palmerston North*>
D10 088 *<*4Perils and pleasures of going flatting*>
D10 089 *<*1By MIRIAM CURRAN*>
D10 090    |^*"*0Mum, can I have that old egg-beater you don't use for
D10 091 the flat? ^And do you think I could have the extra firescreen
D10 092 for our open fire? ^Would Dad be able to give us an axe and a
D10 093 spade?**"
D10 094    |^Setting up a flat is an exciting step in young people's
D10 095 lives when they leave the shelter of their parents' home, or
D10 096 the supervision of a hostel or private board, and set out
D10 097 usually with one or two friends, to establish their own
D10 098 household.
D10 099    |^In times past, this step usually did not occur until
D10 100 marriage or a maturer age. ^Today young people have to *"go
D10 101 flatting**" when they are much younger.
D10 102    |^The reason for most is that they have to find affordable
D10 103 living accommodation in another city because they are tertiary
D10 104 students, or working at a new job.
D10 105    |^For others, the fashion seems to be to *"get out on your
D10 106 own**" as soon as possible when school is over.
D10 107    |^This desire for independence is commendable in some ways,
D10 108 but Christian parents, aware of the pitfalls, worry.
D10 109    |^Will their offspring get into bad company, or bad habits?
D10 110 ^Will he look after himself? ^Will she be safe?
D10 111    |^Can they manage on the {0ST} Bursary? ^Will they be able
D10 112 to afford living expenses on top of that high rent? ^Will they
D10 113 be able to hold on to their Christian principles?
D10 114    |^The young person is often scornful of parental fears,
D10 115 eager to meet the challenge of furnishing a flat, working out a
D10 116 budget and trying to keep to it, fitting in with friends and
D10 117 making independent decisions about the direction life is to
D10 118 take in a new setting. ^Most set out with high hopes and firm
D10 119 principles.
D10 120    |^Finding a flat: ^Asking around friends, checking
D10 121 noticeboards at Varsity for *"^Flatmates wanted**", grabbing
D10 122 the first edition of the paper and the telephone and following
D10 123 up the *"^To Let**" \0ads., writing to the local church and
D10 124 asking for a notice to be placed in the Church newsletter;
D10 125 these are just some methods to employ.
D10 126    |^Locality is important: ^Is it close to Varsity or will
D10 127 you have expensive, time-consuming transport? ^Where is the
D10 128 nearest bus stop? ^How far to your Church? ^Where is the
D10 129 nearest supermarket or shop? ^Is there a garage or parking if
D10 130 you have a car? ^Is it a safe neighbourhood? ^Street lights?
D10 131    |^Most *"flats**" are either in large *"concrete blocks**"
D10 132 with basic unimaginative design, or an old house let to a
D10 133 group, or sometimes a much larger house sub**[ARB**]-divided
D10 134 into two or three units.
D10 135    |^The *"old house**" can be delightful *- old world charm
D10 136 of architecture, and locality, large rooms and gardens; but the
D10 137 plumbing may not work, the roof may leak, and borer may be
D10 138 everywhere.
D10 139    |^Large rooms are expensive to heat and furnish. ^Some of
D10 140 the *"low cost**" accommodation in the older suburbs of large
D10 141 cities is of this type. ^Landlords may do little to maintain
D10 142 the property, exploiting tenants shamelessly. ^Some charge high
D10 143 rents for grotty establishments which should be condemned.
D10 144    |^Some suburbs attract less responsible tenants and become
D10 145 known trouble spots. ^It is wise to draw up a tenancy agreement
D10 146 and for tenants to be fully aware of their rights and the
D10 147 landlord of his obligations.
D10 148    |^Furnishing the Flat: ^Some are already fully or partly
D10 149 furnished. ^Make an inventory of everything there at first, and
D10 150 of any deficiencies, so there are no hassles when you leave.
D10 151    |^List carefully what you put into the pool for general
D10 152 household use, for the same reason. ^If some property is
D10 153 *"strictly private**" {0e.g.} your stereo, make this clear to
D10 154 all members of the household.
D10 155    |^Not only will you need pots and pans, cutlery,
D10 156 appliances, household linen, groceries, cleaning supplies, but
D10 157 also probably additional curtains and floor coverings.
D10 158    |^An old dingy house can be made quite attractive with
D10 159 bright posters, wall hangings floor rugs \0etc. and even a
D10 160 modicum of paint or scrim wall covering.
D10 161    |^But, check with the landlord before you launch into
D10 162 interior decorating, and do it early in your stay *- there will
D10 163 not be time later when study or work becomes pressing.
D10 164    |^Establishing happy relationships: ^This is easier when a
D10 165 group begins together. ^Ground rules can be established from
D10 166 the beginning over such things as financial share, duty
D10 167 rosters, toll calls, visitors, friends staying overnight,
D10 168 parties, entertaining, noise levels, \0etc.
D10 169    |^If you are moving into an existing flat, ask about the
D10 170 existing ground rules, and make sure you can keep them, and
D10 171 that they are what you want, before you accept.
D10 172    |^Incompatibility between flatmates is the most frequent
D10 173 cause of unpleasantness and breakup of households, of someone
D10 174 having to leave, or getting *"chucked out.**"
D10 175    |^Christian tolerance can smooth many difficult situations
D10 176 and a willingness to do *"more than my share**", but no member
D10 177 of a household should be always *"put on**" by selfish
D10 178 flatmates.
D10 179    |^There is no doubt that the experience of having to fit in
D10 180 with different personalities is a maturing experience.
D10 181    |^Tolerance over inessentials but firmness over the
D10 182 important issues is a good motto, but must be coupled with a
D10 183 willingness to listen and discuss where there is a divergence
D10 184 of opinion.
D10 185    |*"^Mixed Flatting**": ^This is a vexed question. ^Many
D10 186 Christian parents will not allow their children to live in a
D10 187 flat where there are both unmarried males and females under the
D10 188 one roof.
D10 189    |^Others take a realistic view that nowadays it is a much
D10 190 safer arrangement and provided their child is sufficiently
D10 191 mature, well adjusted and firm in faith, they give him or her
D10 192 their trust and blessing.
D10 193    |^In larger cities an all-female flat is vulnerable,
D10 194 security-wise. ^All male establishments have a tendency to get
D10 195 untidy and grubby.
D10 196    |^How can parents assist? ^Help with furnishings \0etc. by
D10 197 offering, but not being offended if the offer is not accepted.
D10 198    |^Help with the shifting-in process *- this may not be the
D10 199 last time you are called upon to help lift heavy furniture or
D10 200 cart boxes!
D10 201    |^Financial help may be necessary, but young people should
D10 202 learn to budget and live frugally if necessary.
D10 203    |^Parents can help immensely beforehand if they ensure that
D10 204 their daughter or especially, their son, can cook competently,
D10 205 can plan nutritious inexpensive meals, knows how to do the
D10 206 laundry (including washing woollens), knows the essentials of
D10 207 house cleaning and can do basic mending of his or her own
D10 208 clothes.
D10 209    |^If you think they are starving themselves, come for a
D10 210 visit with gifts of meat, produce or homebaking. ^You will not
D10 211 be turned away!
D10 212    |^When there is tension in a flat, sometimes parents
D10 213 shouting a treat outing can put things in perspective. ^Always
D10 214 be ready to listen but hesitate to give advice unless it's
D10 215 asked for. ^Pray for your young people, keep in touch as far as
D10 216 possible by letter, by unobtrusive visits, by phone calls.
D10 217 ^Toll bills are expensive but the sound of Mum or Dad's voice
D10 218 can be reassuring.
D10 219    |^What part can the church play? ^Acceptance of the
D10 220 flatters in the congregation is most important. ^Young people
D10 221 away from home are sometimes lonely and always need Christian
D10 222 fellowship. ^Because of study schedules they may not be able to
D10 223 participate fully in Church social activities, but an
D10 224 invitation for an occasional meal, kindly interest, inclusion
D10 225 in weekend outings may be accepted with alacrity.
D10 226    |^Flatting can be a disaster *- leading to a breakdown of
D10 227 health, studies, relationships, morals, and faith; but equally
D10 228 it can be an enriching experience of true Christian community,
D10 229 character bulding, the basis for lifelong friendships, a focus
D10 230 for Christian witness and service.
D10 231    |^The Church and parental attitudes can well determine the
D10 232 difference.
D10 233 *<*4Feminists and feminists*>
D10 234 *<By *6JOHN CANHAM*>
D10 235    |^*0There are basically two schools of thought among
D10 236 feminists.
D10 237    |^Moderate feminists claim that since the late 50s and 60s
D10 238 the feminist movement has largely eradicated discrimination,
D10 239 and now women enjoy full opportunity under the law in most
D10 240 western countries.
D10 241    |^Extreme feminists, however, claim continued
D10 242 discrimination against women, particularly as a result of
D10 243 traditional marriage and family lifestyles.
D10 244 *#
D11 001 **[099 TEXT D11**]
D11 002 *<*6SPOTLIGHT ON {0N.Z.} *'VERITAS**'*>
D11 003 *<THE CHURCH AND MAORI NATIONALISM... AND RATES, A MAJOR TAX
D11 004 PROBLEM*>
D11 005 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D11 006    |^*0It is important that a Church which now speaks of
D11 007 Aotearoa and is so understandably determined to encourage New
D11 008 Zealand to become a bi-cultural Pacific nation should
D11 009 understand what is happening within the Maori community.
D11 010    |^By the Church I mean not a select group of intellectuals
D11 011 but a majority of Catholics. ^What is happening is being
D11 012 strongly influenced by a group known as Te Ahi Kaa and we can
D11 013 assume that Atareta Ponanga speaks for it, a group which
D11 014 includes Pat Hohepa and Syd Jackson.
D11 015    |^Atareta Ponanga was in the news for saying something
D11 016 similar at the conference of the Australia and New Zealand
D11 017 Association for the Advancement of Science Conference. ^The
D11 018 reaction was swift, partly anger, partly disbelief, and partly
D11 019 fear. ^That furore has subsided, but for Atareta Ponanga and an
D11 020 increasing number of Maoris and a few Pakehas, this was only
D11 021 the latest statement and another small stage in a long
D11 022 struggle.
D11 023    |^Whether Catholics like it or not, they are going to be
D11 024 involved in this struggle first as New Zealanders and secondly
D11 025 as Catholics, and for the best of reasons. ^We believe in
D11 026 racial equality. ^Our problem is that in seeking the justice or
D11 027 racial equality we are likely to find leaders in the Church
D11 028 much more prepared to accept and encourage Maori sovereignty
D11 029 than most Catholics.
D11 030    |^Those who take such a stand see the need for a degree of
D11 031 Maori sovereignty as a matter of justice and have been educated
D11 032 to understand that there is some justice in Maori claims. ^The
D11 033 problem is that they do not appear to understand the 
D11 034 *"no-compromise**" approach of Te Ahi Kaa. ^After unhappy
D11 035 experiences with {0EJD} activities on several issues, there is
D11 036 even more potential in this issue for misunderstanding, tension
D11 037 and division.
D11 038    |^Catholics cannot be force fed bi-culturalism either
D11 039 overtly or covertly. ^We shall have to face the issue of Maori
D11 040 sovereignty much more openly if we are to cope with it.
D11 041 *<*6RATES QUESTION*>
D11 042    |^*4It will be a fortunate community which avoids an
D11 043 increase in rates in excess of 25 percent for the coming rating
D11 044 year. ^This is also the year in which the Government proposes
D11 045 to change the rating qualification so that it will no longer be
D11 046 necessary to own property *- unfortunately as far as I know
D11 047 there is no proposal to change the rating base and spread it
D11 048 over a wider section of the population.
D11 049    |^*0The theory behind this appears to be that all those who
D11 050 do not own property are making the contribution to rates
D11 051 indirectly through rent or as part of a retail price. ^The
D11 052 reality is that there are thousands of people who have the use
D11 053 of local body facilities whose contribution to local body
D11 054 finance bears no relationship whatever to the contribution made
D11 055 by ratepayers.
D11 056    |^Many of them are earning good wages or being paid good
D11 057 salaries and could afford to contribute directly to the
D11 058 services they enjoy: libraries, swimming pools, bus services
D11 059 and so on, which are never operated on a user pays basis.
D11 060    |^Regional government has increased the burden on
D11 061 ratepayers and still all efforts by local body politicians to
D11 062 persuade successive governments to help local bodies with a
D11 063 great tax have been unsuccessful. ^The concession offered aged
D11 064 ratepayers has become less and less significant, and the help
D11 065 available, in the form of subsidies, is more and more
D11 066 restricted.
D11 067    |^Some years ago, central government subsidised local body
D11 068 sewerage schemes. ^This came to an end during the last
D11 069 Government and as a result, ratepayers of Wanganui, for
D11 070 example, face a tremendous burden to install a long overdue
D11 071 sewerage system.
D11 072    |^The small town of Paraparaumu, where there are many young
D11 073 families in very modest homes, had to install sewerage and
D11 074 water at high cost and the rates are now very high. ^So high
D11 075 are they that just recently the Borough Council decided to
D11 076 spend nothing *- nothing at all *- on the public library for
D11 077 the 1986/ 87 year.
D11 078    |^The present Government's approach to this problem appears
D11 079 to start from the compulsory amalgamation of local bodies,
D11 080 whether they have a community of interest or not. ^I do not
D11 081 believe that these shotgun weddings will benefit natural
D11 082 communities in the long run. ^Nor will it have significant
D11 083 effects on the burden on the ratepayers in the foreseeable
D11 084 future.
D11 085    |^What is needed is a much fairer method of revenue
D11 086 collection and that means a radical change in rating. ^It is
D11 087 clearly unfair to enfranchise citizens to vote how money shall
D11 088 be spent, while they do not have to make any contribution.
D11 089    |^It is surprising that politicians at national level seem
D11 090 to be so uninterested in what is becoming a major tax problem
D11 091 to be exacerbated at {0GST}.
D11 092 *<*6AROUND THE DIOCESES*>
D11 093 *<AUCKLAND*>
D11 094 *<*4*'Curly ones**' for Father*>
D11 095    |^*0Priests have always been adept at dealing with
D11 096 difficult situations and awkward questions. ^That's basic to
D11 097 their training and their role.
D11 098    |^In recent years, however, a new area has developed in
D11 099 which they frequently find themselves in situations of some
D11 100 delicacy and in which the replies they have to give to parents
D11 101 are not at all what the parent expected.
D11 102    |^In fact, something which parents regard as a mere
D11 103 formality turns out to be anything but that and may see them
D11 104 having to search their consciences.
D11 105    |^It all has to do with enrolling a child at a Catholic
D11 106 school. ^Many people do not understand the current position of
D11 107 the Church and what is expected of them.
D11 108    |^Recently \0Fr Dennis Horton, of \0St Mary's Parish,
D11 109 Papakura, set the whole issue out very clearly in the *1Parish
D11 110 News. ^*0Because his article has a significance reaching far
D11 111 beyond Papakura, we reprint it here. ^He entitled it *"^Keeping
D11 112 Faith in Our School**", and said:
D11 113 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D11 114 **[PLATE**]
D11 115 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D11 116 *<*6WELLINGTON*>
D11 117 *<*4Green light for church*>
D11 118 *<*0From *2BARRY CLARKE*>
D11 119    |^*0The priests and parishioners of \0Sts Peter and Paul
D11 120 parish, Lower Hutt, are hopeful that the long-awaited
D11 121 renovation work on their 40-year-old church will begin next
D11 122 July. ^\0Sts Peter and Paul is one of the larger New Zealand
D11 123 parishes, with a Sunday Mass attendance of 1800.
D11 124    |^Parish priest, \0Fr John Carde, told *1The Tablet *0that
D11 125 the starting date for the work is dependent on the permission
D11 126 of Cardinal Williams and the Administration Board, and also
D11 127 after examination of the working drawings by the Council of
D11 128 Priests.
D11 129    |^\0Fr Carde said the renovations committee had been
D11 130 working very hard for well over two and a-half years, and there
D11 131 had been exhaustive study and consultation with parishioners
D11 132 concerning the vast amount of work that needs to be done.
D11 133    |^He said no professional fund**[ARB**]-raising has been
D11 134 involved. ^Parishioners have fully supported the plans, which
D11 135 involved remodelling the church as well as renovations. ^It is
D11 136 estimated that the total cost of the project will be close to
D11 137 *+$650,000.
D11 138    |^\0Fr Carde said the 14-strong
D11 139 **[PLATE**]
D11 140 renovations committee was made up of very capable and
D11 141 knowledgeable people who had first of all sought to inform
D11 142 themselves of the necessary requirements, both liturgical and
D11 143 structural. ^They passed on their discoveries to fellow
D11 144 parishioners. ^This they did with a constant stream of
D11 145 publicity and dialogue, so that by the end of the exercise no
D11 146 one could say that they had not been informed.
D11 147 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D11 148    |^\0Fr Carde came to Lower Hutt in 1981, after serving in
D11 149 Nelson. ^He was an Army chaplain from 1967 to 1973, saw service
D11 150 in Vietnam and Singapore, and served in New Zealand at Burnham,
D11 151 Waiouru and Linton camps.
D11 152    |^His assistants at Lower Hutt are \0Frs Bill Clancy,
D11 153 Gerard Burns and Warren Fowler. ^Also in residence at the
D11 154 Knight Road presbytery is a Mosgiel student, \0Mr John
D11 155 Kleinsman.
D11 156 *<*6CHRISTCHURCH*>
D11 157 *<*4Timaru will remember*>
D11 158    |^*0Sacred Heart Parish, Timaru, plans to stage a special
D11 159 celebration towards the end of October this year to mark the
D11 160 75th anniversary of the building of its beautiful basilica.
D11 161    |^The basilica is one of the finest churches in New Zealand
D11 162 and was designed by Petre, who made such a distinctive
D11 163 contribution to ecclesiastical architecture in New Zealand.
D11 164    |^The form the celebrations will take has yet to be fixed.
D11 165 ^Those with ideas should send them to John Fitzgerald, 12A
D11 166 Wilson Street, Timaru.
D11 167 *<*4People find going hard*>
D11 168    |^*0More people in Ashburton are finding the hard
D11 169 going**[SIC**] as the economic crunch begins to bite *- and
D11 170 that means a bigger work load for the \0St Vincent \de Paul
D11 171 Society there.
D11 172    |^*1The Ashburton Guardian *0reports the local president,
D11 173 \0Mrs Wendy Smith, as saying that the work has expanded so much
D11 174 that the present committee of from eight to 10 members is
D11 175 looking for new members to enable it to cope.
D11 176    |^The Ashburton branch is busier now than it has ever been,
D11 177 helping not only families but anyone from the poor to the
D11 178 unemployed, to the sick, to solo parents. ^The organisation
D11 179 also often helps families who are on one income and going
D11 180 through a bad patch.
D11 181    |^Help is available to these people in the form of
D11 182 groceries, petrol vouchers, transport, second-hand furniture
D11 183 and clothing or money to help pay the bills.
D11 184    |^*"Girls arrive in town by themselves and need somewhere
D11 185 to stay for the night and we will help,**" \0Mrs Smith said.
D11 186    |^*"Ashburton is very short of temporary housing for just
D11 187 one night. ^There are no youth hostels or cheap accommodation
D11 188 here,**" she said.
D11 189 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D11 190 *<*6HAMILTON*>
D11 191 *<*4Bishop sets sacrament guidelines*>
D11 192    |^*0Bishop Gaines has directed that every parish in
D11 193 Hamilton Diocese is to use the diocese's own programmes of
D11 194 preparation for Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist and
D11 195 Confirmation. ^In particular, parents are to be involved in
D11 196 leadership roles.
D11 197    |^The Bishop said that since he first raised the matter in
D11 198 1983 many parents had had the opportunity to grow in faith
D11 199 along with their children, and a large number had gone on to
D11 200 accept other leadership roles in parish communities.
D11 201    |^But there still seemed to be a wide variation in the type
D11 202 of preparation offered to families, and sometimes this did not
D11 203 conform to the diocesan guidelines.
D11 204    |^He went on:
D11 205 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D11 206    |^The Bishop said that parish priests concerned about the
D11 207 amount or quality of doctrinal content in the programmes were
D11 208 encouraged to work with the leaders rather than take a
D11 209 leadership role themselves.
D11 210    |^If priests or professional catechists *- Religious
D11 211 Brothers or Sisters, or school class teachers *- offer prepared
D11 212 talks as part of the programme, the leadership of the meetings
D11 213 should be shared with lay people, and plenty of time allowed
D11 214 for faith sharing, prayer, and open discussion on topics
D11 215 suggested by parents themselves as being of interest or concern
D11 216 to them.
D11 217    |^The Bishop hopes that the experience of Renew will make
D11 218 it much easier to recruit people with some skills in small
D11 219 group leadership.
D11 220 **[PLATE**]
D11 221 *<*6DUNEDIN*>
D11 222 *<DOUGHERTY FAMILY REUNION*>
D11 223    |^*4The Dougherty family reunion held recently in
D11 224 Gimmerburn, Central Otago, drew 150 people from Auckland to
D11 225 Southland.
D11 226    |^*0They were descendants of Charles and Sarah Dougherty,
D11 227 who were married in \0St Eunan's Church, Letterkenny, County
D11 228 Donegal, Ireland, in 1882.
D11 229    |^The couple sailed the following year for New Zealand and
D11 230 had a short stop at Maryborough, in Australia, where their son
D11 231 Patrick Francis was born.
D11 232    |^Four brothers and two sisters of Charles were already in
D11 233 New Zealand.
D11 234    |^Charles and Sarah Dougherty settled first in Oamaru and
D11 235 then moved to Gimmerburn, where they lived in a house belonging
D11 236 to Sarah's uncle \0Mr \0A. Kearney. ^Then the Doughertys won an
D11 237 adjacent 120-acre block in a ballot. ^This was later expanded
D11 238 with the purchase of a property known as the *"Coal-pit**".
D11 239    |^The farm, situated near the foot of the Garibaldi Gorge,
D11 240 supplied coal to the district, and Charles, in partnership with
D11 241 \0Mr \0R. Little, contracted for the county, forming several
D11 242 roads in the area.
D11 243    |^Charles and Sarah had a family of four boys and seven
D11 244 girls. ^Many of the descendants still live in the Maniototo.
D11 245    |^A family tree, compiled by a great-grand-daughter, \0Mrs
D11 246 \0L. O'Malley, of Waiau, North Canterbury, was presented to
D11 247 family members at the reunion.
D11 248    |^\0Mrs Sarah Tohill (88), of Wellington, the only living
D11 249 child of Charles and Sarah, cut the cake.
D11 250 *#
D12 001 **[100 TEXT D12**]
D12 002 *<*4Service A Dynamic Challenge*>
D12 003 *<*0Elizabeth Sell*>
D12 004    |^The subject of service is a vital one and one which
D12 005 merits careful attention by all members of the Theosophical
D12 006 Society. ^In The Masters and the Path there is a poem that goes
D12 007 on like this.
D12 008 |**[POEM**]
D12 009    |^*'To know, to work, to pray;**' ...these are the three
D12 010 aspects of the spiritual life which may be restated as
D12 011 knowledge, service and meditation. ^Let us look a little closer
D12 012 at these three aspects of the spiritual life in connection with
D12 013 the Theosophical Society.
D12 014    |^The Theosophical Society has in the main emphasised the
D12 015 first of these three and has for many years emphasised the
D12 016 Third Ray approach of abstract knowledge and learning. ^It has
D12 017 been very successful in imparting knowledge of what man is,
D12 018 where he is going, and how he is going to get there.
D12 019 ^Information about meditation has also been taught and much
D12 020 learning about the theory of meditation imparted but as a
D12 021 society much less has been done in practical terms.
D12 022    |^Thirdly let us look at service. ^The concept of service
D12 023 to humanity is found in Theosophy threaded throughout the
D12 024 teachings. ^The idea that we should serve the Theosophical
D12 025 Society and do something to help keep it functioning is heard.
D12 026 ^But within the Society, equal weight to the importance of this
D12 027 aspect of service and its wider implications, has diminished
D12 028 sharply in recent years, as against knowledge and meditation.
D12 029 ^Service to the Theosophical Society while good and necessary
D12 030 is limited to that and the concept of service to humanity
D12 031 either individual or as a Theosophical group, is almost fading
D12 032 into non**[ARB**]-existence in practise.
D12 033    |^In *4The Masters and the Path *0{0C.W.} Leadbeater says
D12 034 this
D12 035 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D12 036 ^Here clearly stated is the idea that we need all three
D12 037 aspects, knowledge, meditation and service on the spiritual
D12 038 path and that service to humanity is of great import. ^Later on
D12 039 in *4Some Glimpses of Occultism *0he says
D12 040 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D12 041 ^Pavri in Theosophy Explained puts it more emphatically when he
D12 042 says
D12 043 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D12 044    |^We can see from this that service to humanity is
D12 045 something that as serious Theosophists we cannot ignore. ^In
D12 046 terms of Lodge work it has the potential to help revitalise
D12 047 Lodges through practical and active participation of members in
D12 048 a common group effort, which can be inspiring. ^All can
D12 049 contribute whether it is with ideas, the carrying out of the
D12 050 project or with fund raising should this be necessary. ^As we
D12 051 have seen with telethon, the New Zealand ship Hope that went to
D12 052 Ethopia and the rock concert organised by Bob Geldof to feed
D12 053 the hungry in Africa, people do respond to a good cause. ^But
D12 054 as Theosophists, we have an added responsibility, as we are one
D12 055 of the custodians of the Ancient Wisdom and one of our prime
D12 056 functions is to disseminate this to the world, in a digestible
D12 057 form so to speak; or as the Maha Chohan puts it we must
D12 058 *'popularise a knowledge of Theosophy**'. ^This includes making
D12 059 theosophy practical and applying it to everyday life and by
D12 060 example, not only as individuals, but as a group.
D12 061    |^Making theosophy practical and applying it to everyday
D12 062 life, is the direction that the Society should take in the next
D12 063 few years, according to \0Mrs Radha Burnier. ^When asked *'^Do
D12 064 you see a need for the teachings of theosophy to be made more
D12 065 practical for both theosophists and the public?**' She replied
D12 066 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D12 067    |^And Jinarajadasa says
D12 068 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D12 069 ^The Maha Chohan's letter also states
D12 070 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D12 071 and further on the Maha Chohan also says *'^It is time that
D12 072 theosophy should enter the arena.**'
D12 073    |^For those who may be interested and may wish to serve
D12 074 more fully we will now go deeper into this question of service.
D12 075 ^We need to ask such basic questions as, ^What is service?, why
D12 076 should we serve? and what are the characteristics of a server?
D12 077 ^Finally we can enquire into the various types of service that
D12 078 can be rendered. ^We will start with what service is. ^One
D12 079 definition of service is that it is the *'spontaneous effect of
D12 080 soul contact.**' ^And in the final analysis, that is what all
D12 081 true service is. ^Service should come as a spontaneous response
D12 082 to a need, and not as a fulfillment of an obligatory duty. ^In
D12 083 other words we must develop a sensitive response to the needs
D12 084 around us, rather than do something just because someone else
D12 085 said we should. ^The heart and mind should work together, to
D12 086 create the love and the practical effective action which can be
D12 087 catagorised as service.
D12 088    |^Let us examine this word service a little more closely.
D12 089 ^True service is service by a Soul to others. ^It can take
D12 090 place on the physical, astral, mental or spiritual levels.
D12 091 ^Soul energy illuminates and reveals the reality of things so
D12 092 that discrimination between real and lasting service and that
D12 093 of a temporary nature can take place. ^Soul energy gives
D12 094 vision. ^The vision that sees ahead to the future of what can
D12 095 be, on a large scale. ^For example, the vision that set up the
D12 096 Red Cross organisation, saw a need; and the concept of
D12 097 answering that need transcended personal and national barriers,
D12 098 to help humanity on a grand scale, regardless of nationality,
D12 099 race, creed and so on. ^True service is impersonally given and
D12 100 is both creative in concept and co-operative in operation.
D12 101 ^It's inclusive with no barriers and throughout at all times it
D12 102 expresses love.
D12 103    |^The alignment of our bodies through meditation, leads to
D12 104 the inflowing force of the Soul, which leads in its turn to
D12 105 demonstrated service. ^It is selfless. ^In it there is no room
D12 106 for self-interest, self-assertiveness or self-ambition.
D12 107 *'...all that is considered is the need, and the driving
D12 108 necessity to take the next immediate step to meet that need as
D12 109 it demonstrates before the Servers**[SIC**] eyes.**' ^The heart
D12 110 and mind both working together in harmony and balance.
D12 111    |^What would characterise a true server such as this?
D12 112 ^Firstly we are told that harmlessness is the quality which
D12 113 will distinguish such a server; one who refrains from speech
D12 114 and action which might hurt or cause misunderstanding. ^The
D12 115 second characteristic is a willingness to let others work as
D12 116 seems best to them. ^Lastly comes joyfulness. ^What is a joyful
D12 117 server but one who is infused with love and is therefore
D12 118 rendering service which could be called *'love in action**'.
D12 119 *'^Service is the spontaneous outflow of a loving heart and an
D12 120 intelligent mind.**'
D12 121    |^Apart from the fact that we are told that service is one
D12 122 third of the spiritual path, is there any practical value in
D12 123 doing service? ^The obvious answer is that service leads to the
D12 124 greater good of mankind and thereby, the working out of the
D12 125 plan of evolution, but there are other important effects also.
D12 126 ^{0C.W.} Leadbeater tells us that *'knowledge brings
D12 127 responsibility, along with opportunity**' and that *'knowledge
D12 128 should always be used; it is a mistake to think that you can
D12 129 postpone your activity and retain the knowledge.**' ^He further
D12 130 tells us that *'the karma of service done is always the
D12 131 opportunity for more service**', and this is what we want. ^For
D12 132 man may not reach adeptship without serving the world and
D12 133 realising that humanity is one. ^Opportunities lost, may not
D12 134 come again quickly.
D12 135    |^Another reason for turning outwards to the world, is that
D12 136 it creates a channel, for the energies gained through
D12 137 meditation, to flow. ^Without this channel, we can create an
D12 138 imbalance of energy in our subtler bodies and thus problems may
D12 139 arise. ^A further important effect of doing service, is, that
D12 140 in doing it, it naturally develops the heart centre. ^Service
D12 141 is the method par excellence, for safely developing the heart
D12 142 chakra.
D12 143    |^We as Theosophists, should ponder on what the
D12 144 Theosophical Society is doing in the world, in New Zealand and
D12 145 more particularly our own Lodge, to help with the problems of
D12 146 humanity. ^What is the Society's responsibility and ours as
D12 147 members of the Society in helping to deal with them? ^Can we
D12 148 sidestep and say it's not our concern, if we are a part of
D12 149 humanity? ^Here of course we are referring to the Society as a
D12 150 group and not individual members.
D12 151    |^So far we have looked at the need for service, but we
D12 152 haven't considered the question of what can be done. ^Here we
D12 153 must try to discriminate between what is real service of
D12 154 lasting value and what is only temporary. ^We must also
D12 155 discriminate the sort of service we are fitted for. ^We must
D12 156 honestly assess our capabilities and ask ourselves such
D12 157 questions as *'^Can someone else do this just as well as
D12 158 myself?**' and *'^Can my time be better employed doing
D12 159 something that I can do that someone else may not be able to
D12 160 do?**' ^What for example constitutes Theosophical service and
D12 161 how does it differentiate from other types of service? ^This is
D12 162 a question we must all pose to ourselves and think deeply
D12 163 about.
D12 164    |^Keeping in mind the need for discrimination, when we
D12 165 consider the areas of service to which we will commit
D12 166 ourselves, let us now look at some overall ways in which we can
D12 167 serve. ^Here are six key ways in which we may choose to serve.
D12 168 |*41. ^Educate. ^*0We can help to teach theosophy and the
D12 169 principles on which the New Age can be built and can help in
D12 170 their practical application.
D12 171 |*42. ^Interpret. ^*0A server must help find the thread of
D12 172 meaning and purpose and the working out of the plan of
D12 173 evolution, in what we perceive as today's world chaos. ^Those
D12 174 who can interpret trends, explain what is happening and give
D12 175 meaning to life are much needed.
D12 176 |*43. ^Inspire. ^*0There is no true incentive without
D12 177 inspiration. ^In this material and pedestrian world everyone
D12 178 has need of a vision which gives hope for the future and the
D12 179 inspiration to work. ^A server can provide this inspiration.
D12 180 |*44. ^Strengthen. ^*0We can strengthen the work by giving our
D12 181 co-operation and support. ^Helping to make the work of others
D12 182 possible and successful, is a vital function although often
D12 183 unspectacular. ^This is a service open to all.
D12 184 |*45. ^Find and relate. ^*0People of goodwill need to be found
D12 185 and inspired to work. ^Bob Geldof is a good example here of
D12 186 someone who has found men and women of goodwill and related
D12 187 them to useful service. ^There are many thousands of people who
D12 188 are as yet inactive, who if found could be related through work
D12 189 to make a useful contribution. ^With this kind of service, much
D12 190 which is now impossible could be achieved.
D12 191 |*46. ^Initiate. ^*0There is a need for those people who,
D12 192 recognising a need, can take the necessary steps to meet it.
D12 193 ^Leadership is an important function in all spheres of activity
D12 194 in organising and initiating action. ^Servers need to initiate
D12 195 action.
D12 196    |^We will now focus on one aspect of service and go into
D12 197 the aspect of group service in the Theosophical Society. ^With
D12 198 the New Age energies coming in and the influence of the Seventh
D12 199 Ray and the sign of Aquarius steadily increasing, it is group
D12 200 consciousness, group functioning and group activity that we
D12 201 should be looking at. ^The Theosophical Society, along with
D12 202 other organisations, has to look to the future as well as the
D12 203 present and incorporate those aspects and activities which
D12 204 embody the ideals of the New Age, into its functioning.
D12 205 ^Geoffrey Hodson says in *4First Steps on the Path,
D12 206 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D12 207    |^*0A suggestion here would be, that we consider the idea
D12 208 of bringing service into the Lodges in a more specific way, in
D12 209 terms of group effort. ^A group can accomplish much more than
D12 210 individuals on their own. ^A scientist worked out, that the
D12 211 output of a group was equal to the square of its members
D12 212 {0i.e.} if we take a group of seven people the effective output
D12 213 is not equal to seven, but is equal to forty-nine or seven
D12 214 times seven. ^If this can be applied to the subtler levels,
D12 215 just think of the enormous importance of working as a group.
D12 216    |^In support of the strong possibility that this higher
D12 217 output can be applied to the subtler realms, is a quote from
D12 218 {0A.E.} Powell's *4Mental Body,
D12 219 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D12 220 *#
D13 001 **[101 TEXT D13**]
D13 002 *<*2EDITORIAL*>
D13 003    |^*0Why does education attract so much discussion and
D13 004 argument? ^Maybe it's because everyone has been involved in
D13 005 education, at the receiving end. ^Or maybe it's because it is a
D13 006 process which fails so obviously that one cannot resist the
D13 007 temptation to try and improve it. ^Or maybe it's because we see
D13 008 education as the ideal method of righting the world's wrongs.
D13 009 ^Whatever the reason for the volume of utterances on education
D13 010 Humanists are no exception. ^In this issue we have printed two
D13 011 points of view of Humanists on education.
D13 012    |^You will notice that the *'Humanist Profile**' has been
D13 013 included in this issue. ^It is intended that this will be the
D13 014 first of a series. ^We invite you to send us a profile on your
D13 015 favourite New Zealand Humanist to be shared by us all.
D13 016    |^Why are there no letters to the editor in this issue we
D13 017 ask ourselves? ^Generally we are pleased with the amount of
D13 018 material you send, but we would like more, especially short
D13 019 articles, letters, book reviews and snippets of news.
D13 020 *<*2HUMANISTS QUESTIONED ON BILL OF RIGHTS*>
D13 021 *<*0A report of the Submission to the Parliamentary select
D13 022 committee on the *2BILL OF RIGHTS *0by the Humanist Society of
D13 023 New Zealand*>
D13 024    |^*"Is the Humanist Society opposed to a Bill of Rights?**"
D13 025 asked the chairman of the Select Committee, Bill Dillon.
D13 026 |^On that question, spokespersons David McLeod and Des Vize
D13 027 replied,
D13 028 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D13 029    |^*'Freedom of religion**' is a statement that owes its
D13 030 entry into state constitutions to James Madison, the *'Father of
D13 031 the {0U.S.} Constitution**'. ^When he wrote the Bill of Rights
D13 032 which became the first ten amendments, he had in mind the
D13 033 suffering and atrocities done in the name of religion in the Old
D13 034 World and from which the colonists had fled. ^With Thomas
D13 035 Jefferson he believed that conflict between the thirteen states
D13 036 could only be avoided by a guarantee of religious liberty and the
D13 037 separation of church and state. ^There is no doubt that the First
D13 038 Amendment made political freedom possible in the new republic.
D13 039 ^But we are trying to write a Bill of Rights for today. ^For us
D13 040 in the western world the centuries of religious persecution are
D13 041 in the history books. ^Over the past two hundred years numerous
D13 042 groups calling themselves religions have used the First Amendment
D13 043 to exploit, control and dominate people and secure tax advantages
D13 044 and property concessions. ^To their sorrow many Americans have
D13 045 learned how it is possible to frustrate the law and deny
D13 046 individuals due process.
D13 047    |^A satisfactory definition of religion is not possible.
D13 048 ^The committee was given examples of rulings by judges in Europe,
D13 049 {0U.S.A.} and Australia that have not met with general approval
D13 050 and, on occasions, been reversed on appeal. ^New religions, which
D13 051 are appearing increasingly in western society, are claiming the
D13 052 protection of freedom of religion, constitutional or traditional.
D13 053 ^Many are of dubious benefit to the individual or society and
D13 054 some, as has been testified by ex-members, parents and
D13 055 psychologists, are positively harmful. ^Governments, for example,
D13 056 Britain, West Germany, France, Singapore and Indonesia have moved
D13 057 to restrict the activities of these religious groups.
D13 058    |^We submitted that the right to *'freedom of religion**'
D13 059 adds nothing to the declared rights to freedom of thought,
D13 060 conscience and belief and should be omitted. ^Its retention will
D13 061 ensure the abuse, exploitation and frustration of the law that
D13 062 has occurred in other democratic societies.
D13 063    |^We pointed out that Article 8 mandates any group in the
D13 064 name of religion to exploit, injure and damage any person,
D13 065 materially, mentally and physically. ^In the United States of
D13 066 America the First Amendment has not protected people from abuse,
D13 067 exploitation and neglect. ^It might be argued that a
D13 068 constitutional right to profess and manifest a religion does not
D13 069 ipso facto give the right to harm physically and materially. ^But
D13 070 the {0U.S.} experience has been that quite extreme limits must be
D13 071 reached before the law feels empowered to intervene. ^We cited
D13 072 the tragic events of Jim Jones and the Peoples' Temple and the
D13 073 injury caused by the Christian Science Church and, in New
D13 074 Zealand, the time-consuming court orders to give life-saving
D13 075 blood transfusions to children of Jehovah Witness parents. ^Many
D13 076 religions cause injury to children. ^Some have been beaten to
D13 077 death because of a belief that beatings promote obedience to
D13 078 divine will. (^Reference to a New Zealand case had to be
D13 079 withdrawn because the investigation is still sub judice.)
D13 080    |^Religious groups can subject members to extreme
D13 081 psychological stress and emotional exhaustion leading, in some
D13 082 cases, to mental breakdowns, broken marriages and, while it is
D13 083 not of course possible to confirm, suicides. ^Such is the protection
D13 084 afforded by freedom of religion provisions is **[SIC**] that it
D13 085 is rare for any religious organisation in western society to be
D13 086 held accountable for the collapse of one of its members. ^Article
D13 087 8 would render the weak, impressionable and depressed especially
D13 088 vulnerable.
D13 089    |^Articles 7 and 10 (freedom of expression and association),
D13 090 we submitted, provide all the protection needed for the
D13 091 activities of bona fide groups but require the limitation of
D13 092 Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
D13 093 Rights ({0i.e.} such as are
D13 094 **[LONG QUOTATION**])
D13 095 |^We received an attentive hearing from members of the Select
D13 096 Committee. ^In their submission the next day, the New Zealand Law
D13 097 Society acknowledged the points we had made.
D13 098 *<*2PROFILE TREVOR MURRAY COBELDICK*>
D13 099    |^*0Trevor has been a member of the New Zealand Humanist
D13 100 Society for about twelve years during which time he has
D13 101 contributed to the Society in many ways. ^When, late last year,
D13 102 he resigned from producing the magazine he had been responsible
D13 103 for sixty-eight issues over a period of eleven years. ^During
D13 104 this time he founded the Humanist Archives, for which he has
D13 105 built up a collection of four thousand items, and he started the
D13 106 Humanist Information Service producing numerous information
D13 107 pamphlets about a wide range of humanist subjects. ^Also as
D13 108 manager of Paerangi Books he has supplied many books of interest
D13 109 to humanists.
D13 110    |^Trevor has initiated various humanist special subject
D13 111 groups and represented the Society at Education Department
D13 112 Conferences and Peace Forums as well as being on various
D13 113 committees. ^He has organised contacts, fellowships, display and
D13 114 publicity articles and worked in numerous other ways to extend
D13 115 knowledge of humanism.
D13 116    |^Trevor stores the Archives at his home in Johnsonville
D13 117 where he lives with his wife Mary and their three children. ^Most
D13 118 of his life has been spent in Canterbury. ^He was born in
D13 119 Christchurch in 1946, a fifth generation New Zealander of Cornish
D13 120 and Scottish heritage. ^Educated at Spreydon Primary and Cashmere
D13 121 High Schools he then gained a {0B.Sc.} in geography at the
D13 122 University of Canterbury. ^Later he added a {0B.A.} in religious
D13 123 studies with history and philosophy to his qualifications.
D13 124    |^Trevor taught for seven years at Ashburton College where
D13 125 he met Mary Spence. ^After their marriage they lived several
D13 126 years on a farmlet at Rakaia before moving to Christchurch where
D13 127 Trevor experienced unemployment and learning to be a house
D13 128 parent. ^After half a year as a Research Officer at the
D13 129 University he moved to Wellington to take up his present
D13 130 employment at the Correspondence School.
D13 131    |^Trevor's early interest in map drawing and stamp
D13 132 collecting have continued into adulthood. ^Also playing classical
D13 133 and pop music on the piano. ^Other interests include genealogy,
D13 134 travelling and tramping in New Zealand and he is involved with
D13 135 the New Zealand Association for Study of Religion, The Civil
D13 136 Celebrants' \0Assn., Wellington Peace Forum, Students' and
D13 137 Teachers' Organisation for Peace, Society for the Protection of
D13 138 Public Education and the New Zealand Association of Teachers of
D13 139 Religious Studies.
D13 140    |^Footnote: ^To fill in any spare time Trevor says he finds
D13 141 satisfaction in moulding his home to family needs.
D13 142 *<*2THE EXERCISING OF POWER IN EDUCATION*>
D13 143    |^Democritus of Abdera (5th century {0BC}) is reputed to
D13 144 have said: *"^I would rather understand one cause than be King of
D13 145 Persia.**" ^He valued knowledge rather than power. ^Sadly many
D13 146 people do not feel like this.
D13 147    |^When teachers are philosophers, their pupils are more
D13 148 likely to be philosophers with them *- a shared quest for
D13 149 understanding. ^If the person legally in the slot labelled
D13 150 *"teacher**" is a power-seeker, rather than a wisdom-seeker, the
D13 151 pupils are less likely to be empowered as independent learners *-
D13 152  as independent thinkers taking control bit by bit of their own
D13 153 learning. ^A better teacher is only too pleased to relinquish
D13 154 *"power over**" as soon as class and teacher can learn together.
D13 155    |^Teachers are sometimes forced into a show of power against
D13 156 their deepest beliefs and aims, because of pressure from authority
D13 157 figures above them. ^A quiet class is often viewed as indicating
D13 158 a successful teacher rather than a busy class with a higher
D13 159 *'buzz**' level. ^The teacher *- with considerable moderating
D13 160 skill *- may be orchestrating pupils who are growing in the
D13 161 ability to make judgements about controlling themselves. ^The
D13 162 teacher is aiming at self-disciplined adults, and is encouraging
D13 163 the pupils to work to that end. ^The *'quiet**' classroom may be
D13 164 no more than a teacher's desire for a quiet life, rather than a
D13 165 more strenuous one of sharing power. (^However we don't feel that
D13 166 the majority of classroom teachers see themselves as people who
D13 167 enjoy and use power for its own sake!) ^Partly because of
D13 168 mis**[ARB**]-interpretations such as this we hope that decisions
D13 169 that affect each class, each pupil, as well as each teacher, will
D13 170 increasingly be made as far down the hierarchical scale as
D13 171 possible.
D13 172    |^Power structures, we believe, should be open to critical
D13 173 evaluation by any people affected by them. ^Sometimes the
D13 174 intermediate links in the chain *- perhaps form teachers *- find
D13 175 themselves through loyalty trying to validate a directive for
D13 176 which they've been given no reason *- one which they perhaps find
D13 177 logically unjustifiable. ^The students (defensive of their
D13 178 growing but fragile feelings of independence) are prickly if they
D13 179 feel they are being fobbed off when they ask reasonable
D13 180 questions. ^This is one of the most harmful effects of the
D13 181 exercise of abitrary power.
D13 182    |^The days are past (for most pupils anyway) when a decision
D13 183 by some powerful person, say a chairman of the board of governors
D13 184 and handed down by a chain of command, regulated the length of a
D13 185 boy's (or girl's) hair. (^They had no say over the length of the
D13 186 chairman's hair however distasteful it might be to them.) ^Both
D13 187 the chairman and the pupils had private lives outside the few
D13 188 hours spent each day at school. ^At a dance in the weekend the
D13 189 chairman's friends could tease him for his taste in hairstyle.
D13 190 ^He could ignore them *- or change the style. ^In the case of a
D13 191 pupil *- often a boy *- where teasing or worse was likely to take
D13 192 place, he was put in a powerless position, or forced into a power
D13 193 struggle which could (and did) spill over into wider and more
D13 194 serious areas. ^What begins as a directive over hair length can
D13 195 cause ructions through group loyalties *- with harmful results.
D13 196    |^Adolescents' feelings of status can be marginal. ^They may
D13 197 join a group to feel they have status, if they are not ready to
D13 198 stand alone as individuals. ^Given elbowroom by non-threatening
D13 199 adults who are not particularly concerned with their own status,
D13 200 many pupils (seen in other contexts as potential troublemakers)
D13 201 are only too ready to see potential conflicts resolved.
D13 202    |^When it comes to the organisation of the power structure
D13 203 of the whole education system from the individual pupil up to the
D13 204 Minister of Education (and sadly beyond *- to the Minister of
D13 205 Finance and ?) we hope it will be made easier for the public to
D13 206 understand how the power is shared at each level. ^This applies
D13 207 especially to the parents of children currently at school and
D13 208 people who themselves felt outsiders or failures at school.
D13 209    |^For example:
D13 210 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D13 211 |*- who interprets the broad state policies?
D13 212 |*- what are the possible levels of input for all interested
D13 213 parties (when there isn't a curriculum review)?
D13 214 |*- are school board meetings open to the public? (^We know for
D13 215 example Hutt Valley High School has had a pupil on the Board of
D13 216 Governors.)
D13 217 **[END INDENTATION**]
D13 218 *#
D14 001 **[102 TEXT D14**]
D14 002 *<*4Jews and Christians: bridging the gaps*>
D14 003 *<*5by Deborah Stone in Auckland*>
D14 004 |^*4Jews and Christians held a historic meeting in Auckland in
D14 005 October to form a council of friendship aimed at overcoming
D14 006 centuries of animosity.
D14 007    |^Members of both the Auckland Hebrew Congregation and the
D14 008 Auckland Jewish Liberal Congregation met with Catholics,
D14 009 Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Society of
D14 010 Friends, and Salvation Army representatives in a founding meeting
D14 011 held at the {0AHC} community centre during Succot.
D14 012 |^*0The council, which has been organised by the chairperson of
D14 013 the Auckland Jewish Council, Wendy Ross, and a prominent
D14 014 Catholic, \0Mr Ray Watchman, follows the model of similar
D14 015 councils for Christians and Jews overseas and aims to set up a
D14 016 structure for religious and cultural exchange.
D14 017    |^The council aims to foster understanding, friendship and
D14 018 trust between the two communities by discussion and public events
D14 019 such as education seminars.
D14 020    |^\0Mr Watchman said the council wanted to overcome the
D14 021 ignorance and bitterness which has marred Christian-Jewish
D14 022 relations through the ages.
D14 023 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 024    |^\0Mr Watchman quoted the Pope in his description of the
D14 025 Holocaust as *'a second Golgotha**'.
D14 026 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 027 he said.
D14 028    |^\0Mr Watchman said the council hoped to promote a more
D14 029 just and tolerant society by enabling Christians and Jews to
D14 030 learn about each other's perspectives.
D14 031    |^It would also be a vehicle for discussion of social
D14 032 issues, and might speak out on behalf of the communities.
D14 033    |*'^We need to be aware of each other's sensitivities. ^I
D14 034 dropped a clanger the other day. ^I asked Rabbi Coleman what his
D14 035 Christian name was.**'
D14 036    |^The council hopes to cut across the bounds of of divisions
D14 037 within religions, covering all denominations and types of
D14 038 community.
D14 039    |^About 80 people attended the inaugural meeting of the
D14 040 council which was held in the small youth synagogue.
D14 041    |^Suitable psalms, dealing with the universal qualities of
D14 042 God and humanity, and the value of unity and peace were read out
D14 043 by prominent clergy from different Christian denominations, and
D14 044 by Rabbi Shalom Coleman, who is visiting Auckland, on behalf of
D14 045 the Jewish community.
D14 046    |^Rabbi Coleman and Rabbi John Levi, who visited New Zealand
D14 047 earlier this year have been rabbinical forces behind the
D14 048 establishment of the Auckland council.
D14 049    |^Rabbi Coleman, the Catholic Bishop of Auckland, the Most
D14 050 \0Rev Denis Browne, and the Bishop of Auckland (Anglican), the
D14 051 {0Rt Rev} Bruce Gilberd, are to be joint patrons of the council.
D14 052    |^The short psalm readings were followed by two addresses on
D14 053 Succot, one from the \0Rev Keith Carley, lecturer in Old
D14 054 Testament studies at \0St John's Theological College, and one
D14 055 from Rabbi Coleman.
D14 056    |^\0Rev Carley spoke on the scriptural foundations of the
D14 057 festivals and the parallels found in Christian harvest festivals.
D14 058 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 059    |^Rabbi Coleman used the four species of Succot to point to
D14 060 the lessons for the universality of humanity which the festival
D14 061 holds. ^He said the joyous nature of the festival made it a
D14 062 particular**[SIC**] suitable one for a time of sharing, because
D14 063 the essence of true joys were things that could be shared.
D14 064 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 065    |^The evening was concluded by \0Mr Watchman, who reviewed
D14 066 the consultation which had led to the inaugural meeting and
D14 067 called for further consultation with exchange on all levels from
D14 068 the social to the theological.
D14 069 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 070 *<*4Moral guidelines on homosexuality*>
D14 071 *<*1by Ray Watchman*>
D14 072    |^*4Guidelines on moral questions concerning homosexuality
D14 073 are soon to be issued by this country's Catholic bishops to
D14 074 Church pastoral workers and school teachers.
D14 075    |^*0The guidelines would probably be presented at the New
D14 076 Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference meeting in Auckland this
D14 077 month, said Bishop Denis Browne of Auckland.
D14 078    |^He understood they would take the form of a general letter
D14 079 from the bishops and be primarily directed at Catholics involved
D14 080 in pastoral work and teachers in Church schools.
D14 081    |^The bishops had promised the guidelines when they issued
D14 082 their statement on homosexual law reform after their Low Week
D14 083 meeting in Hamilton last April.
D14 084    |^*"The idea was that we present something that will put the
D14 085 moral side of the issue,**" Bishop Browne told *1Zealandia.
D14 086    |^*0Throughout the current debate on homosexual law reform,
D14 087 *"we have maintained our teaching that homosexual activity is
D14 088 morally wrong,**" the bishops said in their April statement.
D14 089    |^*"This continues to be our position, while at the same
D14 090 time we agree that there should be no unfair discrimination
D14 091 against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation,**" they
D14 092 added.
D14 093    |^The bishops opposed the then Homosexual Law Reform Bill
D14 094 because it had become for some of its supporters, *"a stratagem
D14 095 for promoting the idea that homosexual partnerships are morally
D14 096 equal to heterosexual marriage.**"
D14 097    |^A greater need than law reform, the bishops said, was the
D14 098 need to promote an education intended to remove discriminatory
D14 099 attitudes and prejudices against homosexual persons.
D14 100    |^Cardinal Thomas Williams said that the bishops' decision
D14 101 to issue the guidelines had come out of their concern that *"so
D14 102 often, when something is not against the law, people too readily
D14 103 assume that it is moral. ^They equate legality with morality.**"
D14 104    |^Bishop Peter Cullinane of Palmerston North said that
D14 105 unlike the so-called *"moral majority**", the Catholic bishops
D14 106 would claim to be holding the distinction between legality and
D14 107 morality very clearly in mind.
D14 108 *<*5{0AIDS} risk shock for Catholics*>
D14 109 *<*1by Ray Watchman*>
D14 110    |^*4Catholics rank highly in the groups most at risk of
D14 111 contracting the deadly {0AIDS} virus in New Zealand, a scientific
D14 112 research officer with the South Australian {0AIDS} Programme
D14 113 claims.
D14 114    |^*0\0Mr Simon Rosser, a Catholic and former Aucklander,
D14 115 told *1Zealandia *0that from his own and other's research and
D14 116 anecdotal observations, *"Catholics would appear
D14 117 over-represented**" in the homosexual and drug communities, the
D14 118 two major high risk groups in this country.
D14 119    |^With the numbers of {0AIDS} and related {0HIV}-positive
D14 120 people steadily growing, *"it is likely that every parish will
D14 121 eventually be touched by this new disease,**" he warned.
D14 122    |^*"For many of us, both those at risk and those at minimal
D14 123 or no risk, {0AIDS} has raised issues of fear, ignorance,
D14 124 hopelessness, blame and judgement,**" said \0Mr Rosser, who also
D14 125 works as a counsellor and intern psychologist for the South
D14 126 Australian Health Commission's {0AIDS} Programme.
D14 127    |^His claims of a disproportionate representation of
D14 128 Catholics in the high risk groups in New Zealand have been
D14 129 confirmed by expert sources in Auckland.
D14 130    |^*"Yes indeed, he is quite correct,**" said psychiatrist,
D14 131 \0Dr Fraser McDonald, the former medical superintendent of
D14 132 Kingseat and Carrington psychiatric hospitals.
D14 133    |^*"The proportion of Catholics, or people from Catholic
D14 134 backgrounds, is high among drug abuse and homosexual patients,**"
D14 135 he said, speaking from his long experience.
D14 136 *<*4Guilt*>
D14 137    |^*0\0Dr McDonald, who is now Auckland Hospital Board
D14 138 consultant on drug abuse and alcoholism, said that *"Catholic
D14 139 patients are generally on a very heavy guilt trip and their
D14 140 sexual guilt is tremendous.**"
D14 141    |^Asked if Catholic homosexuals and drug addicts might be
D14 142 more inclined to seek treatment and in doing so, give a distorted
D14 143 picture of their actual ratio within both groups, \0Dr McDonald
D14 144 said:
D14 145 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 146    |^The Odyssey House Drug Rehabilitation Programme in
D14 147 Auckland reported that out of 56 patients currently in residence,
D14 148 22 per cent were Catholic or had come from Catholic backgrounds
D14 149 *- nearly eight per cent above the statistical percentage of
D14 150 Catholics in New Zealand.
D14 151 *<*4Surprise*>
D14 152    |^*0Odyssey House Trust Chairwoman, \0Mrs Barbara Goodman,
D14 153 said she was
D14 154 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 155 she said.
D14 156    |^A spokesman for the Odyssey House programme said that
D14 157 most residents were *"poly-drug
D14 158 **[PLATE**]
D14 159 users**". ^Drug addicts who inject themselves with unsterilised
D14 160 needles are the ones at risk of being infected with {0AIDS} or
D14 161 {0HIV}.
D14 162    |^\0Mrs Goodman suggested that young people raised as
D14 163 Catholics could turn to drug use because of feelings of guilt and
D14 164 failure *"when they are not able to meet the high expectations
D14 165 the religion places upon them.**"
D14 166    |^Auckland Medical School lecturer in behavioural science
D14 167 and psychiatry, Father Felix Donnelly, said he had been
D14 168 counselling homosexual people for about 23 years.
D14 169    |^*"I've had the opportunity to meet a broad section of the
D14 170 gay community and inevitably find that the majority are Catholic
D14 171 or at least were in their initial upbringing,**" he said.
D14 172    |^The high proportion of Catholics within the gay community
D14 173 was *"common knowledge**" among sexologists and others who worked
D14 174 with male and female homosexuals.
D14 175    |^*"Many non-Catholic gays comment to me on the *'amazing**'
D14 176 number of Catholics in the gay world,**" \0Dr Donnelly said.
D14 177    |^He warned that the risk of Catholic homosexuals
D14 178 contracting {0AIDS} was made all the greater by
D14 179 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 180 he warned.
D14 181    |^The Catholic gay was *"usually the most reluctant**" to
D14 182 declare his homosexuality to parents or clergy because of the
D14 183 negative attitude towards sex he had received. *"^They fear that
D14 184 they will be totally rejected, or that their parents won't be
D14 185 able to cope because of their religious beliefs.**"
D14 186    |^Many Catholics had problems with drug, alcohol and sexual
D14 187 abuse
D14 188 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 189 said Father Donnelly.
D14 190    |^A theological student before commencing psychology
D14 191 studies, \0Mr Rosser said he believed that *"how the each of us
D14 192 as individuals and as a community respond to the threat of
D14 193 {0AIDS} will measure to what extent we have the right to call
D14 194 ourselves Christian.**"
D14 195 *<*3FRONT*?30 COVER*?30 ILLUSTRATION*?30*>
D14 196    |^*0The non-violent popular uprising of February in the
D14 197 Philippines has been described as a confrontation between
D14 198 military might and prayer. ^In the streets of Manila millions of
D14 199 unarmed Filipino people formed a human barricade and disarmed the
D14 200 Marcos forces. ^Many people offered the marines flowers and candy
D14 201 as gestures of goodwill and friendship. ^This outpouring of love
D14 202 broke the soldiers' will to carry out their orders.
D14 203 *<*3A*?30 NEW*?30 NAME*?30*>
D14 204    |^*0This issue marks an end and a beginning. ^At Conference
D14 205 there was overwhelming support for a change of name from
D14 206 *'{0C.P.S.} *2BULLETIN**' *0to *'*2THE PEACEMAKER**'. ^*0People
D14 207 believed that *'*2THE PEACEMAKER**' *0is a more accessible name
D14 208 to be promoting, and gives a much clearer indication of the
D14 209 message of {0C.P.S.} than the name *'{0C.P.S.} *2BULLETIN**'
D14 210 *0did.
D14 211 *<*5Editorial *- *3EXAMINING OUR COMMITMENT*>
D14 212    |^*0In the communion or Mass we are invited to *"feed on the
D14 213 body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ**". ^When the followers
D14 214 heard this from Jesus himself they said, *"^We can't take
D14 215 this!**" and left except for the few who said, *"^To whom shall
D14 216 we go?**"
D14 217    |^There is a sense that, to the degree which we truly feed
D14 218 on Him, we ourselves become nourishment and food for others. ^One
D14 219 of the pillars of {0C.P.S.}, our beloved late Ormond Burton, was
D14 220 so deeply nourished by Christ that he was able to nourish and
D14 221 feed multitudes of people around the world. ^I remember the time
D14 222 he came to Invercargill. ^One man sitting next to me said, *"^If
D14 223 I had heard and felt that before I would never have gone to the
D14 224 war.**"
D14 225    |^Ormie's dream of communities of justice and peace can only
D14 226 grow to the degree that others are prepared and encouraged to
D14 227 discipline themselves and merge into communities of faith. ^Jesus
D14 228 himself took a small group of men of diverse temperament, and of
D14 229 opposite political persuasions and *"applied the heat**". ^Like
D14 230 an alloy they became much stronger than any individual person.
D14 231 ^So strong was that small group that they turned the world upside
D14 232 down!
D14 233    |^Jesus could see good in a rejected prostitute.
D14 234 |^Ormond could see good in rebellious pupils.
D14 235 |^Jesus could see good in a corrupt tax collector.
D14 236 |^Ormond could see good in his fellow *"criminal**" prisoners.
D14 237 |^Jesus could see good even in a Roman soldier.
D14 238 |^Ormond could see good in some of his ex-soldier friends even
D14 239 though they had not become pacifists.
D14 240    |^\0Rev Colin Morris from his experience in Africa claims
D14 241 that *"^Violence is the small hinge upon which great weights are
D14 242 moved**" and cannot see the establishment of justice without it.
D14 243 ^Father Conrado Balwig of the Philippines has joined the
D14 244 Communists with his captured American rifle. ^\0Fr. Lambino says
D14 245 of this:
D14 246 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D14 247    |^This is way ahead of the Western approach of *"Bishops
D14 248 blessing battleships...**" \0etc, but surely Jesus and Ormond
D14 249 Burton would say that the real violence is the way we of the West
D14 250 are oppressing the Third World. ^There is enough food, medical
D14 251 resources, housing and transport to provide the needs of
D14 252 everyone, yet most still suffer.
D14 253    |^I am reminded of the story of the Indian Holy man who was
D14 254 approached by a man and asked, *"^How can I find God?**"
D14 255 *#
D15 001 **[103 TEXT D15**]
D15 002 *<*5{0ESTV} video news*>
D15 003 *<Study groups use new technology*>
D15 004 |^*4Video technology provides a useful alternative to written
D15 005 material for home study, discussion, and Scripture study and
D15 006 religious education groups.
D15 007    |^*0In this new age of *"user friendly technology**" the
D15 008 home video system is a popular and proven instrument for
D15 009 secular education and entertainment. ^With the right material,
D15 010 such as that provided by the {0ESTV} Video Network, Christians
D15 011 can make worthwhile use of their home video systems.
D15 012    |^These systems are particularly convenient in the small
D15 013 group situation.
D15 014    |^Programme material is designed to introduce and inform,
D15 015 leading into group discussion. ^Teaching/ discussion series
D15 016 usually come complete with written study material.
D15 017    |^{0ESTV}'s current catalogue includes two highly acclaimed
D15 018 teaching series *- *"Jesus Then and Now**" in 12-parts,
D15 019 featuring Canon David Watson and *"A Mind Behind it All**", six
D15 020 parts, led by Professor {0E. M.} Blaiklock.
D15 021 *<*6QUESTONS ABOUT JESUS*>
D15 022    |^*0Many people today have questions about Jesus. ^*"Jesus
D15 023 Then and Now**" sets out to answer many of these questions in a
D15 024 unique and visual way. ^Each programme explores what Jesus was
D15 025 like then *- during his life on Earth *- and how he affects the
D15 026 life we lead now.
D15 027    |^Drama, dance, cartoons and interviews are all used in
D15 028 approaching the topics in a refreshing way, encouraging the
D15 029 viewer to reflect on the many issues. ^This video was produced
D15 030 in England by Lella Productions.
D15 031    |^*"A Mind Behind It All**" is a home-grown product of Vision
D15 032 Videos, in Auckland.
D15 033    |^Blaiklock (*"Grammaticus**"), for 21 years Professor of
D15 034 Classics at Auckland University, was a biblical scholar, author
D15 035 and broadcaster of world renown. ^In the series, made during
D15 036 the final four months of his life, he draws on a vast classical
D15 037 and historical knowledge reaffirming his life-long beliefs.
D15 038    |^The catalogue also includes the *"Day One**" discussion
D15 039 series based on {0ESTV}'s own current affairs television
D15 040 series. ^Nine programmes, originally screened early 1985,
D15 041 covered topical issues such as Youth at Risk, Suicide,
D15 042 Alternative Churches and Feminism. ^These have been repackaged
D15 043 with study notes, written by Industrial Chaplain Ian McCleary,
D15 044 for use in home study groups.
D15 045    |^A growing number of home groups are finding video
D15 046 material is providing a new dimension to their regular study
D15 047 curriculum.
D15 048    |^The same video teaching series have been on sale through
D15 049 {0ESTV} for about two years. ^Feedback has been very
D15 050 favourable, according to sales manager John McLean. ^*"Everyone
D15 051 is extremely enthusiastic *- video provides an entirely new
D15 052 dimension at a study group**" he says.
D15 053    |^A large central Wellington church has recently completed
D15 054 using the *"Jesus Then and Now**" series. ^The elder in charge
D15 055 of study groups commented: *"^The David Watson series proved
D15 056 very good... some of the best in video presentation... a
D15 057 valuable time.**"
D15 058    |^He had one reservation *- *"^Video study presentations
D15 059 are not complete without thorough preparation, back-up prayer,
D15 060 and follow-on discussion to punch-in the living word of God.**"
D15 061    |^A Central North Island small town/ country parish used
D15 062 the series last year as the basis of their parish education
D15 063 programme. ^Their vicar wrote:
D15 064 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D15 065    |^The two locally made series are also producing a good
D15 066 response. ^*"We are particularly pleased to offer home-grown
D15 067 products,**" says John McLean. *"^Many people are surprised to
D15 068 view such high quality products but New Zealand technology is
D15 069 as advanced as elsewhere in the world.**"
D15 070    |^{0ESTV} will continue to sell these study series but, as
D15 071 \0Mr McLean points out,
D15 072 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D15 073    |^Investigate the possibilities by posting the coupon (see
D15 074 below) today.
D15 075 *<*7EIGHTY YEARS OF SERVICE*>
D15 076 *<*5City Mission's History Written*>
D15 077 |^*4A picnic with two hundred children, and to shepherd them
D15 078 all, a priest on crutches. ^That's commitment to the cause.
D15 079 ^Camps for up to 300 children were run during the Christmas
D15 080 holidays. ^More grimly, food and clothing was in desperate
D15 081 demand, and in 1932 beds were provided for 128,786 people.
D15 082 ^That was in the 1930s, when the work of the Wellington City
D15 083 Mission reached a social service peak.
D15 084    |^*0For more than 80 years, the Wellington City Mission has
D15 085 ministered in central Wellington to people in need. ^Its story
D15 086 has been written by Janette \0A. Gosnell, in a book called *"A
D15 087 Servant to the City**", published by Grantham House. ^It is
D15 088 priced at *+$19.50. ^The vicar of \0St. Barnabas' Roseneath,
D15 089 the Reverend Michael Blain reviews the book for DioLog.
D15 090    |^In 1904, the vicar of \0St Peter's, Willis \0St, the
D15 091 Reverend {0G. P.} Davys who had been impressed by the work of
D15 092 the Anglo-Catholic priests in the industrial slums of urban
D15 093 Britain, invited William Walton out from England. ^The
D15 094 missioner-to-be was taken to a high point in the city: *"^That
D15 095 is where I want you to work**", said the vicar as he gestured
D15 096 with his stick over the slums of inner Wellington. ^So the work
D15 097 began. ^There was one man, but no hall, no chapel, no workers.
D15 098    |^Within a few years the Governor came to lay the the first
D15 099 stone of the first of many buildings that were to come and go
D15 100 during this century. ^Each building was an achievement, a sign
D15 101 of the brave response to the changing needs of the community.
D15 102 ^Priests were not shy of asking for money then *- halls, shops,
D15 103 chapels, homes, came and went as the work moved ahead.
D15 104    |^*"Cut this out and keep for reference**", said the
D15 105 *1Mission Whistler *0in 1929. ^The list gives some clue as to
D15 106 the range of activities sponsored then by our church through
D15 107 the Mission. ^Regular fixtures included four eucharists each
D15 108 Sunday, a Sunday school, night school, baptisms, mission
D15 109 services at the King's Theatre, children's guild, mothers'
D15 110 club, sea scouts, guides, junior club and bible classes. ^Any
D15 111 church member would know from that list just how many people
D15 112 were at work and how much Christian generosity flowed behind
D15 113 the simple words.
D15 114    |^Janette Gosnell has put together a full and careful
D15 115 account of the first eighty years of this ministry of
D15 116 compassion. ^The account is clearly written, direct and simple,
D15 117 with evidence of thorough research. ^It is certainly a valuable
D15 118 chronicle of the City Mission's life.
D15 119    |^Yet it has much wider interest than that. ^We get a rare
D15 120 view of the underside of the capital city during the early
D15 121 years of this century. ^As our society emerges from the
D15 122 roughest of colonial days, the Mission history parallels and
D15 123 illustrates the downs and ups as we move through the
D15 124 Depression, through the development of the welfare state, and
D15 125 the much steadier years since the last World War.
D15 126 *<*6AHEAD?*>
D15 127    |^*0What lies ahead for the City Mission? ^The needs today
D15 128 are not so blatant perhaps. ^But this history certainly shows
D15 129 that the leadership has been ready to adapt to changing needs
D15 130 in the society which in Christ's name it serves. ^A wonderful
D15 131 selection of old photos highlights the text. ^These add
D15 132 character to the more prosaic words. ^Riverslea youth camp
D15 133 members will love the photos on \0p29.
D15 134    |^The eight clerical gents on the front cover have reason
D15 135 to be twinkling and even smiling because this account of their
D15 136 work has now been produced, and because the work continues into
D15 137 the last years of this century. ^After the recent controversy
D15 138 over the City Mission's financial problems, it's good to have a
D15 139 sober account of just what has been going on there for the last
D15 140 eighty years. ^But as is common with church histories,
D15 141 disagreements and controversy are smoothed over in this book.
D15 142 ^Am I alone in thinking that we would
D15 143 **[PLATE**]
D15 144 enjoy a more realistic account of the human struggles that lie
D15 145 under the surface of the daily round and its duties and
D15 146 achievements? ^The names and their good deeds come and go *-
D15 147 I'd welcome a more conscious sketching of personalties and
D15 148 issues.
D15 149    |^The publishers give the book fine treatment. ^This is
D15 150 quality, not a Gestetner job. ^Not a misprint to be found
D15 151 either. ^Thank you for telling us about the past; God sustain
D15 152 you for the future.
D15 153 *<*5Girl called to *'punk**' ministry*>
D15 154 *<*4By *6VIC FRANCIS*>
D15 155    |^HER HAIR *4is green at the front, bleached blonde at the
D15 156 back, and shaved severely up the sides.
D15 157    |^*0A variety of earrings dangle around her face, she wears
D15 158 unusual make**[ARB**]-up and her clothes are bright orange and
D15 159 green.
D15 160    |^She's Dutch and lists one of her favourite haunts as the
D15 161 nightclubs of Amsterdam.
D15 162    |^Jeanine \van Halteren is a *"fashion**" punk rocker *-
D15 163 seemingly the epitome of a lost and hopeless generation.
D15 164    |^But first impressions can be very misleading, and in
D15 165 Jeanine's case they certainly are.
D15 166    |^She isn't lost and hopeless *- she accepted Christ as her
D15 167 Saviour in April, 1981 and is currently a full-time worker with
D15 168 Youth With A Mission.
D15 169    |^She was also on the staff of Amsterdam 86, the
D15 170 International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists, and is an
D15 171 evangelist in her own right.
D15 172 *<*4Ministry*>
D15 173    |^*0Jeanine's ministry is to the punk rockers of Amsterdam.
D15 174 ^To communicate successfully with them, she dresses like them.
D15 175    |^Along with a team from {0YWAM}, Jeanine goes to the
D15 176 city's nightclubs every Friday and Saturday night from midnight
D15 177 to 4 {0am} and shares the Gospel of Christ with them. ^The team
D15 178 prays for two hours before they go and return later to pray
D15 179 again. ^They get to bed on Sunday mornings about the time most
D15 180 Christians  are getting up to go to church.
D15 181    |^*"Sometimes we confront them (punk rockers) with the
D15 182 Gospel, and sometimes we give them the feeling that they are
D15 183 loved *- by God and by us,**" says Jeanine.
D15 184    |^They find many people to minister to such as a
D15 185 15-year-old naive girl who is easily *"caught up by one of the
D15 186 mean men of Amsterdam**"; the drug addict trying to kick the
D15 187 habit; or any one of a dozen scenarios of woe or danger.
D15 188    |^Jeanine feels God has called her to reach out to *"young
D15 189 people in the big cities in Western society *- whether it be in
D15 190 Canada, the United States or Europe.*"
D15 191 *<*4Conversion*>
D15 192    |^*0Converted at an Easter convention out of a background
D15 193 of drug dealing and rebellion against God, Jeanine knows the
D15 194 hopelessness and emptiness of today's young people.
D15 195    |^*"My life was just so empty,**" she remembers.
D15 196 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D15 197    |^Jeanine finished school and then did two years at the
D15 198 Dutch academy of modern art before joining the {0YWAM}
D15 199 nightclub team late last year.
D15 200    |^She joined the Billy Graham staff preparing for the
D15 201 International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists on a
D15 202 part-time basis in May, and the money she has earned is going
D15 203 towards paying for a discipleship training school with {0YWAM}
D15 204 in Canada, starting on September 22.
D15 205    |^She says she was a bit scared joining the staff. *"^I
D15 206 didn't know if they were going to like my hair, but they like
D15 207 my art.**"
D15 208 *<*4Image*>
D15 209    |^*0Jeanine doesn't have any trouble identifying and mixing
D15 210 with punk rockers *- *"^I can be sharing the Gospel right
D15 211 beside a loud speaker**" *- but she sometimes does have trouble
D15 212 with Christians who don't think she should look like she does.
D15 213    |^Once an over-zealous evangelist tried to convert her and
D15 214 seemed deaf to her pleas that she already loved Jesus.
D15 215    |^*"I can really understand some Christians who think it's
D15 216 strange,**" she says.
D15 217 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D15 218 *<*1Jung, the Unconscious and God*>
D15 219 |^*0Religious experience is traditionally understood to have
D15 220 arisen out of the interplay of a person's own consciousness and
D15 221 the influence brought to bear upon it by an invisible spiritual
D15 222 world existing outside of it, but occasionally invading it.
D15 223 ^Human imagination saw this world to be inhabited by spiritual
D15 224 beings or forces of various kinds. ^The intercourse between a
D15 225 person and this spiritual world could take various forms. ^It
D15 226 might take the form of voices (heard by no-one else), or of
D15 227 visions (seen by no-one else), or of emotions (felt by no-one
D15 228 else), as when John Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed.
D15 229 ^One of the most frequent media of this communication was
D15 230 believed to be in the almost universal phenomenon of dreaming.
D15 231    |^In ways such as these it may be said that human beings
D15 232 have long been aware of experiencing an inner life which was
D15 233 not under their own conscious control. ^But it was believed to
D15 234 have originated in a source wholly outside of oneself. ^This
D15 235 was largely due to the fact that people commonly identified
D15 236 their real selves, their souls, with consciousness alone.
D15 237 *#
D16 001 **[104 TEXT D16**]
D16 002 *<*4Rise in Bible distribution*>
D16 003    |^*0Bible Societies around the world distributed more
D16 004 Bibles last year than they did in 1984.
D16 005    |^The situation with regard to Scripture distribution
D16 006 varied greatly from place to place, but the overall worldwide
D16 007 increase in Bibles distributed by Bible Societies associated
D16 008 with the United Bible Societies was 4.5 per cent, up from
D16 009 12,077,852, in 1984 to 12,616,084 in 1985.
D16 010    |^In the Bible Societies Americans region Bible
D16 011 distribution in 1985 was 10 per cent higher (up to 4,855,799)
D16 012 compared with 1984.
D16 013    |^In the Asia Pacific region, 13.2 per cent more Bibles
D16 014 were distributed, making a 1985 total there of 3,086,783.
D16 015    |^In the Europe region the number of Bibles distributed
D16 016 last year stood at 1,962,088 *- just 0.6 per cent higher than
D16 017 in the previous year.
D16 018    |^Only in the African region was there a reduction in the
D16 019 distribution of Bibles *- down by 9.2 per cent to 2,711,414
D16 020 copies.
D16 021    |^There was an overall drop in the number of New Testaments
D16 022 distributed by the Bible Societies in 1985.
D16 023    |^Although New Testament distribution rose 15.3 per cent in
D16 024 the Asia Pacific region, it fell in the other three regions.
D16 025    |^The number of New Testaments distributed worldwide by the
D16 026 Bible Societies in 1985 was 12,098,659 (as compared with
D16 027 13,241,007 in 1984).
D16 028    |^The global distribution of Scripture portions by the
D16 029 Bible Societies last year was 24,651,128 (representing a 3.3
D16 030 per cent drop compared with 1984).
D16 031    |^The distribution of New Reader Scripture portions showed
D16 032 an increase of 5.4 per cent to 14,608,016.
D16 033    |^Scripture selection distribution was up by 8.7 per cent
D16 034 to 440,359,794 copies worldwide.
D16 035    |^The distribution of New Reader Scripture selections was
D16 036 down by 4.9 per cent to 44,420,820.
D16 037    |^The task of the United Bible Societies, of which The
D16 038 Bible Society of New Zealand is a member, is to assist the
D16 039 Christian Church in the translation, production, and
D16 040 distribution of Holy Scriptures. ^It is made up of 102 national
D16 041 Bible Societies with work in 180 countries and territories.
D16 042 *<*4Christ at the heart of the missionary task*>
D16 043 *<*1By Angus MacLeod*>
D16 044    |^*0Someone once asked Samuel Johnston what was the best
D16 045 argument for prayer. ^*"Sir,**" replied the doctor, *"there is
D16 046 no argument for prayer.**"
D16 047    |^He did not mean that prayer was futile or illusory. ^He
D16 048 meant that everything in his experience was an argument for it.
D16 049    |^In a similar way if someone asked me, *"what is the
D16 050 argument for mission?**" the answer quite briefly is that there
D16 051 is no argument. ^Our total experience of the Christian Gospel
D16 052 is that argument.
D16 053    |^It is important to remind ourselves why New Zealand
D16 054 Baptists worked and sacrificed to maintain a mission presence
D16 055 in India and Bangladesh.
D16 056    |^When I was a member of Oxford Terrace Church there was a
D16 057 plaque in the church dedicated to Hopestill Pillow. ^She was a
D16 058 Sunday school teacher at the church who went out to India in
D16 059 1889. ^She served for six years and died of fever a few months
D16 060 before furlough was due.
D16 061    |^Why did she and others go to a strange land and give
D16 062 their lives? ^Are their reasons still valid today?
D16 063    |^What is the motive of the Church's missionary enterprise?
D16 064    |^Why should we send workers to Bangladesh, Papua New
D16 065 Guinea, New Britain and the Solomons when there are plenty of
D16 066 pagans in New Zealand?
D16 067    |^Let us sum up our motives in a series of words.
D16 068 |^*6COMMISSION: ^*0The first word is *"Commission.**"
D16 069    |^We must support the mission of the Church because it is
D16 070 Jesus's commission. ^He said, *"^Go into all the world and
D16 071 preach the Gospel.**" ^As long as the Master's words stand,
D16 072 anyone who opposes mission is saying that they know better than
D16 073 Jesus himself.
D16 074    |^If the Great Commission was in some way lost, we still
D16 075 would not be absolved from the task in Bangladesh or Papua New
D16 076 Guinea. ^The marching orders of the Church are not confined to
D16 077 one single verse of Scripture.
D16 078    |^The missionary commission stares at us from page after
D16 079 page of Scripture. ^Did not Jesus say: *"^Other sheep I have
D16 080 which are not of this fold *- them also I must bring ?**" ^Did
D16 081 he not tell his disciples: *"^You shall be witnesses unto me in
D16 082 Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost part of
D16 083 the earth.**"
D16 084    |^*"What Christ did at the Cross,**" says John, *"is not
D16 085 only for our sins, but for the sins of the world.**" ^Our
D16 086 Gospel is world embracing and we are called to participate.
D16 087 ^That is why Hopestill Pillow and Rosalie McGeorge and dozens
D16 088 of missionaries since have gone from New Zealand to distant
D16 089 lands.
D16 090 **[PLATE**]
D16 091    |^*6COMPASSION: ^*0A second word summarises our motivation
D16 092 for mission. ^It is the word *"compassion.**"
D16 093    |^There's a fascinating story in 2 Kings 7, about the seige
D16 094 of Samaria about the year 800 {0B.C.}. ^It was a fortress city
D16 095 high on a hill surrounded by massive stone walls.
D16 096    |^The King of Aram tried to capture Samaria. ^He tried
D16 097 again and again and failed. ^In the end Ben Hadad the king
D16 098 decided to starve the city out by a severe blockade. ^The
D16 099 result was starvation. ^The dogs were eaten, and even
D16 100 cannibalism took place. ^Meanwhile Ben Hadad patiently waited
D16 101 for the city to surrender.
D16 102    |^Outside the city wall were four men. ^They were lepers
D16 103 who daren't enter the city and were ignored by Ben Hadad's men.
D16 104 ^These men in *"no-man's land**" got so hungry they decided to
D16 105 risk creeping by night past the Syrian guards to steal some
D16 106 food.
D16 107    |^They got to the outer defences in dead of night. ^They
D16 108 crept silently into the camp. ^But there was an uncanny
D16 109 stillness. ^Gradually it dawned on the lepers that the camp had
D16 110 been deserted.
D16 111    |^Later they discovered that noises by night, and a sudden
D16 112 message told Ben Hadad that the Hittites and Egyptians were on
D16 113 the way. ^Ben Hadad and his troops fled, leaving behind them
D16 114 their supplies, their tents and silver and gold.
D16 115    |^Imagine the delight of these lepers. ^They had all they
D16 116 wanted. ^They could be fed, they could be rich. ^They shouted
D16 117 with delight. ^Then suddenly they were conscience stricken.
D16 118 ^One of them says: *"^What we are doing is not right. ^This is
D16 119 a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.**" 2
D16 120 Kings 7:9.
D16 121    |^They felt for the starving city. ^They had compassion for
D16 122 their countrymen. *"^This is a day of good news.**" ^Compassion
D16 123 literally means *"suffering with**" people. ^Compassion means
D16 124 really dealing with the needs of people. ^Our missionary
D16 125 society shows its compassion as we provide and work in clinics,
D16 126 hospitals, schools, relief programmes.
D16 127    |^In the early days of our Missionary Society this sense of
D16 128 compassion was re-inforced by the strong belief in hell and
D16 129 eternal damnation. ^Our forefathers fervently believed that
D16 130 those without Christ would get to a lost eternity. ^A theme
D16 131 song was:
D16 132 **[BEGIN INDENTATION**]
D16 133 **[SONG**]
D16 134 **[END INDENTATION**]
D16 135    |^We have softened the theology in our age, but an eternal
D16 136 truth still stands. ^Without Christ we lose a fellowship of
D16 137 infinite value.
D16 138    |^We are today's lepers. ^The world is in need of what
D16 139 Christ has to offer. ^We, not in some arrogant fashion, have
D16 140 his love to offer.
D16 141    |^Our compassion must not be some condescending offer. ^In
D16 142 the words of {0D.T.} Niles, we are only *"One beggar offering
D16 143 another beggar bread.**"
D16 144 *<*6COMMUNITY*>
D16 145    |^*0It was {0D.T.} Niles who said,
D16 146 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D16 147    |^This means that we must support the Church's mission
D16 148 because we are part of the human family. ^The people of
D16 149 Bangladesh, India and Papua New Guinea are as much our
D16 150 neighbours as the people in the streets of Auckland.
D16 151    |^There is no line we can draw and say, *"^Here our
D16 152 responsibility ends.**" ^This is one world and it is God's
D16 153 purpose to draw us together and to reconcile all things. ^Paul
D16 154 writes to the Ephesians (1:10), *"^God's purpose is that all in
D16 155 heaven and earth might be brought into a unity in Christ.**"
D16 156    |^How can this true community be achieved? ^How can the
D16 157 human family learn to live together in peace and harmony?
D16 158 ^Christ has shown us the secret. ^When we lead persons to Him
D16 159 he has broken down all dividing walls. *"^There is neither Jew
D16 160 nor Gentile, slave or freeman, male or female... we are one in
D16 161 Christ Jesus.**"
D16 162    |^This is why the missionary enterprise is so necessary.
D16 163 ^It crosses and breaks down barriers. ^Thus the villager in
D16 164 Tripura, the stall holder in Chandpur, the coffee grower in the
D16 165 Baiyer can all sing:
D16 166 |**[SONG**]
D16 167 *<*6CONTINUITY*>
D16 168    |^*0Our fourth biblical reason for mission is found in the
D16 169 word *"Continuity.**" ^We are called to continue the work which
D16 170 Jesus began.
D16 171    |^He came calling people into God's kingdom. ^To fulfill
D16 172 that mission he called a group of disciples. ^Those disciples
D16 173 were passionately missionary minded. ^They handed on what they
D16 174 had received from the Lord Jesus.
D16 175    |^The great efforts of the past must not grind to a halt.
D16 176 ^The light of the gospel has been handed to us and we must not
D16 177 let it go out.
D16 178    |^These four words *- commission, compassion, community and
D16 179 continuity *- give us a reason for continuing to work and share
D16 180 with our missionary society.
D16 181    |^In the last resort the one reason why we should work for
D16 182 mission is Christ. ^Belief in mission is belief in Christ.
D16 183 ^Mission and Christ stand or fall together.
D16 184    |^If this Christ is in us, then his spirit is sending us to
D16 185 tell and live Christ amongst the lost.
D16 186 *<*5Making the most of Self Denial*>
D16 187 *<*1By Jim Patrick*>
D16 188    |^*0Our week of Prayer and Self Denial is here again.
D16 189    |^The approach taken to promote our Baptist work at this
D16 190 time of the year will vary depending on the age, size, location
D16 191 and composition of the church concerned.
D16 192    |^I have become aware of this, having moved 18 months ago
D16 193 from a new Auckland suburban church to a long established,
D16 194 small town, Waikato congregation.
D16 195    |^In our present situation, promoting giving and prayer for
D16 196 our {0NZBMS} work is relatively simple. ^As most members have
D16 197 been in the church for many years, some a lifetime, our
D16 198 {0NZBMS} missionaries are household names.
D16 199    |^Self Denial week has long been seen as an important event
D16 200 in the life of the church, and when missionaries are prayed for
D16 201 in the services or Home Groups, the congregation are on
D16 202 familiar ground.
D16 203    |^Other local needs will receive lower priority until the
D16 204 target is met.
D16 205    |^In the previous new suburban church, promoting our
D16 206 Baptist missionary work in Self Denial week and during the year
D16 207 was a greater challenge.
D16 208    |^A much smaller proportion of the church had a long
D16 209 Baptist background. ^Several who had held top denominational
D16 210 positions, gave liberally and made sure our {0NZBMS} work
D16 211 received the attention it deserved.
D16 212    |^However, for most of the congregation our missionaries
D16 213 were only names, and giving was seen as giving to a nebulous
D16 214 denomination which didn't have much importance to them.
D16 215    |^An over-vigorous promotion of the work during Self Denial
D16 216 week would be seen as beating the Baptist drum, and was in
D16 217 danger of being counter productive.
D16 218    |^In our education system there has been a change of
D16 219 emphasis from the results of a year's work being determined by
D16 220 one climactic examination, to an assessment system based on the
D16 221 continuing work done throughout the year.
D16 222    |^Similarly we found a *"drip feed**" system (no reflection
D16 223 on the congregation!), of promoting our Baptist work to be more
D16 224 effective.
D16 225    |^Whenever possible we had our missionaries visit the
D16 226 church. ^One new member used to pray every Self Denial week
D16 227 *"^Lord all these missionaries are only names, except I've met
D16 228 John Osborne. ^Bless him...**"
D16 229    |^Giving and prayer for him and other new people was
D16 230 focused on the individual missionaries and worthwhile
D16 231 ministries, rather than the *"denomination.**"
D16 232    |^A set of overhead transparency pictures of our
D16 233 missionaries were obtained. ^Periodically while the offering
D16 234 was being taken during the service, the pictures were projected
D16 235 into the screen and the congregation were encouraged to read
D16 236 the latest information on that particular missionary which was
D16 237 included in the weekly bulletin.
D16 238    |^A visit by Shirley Ingram to a Ladies' Retreat weekend,
D16 239 provided a stimulating and ongoing interest in her work.
D16 240 *#
D17 001 **[105 TEXT D17**]
D17 002 *<*4New conference shapes up*>
D17 003 |^This month all of New Zealand's major churches except the
D17 004 Baptist Union will join in the Conference of Churches in
D17 005 Aotearoa. ^They will gather in Rotorua from 27-29 March for an
D17 006 inaugural forum.
D17 007    |^*0The main changes in membership in comparison to the
D17 008 National Council of Churches (Formed in 1941) are that the Roman
D17 009 Catholic Church is a member, while the Baptist Union, involved
D17 010 throughout with the {0NCC}, decided late last year not to be
D17 011 involved.
D17 012    |^By last month churches firmly committed to joining the
D17 013 conference were: Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic,
D17 014 Liberal Catholic, Society of Friends, Greek Orthodox, Salvation
D17 015 Army and Romanian Orthodox (like the Catholic Church, new to
D17 016 membership of a national ecumenical body here).
D17 017    |^There are several churches yet to make a decision,
D17 018 including the Congregational Union, Antiochan Orthodox Church and
D17 019 Serbian Orthodox Church and the Cook Islands Christian Church.
D17 020    |^Some churches are seeking observer status: these are the
D17 021 Lutheran and Seventh Day Adventist Churches. ^The Associated
D17 022 Churches of Christ want associate membership, which was not
D17 023 provided for in the constitution and will need to be considered.
D17 024    |^Apart from the Baptist Union, the Associated Pentecostal
D17 025 Churches in New Zealand broken**[SIC**] off conversations about
D17 026 joining.
D17 027    |^The Union declined the invitation to join by 249 to 137,
D17 028 with 18 abstentions, reasons including disenchantment with the
D17 029 {0NCC}, and nervousness about another body making statements on
D17 030 their behalf.
D17 031    |^Among Pentecostal Churches, similar attitudes have been at
D17 032 work and there has been a feeling that the new body will be
D17 033 identified with the extreme left and less concerned with
D17 034 spiritual matters.
D17 035    |^What is the attitude of Maori Christians? ^Since 1982
D17 036 they have been in an autonomous ecumenical group with
D17 037 Catholic membership *- Te Runanga Whakawhanaunga i Nga Hahi o
D17 038 Aotearoa. ^This will work in partnership with the new conference, 
D17 039 rather than grafting the Catholic Church onto an existing 
D17 040 body.
D17 041    |^Catholic membership of the Conference is not a new thing
D17 042 in ecumenism *- the Catholic Church is a full member of 33
D17 043 ecumenical councils around the world and an associate member of
D17 044 seven.
D17 045    |^What is new is that in New Zealand the opportunity was
D17 046 taken to look in depth at the aims and structure of the
D17 047 ecumenical body.
D17 048    |^A major feature will be regional ecumenical forums *-
D17 049 probably about 20.
D17 050    |^Better representation for women and young people are among
D17 051 the aims. ^A key emphasis is on bicultural partnership.
D17 052    |^In terms of approach, consensus will be the key, rather
D17 053 than resolving issues through taking a vote.
D17 054 *<*4Presbyteries seek lift-off*>
D17 055 |^In late January fifty people from twenty-one Presbyteries met
D17 056 in Taupo, hoping to build a fresh vision and definition of the
D17 057 role and working of the Presbyteries.
D17 058    |^*0It did not take long to discover a variety in style and
D17 059 effectiveness among the twenty-four Presbyteries.
D17 060    |^Presbytery, in some regions, is the powerhouse of
D17 061 Christian energy that its members hope for. ^There is a good
D17 062 attendance at meetings, simplified style of business to allow
D17 063 relaxed discussion, and the use of concerned and expert speakers
D17 064 to deepen understanding of important issues, and routine sharing
D17 065 of parish initiatives and activities by people from the parishes
D17 066 themselves.
D17 067    |^Other regions experience frustrating meetings, wasted
D17 068 time, talents and energy. ^New members may sit silent, mystified
D17 069 and even bewildered, during displays of verbal brilliance and
D17 070 intricate procedure, or dismal muddle. ^Laymen and women often
D17 071 feel too timid to speak.
D17 072    |^Wouldn't it be great, said one minister, to be able to say
D17 073 *- *'^It's presbytery tonight *- whoopee!**' ^Small Presbyteries
D17 074 carry a burden of supporting and administering *'vacant**'
D17 075 parishes, but their members enjoy close-knit fellowship.
D17 076    |^Some Presbyteries felt church regulations get in the way
D17 077 of fresh initiatives; they would like more freedom, staff and
D17 078 resources. ^Some saw scope for the *'Presbytery as Bishop**' to
D17 079 take more of a pastoral role in the supervision and oversight of
D17 080 parishes and ministers.
D17 081    |*'^What is Presbytery's role?**'... *'to equip God's people
D17 082 for Christian discipleship that they may proclaim the Gospel**'
D17 083 was a popular finding and to *-
D17 084    |^Promote and encourage the mission of the Church.
D17 085    |^Give pastoral oversight to ministers, manse families,
D17 086 sessions, and congregations.
D17 087    |^Provide adequate regional administration... were other
D17 088 important roles.
D17 089    |*'^What is the way ahead *- how can the Presbytery do its
D17 090 work better, under God, in the next twenty years?**'... the
D17 091 pointers began to show as one group after another reported and
D17 092 hours of discussion yielded the suggestions from the conference:
D17 093    |^Moving towards new patterns of ministry/ service to
D17 094 parishes *- the role of the Presbytery is to initiate/ approve/
D17 095 facilitate.
D17 096    |^Move towards happier joint ventures.
D17 097    |^Move towards the most effective regional grouping of the
D17 098 Church.
D17 099    |^Move towards a better understanding of the relationship of
D17 100 oversight/ pastoral care and discipline.
D17 101    |^Move towards responsibility and individuality of
D17 102 Presbyteries.
D17 103    |^Move towards clarification of Presbytery role on public
D17 104 issues.
D17 105    |^Move towards new *'language**' and *'role**' definitions.
D17 106    |^Work towards a better ordering of Presbytery business.
D17 107    |^A report is being prepared for response from Presbyteries
D17 108 and later for Assembly to consider.
D17 109    |^It was heartening to experience the vision of so many
D17 110 different people with a common purpose.
D17 111 *<*4Islands blasted*>
D17 112 |^Presbyterian churches in Vila, the capital of Vanuatu have
D17 113 suffered extensive damage in the recent cyclone, according to
D17 114 Council for Mission secretary the \0Rev Simon Rae.
D17 115    |^*0Paton Memorial Church and Owen Hall have lost their
D17 116 roofs, and the manse has been destroyed. ^Some other houses of
D17 117 church officials have also lost roofs. ^Onesua High School, on
D17 118 the other side of the island, has suffered a small amount of
D17 119 damage. ^No information was available for the southern islands.
D17 120    |^The council has sent *+$5000 from their funds for cyclone
D17 121 relief, and more funds were to be made available if necessary.
D17 122 ^The church's disaster relief fund has all been committed already
D17 123 this year.
D17 124    |^Over *+$100,000 has been raised throughout New Zealand for
D17 125 the Cook Islands, which also suffered a cyclone recently. ^About
D17 126 120 cartons of food, clothing, and books were sent from
D17 127 Wellington via Auckland to the islands.
D17 128 *<*4Church Family Sunday*>
D17 129 |^*0There's something very special about belonging to a family.
D17 130 ^It forms our identity, provides a ready**[ARB**]-made set of
D17 131 lifelong relationships, gives us our name. ^Throughout life, what
D17 132 happens to part of our family matters to us all.
D17 133    |^The same is true of our church family. ^Our church gives
D17 134 us our identity within the body of Christ, opens up relationships
D17 135 with fellow-Christians here and overseas, confers on us the name
D17 136 *"Christian.**" ^And in a healthy church, what happens to part of
D17 137 the family matters to us all.
D17 138    |^These themes underlie Church Family Sunday, being marked
D17 139 by Presbyterian and union co**[ARB**]-operating parishes this
D17 140 month.
D17 141    |^People in the pews are being asked to think about what it
D17 142 means to be part of the wider church family.
D17 143    |^They are being reminded of some of the many things being
D17 144 done in their name in the areas of spiritual growth, serving in
D17 145 partnership with Churches overseas, working with young people,
D17 146 and preparing for the ordained ministry.
D17 147    |^And they are being invited to say *"^Yes, I want to be
D17 148 part of all that**" through giving to ensure that these good
D17 149 things continue.
D17 150    |^The personalised appeal material comes with a pastoral
D17 151 message from the Moderator, the {0Rt Rev.} Kenape Faletoese, and
D17 152 a commendation from Sir John Marshall.
D17 153    |^Church Family Sunday marks a new determination by the
D17 154 Assembly Finance Committee to help parishes raise their Outreach
D17 155 allocations that make the wider work of the church possible.
D17 156    |^It is doing so not as an extra request, but in such a way
D17 157 as will help each local church to achieve its budget goals: all
D17 158 gifts will be credited towards the local parish's share of
D17 159 Outreach.
D17 160    |^In taking part in local services and activities, people
D17 161 will also know that others in Presbyterian and union parishes up
D17 162 and down the country are focussing on the same theme, as members
D17 163 of the same church family.
D17 164    |^\0Mr Faletoese's challenge from the 1986 Assembly still
D17 165 stands: *"^Family of God, come alive!**".
D17 166 *<*4Solemn requests*>
D17 167 *<by Lloyd Geering*>
D17 168 **[LONG QUOTATION**]
D17 169 |^*6T*2HE READER *0who posed to me this question has actually
D17 170 voiced one of today's widespread religious concerns. ^It is
D17 171 frequently the first question to be raised in any public
D17 172 discussion of our changing beliefs and practices. ^No less a
D17 173 person than Oxford Professor of Divinity John Macquarrie put it
D17 174 this way: *"^Is God, as envisaged in contemporary theology, a God
D17 175 to whom one can still pray or has prayer gone out with the old
D17 176 anthropomorphic and monarchical images of God?**"
D17 177    |^Whatever answer one chooses to give to such questions
D17 178 depends, of course, on one's world-view, {0ie} the way one
D17 179 conceives and interprets one's experience of the world. ^Prayer
D17 180 as commonly practised in the Christian tradition has never found
D17 181 any place in the Buddhist world for there is no Buddhist God to
D17 182 be prayed to. ^Even Muslims, whose concept of God is much closer
D17 183 to that of Christians, rarely ever make petition to God; their
D17 184 prayers consist of praise, thanksgiving and acts of submission.
D17 185    |^The dictionary defines *"prayer**" as the making of a
D17 186 solemn request to God. ^Although it has become almost exclusively
D17 187 associated with religion today, it was formerly used more widely,
D17 188 prayers being addressed to any kind of superior personal
D17 189 authority. ^To pray was to beg or to make supplication for a
D17 190 favour which one's superior had it in his power to grant.
D17 191    |^To those people who conceive God as the supernatural,
D17 192 infinite yet personal being who created the universe and
D17 193 continues to control it, the continuance of the traditional
D17 194 practice of Christian prayer constitutes no problem at all.
D17 195 ^Indeed many of them find it a great comfort and a source of
D17 196 spiritual strength.
D17 197    |^An increasing number of people, however, no longer view
D17 198 the world in a way which is consistent with that conception of
D17 199 God, and this for a whole host of reasons. ^A number of
D17 200 theologians, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, are today saying
D17 201 that new knowledge and new experiences are forcing us to think
D17 202 about God in radically new ways.
D17 203    |^This in turn means that the traditional practice of prayer
D17 204 has either to be abandoned (as humanists and agnostics would
D17 205 conclude) or else it also must be thought out and practised in
D17 206 radically new ways (as theologian John Macquarrie has suggested).
D17 207    |^To continue to pray in the traditional way while at the
D17 208 same time embracing the modern world-view opens one to the charge
D17 209 of superstition, for superstition has been usefully defined as a
D17 210 religious practice which has survived the demise of the 
D17 211 world-view and religious context to which it properly belongs.
D17 212    |^It is probable that some at least of the prayer activities
D17 213 still practised today can legitimately be judged to be
D17 214 superstition, especially where prayer is regarded as a means of
D17 215 controlling or altering events and conditions in the world around
D17 216 one. ^In this respect it is strange that Christians have not paid
D17 217 more attention to the recorded words of Jesus in warning his
D17 218 followers not to pray like the heathen, who thought the more they
D17 219 uttered the more they would be heard.
D17 220    |^But is there any way of understanding the nature of prayer
D17 221 which takes the modern view of reality fully into account and
D17 222 thus avoids the charge of superstition? ^Many would claim that
D17 223 that aspect of the devotional practice of prayer which remains
D17 224 permanently valid is not the expectation that it will change the
D17 225 course of events but its capacity to develop spirituality.
D17 226    |^John Macquarrie is one of those theologians who believes
D17 227 that the traditional practice of prayer and worship needs to be
D17 228 critically examined and rethought. ^It is primarily as a
D17 229 spiritual exercise intended to promote spiritual and personal
D17 230 growth that Macquarrie defends and expounds the practice of
D17 231 prayer. (^Macquarrie, incidentally, is by no means an extreme
D17 232 radical in this theology but is orthodox middle-of-the-road.)
D17 233    |^In his *1Path in Spirituality *0({0SCM} Press, 1972),
D17 234 Macquarrie suggested that prayer may be usefully regarded as a
D17 235 special kind of thinking, by which we attempt to explore both
D17 236 feelingly and responsibly our relationship to the world and
D17 237 particularly to people.
D17 238 *#