The wonderful ZOOM-based nation-wide prayer gatherings which began last month, and which many hundreds of people participated in, begin again this Monday night, with a weekly 8.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. prayer gathering.
The New Zealand Christian Network team were heavily involved in the formation of the Pray As one NZ prayer movement, and have been very pleased to be associated with it. A wider advisory group (including representatives of other prayer networks) will continue and has accepted NZCN’s offer to take overall responsibility for Pray As One NZ.
There is no denying the current significant health and economic threats to societies all around the world, especially in many less well-resourced nations. In the past, societies and churches have many times suffered catastrophes, through war, famine, natural disasters, plagues, and persecution. The season of Easter, though, is a great time to recall and celebrate Christ’s redeeming death and life-giving resurrection.
These Easter events usefully remind us of a bigger, more enduring picture than COVID-19. That God remains our everlasting Rock. That on the Cross, God in Christ has demonstrated his great love for us, and made possible our salvation. That God has granted his Spirit to all who believe. That God is always watching over us. That one day God will restore his broken creation, and make all things new. May God inspire us afresh as we focus on him, this coming weekend – and beyond.
It has been so very encouraging for the New Zealand Christian Network to be very closely involved in the new Pray As One NZ initiative, which began last Tuesday (1 April) with a 12-hour national on-line day of prayer for New Zealand and a special one-hour national prayer and worship service live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook followed by eight consecutive prayer sessions, from 8.00 to 9.00 pm.
What has been so pleasing is the gathering of hundreds of Christian believers from every corner of New Zealand, and from many different church denominations and flavours, and the thousands of faithful, passionate prayers for Aotearoa New Zealand. On average, there have been 140 people online at any one time. The two overarching themes have been the COVID-19 crisis and the spiritual health and wellbeing of New Zealand.
This series of prayer gatherings end tonight (Thursday 9 April, 8.00 pm). It is not too late to participate. If you would like to join, visit Pray As One NZ for details. Almost certainly, Pray as One prayer gatherings will resume on some basis, sometime after Easter. Watch this space…
Which is the deeper problem: the spiritual blindness and sins of secular New Zealand society as a whole, or the blind spots and spiritual listlessness of the New Zealand church?
I posed this question during devotions in Pray As One NZ earlier this week, before reading that magnificent prayer of repentance, Psalm 51.
These are unprecedented times for Aotearoa, and indeed for the world. More than ever we need Christian believers to unite in prayer!
New Zealand Christian Network is delighted to announce that it has been able to work with a number of groups (NZCN, Move NZ, Rhema Broadcasting, Intercessors for NZ, Missions Interlink, and the World Evangelical Alliance) to pull together Pray As One NZ, a 9-day initiative intended to unite Christians all over NZ in prayer and fasting for our nation. We are inviting leaders from all over NZ to join us in leading this initiative.
This will begin with national day of prayer on Wed. 1 April, with a full day (5:45am – 6pm) Zoom prayer conference, followed by an evening live-streamed prayer and worship service (8-9pm).
Days 2-9 will consist of a nightly 1-hour interactive Zoom prayer conference, from 8-9 pm.
Please go to the Pray As One NZ website and get the word out to your church and other Christian friends by sharing this with others.
Further details about Wednesday and the 8 days following will be uploaded on to the website.
As New Zealand slowly begins to re-open, a question many churches will be asking is, “How do we approach ministry in Level 2 and beyond?”
It’s easy to be scared of change. But in reality, the NZ church has already proven that it is more than ready to adapt to changing circumstances. Think about how the NZ church has innovated over the last 60 days, we’ve gone from:
FROM meeting in-person, TO meeting online
FROM leading our ministry teams in-person, TO leading our teams remotely
FROM having a stable financial plan, TO our finances now all up in the air
FROM having predictable staff roles, TO redeploying staff in new areas for which they were not trained
FROM having no previous idea how to do what we needed to do, TO now succeeding in making it all work
With that in mind, I suggest there are three realities to now help the NZ church continue on the path of innovation, for the sake of more effectively reaching New Zealand with the Gospel.
1. Online ministry is here to stay
Most of the people we want to reach are now online. The younger the demographic, the more true that is. Furthermore, it appears that many churches are actually growing at the moment. The reasons for this are multi-faceted, but one key reason is that online church has a much lower barrier to entry then in-person church.
This is not only true for guests. Think about families with young children getting ready for church, or seniors who are more vulnerable, or people who are sick. Online ministry provides a way for people to be involved when in the past they wouldn’t have been able to.
At the same time, it should not be treated lightly. Are you having a serious conversation about investing in new digital equipment? When adults join an online group, do you have a plan to help reduce the awkwardness and make them feel welcome? How might online group leaders take advantage of Zoom features like ‘Breakout Rooms’? How will people respond to the gospel if they are not at the church’s worship service?
2. While online ministry is here to stay, physical gatherings are the church’s calling
With all that said, it’s important to remember that physical in-person gathering is key to the church’s calling. In the New Testament the word for church (ekklesia) refers to how it is a gathering, a calling together. Moreover, God created an actual world, not a virtual world. God in Genesis declared that the actual world of creation is very good. God wants us to live in his good world, not just watch it on a screen. Resurrection, one of the central beliefs of Christianity, means the restoration of all things, not an escape to a non-temporal, non-corporal spiritual (virtual?) afterlife.
With that in mind, what are some questions that you should be asking before starting up your physical ministry? For starters, what adjustments will you make to the Lord’s Supper, baptisms, offering plate, meet and greet time, door greeting, or children’s ministry? How will you sanitize your building, before, after, and during church service? For example, should all doors be kept open to prevent spread of disease? How will you create a safe environment for those who are most vulnerable in your community? What about those who can’t meet physically but also don’t have the capability to meet online?
3. Churches need to help people make the transition from the online to in-person
Given that online ministry is here to stay, and yet we are called to physical in-person gathering, we need to carefully consider how we will move people from the relative comfort of the online experience to in-person encounters and fellowship.
Homegroups have always been a good stepping-stone to involvement in church life. It’s a smaller setting, and (at their best) are much less intimidating and much more welcoming. Here in New Zealand we will probably be limited to small gatherings for the foreseeable future. With that in mind, is it possible to encourage people to move homegroup from online to actual homes? Is it possible to have Sunday morning watch parties at different people’s homes?
There have been many times in the past where Christians could not gather in large groups, particularly in the early stages of the church. The outcome was a church body that exploded across the globe. This happened as a result of the intentional, meaningful fellowship and discipleship centred around the Risen Christ. There will be a strong desire to get back to normal. The danger is that we will re-embrace a model of ministry designed to reach a world that no longer exists. Let’s continue innovating and moving forward.
Some useful resources on this subject!
NZCN doesn’t necessarily endorse everything in them, but did pick up some good points from some of them
Churches sing ‘The Blessing’ over the UK’
An example of using technology and the internet to do mission.
The World Evangelical Alliance has put together a site with resources to help families, church leaders, national alliances, business leaders and health professionals. Check it out here >
The Opportune Time Ps David Dishroon
Romans 13:11-14 encourages us, as it did the the Jews and Christians in Rome in the late 55 AD – early 57 AD, to consider the drastic changes to the world we live in as an opportune time to do something.
This message was shared as a devotional thought during one of our weekly Pray As One NZ online prayer gatherings taking place 8-9pm on MONDAYS.
Join the meeting from the website and look for updates on Facebook.
The outbreak of Covid-19 has created a global health crisis that has had a significant impact on the way we perceive our world and our everyday lives. This crisis has rapidly pushed us into the unknown and left many facing an uncertain future. However, it has been proven throughout history that New Zealand is no stranger to adversity. Time after time, New Zealanders have shown the ability to come together, with the desire to help one another demonstrating the resilience of the nation and this situation is no different.
This handbook aims to help with issues that have arisen during the Covid-19 crisis.
…I have come into this world, so that the blind will see…
– Jesus, John 9:39
Imagine being blind and isolated, unable to be with your loved ones, and having to fend for yourself during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eyesight is something we often take for granted. Yet there are many people in the remote Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) who are needlessly blind.
With a Covid-19 lockdown in PNG, many people with disabilities cannot access the services they need and others risk having their life-changing surgeries delayed or cancelled.
But there is good news. Because most of cbm New Zealand’s projects are medical, they are essential services and can go ahead. cbm will adapt their work to help with the prevention of the spread of Covid-19 and to offer care and treatment.
Having access to vital sight-saving surgery is an incredible blessing. Many people in PNG have never seen a doctor before. Approximately 86% of the population live in rural areas, however, most health services and specialists’ practices are located in larger towns, this results in many people being deeply affected by avoidable blindness. In fact, 1-in-15 men and 1-in-10 women in the remote Highlands struggle with blindness.
Blindness is often met with suspicion, as those who are blind are usually stigmatised and become victims of human rights abuse. Isolation is commonplace. But thankfully, there is hope…
cbm New Zealand is an international Christian development organisation who have been working in PNG for the past forty years, delivering sight-saving cataract surgeries and other services. The aim is to reduce avoidable blindness, and build an inclusive world in which all people with disabilities enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential.
One person, whose life was completely transformed by attending a cbm funded outreach clinic, was Jack.Blindness had crushed Jack’s spirit. This was devastating for him as everything he did – to stay safe, earn a living and support his family – all depended on his sense of sight. He was unable to leave the house without being led. He lost all desire to be with other people. In his village, no-one knew how to encourage him and his family stopped being able to talk to him. Jack became depressed, angry, isolated and withdrawn. He lost hope of ever being a productive member of his family and his village.
Through the generosity of others, it was possible for Jack to undergo an operation for his sight to be restored at a cbm funded surgical outreach clinic. When Jack arrived at the outreach clinic, he was very concerned the surgery would not work, but he did not need to be. The surgery was a success and after the bandages were removed, his sight was restored. Relief and joy flooded his face. From that moment, Jack was a completely different man. He said he felt he had “been away” since losing his sight.
But thanks to receiving sight-saving surgery he could again live his life to the full – just as God intended!
One person, whose life was completely transformed by attending a cbm funded outreach clinic, was Jack. Blindness had crushed Jack’s spirit. This was devastating for him as everything he did – to stay safe, earn a living and support his family – all depended on his sense of sight. He was unable to leave the house without being led. He lost all desire to be with other people. In his village, no-one knew how to encourage him and his family stopped being able to talk to him. Jack became depressed, angry, isolated and withdrawn. He lost hope of ever being a productive member of his family and his village.
Jack before surgery
Jack’s gratitude after receiving life- changing cataract surgery
Through the generosity of others, it was possible for Jack to undergo an operation for his sight to be restored at a cbm funded surgical outreach clinic. When Jack arrived at the outreach clinic, he was very concerned the surgery would not work, but he did not need to be. The surgery was a success and after the bandages were removed, his sight was restored. Relief and joy flooded his face. From that moment, Jack was a completely different man. He said he felt he had “been away” since losing his sight.
But thanks to receiving sight-saving surgery he could again live his life to the full – just as God intended!
cbm New Zealand is continuing to transform the lives of many others like Jack. While Covid-19 has changed so much, cbm is grateful for the generous gifts from its supporters to be able to continue this vital work.
If you would like to learn more about how you can help build an inclusive world in which all people with disabilities enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential, please visit www.cbmnz.org.nz
‘Unprecedented’. ‘Social distancing’. ‘Self-isolation’. ‘Community outbreak’. ‘Lockdown.’ These and other words have come to dominate our news feeds and conversations. A few weeks ago, the world was ordinary; now, it is different, unusual, unfamiliar. COVID-19 has turned into a global pandemic affecting every aspect of our lives. We have been turned upside down and inside out, and, understandably, are left feeling dazed and confused. People have died, more deaths will follow, travel is drastically restricted, and society is being changed. Life is different.
Typically, at Easter, Christians across the globe gather in churches to worship and celebrate the death of Jesus Christ on Friday and his glorious resurrection on Sunday. Despite the popular image of empty churches and dusty pews, churches in New Zealand are thriving and many have thousands of people turn up each week to worship God. But not this Easter. Not in Aotearoa in 2020. We are in the middle of a lock-down. But, while traditional church services are cancelled, this does not mean Easter is cancelled. Since the pandemic began to take hold, creative and compassionate responses to COVID-19 have come from across all strata of society, not least from church leaders. Easter is being celebrated in family bubbles around dinner tables, and, of course, en masse online. And the message of Easter is being lived out in all walks of life in acts of service, compassion, and care.
What is the meaning of Easter? What are Christians celebrating in the death of Jesus Christ and in his miraculous resurrection? And what does that have to do with COVID-19 and the problems we face in our real lives? Easter is about the ways in which God breaks down every barrier that exists in order to enter into the closest of relationships with us and make it possible for us to find our fulfilment, purpose, peace, and joy in him. In a world of fear and dislocation caused by isolation, sickness, and anxiety, we need to hear the words of joy again, and of peace, and of love. Easter speaks just these words over us.
In the Bible, we are told that Jesus, on several occasions, “tore open” the barriers that separate humanity from God. The language is deliberately active because the action is so forceful. Jesus died on a Roman cross and, as he did, the large curtain that divided the inner rooms of the Jewish temple was torn apart. This curtain was around 15 metres high and 9 metres wide and embroidered to represent the panorama of the heavens. In other words, it symbolised the sky, and the sky was understood by the people of the time as a barrier between this world and God. Jesus died, the curtain was torn apart and God’s presence flooded the earth. Seeing this, the Roman soldier guarding the cross of Jesus declared, “surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39). Jesus broke down the barriers between humanity and God. This is the Easter message.
Easter is part of a bigger story that began with Christmas. At Christmas, we remember Jesus’ birth, by the blessed virgin Mary. Mary is said to have found favour in God’s sight and was told that she would bear a child, who would be the Son of God. And, as it was in the sky-rending scenes at the cross, the pattern was the same: a physical barrier—in this case, Mary’s human form—was passed through by God, who filled the womb with his love and favour.
A further barrier-breaking is seen in the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. Here, the barrier is a massive stone that seals his tomb. The kind of tomb in which Jesus was buried was shaped like a house. At the entrance to the ‘house’ was a door—this time, a sealing stone. The difference between the tomb and a house is that a house and its door are designed to open while the sealing stone on the tomb is meant to be permanently closed.
The sealing stone at the tomb was a symbolic barrier between this world and the next. The women who first came to Jesus’ tomb witnessed this barrier removed—the stone had been rolled away—Christ had risen! He had left the tomb, departed from this world and, in doing so, tore the heavens apart and, once more, opened up human access to God.
And, finally, the upper room. We read that, after the resurrection, Jesus’ followers were all together in one room, with the doors locked. This signifies the impenetrability of another barrier. Jesus moved down from his heavenly state; he appeared mysteriously and reassured his terrified audience. In the absence of angels or a Roman centurion, it was the once-doubting disciple Thomas who exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!”
Easter Cross photo by Susanna Burton
COVID-19 is the latest in a long list of barriers in life. Fear, loneliness, panic, anxiety, and a host of other emotions lurk close to the surface for many people, and the Easter message is that God is not unaware of how we feel, nor is he passive in the face of such challenges. Christians are those who seek to follow God and to be barrier-breakers as well.
In the early centuries of the Church, Christians stood out amongst their contemporaries for their response to the epidemics that swept through the Roman world. Julian the Apostate, the last pagan Roman Emperor, wrote during the mid-fourth century that “the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well.” This social response led to Christians sacrificially serving their neighbours. We have many accounts of Christians entering plague-ridden cities to care for the sick and, in doing so, helping to contain fear and the spread of disease. The response to COVID-19 has been no different as people from all walks of life have stepped in and stepped up to help.
Many are asking the questions: What will life look like after COVID-19 has passed? How will social interactions change? What will the new world look like? Will we simply return to our old ways or will we re-think the ways we live and interact with each other? This Easter, Christians are actively looking for ways to follow God through what, previously, were barriers but are now open doors, to find ways to serve, to love and to care for one another. What God has done for us in Christ, we want to do for others.
In a context of ‘social distancing’, Christians, like others, practise physical distancing while maintaining social proximity via streamed worship services, virtual communion, care packages for those in isolation, online socials for youth and young adults, and numerous zoom calls. A myriad of other examples could be given for ways in which the Easter message is being lived out in a COVID-19 world.
What will the life look like after the pandemic? Crises like COVID-19 tend to shake the assumptions of societies, and it is here where Easter speaks to us, telling us to care for one another, to check in on our neighbours, to call those at risk, and not to let barriers—self-imposed or other—prevent us from living lives of meaning and purpose. Easter tells us that God loves us, cares for us, and will stop at nothing, not even the death of his Son, to break through any barrier that separates us from him. Easter reminds us that, in the future—after the pandemic—love, goodness, peace, and hope will remain.
Covid-19 has put up barriers between us: We are homebound. Most of us can no longer be in our usual work, educational or leisure spaces. Outside of our bubble, we ensure there is at least a 2-metre distance from others. But God has no limits and offers us a new perspective. He can be with each of us exactly where we are, even as we are locked down into the boundaries of our homes and local environments. God can break down barriers and he can be with us both now, wherever we are confined, and into the future, with whatever the future will bring. This is the hope of Easter.
As Auckland Church Leaders, we welcome you to join us this Easter season. We have online services happening all over Auckland.
Paul Allen-Baines Congregational Union of N.Z.
Rev. Ross Bay Anglican Bishop of Auckland
Pastor Tak Bhana Senior Pastor, Church Unlimited
Pastor Paul de Jong Senior Pastor, LIFE
Pastors Jonathan and Robyn Dove Senior Pastors, Greenlane Christian Centre
Most Rev. Patrick Dunn Catholic Bishop of Auckland
Majors Ian & Liz Gainsford Divisional Leaders, The Salvation Army
Jaron Graham on behalf of the Church of the Nazarene
Brett Jones Interim National Superintendent, Wesleyan Methodist Church
Pastor Sanjai Kandregula Executive member, Assemblies of God NZ
Pastor Brian Kelly Senior Pastor, Calvary Chapel
Pastor Nich Kitchen Mountainside Lutheran Church
Dr Stuart Lange National Director, NZ Christian Network
Kok Soon Lee Auckland Chinese Churches Association
Pastor David MacGregor National Director, Vineyard Churches
Andrew Marshall National Director, Alliance Churches of New Zealand
Very Rev. Anne Mills Dean, Auckland Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
Steve Millward Moderator, Northern Presbytery, Presbyterian Church
Pastor Bruce Monk International Overseer for Acts Churches & Equippers
Pastor Sam Monk Senior Pastor, Equippers Church & Acts National Leader
Pastor Peter Mortlock Senior Pastor, City Impact Church
Rev. Te Kitohi Pikaahu Anglican Bishop of Te Tai Tokerau
Pastor Lui Ponifasio on behalf of the Christian Community Churches of N.Z.
Pastor Boyd Ratnaraja National Leader, Elim Churches
Pastors Dean Rush Senior Leaders, C3 Church Auckland
Pastor Jim Shaw New Life Churches Executive team
Bishop Brian Tamaki Senior Minister of Destiny Churches International
Pastor Allan Taylor Northern Baptist Association
Pastor Ben Timothy President, North New Zealand Conference, Seventh-day Adventist Church
Rev. Graeme R. White Auckland Synod Superintendent, Methodist Church of N.Z.
This week two very significant things have happened in New Zealand…
Covid 19 precautionary measures are tightened up
The Covid 19 threat, which is causing so much chaos and alarm around the globe, has led the Government in the last few days to take the wise step of banning inside meetings of over 100 people. It is also strongly advising “social distancing” to be practised at all times, even in small groups, as a means of impeding community transmission of the virus.
All this has huge implications for churches. Many churches are urgently cancelling worship services, arranging live streams, establishing more house groups, reviewing the safety of all their activities, and working out how they can best serve those people who are self-isolating, locked down, sick, or fearful and downcast.
Will this crisis and the sudden changes it has brought discourage and scatter the people of God, and weaken churches? Will it be hard to gather people back together, when the pandemic is over? Will some drift away? Or will these circumstances shake up the churches so that they become more faith-filled, more active, more prayerful, more compassionate, more engaged with others, more Christlike?
The New Zealand Christian Network urges churches to be both scrupulous and caring in the way they respond to the threat of this virus, and for the sake of our people and the wider society to observe the very best practices of protecting our people.
At the same time, we should be covering our nation in prayer, and asking the Lord to comfort and uplift the anxious, and to turn many people in our society from self-possession to humility and faith before the living God, who is alone our eternal hope.
See links below for many helpful resources on how churches may respond well to the challenges of COVID-19.
The Abortion Law Reform Bill was passed.
We regret the passing of this very unbalanced bill, which unjustly erased the human rights of unwanted unborn, and has removed all protection for them. The Abortion Law Reform Bill “decriminalised” abortion, but we believe it is tantamount to crime against nature, humanity, and God. We applaud all those who made a stand. We urge prayer for this nation, and for the underlying moral and spiritual myopia of which this is but another symptom.
The next week or so is a very critical time for our nation, with major life and death implications for generations to come. The New Zealand Parliament is in the final stages of voting on the Abortion Law Reform Bill, a bill which further liberalises New Zealand’s laws on abortion. The aim of the Bill is to make abortion simply a medical procedure for the mother.
The Bill gives no consideration at all to valuing the life of unborn babies, or to protecting them. The protections in the current legislation (which have proved weak) are swept away. The Bill assumes that unborn babies have no inherent human worth, and no human rights. The Bill would establish abortion on demand up to 20 weeks gestation. From 21 weeks through to birth, all that is required is the agreement of the medical practitioner (the one about to conduct an abortion) that an abortion is “reasonable” with regards to the health of the mother – but with no regard to the life of the baby. Presumably “health” will include her emotional wellbeing. Will this apply to cases of Downs Syndrome, or the wrong sex? Even a baby born alive after a failed abortion will not be safe: MPs have voted down an amendment that would have required the baby to be given medical care, rather than left to die.
Most Christian people do not oppose abortion under all circumstances, and feel compassion towards those women who have been in a very difficult situation and have agonisingly decided to have their baby aborted.
The New Zealand public needs to understand, however, that this Bill is very unbalanced: it entirely takes the side of the pro-abortion lobby, and completely disregards the intrinsic value of unborn human life. Regardless of whether or not unborn human babies are currently recognised in our society’s laws as fully-fledged “human beings”, they are still unquestionably human babies. Respect for the value of all human life is a basic building block of a safe society. Justice and compassion call out for the protection of the powerless and the voiceless. Christians – and many others – see every human life as a sacred gift of God, and the destruction of innocent lives as a terrible stain upon our nation.
We strongly encourage all Christian people to shake off apathy, to be constant in prayer, and to urgently contact members of Parliament and make known their deep concerns (be courteous, clear, well-informed, and brief).
Our nation recalls with sadness the appalling 2019 terrorist attacks on Muslim people gathered to worship. Christians continue to extend their love and sympathy, and utterly reject all hatred, racism, and violence. We believe that all faith communities should be able to gather freely, and without fear. We thank God that these horrible events generally helped strengthen our society’s commitment to living in peace.
The New Zealand Christian Network, the alliance of evangelical churches, organisations and individuals in Aotearoa New Zealand, commends the New Zealand Government for its leadership in our time of COVID-19 crisis. We agree that all New Zealanders must do what is necessary at this time to unite against the virus and slow its spread.
We also commend the many churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, marae, clubs and societies who have sacrificially agreed to abide by the Government’s temporary restrictions to keep us all as safe as possible during this period of moderate risk. We pray that the risk does not increase further.
We are thankful for technology that can help keep us connected at times when we need to be physically distant. Physical proximity is an important part of our communal Christian faith, but we also believe in a God who is not limited to our material world and is present everywhere at all times. For thousands of years this belief has been a comfort to those who find themselves isolated from their faith communities. Billions of people around the world today who follow Jesus continue to find in Him tangible peace in times of terrifying trial.
We implore leaders of churches who plan to continue gathering in larger groups to urgently reconsider. We cite Singapore and Korea as cases where community transmission of COVID-19 was greatly amplified by attendance at large church services. Churchgoers are not immune to illness, let alone a virus as dangerous as this one.
Christ-followers need to be socially responsible, to love God by loving our neighbours. There is nothing to fear in love. We encourage all Christian leaders to consider carefully the way the Apostle Paul’s pleaded with the believers in Philippi (Philippians 2:3-5): “Do not proceed out of selfish ambition or vein conceit, but concern others better than yourselves… look not only look to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” For this is the way of Christ.
We urge all New Zealanders, including Christians, to turn towards God and to be much in prayer about our situation.
To every MP, from the undersigned National Church Leaders gathered today in Wellington
Tēnā koutou. Today, 17 March 2020, the national leaders of most New Zealand church denominations gathered together in Wellington, within sight of Parliament. We want to say to every MP: we urge you to look deep into your own moral conscience, and to vote against the Abortion Law “Reform” Bill at its final reading.
We acknowledge that a decision to seek an abortion is often a lonely and agonising choice for a woman, and that the aim of this Bill is to streamline access to abortion and reduce its stigma. We recognise there are complexities in the abortion issue. We do, however, see any abortion as a tragedy for all concerned.
The profound and pervasive flaw of this Bill is that it erases all consideration for the human worth of the unborn child, and (unlike the current legislation) makes no attempt to balance the needs of mother and child and to give at least some protection to the unborn. The Bill defies the obvious, scientifically incontestable reality that the unborn are living, beating-heart, human babies. Societies which practice great oppression often first dehumanise those they mistreat, asserting they are not really human, so killing them is therefore acceptable. Unwittingly, the Bill echoes that same chilling pattern: it assumes that unwanted unborn are neither human nor valuable and that their death is therefore of no consequence; their death is minimalised as just a “health” procedure for the mother, in which the real victim is determinedly overlooked.
The intent of the Bill may well be to advance women’s autonomy or health. But we believe its primary effect will be to further normalise unspeakable abuse and death against society’s most innocent, vulnerable and voiceless members, the unborn. We believe all human life is a sacred taonga, a priceless gift from God. Justice and compassion requires that we should allow the unborn to be safely born and to live the life they have been given. Those in great authority have a God-given responsibility to help protect everyone, especially those most vulnerable; to legislate instead to facilitate their death is culpably wrong.
And so, in the name of God, and of justice and compassion, and for the sake of future generations, we the undersigned national church leaders join with a vast number of other caring New Zealanders and implore you to exercise true conscience and to vote against this highly unbalanced and unjust Bill.
Signed…
Rev Charles Hewlett Acting Chair
Bishop Mark Whitford Secretary
On behalf of the following National Church Leaders…
Pastor Adam White, Leader, New Life Churches Pastor Boyd Ratnajara, National Leader, Elim Church of New Zealand Pastor Peter Mortlock, Senior Pastor, City Impact Church Rev Setaita Taumoepeau Veikune, President, Methodist Church of New Zealand Pastor Steve Burgess, Regional Overseer / Senior Leader, C3 Churches Cardinal John Dew, Archbishop of Wellington, Roman Catholic Church Rev Andrew Marshall, National Director, Alliance Churches of New Zealand Brent Liebezeit, President, Christian Churches New Zealand Right Rev Fakaofo Kaio, Moderator, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (personal support) Pastor David Macgregor, National Director, Vineyard Churches Bishop Jay Behan, Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa New Zealand Charles Hewlett, National Leader, Baptist Churches of New Zealand Rev Tale Hakeagaiki, Chairman, Congregational Union of New Zealand Pastor Eddie Tupa’i, President, New Zealand Pacific Union Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church Pastor Iliafi Esera, Senior Pastor, Assemblies of God New Zealand Rev Brett Jones, National Superintendent, Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand Rev Dr Stuart Lange, National Director, New Zealand Christian Network Rev Dr Jaron Graham, National Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene Bishop Mark Whitfield, Lutheran Church of New Zealand
‘Unprecedented’. ‘Social distancing’. ‘Self-isolation’. ‘Community outbreak’. ‘Lockdown.’ These and other words have come to dominate our news feeds and conversations. A few weeks ago, the world was ordinary; now, it is different, unusual, unfamiliar. COVID-19 has turned into a global pandemic affecting every aspect of our lives. We have been turned upside down and inside out, and, understandably, are left feeling dazed and confused. People have died, more deaths will follow, travel is drastically restricted, and society is being changed. Life is different.
