Every Moment Is the Right Moment for Doing Theology Where You Are
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EVERY MOMENT IS THE RIGHT MOMENT FOR DOING THEOLOGY WHERE YOU ARE A Practical Resource for Doing Theology 1 Every Moment is the Right Moment for Doing Theology Where you Are: A Practical Resource for Doing Theology Published by the Tikanga Toru Youth Commission PO Box 87-188, Meadowbank, Auckland 1742 www.makethefirstmove.org All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the Tikanga Toru Youth Commission. Copyright © 2014 by Tikanga Toru Youth Commission Published in New Zealand ISBN 978-0-473-27959-2 (Print) ISBN 978-0-473-27960-8 (Online) CONTENTS 4 Foreword 5 Introduction 6 Contributors 7 Tikanga Pākehā Method Koru: A Pākehā develops a method through living in Aotearoa 10 Story 1: Piripi Taumata-a-Kura – Priest and Missionary, ‘The Apostle of New Zealand’ 12 Story 2: Marianne Williams – Missionary 15 Tikanga Māori Method Rauru: A Māori approach to reading and understanding the Bible 17 Story 1: Piripi Taumata-a-Kura – Māori Anglican Evangelist and “Father of Māori Christianity in Eastland” 20 Story 2: The Rev’d Rota Waitoa – The first Māori Anglican Deacon and Priest 23 Tikanga Pasefika Method Sisi: A Polynesian approach to reading and understanding the Bible 25 Story 1: Sister Clare Masina – The founder of St Christophers Home 27 Story 2: Fine Halapua – The first Tongan/Polynesian Bishop 3 FOREWORD Bula vinaka, namaste, It is my joy and privilege to present to you our new T3YC ‘Doing Theology’ resource! Launched at the Tikanga talofa lava, malo e lelei, Youth Synod in Wellington in March 2014, the ‘Doing Theology’ resource has been developed by Tikanga representatives and tried and tested by our young people. We very much hope that it will be used widely as a greetings, ngā mihi nui, resource and shared via our interactive website where you can post ideas and stories so that we might develop ngā manaakitanga a the methods further. Te Runga Rawa hoki Thinking deeply about our faith is a vital part of keeping it alive. St. Anselm said that theology was faith seeking ki a tātou katoa! understanding. Each one of us ‘does’ theology every time we think about God, and talk about God to another person. Each one of us ‘does’ theology every time we care for our neighbour and do a kind deed in the name of Jesus Christ. In our Anglican tradition, we are richly blessed with many kaumatua and kuia who have shared their wisdom down the ages. This ‘Doing Theology’ resource celebrates the stories of some of our great ancestors in faith, and uses Biblical interpretation methods drawn from our three Tikanga contexts. ‘In Christ we move together’; as we talanoa, as we hui, and as we wonder together, each one of us is drawn ever more deeply into the love and mystery of God who is revealed to us in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Body of Christ is enriched by our ability to articulate where we are in relation to Christ. When we ‘do theology’ together, we build up the Body of Christ. That this is done particularly by our rangatahi, by our young people is a powerful witness to the life of the whole Church. So, may you journey together through this resource with love, humility, joy and grace! Have fun and enjoy going deeper in your faith! + Helen-Ann Hartley The Right Reverend Dr Helen-Ann Hartley Bishop of Waikato, Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki Youth Liaison Bishop, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia 4 INTRODUCTION The aim of this resource is to help you do theology; to think a little more deeply about God and God in relation to the world. To do that, there are three methods in this book for you to use. Each method explores doing theology in a Tikanga Pākehā, Tikanga Māori and Tikanga Pasefika context respectively and provides a set of simple steps for you follow. Each method is followed by two examples applying those steps to particular qualities in the lives of notable people in the life of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. Additional written and video resources of young people using the methods in this book can be found at makethefirstmove.org Our hope is that these methods will help you to do theology where you are and apply this theology, like the people in our examples, to your lives. 5 CONTRIBUTORS The Right Reverend Dr Helen-Ann Hartley Helen-Ann became the 7th Bishop of Waikato in February 2014. Prior to that she was Dean of Tikanga Pakeha at St John’s College in Auckland. Bishop HA is passionate about communicating the Gospel in creative ways, enabling people of all ages and stages to take their place in the grand story of God’s amazing work in our world. Bishop HA has taught in schools, colleges and universities, and is the author of the 2011 book Making Sense of the Bible. Bishop HA loves the outdoors and outer-space. She once tweeted the International Space Station and was amazed to receive a reply! You can follow her on twitter: @h_ahartley. The Reverend Don Tamihere Don is a Māori Anglican Priest and Biblical Scholar. He is currently the Tūmuaki (Dean) of Te Rau Theological College in Gisborne, and Ministry Educator for Te Hui Amorangi o Te Tairāwhiti. Happily married to Temukisa (Samoan), and proud father of Tiana, Danielle, and Ethan, Don’s interests include family, music, travel, languages, and culture. Don also has a keen interest in youth ministry, having served as a youth minister and leader for Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa and the Three Tikanga Church for almost a decade. The Reverend Dr Eseta Mateiviti A secondary school teacher by profession Eseta has broad experience having taught in many schools across several denominations and cultures including Anglican, Hindi, Catholic, and Methodist. She is presently Tokoni and Chaplain at the College of St John the Evangelist in Auckland, NZ. 6 Much of my life has been spent developing a passion for understanding tikanga pākehā and communicating the Gospel. For the most part, this has taken place in the context of family, church, school, University, and as an ordained method priest in the Anglican Church. My desire to understand the Biblical text in its context led me to a deep appreciation of the differences of the KORU: A PĀKEHA Biblical world from that of our own. In particular, the realisation that Jesus, Paul and the other great characters of the Biblical narrative were DEVELOPS A Jewish was a deep challenge to my own assumptions. Instead of seeing this as a stumbling block however, it illuminated the texts in ways that METHOD THROUGH were fresh and exciting. There are two areas in particular that have LIVING IN influenced the development of my koru method of reading the Bible: Firstly, the Jewish rabbinic tradition of tradition of ‘black fire on white AOTEAROA fire.’ This phrase comes from the ‘midrash Tan-huma,’ a collection of texts that were collected together between the years 400 and 600CE: The Torah is full of holy fire; it was written with a black fire upon a white by Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley fire. The black fire refers to the letters of Torah, the actual words written down. The white refers to the spaces in between the letters. Together, black and white make up the whole of Torah. On another level, the black fire represents the literal meaning of the text, and the white fire represents ideas that we bring to the texts when we read it. The white fire has endless potential for new meaning that can incorporate stories, songs, even silence when meaning cannot be found in its fullness (yet). If you look at a rabbinic scroll, the black text is always completely surrounded by white parchment, and in fact this is laid down as an instruction in the Talmud: black fire must always be surrounded by white fire. 7 It is important to say that rabbinic readings of the Bible are not free and is complete) and yet, they remain ever aware that Scripture is often full limitless exercises (though meaning contains an endless potential of of ambiguity and that this is often given meaning by the white fire. meaning), they are firmly grounded in certain principles and procedures I came to Aotearoa in 2010, initially to spend four months teaching that are well documented. There are, for example, the ‘seven rules of and writing a book called Making Sense of the Bible. The method that I Hillel’ (from the rabbinic interpretative school of the 1st century BCE developed which I laid out in the book was developed because of where which lasted until the 5th century CE), and the ‘thirteen rules of Rabbi I was living and studying. As I began to come to grips with the complex Ishmael’ (sometime before the 3rd century CE and which expand on question of ‘what does it mean to be a Pākeha?’ I was struck by the ways in Hillel’s seven rules). When it comes to discussing Biblical texts however, which that question cannot be answered without reference to its context, there is an argument that this is more of a religious activity (in the and the many layers and challenges of that context. Much the same, as it sense that it derives from an active verb ‘to seek’) and thus the rules of happens, as reading Biblical passages wherever we might be.