Backing starts to grow for the Anglican Covenant: CEN 11.06.09 p 5. November 12, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Anglican Church of Australia, Central Florida, Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland, South Carolina, Western Louisiana.add a comment
The Church of Ireland, the American dioceses of Western Louisiana and South Carolina and the New Zealand dioceses of Christchurch and Nelson have endorsed the Ridley-Cambridge draft of the Anglican Covenant, joining Central Florida in backing the Archbishop of Canterbury’s plan for creating a structure to manage the divisions over doctrine and discipline dividing the Anglican Communion.
On Oct 24, a special convention of the Diocese of South Carolina approved a resolution by a margin of 88 to 12 per cent that “endorses” the Anglican Covenant “as it presently stands, in all four sections, as an expression of our full commitment to mutual submission and accountability in communion, grounded in a common faith.”
Delegates to the Oct 9-10 annual convention of the Diocese of Western Louisiana also affirmed their support for the Covenant and backed Bishop Bruce MacPherson’s endorsement of the Anaheim Statement, which reaffirmed his commitment to remain part of the Anglican Communion and the Anglican Covenant process.
By a show of hands the convention adopted a resolution which “fully affirms” Western Louisiana’s “commitment to the Windsor principles, including the formation of, and future adoption of an Anglican Covenant as a means of supporting the ongoing work of our bishop and the efforts of the broader Communion to preserve our unity.”
The convention further stated that it “supports the ongoing work on the Ridley Cambridge draft including section 4.”
In his presidential address to his diocesan synod on Sept 24, the Bishop of Nelson, the Rt. Rev. Richard Ellena said the Anglican Covenant was “the Archbishop of Canterbury’s only strategy for holding the communion together.”
In September, Christchurch and Nelson took note of the actions of ACC-14 in Jamaica and stated they supported “in principle” the Covenant process and commended the Ridley-Cambridge draft “as it currently stands as the practicable means available to make the Anglican Communion Covenant process become effective in the life of the Anglican Communion.”
On Sept 15, the standing committee of the Church of Ireland’s General Synod endorsed a report created by the church’s Anglican Covenant Working Group. “Having considered Section 4 of the [Ridley-Cambridge] Draft Anglican Covenant very carefully, and bearing in mind a full range of points of view, we believe that the text of Section 4 as it stands commends itself in the current circumstances,” the working group said.
Delegates to the annual synod of the Diocese of Sydney last week also voiced their approval of the Anglican Covenant, voting on Oct 28 to ask the Anglican Church of Australia’s General Synod Standing Committee to bring the Anglican Covenant to the September 2010 General Synod “in such a manner as to enable each diocesan synod to consider the document.”
Samoa devastated by earthquate, tsunami: CEN 10.09.09 p 5. October 23, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Disaster Relief.add a comment
An earthquake and tsunami in the Central Pacific has devastated the southern coast of Samoa. On Sept 30 at 1748 GMT the 8.3-magnitude earthquake located 120 miles south of the Samoan capital of Apia spawned a 15 feet high tidal wave that inundated the coast. The earthquake and resulting tsunami left 135 dead and eight missing in Samoa, 32 dead in American Samoa and nine dead in Tonga.
About 20 villages on Samoa’s southern coast of the main island of Upolu are thought to have been leveled, while popular beachside resorts have been wiped out. Roads, power lines and telecommunications have been badly damaged.
Archdeacon Taimalelagi Fagamalama Tuatagaloa-Leota, a Samoan national living in New Zealand reported that one of her sons was in a van that was swept out to sea by the tsunami and was critically injured and is in an Apia hospital, while one of the archdeacon’s daughters-in-law lost at least 10 members of her family.
Her home village, Poutasi, on the southern coast of Upolu, “looks like it’s been bombed,” she told Anglican Taonga.
The ‘knicker vicar’ vows to carry on: CEN 10.09.09 p 8. October 23, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Farming.1 comment so far
New Zealand’s ‘knicker vicar’ has made his last panty run.
The Rev. Gary Husband, vicar of St Andrew’s Church in Inglewood in the Diocese of Waikato gained world attention in 2006 after a crisis in women’s underpants was exposed in his rural North Island parish.
After the village’s only clothing store closed, “someone came up with the point that it was a bit difficult that ladies essentials were not able to be bought in Inglewood,” Mr. Husband told TV New Zealand.
He organized a “knickers run” where church volunteers would drive the elderly and those without transport to the nearby city of New Plymouth to shop.
Dubbed the “knicker-vicar” by New Zealand’s press, Mr. Husband last week took up the post of minister of Piopio, telling the New Zealand Herald “I haven’t thought much about it but there is no lingerie store, I know that” in his new parish.
“I’m sure God will give me plenty of ideas for Piopio very soon,” Mr. Husband said.
However, the issue was “about rural communities not being able to get their essentials in the community,” Mr. Husband said in 2006. Like portions of the UK, the changing face of the countryside in New Zealand, which has seen banks, shops, post offices and churches close in many small communities, coupled with governmental indifference, has stressed community life.
Mr. Husband said he enjoyed the notoriety of being the knicker vicar as it gave him an opportunity to talk about Jesus with people. “But I’m proudest that God asked me to be here and that I was able to give a bit of myself to the church and the people,” he said of his work in Inglewood.
Maoris deserve place in Government, says church: CEN 9.11.09 p 8. September 16, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper.add a comment
| First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The state should set aside places in government for Maori representatives, the Diocese of Auckland said last week at its annual synod, as white majority rule does not always serve the best interests of minorities. “We are not simply all New Zealanders. We are one nation, made up of a number of differing peoples,” Bishop John Paterson told the synod meeting at Holy Trinity Cathedral on Sept 3, urging the government to make a provision for Maori representation in a reorganized Auckland regional council. |
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“One of the keys to a successful future for this region of the nation lies in its ability to be inclusive of all its citizens, and not in supposing that the majority will always know what is best for the minority groups,” Bishop Paterson said.
In his last synod before retirement in March, Bishop Paterson called upon the government to honour the provisions of the Local Government Act 2002 that requires for Maori to “contribute to decision-making processes.”
Until his election as Bishop of Auckland in 1995, Bishop Paterson had served the majority of his ordained ministry in Maori congregations and schools, and in 1986 was appointed provisional secretary, helping oversee the adoption of A New Zealand Prayer Book/He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa – and the 1992 church constitution which divided the Church of New Zealand into three racial/cultural divisions for Maori, Pacific Islanders and New Zealanders of European heritage: the Tikanga Maori, Tikanga Pakeha and Tikanga Pasefika.
Bishop Paterson served as primate of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia from 1998 to 2004 and as chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council for the past seven years.
New Zealand refuses to overturn ’smacking’ ban: CEN 9.04.09 p 8. September 7, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Youth/Children.add a comment
| First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
A referendum to overturn a 2007 law criminalizing corporal punishment has won the support of an overwhelming majority of New Zealanders, however Prime Minister John Key stated his government will not change the current laws that allow police to arrest parents for “smacking” their children. The leaders of the Anglican and Methodist churches in New Zealand had urged voters to support the current laws, while the Roman Catholic aid agency Caritas also urged a “yes” vote on the Aug 21 referendum, saying the current law was working. However, following a three-week postal ballot that saw 54 per cent of eligible voters participate, only 11.81 per cent of voters followed the advice of the country’s mainstream church leaders, with 87.6 per cent of voters, 1.42 million people, responding “No” to the question: “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?” |
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Opponents of the 2007 law claimed the corporal punishment ban improperly insinuated the state into an area of responsibility reserved for the family. The current law forbids parents from using force to discipline their children but gives police the discretion not to prosecute complaints “where the offence is considered so inconsequential there is no public interest in proceeding with a prosecution.”
On Aug 23 the Dean of Auckland’s Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the Very Rev Ross Bay said those who turned to the Old Testament to support corporal punishment were ill-informed. He disputed the contention that the Bible grants parents the right to exercise unfettered control over their children and that it is a “God-given right to use corporal punishment in the discipline of their children.”
The “Christian image of God is what we find in the New Testament of the Bible, and is the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ,” he said, noting “this is the God who does not wield power to force human beings to conform to divine purposes.”
The Old Testament “approach founded in the ancient proverb of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’” had “too often been characterised as ‘the’ Christian view,” he argued, urging Christian parents to model their behaviour on the image of the God of love and mercy revealed in Jesus Christ.
The current law was working, Dean Bay said, urging the government to stay the course.
However “No” campaigners have disputed their opponents’ contentions claiming there had been six prosecutions of “good parents” in the courts for smacking their children. Family First director Bob McCoskrie said the “evidence is there” the law is not working.
“We’ve sent evidence of families being referred to Child Youth and Family and children being removed while investigations are taking place just for smacks. “In fact, there’s a case today in the Lower Hutt District Court of a father trying to get his son on to the rugby field and giving him a few shoves and he’s being prosecuted for common assault.”
Kiwi Party leader and “No” campaigner Larry Baldock said the vote sent a clear message to the Prime Minster. “They want the authority back in the home and he is foolish to suggest this law is working,” he said.
New Zealand refuses to overturn ’smacking’ ban: CEN 9.04.09 p 8. September 3, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Youth/Children.add a comment
| First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
A referendum to overturn a 2007 law criminalizing corporal punishment has won the support of an overwhelming majority of New Zealanders, however Prime Minister John Key stated his government will not change the current laws that allow police to arrest parents for “smacking” their children. The leaders of the Anglican and Methodist churches in New Zealand had urged voters to support the current laws, while the Roman Catholic aid agency Caritas also urged a “yes” vote on the Aug 21 referendum, saying the current law was working. |
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However, following a three-week postal ballot that saw 54 per cent of eligible voters participate, only 11.81 per cent of voters followed the advice of the country’s mainstream church leaders, with 87.6 per cent of voters, 1.42 million people, responding “No” to the question: “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?”
Opponents of the 2007 law claimed the corporal punishment ban improperly insinuated the state into an area of responsibility reserved for the family. The current law forbids parents from using force to discipline their children but gives police the discretion not to prosecute complaints “where the offence is considered so inconsequential there is no public interest in proceeding with a prosecution.”
On Aug 23 the Dean of Auckland’s Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the Very Rev Ross Bay said those who turned to the Old Testament to support corporal punishment were ill-informed. He disputed the contention that the Bible grants parents the right to exercise unfettered control over their children and that it is a “God-given right to use corporal punishment in the discipline of their children.”
The “Christian image of God is what we find in the New Testament of the Bible, and is the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ,” he said, noting “this is the God who does not wield power to force human beings to conform to divine purposes.”
The Old Testament “approach founded in the ancient proverb of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’” had “too often been characterised as ‘the’ Christian view,” he argued, urging Christian parents to model their behaviour on the image of the God of love and mercy revealed in Jesus Christ.
The current law was working, Dean Bay said, urging the government to stay the course.
However “No” campaigners have disputed their opponents’ contentions claiming there had been six prosecutions of “good parents” in the courts for smacking their children. Family First director Bob McCoskrie said the “evidence is there” the law is not working.
“We’ve sent evidence of families being referred to Child Youth and Family and children being removed while investigations are taking place just for smacks. “In fact, there’s a case today in the Lower Hutt District Court of a father trying to get his son on to the rugby field and giving him a few shoves and he’s being prosecuted for common assault.”
Kiwi Party leader and “No” campaigner Larry Baldock said the vote sent a clear message to the Prime Minster. “They want the authority back in the home and he is foolish to suggest this law is working,” he said.
New Zealand urged to go further to stop global warming: CEN 8.14.09 p 6. August 15, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Environment.2 comments
| Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.
THE ANGLICAN Archbishops of New Zealand have welcomed their government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but have cautioned that the proposed level of cuts may not be enough to head off global warming. On August 11 Archbishops David Moxon and Brown Turei wrote to Prime Minister John Key applauding their government’s decision to cut emissions “to between 10 and 20 per cent below what they were in 1990” by 2020. New Zealand had an “enviable” and “valuable” reputation of being “being clean and green, and your actions will help safeguard this good image,” the archbishops said. |
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The proposed cuts, however, did not go far enough, as the “10 to 20 per cent band is well short of the 40 per cent reduction” needed to limit global warming to 2 degrees. The 2 degrees mark, they said, was “a threshold, which marks the difference between controllable climate change, and runaway change that would spiral out of control.”
They urged the government to set the “highest possible target for greenhouse gas emission reductions: in all sorts of ways, doing too little now will cost a great deal more in the long run.”
The “implications of runaway climate change for our brothers and sisters in the Pacific Islands alone are obvious,” they said, warning of rising sea levels and massive dislocation of island and coastal populations that would occur if global warming were not stopped.
Speaking to reporters in Wellington, the minister for climate change, Nick Smith, said current NZ greenhouse gas emissions were 24 per cent above the 1990 level. “This target means we’re going to have to both catch up that 24 per cent increase as well as reduce emissions by 10 or potentially 20 per cent,” he said.
Last week the Pacific Islands Forum called for a 50 per cent global cut in greenhouse gases by 2050. “We call upon world leaders to urgently increase their level of ambition and to give their negotiators fresh mandates to secure a truly effective global agreement,” the South Pacific leaders said in an August 6 statement.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that for some Pacific nations cutting greenhouse gases was “not just a matter of importance, it is not just a matter of urgency, for many of them it is a matter of national survival,” Rudd told reporters. Australia pledged to cut its emissions by up to 15 per cent of its 2000 levels by 2020.
Seven members of the 16-member forum had asked for a 45 per cent cut by 2020. The forum comprises Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Fijians ‘are not rapists,’ says Bishop: CEN 7.10.09 July 16, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Popular Culture.add a comment
| Fijians are not rapists, the Bishop of Vanua Lavu said this week following the release of a report by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) on violence against women in the Pacific Island nation that criticized the country’s sexual and social mores.
Speaking to the Fiji Times, the Rt Rev Apimeleki Qiliho questioned the FWCC’s conclusions saying he did not believe that “indigenous men are always making the decisions in the marriage [about sexual relations] and not really allowing their wives to say what they want.” He claimed the report prepared by the FWCC’s coordinator Shamina Ali was racist and sexist. It “suggests that a majority of indigenous men force their wives to have sex and I strongly disagree,” the bishop said, adding “I don’t force my wife to have sex.” Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper. |
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ACC chairman to retire as Bishop: CEN 6.01.09 June 1, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Anglican Consultative Council, Church of England Newspaper.add a comment
| The outgoing chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Rt Rev John Paterson has announced that he will step down as Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand at year’s end.
Consecrated Bishop of Auckland in 1995, Bishop Paterson served as a clergy and episcopal delegate to the ACC from New Zealand, and was elected ACC vice chairman in 1995, and chairman in 2002. From 1998 to 2004 he served as Primate of the Anglican Church of Aoteaora, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Bishop of Wellington, the Rt Rev Thomas Brown has been appointed by Archbishop David Moxon to oversee the election of the new bishop, which will take place at Auckland’s Holy Trinity Cathedral at the diocesan synod meeting from Nov 5-8, 2009. Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper. |
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Antipodean Churches take unity steps: CEN 6.01.09 June 1, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Anglican Church of Australia, Church of England Newspaper, Methodism, Roman Catholic Church.add a comment
| Covenants of fellowship pledging renewed bonds of Christian fraternity have been endorsed by the Church of New Zealand and the Methodist Church and the Diocese of Brisbane and the Roman Catholic Church.
On May 29, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall of Brisbane and Roman Catholic Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane and Bishop William Morris of Toowomba will endorse a covenant of friendship and cooperation at an evensong service at St Stephen’s Cathedral. The covenant document, entitled “A Celebration of Our Common Sesqui-Centenary and a Signing of the Anglican and Roman Catholic Covenant” marks the 25th anniversary of Brisbane’s first common declaration of cooperation between Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper. |
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Asylum granted Iranian convert: CEN 2.27.09 p 6. March 2, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Immigration, Persecution.1 comment so far
New Zealand’s has granted asylum to an Iranian convert to Christianity, holding that Ali Panah would likely face persecution for his religious beliefs if forced to return to Iran.
On Feb 13 the Refugee Status Appeals Authority ends Panah’s five year fight to avoid deportation to Iran, and also overturns earlier New Zealand court rulings which implied that Christian converts from Islam were not persecuted by the Iranian government.
Panah has been held in administrative custody for 20 months for refusing to sign papers that could lead to his expulsion and had staged a 52 day hunger strike before being paroled into the custody of the Anglican Church of New Zealand last year. He had won the backing of Archbishop David Moxon who pleaded for the government to exercise clemency on his behalf, saying that returning Panah to Iran “would be unsafe.”
In its pleadings with the court, the Immigration Service contested Panah’s assertion that he would be persecuted if returned to Iran. On Sept 3, 2007 Immigration Minister David Cunliffe stated “there’s been no reported case of a deportee being killed or severely persecuted on return to Iran.”
However, legislation brought by the government of President Mahmoud Amadinejad before the Iranian Majlis last year now imposes the death penalty for apostates from Islam. Panah’s lawyer, Grant Illingworth, QC hailed the court’s decision telling the New Zealand Herald that his client would likely be “punished for apostasy,” which is “punishable by the death penalty.”
The Iranian apostasy law likely swayed the court in Panah’s favour, as two other appellate courts have backed the government and its claim that Iran does not persecute Christian converts.
While skeptics have questioned Panah’s conversion, claiming it was an act of expediency, the Anglican Church of New Zealand has backed Panah, offering him shelter and support throughout the proceedings. Archbishop Moxon along with Anglicans close to the Mr. Panah have vouched for the veracity of his conversion.
Following the verdict, Panah said: “I am very happy about the decision, it means a new life for me in New Zealand … and I really want to thank everyone who has prayed for me and supported me.”
Fiji Church says it will remain apolitical: CEN 1.09.09 p 8. January 9, 2009
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The Anglican Church in Fiji will not take a stand on the Draft People’s Charter put forward by interim prime minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama. Speaking to Fijilive on Dec 7, the Dean of Suva, the Very Rev. Ifereimi Cama said the Anglican Church would not follow the lead of the Methodist or Roman Catholic Churches and intervene in politics.
The dean’s remarks came during a week of festivities that marked the 100th anniversary of the Diocese of Polynesia held at the cathedral in Suva that included the Archbishops of New Zealand and Melbourne along with guests from across the Pacific.
Fiji’s current round of political instability began in Dec 2006 when the leader of the armed forces, Commodore Bainimarama, overthrew the government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. The new civilian government appointed Commodore Bainimarama interim prime minister in Jan 2007, and elections have been tentatively scheduled for March 2009 for a new parliament. However, the Bainimarama government has said that a People’s Charter needs to be in place that governs the nation before elections can be held.
The Methodist Church in Fiji has called for its members to reject the 11-point draft charter, which does away with the distinction under law between ethnic-Fijians and Indo-Fijians (Fijian citizens of Indian descent) and opens the country up to economic development. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Suva, Msgr. Petero Mataca is co-chairman of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji—a pro-Charter group created by the government to rally support.
A central plank of the Charter is land reform. Approximately 80 percent of the land is owned by native Fijian clans, controlled by local chiefs. In recent years, a number of chiefs have refused to renew leases to Indo-Fijian sugar planters, leading to the closure of farms and migration of farm laborers in to the city.
The Charter stated that “vast amounts of land in Fiji currently lie idle or are greatly under-utilised,” and promises to “address the land question by ensuring a “security of tenure and equitable returns to both landowners and tenants through a market-based framework for utilisation of land”—providing security of tenure to Indo-Fijian planters while also providing security of ownership to ethnic Fijian landowners, a hitherto difficult task.
Dean Cama said the Anglican Church was doing its “best to give our people the freedom of choice in terms of deciding for themselves in what to accept and what not to accept.”
Amongst Fiji’s Christian churches, the Anglican Church is unique in drawing its members from across the country’s racial divide and its bishops represent the country’s cultural and racial divisions. The Bishop of Polynesia, Jabez Bryce, whose cathedral is in the capital of Suva, was born in neighboring Tonga of mixed Scottish-Tongan heritage, while his suffragans, Bishop Qiliho of Vanua Levu and Bishop Gabriel Sharma of Viti Leu West are ethnic Fijian and Indo-Fijian, respectively.
The country’s two other main Christian groups, the Methodist and Roman Catholic churches draw their members primarily from the native (Methodist) and Indian (Catholic) populations. The ethnic and Indo-Fijian populations are roughly the same size with a small Anglo-Fijian and Chinese community found in the professions and in business.
Speaking to Taonga magazine after the conclusion of the centennial celebrations, New Zealand Archbishop David Moxon said that “inevitably, with such vast tracts of geography involved, there are traditional rivalries, different interests, and national agendas – and yet somehow [the Diocese of Polynesia has] achieved this multi-coloured, multicultural, multilingual phenomenon.”
New Zealand churches reject embryo sex selection: CEN 10.06.08 October 6, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Abortion/Euthanasia/Biotechnology, Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Presbyterian/Church of Scotland.add a comment
| A government Bioethics Council’s recommendation that New Zealand relax its ban on allowing parents to select the gender of their children through prenatal testing has drawn sharp opposition from the country’s Protestant Churches.
In June, the state Bioethics Council released a report stating that when embryos are created outside the womb, parents should be permitted to select the sex of the baby. However, this practice poses major ethical dilemmas, the Interchurch Bioethics Council (ICBC) said, and should be forbidden. Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper |
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Diocese signs up to Gafcon movement: CEN 10.03.08 p 6. October 3, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, GAFCON.add a comment
The Fellowship of Confession Anglicans (FCA) has added its first New Zealand diocese to its list of supporters. At its annual synod on Sept 26 the Diocese of Nelson adopted a resolution commending the Jerusalem Declaration of the June Gafcon conference, and affirmed its place within the orthodox wing of the Anglican Communion.
In his presidential address, the Bishop of Nelson, the Rt. Rev. Richard Ellena urged the diocese to use creative strategies for growing God’s kingdom. He cited examples from the “Fresh Expressions” project of the Church of England where one ministry had opened a cafe in a disused church building, while another opened a coffee bar to serve and witness to patrons after the nightclubs had closed.
Projects such as a “cyberchurch” on the internet could also be added to the ministry of the diocese, he said, reaching people where they were in their communities. “The one thing [these ministries] will have in common is the desire to reach out to people unreachable within our current structures of the church,” he said.
During its business session, the synod adopted a resolution noting the holding of the Gafcon conference in Jerusalem and received the final statement of the conference along with the Jerusalem Declaration, commending it to the diocese “for general study and reflection.”
It further confirmed “the Diocese of Nelson upholds the orthodox faith and practice of the Anglican Church as represented in the Jerusalem Declaration and continues to look for ways to be in relationship with those represented at Gafcon.”
Last month FCA—the new name for the Gafcon movement—announced that its administrative offices would be housed at the Diocese of Sydney.
The theological principles of the reform movement within the Anglican Communion received a fine tuning this week, Prof Stephen Noll, Vice Chancellor of the Uganda Christian University reported, with a meeting of approximately “forty Anglican theologians from around the world, more than half of them from Africa” at the university in Mukono.
“We are working on a commentary on the Jerusalem Declaration, the basic theological statement that emerged from Gafcon,” Prof. Noll said in a letter to mission supporters.
Prof. Noll added the future for FCA was bright. “Even as I write these things, I am uplifted with hope. There are dark days ahead for Anglicanism in many ways. Coupled with the economic meltdown, times will be tough for Anglicans everywhere. But we have the resources in the Scriptures and in our God to see beyond the immediate darkness and to know that God has a bright future for us,” he said.
Auckland synod called to speak out on drug use: CEN 9.19.08 p 8. September 20, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Health/HIV-AIDS, Youth/Children.add a comment
The Bishop of Auckland has urged his diocesan synod to back an education campaign to combat the use of methamphetamines.
“Gangs and others push this addictive stimulant, and teenagers are often the targets of free samples,” the Rt. Rev. John Paterson said on Sept 13. A chemical stimulant known by the “street” name P in New Zealand, it is also called Meth, Speed, Pure, Crystal, Ice, Crystal Meth, Crank and Glass in the UK and US.
Methamphetamine release high levels of the brain chemical dopamine, stimulating brain cells, enhancing mood and body movement and is a controlled substance in most developed countries.
While its users take the drug for its “high”, it also causes increased alertness, paranoia, hallucinations, insomnia, loss of appetite, while the long term effects include fatal kidney and lung disorders, brain damage, depression, violent and aggressive behavior, lowered resistance to illness and weight loss.
“Labeling it as P is a cynical marketing ploy, giving the impression of a clean and wholesome drug, when it is nothing but evil,” Bishop Paterson said.
He urged the members of synod to speak out about the dangers of the drug. “The church needs a loud and caring voice against this drug as the community suffers from criminal offending and addiction,” he said.
“There are frightening challenges for our schools and young people and we run the risk of becoming blasé about it as criminal offending linked to methamphetamine continues to rise.”
New King of Tonga Crowned: CEN 8.15.08 p 7. August 16, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Politics.add a comment
| As a 21-gun salute echoed across the harbour of Nuku’aloga and a massed choir sang the refrain from Handel’s Zadok the Priest, ‘Long live the King,’ the Anglican Archbishop of Polynesia crowned George Tupou V, King of Tonga on Aug 1.
Archbishop Jabez Bryce presided over the ceremony for the Pacific’s last hereditary monarchy held at the Wesleyan Centenary Church which drew dignitaries from across the Pacific, including the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Crown Prince of Japan, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. The coronation concluded a week of traditional Tongan festivities, and also presages an opening towards democracy in the island kingdom. Following the death of King Taufa’hau IV, riots broke out in November 2006 on the island that left eight dead and gutted much of the business district in the capital. Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper. |
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Church wants to unite: CEN 5.16.08 p 7. May 17, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Anglican Covenant, Church of England Newspaper.add a comment
Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.
The 58th meeting of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (ANZP) has found the church sharply divided over questions of human sexuality, but firm in its desire to remain together.
Meeting from May 11-16 in Wellington, the 160 Synod delegates devoted five hours on their second day of business to discussions of the Windsor Report and the St. Andrew’s draft of the proposed Anglican Communion covenant.
Facilitated by former Archbishop Sir Paul Reeves, representatives from each of the church’s 17 episcopal areas gave a ten minute presentation on their views on the issues of human sexuality, and then broke into three groups divided along racial lines for debate before returning to plenary session.
The Tikanga Pasifika, or Diocese of Polynesia reported that it needed more time to consider the questions facing the Communion. “In the Pacific it is rude to rush” said Archdeacon Taimalelagi Tuatagaloa Leota , adding that “we have started the work, but there is much more to be done.”
The Tikanga Maori speaker, Bishop Kito Pikaahu said the Maori dioceses believed there were more pressing issues facing the church than the divisions over homosexuality. Maori culture held a traditional view on the topic, he noted and there were other “matters we need to be clear on as a church.”
Representatives from the seven dioceses of New Zealand offered a cross section of views on the issues of human sexuality, which an official report described as having “varied considerably in their commitment to the Lambeth resolution on sexuality and the proposed covenant.”
However, there was consensus among the New Zealand dioceses that should remain united in structure while divided over doctrine and discipline. Archbishop Reeves noted the debates, which at times elicited strong language, were a symbol of the church’s health. A “sign of our bond of affection is the confidence to argue with each other,” he concluded.
Row over New Zealand election: CEN 4.11.08 p 7. April 11, 2008
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The Anglican Archbishops of New Zealand have denied charges that the church’s “call to action” for increased government spending on the poor is an election year ploy to bolster the sagging fortunes of the Labour Party.
On April 4, Archbishops David Moxon and Brown Turei said the New Zealand Herald’s claims of political favoritism were unfair. Their aims had been to “challenge all policy being shaped in an election year,” urging both the National and Labour parties to provide “real jobs; a health system that people can trust; affordable housing; affordable and accessible education, and, the addressing of poverty.”
Archbishop Moxon and the leaders of the Baptist, Roman Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches and the Salvation Army released a statement on March 31 saying voters in this year’s general elections must know “the commitment of individual politicians to just and compassionate policies” to make an informed choice at the ballot.
In a statement entitled “Towards a More Just and Compassionate Society” the church leaders said that “many members of our society are still suffering from the effects of economic policies that were put in place by successive Governments in previous decades and that lacked a sufficiently strong social conscience.”
“Any neglect of our responsibilities to our families and communities puts both our personal and societal wellbeing at risk,” they said, urging an increase in welfare assistance payments for New Zealand’s poor.
The timing and motives behind the announcement were suspect, the New Zealand Herald editorialized, noting the Church leaders had been silent on poverty “since the last National Government was in office.” In 1991 the National party government cut welfare rates over sharp church protests over its effect on the poor. Successive governments, National and Labour, have not increased the payment rates, save for adjustments for inflation.
“The church leaders surely have not been waiting nine years for the Labour-led Governments to heed” their advice, the Herald said. “Their return to the fray at this stage can be taken only as an attempt to keep Labour in power and, should that fail, to prepare for a renewed campaign against a National government.”
The Archbishops responded it was the duty of the church to issues of social inequality. “Outside the state, the churches are the biggest providers of social services in this country. This field is our daily reality.”
“Challenging political policy and wanting to influence the shaping of policy with Christian values in these areas is crucial. It always has been and always will be,” they said.
Iranian convert loses asylum appeal in New Zealand: CEN 4.02.08 April 2, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Immigration.3 comments
Published in The Church of England Newspaper’s Religious Intelligence section.
The asylum appeal of an Iranian convert to Christianity has been rejected by the New Zealand government.
Lawyers for Ali Reza Panah told Radio New Zealand on April 1, the Immigration Service had turned down Panah’s appeal and would begin deportation proceedings.
Panah has been held in administrative custody for 20 months for refusing to sign papers that could lead to his expulsion and had staged a 52 day hunger strike before being paroled into the custody of the Anglican Church of New Zealand. He has won the backing of Archbishop David Moxon who pleaded for the government to exercise clemency on his behalf.
Returning Panah to Iran “would be unsafe for him,” Archbishop Moxon and the head of the church’s social justice commission said last fall, and they were “gravely concerned” for his safety should he be sent home, as “the number of people executed by the Iranian State each year is thought to be second only to China.”
The government argued Panah was in no danger of harm if he were deported home to Iran. On Sept 3 Mr. Cunliffe stated “there’s been no reported case of a deportee being killed or severely persecuted on return to Iran.”
However, legislation brought by the government of President Mahmoud Amadinejad before the Iranian Majlis in February seeks to impose the death penalty for apostates from Islam. The Washington think tank, the Institute on Religion and Public Policy reported on Feb 5 the proposed “Bill for Islamic Penal” law will be the first time that Iran has by statute mandated the death penalty for conversion from Islam.
Easter messages cover a range of social and theological messages worldwide: CEN 3.28.08 p 2 March 31, 2008
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A spectrum of theological belief and social concerns at work within the Anglican Communion were on display in Holy Week and Easter sermons and pastoral letters this past week.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori went Green for Easter asking American Episcopalians to consider the cost of their affluence. “We cannot love our neighbors unless we care for the creation that supports all our earthly lives,” she said and could not respect “the dignity of our fellow creatures if our sewage or garbage fouls their living space.”
“When atmospheric warming, due in part to the methane output of the millions of cows we raise each year to produce hamburger, begins to slowly drown the island homes of our neighbors in the South Pacific, are we truly sharing good news?” the presiding bishop wrote in an Easter message to the church.
New Zealand’s archbishops called Christians to see Easter as the celebration of love over death. Easter was the unique event in world history where the “final suffering of the Son of God reveal how deep God’s empathy is for the world, and how far divine love will go to redeem the pain and sin of the world. Evil manifested in so many forms – political, religious, psychological, and spiritual – poured itself out completely in this event.”
“And the Easter miracle is this – these murderous forces exhausted themselves without finally exhausting the faith, hope, and love of God,” Archbishops Brown Turei, David Moxon and Jabez Bryce wrote. “The resurrection,” they said “is the place in human history where evil, injustice, and prejudice are transfigured into justice, goodness, and enlightenment.”
The Dean of Perth urged Anglicans to rid themselves of outmoded notions of Easter. “The Resurrection of Jesus ought not to be seen in physical terms, but as a new spiritual reality,” the Very Rev. John Shepherd said, noting it was “important for Christians to be set free from the idea that the Resurrection was an extraordinary physical event which restored to life Jesus’ original earthly body.”
The resurrection was a spiritual event for the disciples and not “historical records as we understand them. They are symbolic images of the breaking through of the resurrection spirit into human lives,” Dean Shepherd said.
The Archbishop of Sydney used his Easter message to warn Christians against false teaching and the occult. The popular fascination with ghosts reprented “the longing of the human heart for an existence beyond the grave,” Dr. Peter Jensen said.
Yet Christians believed death was not the end. “When you trust in Jesus Christ, you are trusting the one person who can take you through the greatest calamity of life and bring you safe to the other side. Christians don’t try to contact their dead because we know that they are with Jesus and we will join them as whole people – in fact those who belong to Jesus will be transformed people,” Dr. Jensen said as it “shows you that new beginnings are possible.”
The president of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), Archbishop Ian Ernest of the Indian Ocean, wrote he hoped the Paschal season “will instill in us an urge to seek transformation and thus empower us to work towards the making up of a society based on gospel values.”
“By his precious death and glorious resurrection, Jesus has reconciled the world to his Father. It is therefore imperative for CAPA to emerge as a reconciling body in Christ,” he said, and “facilitate conversations and dialogue in the midst of conflicts” that continue to plague Africa.
Victoria Matthews confirmed as new bishop of Christchurch: CEN 3.20.08 p 6 March 21, 2008
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An American and a Canadian have been appointed bishops in the Anglican Church of New Zealand. On March 16, the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia confirmed that the former Bishop of Edmonton (Canada), the Rt. Rev. Victoria Matthews had been elected Bishop of Christchurch, and that the Dean of Dunedin, the Very Rev. David Rice, was elected Bishop of Waiapu.
Currently bishop-in-residence at Wycliffe College, Toronto, Bishop Matthews (54) served as Bishop of Edmonton from 1997 to 2007, and came second in the race for Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada at its General Synod last June.
The Primate of the church in New Zealand, Archbishop Brown Turei said he looked forward to welcoming Bishop Matthews into the church of these islands. “I’m sure that, with all her experience, she will make a good contribution to our life and witness.”
News of Bishop Matthews’ proposed appointment was leaked midway through the election process. In New Zealand, bishops are elected by a diocesan synod. The bishop-elect’s name is then sent to the House of Bishops for confirmation, and then to the General Synod for confirmation. Only after all three bodies have endorsed the choice, is the name announced.
The New Zealand Church dismissed assertions that Bishop Matthews would be a
“controversial” choice. “Despite media speculation, Bishop Matthews is careful and moderate on controversial issues such as the blessing of same-sex relationships. Indeed, she is known internationally for her theological orthodoxy and her resolve to maintain unity,” the statement announcing her election said.
“Speaking personally, I think a number of things stand in the way of blessing same-gender marriages or unions,” Bishop Matthews said in the New Zealand statement.
The church needs to decide whether gay marriage is a “faithful development of the Christian doctrine of marriage,” while also reconciling clashes between diverging “personal and corporate conscience.”
“By taking the time to do the theology thoroughly and well, we will ease the acceptance of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. To be impatient is to risk even further hate and violence against those we have ignored for too long,” she explained.
Born and educated in the United States, Bishop-elect David Rice emigrated to New Zealand ten years ago and was received into the Anglican Church after serving seven years in the Methodist Church in America. The Dean of Dunedin for the past six years, Bishop-elect Rice stated he was pleased to become bishop “of a moderate to liberal diocese. If anybody looks at my track record, they’ll see that’s a very good fit.”
Bishop Victoria Matthews in line for New Zealand posting: CEN 2.29.08 p 5. February 28, 2008
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Canadian bishop Victoria Matthews has been tipped to be the next Bishop of Christchurch in New Zealand.
On Feb 17 the diocesan electoral synod selected Bishop Matthews, who served as Bishop of Edmonton for ten years until last year and presently is “bishop in residence” at Wycliffe College, Toronto.
The New Zealand Herald described Bishop Matthews as a “controversial Canadian woman” who “had signaled support for blessing gay marriages, but was not expected to break with tradition.” It said her appointment “may be vetoed at the final stage, when it is put to the general synod” as her views on gay marriage might cause the conservative diocese of Polynesia to block her election.
Under New Zealand canon law, the successful candidate’s name is passed to the House of Bishops for ratification, and then to the General Synod for confirmation. Sources in the New Zealand church tell The Church of England Newspaper Bishop Matthews has been endorsed by the House of Bishops and her name will now be passed to the Synod for confirmation.
An official announcement is expected around mid-March. The new bishop’s installation date is set for June 14.
Bishop Matthews has twice stood for election as Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada and came a close second in the June 2007 election that saw Archbishop Fred Hiltz take the top spot. Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams also appointed Bishop Matthews, whose reputation is that of a moderate conservative to the Windsor Continuation Group—the next commission chartered by Dr. Williams to ease the Anglican Communion through its difficulties over homosexuality.
The former Edmonton bishop—Canada’s first female diocesan bishop—was the swing vote in the House of Bishops on the June Synod’s most contentious issues. Bishop Matthews voted with the majority that held same-sex blessings were a moral good, but also voted with the majority that refused to permit their use in the Canadian church.
The Guardian broke the story of Bishop Matthews’ election on Feb 22, reporting that she had bested the Dean of Southwark, the Very Rev. Colin Slee for the post. The Church in New Zealand has declined comment, stating the election process is still unfolding.
On Feb 15, The Press of New Zealand reported that six candidates had been nominated for the post, a “British clergyman and one from Canada were also contenders.”
Church spokesman Lloyd Ashton told Canada’s Anglican Journal, “What has happened is there has been a leak to a U.K. newspaper and it is quite regrettable that confidentiality has been breached.”
The three part confirmation process is “not a rubber stamp,” he noted and bishops selected by the diocesan synod have not been confirmed by the Church. In 1985 Canon Paul Oestreicher was elected Bishop of Wellington by the diocese, but his election was vetoed by the House of Bishops.
Canon Oestreicher observed his “being a Quaker gave them an excuse to veto the election. It was my [pacifist] politics they didn’t like.”
Archbishops oppose New Zealand Sunday trading changes: CEN 1.23.08 January 23, 2008
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| THE ARCHBISHOPS of New Zealand have urged the rejection of government plans to liberalise the country’s Easter Sunday trading laws, arguing that the view that man was merely a captive creature of his appetites was morally demeaning and bad social policy.
In a Jan 19 statement issued in response to a government request for comments on the proposed Easter Trading and Holidays Legislation bill, Archbishops Brown Turei and David Moxon (pictured) said: “Enough is enough.” “We need to draw a line under this recurrent discussion about Easter Sunday trading and to move on,” and not let the market economy drive the social and moral structure of New Zealand society. Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper. |
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New Zealand Minister moves to help mission trust: CEN 12.11.07 December 11, 2007
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Anglican Church of Melanesia, Church of England Newspaper, Development/Economics/Govt Finances.1 comment so far
| THE DEFENCE Minister of New Zealand has introduced a private member’s bill in that country’s parliament to grant permanent tax exempt status to the Melanesian Mission Trust.
Chartered in 1862 by Bishop George Selwyn of New Zealand and Bishop John Coleridge Patteson of Melanesia, the trust’s original endowment of a 150 acre farm has grown in value to £80 million. Approximately £2.5 million is generated by the trust each year and provides almost all of the income of the Church of the Province of Melanesia in the Solomon Islands. Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper. |
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Pro-Lifers Question New Zealand Church: CEN 12.07.07 p 6. December 9, 2007
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Pro-life groups in New Zealand have castigated the Anglican Church for not taking a stand against abortion.
Right to Life New Zealand wrote to the New Zealand bishops on Sept 15 asking them to speak out against abortion. In December 1977 New Zealand passed the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act permitting abortion. In the 30 years since the Act was passed, over 350,000 abortions have been performed in New Zealand.
Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.
Former Primate of New Zealand Dies: CEN 9.28.07 P 8. September 29, 2007
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The former Primate of the church in New Zealand, Archbishop Whakahuihui Vercoe died on Sept 12. He was 79.
The Anglican Church of Aotaroa, New Zealand and Polynesia’s first Maori bishop and archbishop, Archbishop Vercoe was elected Bishop of Aotearoa, the diocese for Maori Anglicans in New Zealand in 1981 and served as the church’s primate from 2004-2006.
Archbishop Vercoe was born at Torere, Opotiki, in 1928 and was educated at Canterbury University and College House Theological College. Ordained in 1952, he served his curacy in Feilding and as vicar of congregations in Wairapapa, Manawatu and Wellington before joining the army as a chaplain in 1961, where he saw overseas service in Malaya and South Vietnam.
A staunch opponent of women priests and of the gay movement within the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Vercoe helped craft the primates’ communiqué at Dromantine in 2005.
New Zealand Church takes in threatened Iranian asylum seaker: CEN 9.07.07 p 6 September 7, 2007
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Ali Panah: Photo courtesy Anglican Church of NZ
An Iranian asylum seeker has been discharged from state custody into the care of the Anglican Church of New Zealand, following a 52 day hunger strike.
Immigration Minister David Cunliffe announced the government had given Ali Panah, a convert to Christianity, his parole from Auckland Central Remand Prison on Sept 3 due to his “parlous” physical state, but stated he could be deported at any time.
On Sept 2, Archbishop David Moxon of New Zealand, and the head of the church’s social justice commission, the Rev. Anthony Dancer visited Panah in prison. They stated that although “some in authority” had questioned whether “Ali Panah is a bona fide Christian”, they were convinced of the truth his faith.
“Ali has been obedient to Christ’s command” and had been a witness to the faith, they said. “His former boss, his workmates, his Vicar and his fellow parishioners testify that he has sought to share his faith whenever possible.”
Returning Panah to Iran “would be unsafe for him,” they said, and they were “gravely concerned” for his safety should he be sent home, as “the number of people executed by the Iranian State each year is thought to be second only to China.”
However the government argued Panah was in no danger of harm if he were deported home to Iran. On Sept 3 Mr. Cunliffe stated “there’s been no reported case of a deportee being killed or severely persecuted on return to Iran.”
“Mr. Panah is still subject to a removal order and could be removed at any time, if and when that becomes possible,” he said.
Panah has been held in administrative custody for 20 months for refusing to sign papers that could lead to his deportation from New Zealand to Iran. He has won the backing of the Anglican Church of New Zealand, which has pleaded for the government to exercise clemency on his behalf.
The Iranian asylum seeker had exhausted his legal avenues of appeal, the government minister said. One review panel found Panah’s claims “implausible and inconsistent” while a second said his evidence had been “fabricated and found him not to be credible”.
Mr. Cunliffe said the Church was not in possession of the “full facts” of and urged it to review the matter more closely.
NZ Churches in Plea for Iranian Convert: CEN 8.24.07 p 9. August 24, 2007
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NEW ZEALAND’S Anglican Archbishops have issued an appeal for clemency for a failed asylum seeker who risks deportation to Iran.
On Aug 17 Archbishops David Moxon and Brown Turei called upon the government to grant Ali Panah refugee status. A convert to Christianity from Islam, Panah faces grave risks if returned to Tehran, the Archbishops said.
Panah has been held by the New Zealand government in administrative detention for 18 months, and began a hunger strike over 40 days ago to protest about his pending deportation.
“As things stand, we fear Mr. Panah will, in the near future, either die at home in Iran – or die here in New Zealand,” the Archbishops wrote. “We ask the Minister for Immigration to give him life.”
The Anglican Church leaders affirmed the government’s duty to regulate immigration but said its first priority should be to do “justice. And to deliver justice also requires the exercise of mercy.”
“There is a need for the Government and its officials to take more seriously the concerns about the ongoing persecution of Christians in Iran,” and to grant clemency to Ali Panah.
Immigration Minister David Cunliffe last Monday said the hunger strike had had the benefit of the ‘full rights of the law in respect of his refugee claim and appeal,’ but declined to state whether he was considering granting him a temporary visa.
The populist New Zealand First party’s immigration spokesperson Peter Brown on Aug 17 urged the government not to grant Panah asylum.
Some asylum seekers were trying to “rort the system” by converting to Christianity, he said. “While some may have genuinely found Christianity, it appears somewhat convenient that others have converted to Christianity during the refugee claims and appeal process.
“If this is the case then such stunts are not acceptable and demean genuine refugees,” said
Mr Brown. However, Panah’s vicar, the Rev Clive Sperring, said he had “no doubt whatsoever that his faith is genuine.”
ACC 12 Hong Kong: CEN Khoshy and Paterson June 30, 2007
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Newly elected ACC vice-chairman George Khoshy of the Church of South India and ACC chairman Bishop John Paterson of the Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. Photo taken on Oct 6, 2002 at ACC-12 in Hong Kong. This was first published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Diversity Backed in New Zealand: CEN 6.22.07 p 7. June 21, 2007
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| THE ANGLICAN and Roman Catholic bishops of New Zealand have released a National Statement on Religious Diversity calling for a tolerant pluralism among the country’s religious groups. The bishops’ call came during the third Asia-Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue, which was held last month in Waitanga, New Zealand. The government-sponsored conference drew political and religious leaders from 15 Asia-Pacific nations to New Zealand for talks aimed at promoting peace, regional security and religious tolerance.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark (pictured) told the gathering, which included Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, that the dialogue was initiated in the wake of the Bali terror bombings to promote understanding between Islamic and Western countries. |
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Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper
ACC 13: ACC chairman Bishop John Paterson of Auckland June 20, 2007
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The Rt Rev John C. Paterson, Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand and Chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council. Photo taken on 6.20.05 at ACC-13 in Nottingham, England. First published in The Living Church.
