Who am I? Episode 1: Beginnings
Who am I as a Pākēha Christian? Study leave 2023
Episode 1: Beginnings
| Tēnā koutou Kei te haerengā ahau. Kua kātahi timata ahau. Kāore ōku maunga. Kāhore ōku awa. ko te Hāhi Perehipitiriana tōku waka. He manene ahau i tēnei whenua. Nō Ōtepoti ahau. Ko te Tihi o Maru te kāinga ināianei. Ko Ihu Karaiti tōku tuakana. Kei te rapu ahau i te manawa o te Wairua Tapu. E rapu ana ahau i te manawa o te Atua. Nō reira: Kei te ngana tonu ahau ki te mohio. Kei te haere kotahi tatou katoa. Ko Rory ahau |
Greetings to you all. I am on a journey. I have only just begun. I belong to no mountain. No river claims me. The Presbyterian Church is my waka. I am a sojourner in this land. I come from Dunedin. I live in Timaru. Jesus Christ is my older brother. I am searching for the breath of the Holy Spirit. I seek the heartbeat of God. Once more: I’m still trying to figure it out. We’re going together as one. Rory is my name |
My family first arrived on the shore of Aotearoa at Waikouaiti in February 1840 on a boat from Sydney that also carried the Kāi Tahu rangatira Tūhawaiki, returning from a trading journey to take the lead in signing Te Tiriti o Waitangi. All of my ancestors have lived upon this land for over 150 years. There is no other place that I can call home. At the same time, I recognise te Tiriti, the covenant relationship that unites Māori and Pākēha, that guarantees tino rangatiratanga to tāngata whenua.
So what does it mean for me to be a person that belongs to this land? What does it mean for me to be a follower of Jesus in Aotearoa? Who am I as a Pākēha Christian? What is special, even unique, about what God is doing in and through the peoples of this place? How does that shape me as a minister in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand?
These questions have been sitting with me for a while. I was blessed to be invited by the moderator of Te Aka Puahou, Rev. Tamiana Thrupp, to visit with them and stay on our national mārae, Te Maungarongo, at Ōhope in Mātaatua whenua, the eastern Bay of Plenty, in November 2023.
Over the next few weeks I want to share with you some of the insights I gleaned from this rich and rewarding time. I learned much, I gained a deeper understanding of my calling, but more importantly, I forged relationships that I will treasure for a lifetime.
This series of reflections is not an academic exercise, and I don’t intend to exhaustively reference the ideas that have influenced me, but here is a brief bibliography of works that have helped to shape my thinking.
Bibliography:
Binney, Judith, Gillian Chaplin, and Craig Wallace. 1979. Mihaia: The Prophet Rua Kenana and His Community at Maungapohatu. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bluck, John. 2022. Becoming Pakeha. Auckland: HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand Limited.
Cowley, Joy. 1996. Aotearoa Psalms. Wellington: Catholic Supplies Limited NZ.
Forge America and Jo Saxton. 2022. “Episode 86 – Leadership with Jo Saxton.” Forge America Missional Podcast. https://www.forgeamerica.com/podcast/2022/10/20/episode-86-leadership-with-jo-saxton.
Ruka, J. 2018. Huia Come Home. Taranaki: Oati.
Categories: Rory's Reflections