It is time to call a spade a spade
Should I even write this? I am not sure. Anyway. It seems that the General Secretary of our church is quite determined to shut TORU: The Anglican Centre for Youth Ministry Studies because we have overspent our budget for the last two years and as far as she is concerned is it not working. Instead this advocate for our three Tikanga Structure would like to see the money redistributed among the three Tikanga. This of course is being done with no consultation with the Youth Networks. Surprisingly (not) I am somewhat annoyed. But it has helped me come to realise that we will never be one church expressed in three Tikanga. And that is because no one really wants that. So why keep working for it!
And this makes me think. General Synod last year cost over $170,000, a beautiful hand holding exercise that achieved nothing really. The meal at Parliament was nice though. Our General Synod Office struggles to contain its expenditure (not it’s fault I hasten to add), so that this year the money we were hoping to use from the three Tikanga Youth allocation from last year for one of the few three Tikanga events in our church is this year (this month) is not there. Gone on other cost overruns.
Applying the General Secretary’s rationale (as applied to TORU) is this three Tikanga Structure working I ask? And the answer is no!! Instead it soaks up considerable resources, money, people’s time, energy and focus. I actually would suggest it is counter productive. I think it stops Tikanga Maori and Pakeha building relationships and working together. Tikanga Pacifica is always there and keeps muddying the waters. That is not their fault. They are equal partners and deserve to be there. But it gets in the way all the time. This three Tikanga edifice is sucking the life out of our Archbishops. It is consuming time and energy trying to keep it afloat. And yet we are as distant and uncaring of each other on the ground as we were 17 years ago when it came into being. It is not working!!!
After 20 years, (since the PYC in Fiji first dreamed this whole thing up) I think it is time to call a halt to this expensive experiment. We need to scrap General Synod and the General Synod Office and all those committees which meet and achieve so little and cost so much. Even the youth stuff maybe. We need to free Polynesia to be its own Province, with adequate resources, and to remove its Episcopal presence in Aotearoa-New Zealand. And Tikanga Pakeha and Maori need to be freed to have some honest conversations about how we might structure our relationship as treaty partners here in Aotearoa – New Zealand in ways that consume little time, people, resources, and allow us to truly meet and work together where we might want to do that. It is time to call a spade a spade and bury this experiment. It was worth a go, but it is not working, and it is time for something new!!
And this makes me think. General Synod last year cost over $170,000, a beautiful hand holding exercise that achieved nothing really. The meal at Parliament was nice though. Our General Synod Office struggles to contain its expenditure (not it’s fault I hasten to add), so that this year the money we were hoping to use from the three Tikanga Youth allocation from last year for one of the few three Tikanga events in our church is this year (this month) is not there. Gone on other cost overruns.
Applying the General Secretary’s rationale (as applied to TORU) is this three Tikanga Structure working I ask? And the answer is no!! Instead it soaks up considerable resources, money, people’s time, energy and focus. I actually would suggest it is counter productive. I think it stops Tikanga Maori and Pakeha building relationships and working together. Tikanga Pacifica is always there and keeps muddying the waters. That is not their fault. They are equal partners and deserve to be there. But it gets in the way all the time. This three Tikanga edifice is sucking the life out of our Archbishops. It is consuming time and energy trying to keep it afloat. And yet we are as distant and uncaring of each other on the ground as we were 17 years ago when it came into being. It is not working!!!
After 20 years, (since the PYC in Fiji first dreamed this whole thing up) I think it is time to call a halt to this expensive experiment. We need to scrap General Synod and the General Synod Office and all those committees which meet and achieve so little and cost so much. Even the youth stuff maybe. We need to free Polynesia to be its own Province, with adequate resources, and to remove its Episcopal presence in Aotearoa-New Zealand. And Tikanga Pakeha and Maori need to be freed to have some honest conversations about how we might structure our relationship as treaty partners here in Aotearoa – New Zealand in ways that consume little time, people, resources, and allow us to truly meet and work together where we might want to do that. It is time to call a spade a spade and bury this experiment. It was worth a go, but it is not working, and it is time for something new!!
Comments
The church really needs to look at what it's prioritising. Whether scrapping the whole lot and starting again is the best answer I'm not too sure, but something has to happen, and I think now people are starting to realise it.