15 March 2022

His Holiness Kirill
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Russian Orthodox Church

Your Holiness,

We write to you as brothers and sisters in Christ and as national leaders of most church denominations in Aotearoa New Zealand.

We are deeply disturbed by what is happening in the Ukraine at the moment, the bombings, the civilian deaths, the major refugee crisis.

We are fearful of further escalation of the situation that would put even more people in danger. We are united in our request that you use your voice and significant influence to call for an end to the hostilities in Ukraine and intervene with authorities in your nation to do so. We make this appeal with no political agenda but rather in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ whose love transcends the narrow claims of all nations and ideologies.

We are in the season of Lent. In that Lenten spirit, we ask you to prayerfully consider the steps you can take to influence peaceful solutions.

As the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, you have the holy opportunity to play an historic role in helping to bring a cessation of senseless violence and a restoration of peace. We pray you will do so, and our prayers will accompany you, as together we yearn for the biblical vision of peace that is found in Isaiah 2:4:

Then He will judge between the nations
and arbitrate for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation,
nor train anymore for war.

Respectfully Yours in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Members of National Church Leaders of Aotearoa New Zealand

Rev Andrew Marshall
National Leader – Alliance Churches of New Zealand

Archbishop Phillip Richardson
Archbishop Don Tamihere
Bishop Justin Duckworth
Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia

Pastor Illiafi Esera
National Superintendent – Assemblies of God in New Zealand

Pastor Charles Hewlett
National Leader – Baptist Churches of New Zealand

Pastor Steve Burgess
Senior Leader – C3 Church

Pastor Brent Liebezeit
President – Christian Churches New Zealand

Rev.Roland Hearn
Interim National Superintendent – Church of the Nazarene

Pastor Peter Mortlock
Senior Pastor – City Impact Church

Rev Moegauila Lasei
Chairman – Congregational Union of New Zealand

Pastor Sam Monk
National Leader – ACTS Churches New Zealand

Pastor Boyd Ratnaraja
National Leader – Elim Church of New Zealand

Bishop Mark Whitfield
Lutheran Church of New Zealand

Rev Andrew Doubleday
President – Methodist Church of New Zealand

Pastor Adam White
Leader – New Life Churches International

Pastor Eddie Tupa’i
President – New Zealand Pacific Union Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church

Rev Hamish Galloway
Moderator – Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand

Anne and Alistair Hall
Yearly Meeting Co-Clerks – Religious Society of Friends, Te Hāhi Tūhauwiri

Cardinal John Dew
Roman Catholic

Commissioner Mark Campbell
Territorial Commander – The Salvation Army

Pastor David MacGregor
National Director – Vineyard Churches

Rev Brett Jones
National Superintendent – Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand

Rev Dr Stuart Lange
Director – New Zealand Christian Network