Celebrating Te Pouhere

Last Sunday was Te Pouhere Sunday, where we remember who we are as Anglicans in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia and celebrate our unique constitution. We had our AGM so I moved it to this Sunday. It is amazing how little people across our church know about the constitution and how we work, and even less about why we are structured in this way. We keep talking about how this is a new thing, and yet it is 20 years ago that it came into being. There is now a generation of Anglicans who have only ever known the church in this form.

One of the resources is a report written for the 1986 General Synod entitled "Te Kaupapa Tikanga Rua." which explored the place of the Treaty of Waitangi in the life of our church. It is a sobering read really.

So this Sunday we have a chance to celebrate the gift of God that our constitution is, and remember that we are one church expressed in three tikanga. Do I think we are living it out well? Not even close. But I will continue to stand by the vision it offers of how to live out the gospel.