Lutheran Synod

I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.  Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the morning (Sign)

I then specifically greet you: Rev Robert Erickson, President of the Lutheran Church of New Zealand; Trevor Ruthenberg, Executive Officer of the Lutheran Church of Australia and other church leaders from Australia; Rev Mark Whitfield, Pastor of St Paul’s Lutheran Church; Representatives from other denominations; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen. 

Thank you for inviting Susan and me to attend part of the 36th Synod of the Lutheran Church of New Zealand here at St Paul’s Church. 

Since taking on the Governor-General role in August 2006, Susan I have made it one of the themes of my tenure to encourage New Zealanders to address the challenges and embrace the opportunities of our country’s increasing ethnic, cultural and religious diversity.

To that end, I have twice addressed the National Interfaith Forum and have pursued connections with a wide range of faith communities.  While a Catholic by upbringing and practice, I have been pleased to participate in services and events in Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian churches and Buddhist Temples as well as activities, such as, launching Islamic Awareness Week and being part of a number of Indian Diwali and Chinese New Year Festivals.

I have also spoken to the Christian Journalists Association and as Patron of the Bible Society of New Zealand, recently filmed for a DVD marking the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible.

The Lutheran Church has been part of New Zealand’s tapestry of faiths since soon after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840.  There were three waves of migrants in the 19th century, with German Lutheran communities being established near Nelson in 1843 and near Marton in the 1860s followed by Scandinavian Lutheran communities into the Wairarapa, Manawatu and the Hawke’s Bay in the 1860s and 1870s. 

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity of recognising the descendents of those latter communities when I officially opened the 15th Scandinavian Festival in Dannevirke in February. 

Later this year, that community will celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of one of those founders, Bishop Monrad, who gifted a remarkable collection of etchings to New Zealand that are now in the care of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

While the Lutheran Church is a small church in New Zealand, the arrival of migrants and refugees in the 1940s and 1950s, and more recently from Asia and Africa, has seen it become increasingly diverse. 

In this respect, the changes within the Church mirror the wider shifts to New Zealand’s cultural and ethnic landscape that have occurred in the last 25 years.

While New Zealand has become a diverse nation, with the last census finding that close to a quarter of New Zealanders were born overseas, we have been spared, thankfully, the intolerance that has marked similar changes in other countries.

This is reflective of a New Zealand core value, that of tolerance of others.  In this regard I am reminded of the preamble to New Zealand’s first Statement on Religious Diversity, adopted in 2007.  It says in part:  "At the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, Governor Hobson affirmed, in response to a question from Catholic Bishop Pompallier, [that] ‘the several faiths of England, of the Wesleyans, of Rome, and also Māori custom shall alike be protected’."

That my predecessor Captain Hobson should have referred to the followers of Rome, just 11 years after Catholic emancipation in Britain, and also of Māori beliefs, suggests that New Zealand was founded on a principle of religious tolerance.

While there have been the inevitable pot holes along the way, the fundamental values of tolerance and a concern for one’s neighbour has never abated.  The most recent aftershocks in Christchurch drew my attention to the website of your Church in that afflicted city.  Pastor David Lipsys’ comments about those who came to his community’s aid as it dealt with liquefaction after the February quake bear repeating:

“Over the last 5 days we have laboured and sweated shoulder-to-shoulder in combinations of humanity that wouldn't ordinarily mix with one-another: university professors; high school and varsity students; highly-qualified professionals; unskilled unemployed men and women; new arrivals from Asia, America and Europe; a heavily tattooed White Power skinhead; a 10 year-old boy; a former prostitute; and a humbled and very thankful Lutheran pastor and his wife. We have been visited by a troupe of our Lord's angels in these dire days—and our lives have been exceptionally blessed!”

I further understand that with many of the historic Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist churches suffering terrible damage in the September, February and now June earthquakes, St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Christchurch has opened its doors to its sister churches, who are have been holding their services there.  Meanwhile, the wider Lutheran Church in New Zealand has raised money to support families in Christchurch.

These are just a few examples which show, that despite the bleak headlines and the battering that New Zealand’s collective psyche has taken in the last year, why I remain optimistic for our national prospects.  It also shows the key role that faith communities, such as the Lutheran Church, can play as foundations of society in uncertain times.

The time in the Governor-General role will come to an end for Susan and I in slightly more than two months’ time.  Given that St Paul’s is literally around the corner from Government House, it is specially pleasing to have this opportunity to connect with New Zealand’s Lutheran community before the present chapter in our lives finishes and another begins. 

This will also be a time of change for the Lutheran Church in New Zealand.  I understand that at this Synod, that you, Rev Erickson, will retire after four years as the President of the Church in New Zealand and that your replacement will be elected.  I add respects and thanks for your service and wish the Church all the best with that process and your wider deliberations this weekend.

And on that note I will close in New Zealand’s first language Māori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours.  No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.