‘INWARDNESS’ OF MAORI CHURCH

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30636, 30 December 1964, Page 8

‘INWARDNESS’ OF MAORI CHURCH

(N Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, December 29.

The “inwardness” of Christianity among the Maori could be a disease that could prove fatal to the Maori Church, the vicar of WairoaMohaka, Hawke’s Bay, Canon Rangiihu, said in an article in “The Times” today.

Canon Rangiihu said the basic Maori trait of love of the land had made the Christian church among the Maori an inward-looking church.

“Little missionary activity has been in evidence in the last 150 years,” he wrote. “Except for a handful of Maori clergymen and perhaps one layman, the Maori Christian has never thought of working outside New Zealand.” Most of the Christian churches had translated their services to meet the language demand of the Maori, but some Europeans were advocating even this would lead to segregation, where the Maori would be chanelled to his particular stream and the European to his. “But worshipping in one's own language surely indicates ‘voluntary grouping,’ where people are together because of the law of mutual association—a mutual tongue, mutual traditions and customs,

mutual jokes and so on—where no line is drawn to show how and where one should go, where complete flexibility of movement either to European or Maori services by either race is made possible," Canon Rangiihu wrote.

“It is certain the Maori can be reached more effectually throgh the medium of the language with which God endowed him than by any other means.

“By nature the Maori is a deeply religious person, but at the same time he is left wide open to the winds of doctrine. He is the ready tar get of all who come in the name of the Lord, and the Christian church which has nurtured him must see him through to hig full stature,” said Canon Rangiihu.