My Reflections on the recent Theological Hui in Auckland
Last week I went to a theological hui run at our Theological College, to ehlp us use Romans to explore our life and unity as a church.
Kathy Glieb did two main presentations which were really really helpful.
To start as she did with an exploration of why Paul wrote this letter and what it purpose was helped put the whole thing in context, and made it much more useful for us today as a church. Paul wrote this book to the divided churches in Rome. Yes churches, not church. They were seriously split. And if you read the book you will see the theological reasons for those splits. Paul needed the support of those churches to help in his proposed mission to Spain. He needed to overcome some of the negative things that had been said about him, particularly that he was not friend to the Jewish Christian church, And he needed the churches to focus on what united them, the gospel and their common mission, rather than on what divided them, so that they could support this mission. Hence the letter. Isn’t it interesting how we use that same book today to justify further dividing the church, and taking the focus of what unties us, rather than on what divides us?
In that light I returned to the now oft quoted passage from Romans 1 20-28. Now we could get into a discussion about what is natural (short hair for men for a start) and what is not? But more important is what comes after v. 28. And even more importantly, the beginning of chapter 2. “Therefore, you have no excuses, whoever you are, when you judge others, for in passing judgement on one another you condemn yourself, because you the judge are doing the very same things.” The very same things?? Are we all gay?? No, but we all do the same shameless acts. This list wasn’t put there to decide who was in and out, but to show how no-one deserved to be in. We are all in the same boat. All!!
A second reflection is based on one of the summary statements, about how some are asked to walk further and give more that others in our church. Now this was aimed at the demands place on gay and lesbian people by some. But I also thought of one of the reflections at the end of the first night. Jim Biddle pointed out that although he is in Te Manawa o Te Wheke, he still belongs to Waiapu. He was baptised, confirmed and ordained in the Diocese. It is part of who he is. But the asked, do Pakeha have any notion of the Hui Amorangi being part of who they are? Do we even know the names of the Hui Amorangi, or of their Pihopa? The answer for some is no. Do we understand the financial constraints our tikanga partner in the mission of our church operates under? Do we care?
As a diocese, we divided up our Trusts after the new constitution was put in place. We did our bit. And then we have for many of us largely forgotten about the Hui Amorangi we share this land and this mission with. We give generously to mission overseas; we give generously to CWS, and to World Vision. We never think of giving an equal amount to the work of either Te Tai Rawhiti or to Manawa o Te Wheke. That they virtually have no stipendiary priests. That their minita-a-iwi work for nothing, for long hours, with expenses not covered at times escapes us. Meanwhile the Pou Tokomanawa Fund struggles to gather adequate fund to offer any of note to our tikanga partners. I felt challenged by this event to think about my own attitude and giving Do I see Te Pihopatanga of Aotearoa as part of who I am as an Anglican? Do I seek to resource it in its work? Do I invite others to do likewise? Do I focus on the mission that unites us rather than the cultures and structures that separate us?
Thank you Kathy for this great introduction and timely reminder.
Kathy Glieb did two main presentations which were really really helpful.
To start as she did with an exploration of why Paul wrote this letter and what it purpose was helped put the whole thing in context, and made it much more useful for us today as a church. Paul wrote this book to the divided churches in Rome. Yes churches, not church. They were seriously split. And if you read the book you will see the theological reasons for those splits. Paul needed the support of those churches to help in his proposed mission to Spain. He needed to overcome some of the negative things that had been said about him, particularly that he was not friend to the Jewish Christian church, And he needed the churches to focus on what united them, the gospel and their common mission, rather than on what divided them, so that they could support this mission. Hence the letter. Isn’t it interesting how we use that same book today to justify further dividing the church, and taking the focus of what unties us, rather than on what divides us?
In that light I returned to the now oft quoted passage from Romans 1 20-28. Now we could get into a discussion about what is natural (short hair for men for a start) and what is not? But more important is what comes after v. 28. And even more importantly, the beginning of chapter 2. “Therefore, you have no excuses, whoever you are, when you judge others, for in passing judgement on one another you condemn yourself, because you the judge are doing the very same things.” The very same things?? Are we all gay?? No, but we all do the same shameless acts. This list wasn’t put there to decide who was in and out, but to show how no-one deserved to be in. We are all in the same boat. All!!
A second reflection is based on one of the summary statements, about how some are asked to walk further and give more that others in our church. Now this was aimed at the demands place on gay and lesbian people by some. But I also thought of one of the reflections at the end of the first night. Jim Biddle pointed out that although he is in Te Manawa o Te Wheke, he still belongs to Waiapu. He was baptised, confirmed and ordained in the Diocese. It is part of who he is. But the asked, do Pakeha have any notion of the Hui Amorangi being part of who they are? Do we even know the names of the Hui Amorangi, or of their Pihopa? The answer for some is no. Do we understand the financial constraints our tikanga partner in the mission of our church operates under? Do we care?
As a diocese, we divided up our Trusts after the new constitution was put in place. We did our bit. And then we have for many of us largely forgotten about the Hui Amorangi we share this land and this mission with. We give generously to mission overseas; we give generously to CWS, and to World Vision. We never think of giving an equal amount to the work of either Te Tai Rawhiti or to Manawa o Te Wheke. That they virtually have no stipendiary priests. That their minita-a-iwi work for nothing, for long hours, with expenses not covered at times escapes us. Meanwhile the Pou Tokomanawa Fund struggles to gather adequate fund to offer any of note to our tikanga partners. I felt challenged by this event to think about my own attitude and giving Do I see Te Pihopatanga of Aotearoa as part of who I am as an Anglican? Do I seek to resource it in its work? Do I invite others to do likewise? Do I focus on the mission that unites us rather than the cultures and structures that separate us?
Thank you Kathy for this great introduction and timely reminder.
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