Thought for the Week 4 August 2024

The following is an excerpt from a pastoral letter to the PCANZ from our moderator Rt. Rev. Rose Luxford. Copies of the whole letter are available in the church foyer.

Tena koutou katoa.

Last Wednesday I sat and watched as Parliament received the report from the Royal Commission on Abuse in Care. There were speeches by the Prime Minister and various politicians. It was emotional and painful. The report is the culmination of six years’ work, and it contains harrowing stories of abuse in state and faith-based organisations,  including the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.

As people of the PCANZ and as Christians we feel the tremendous weight of the suffering of survivors of abuse; we feel the terrible shame that abuse happened in the church. The church should be a place where people can feel safe and be given dignity and worth – the way in which Jesus gave dignity and worth to all. A place which helps to instil a sense of hope in people’s lives. This has not always been the case and we deeply regret that people have suffered and continue to suffer due to the actions of people and processes of our   denomination. There has been physical, sexual and spiritual abuse and many are, understandably, left with a view of God and of Christianity that is very negative. This deeply saddens me.

Let us  continue to hold in our prayers those who have been so badly impacted by actions from within our denomination, also the members of the Commission, government agencies and those who take this forward.

‘Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice’. [Psalm 130: 1]

In Christ,

Rose Luxford