Gospel Bicentenary Booklet | 5 Copies

From the printed booklet version of this document

In June 2013 at a hui on bicultural peace-making organised by Laidlaw College, Alistair Reese (Te Kohinga Reconciliation Network) raised the idea of a special statement to mark the Gospel bicentenary.

In July I invited Alistair and David Moko (Baptist Māori Ministries) to lunch to discuss the suggestion and we agreed that a statement should be written, with the caveat from David that if it was to be something that just sat on people’s shelves gathering dust, he was not interested. We all agreed.

In September I shared the initiative at the National Church Leaders Aotearoa New Zealand meeting in Wellington. There was general support, and even a suggestion that the NCLANZ group might organise the writing.

In November, with the bicentenary only weeks away, and a desire that the statement would be available for the NZ Christian Network 2014 Christian Leaders Congress to be held in Waitangi in February, we asked Samuel Carpenter from Karuwhā Trust to prepare an initial draft. Samuel had impeccable credentials being a qualified lawyer, with a master’s degree in history, who had made a submission to the Waitangi Tribunal, and was working at the Office of Treaty Settlements.

The four of us worked on the draft through January with feedback from a number of Māori and Pakeha historians and Christian leaders; Alistair organised translation into Maori; and the statement was presented and well received, in both languages at the Congress.

Feedback was invited from February to July. David Moko and I both travelled extensively during this period talking about the statement on marae and in church ministers’ groups throughout the country.

In August we met via skype, prayed through the responses, and completed the statement for people to sign. It is the prayer of the authors that this would not be seen now as a final word, but rather a catalyst for ongoing dialogue and action.

Thanks to all of my co-authors – Samuel, David, and Alistair. Thanks to Gayann Phillips for the beautiful design work in this booklet. Thanks to all who helped with research and feedback.

To God be all the glory.

Glyn Carpenter, New Zealand Christian Network
November 2014