Maori ministers opposed on treaty views

Press, 6 October 1987, Page 3

Maori ministers opposed on treaty views

A bicultural drama unfolded before the members of the Christchurch diocesan Anglican Synod yesterday, as two Maori ministers presented opposing views on whether the Church should place the Treaty of Waitangi at the centre of church life.

A proposal by the University of Canterbury’s interdenominational chaplain, the Rev. Mark Vivian, that the Church agree to place the Treaty of Waitangi at the centre of church life In the diocese as a bench mark from which it would evaluate all policy, statutes and action, prompted mixed and sometimes heated responses from Synod members during a twohour debate. Near the end of the sometimes tense debate, a prayer resounded throughout the Synod chambers as a representative of the Maori Mission at Phillipstown, the Rev. Richard Wallace, rose from the floor and made his way to the front of the visibly startled gathering. After commanding the silence and attention of his listeners, Mr Wallace prayed in Maori for about three or four minutes, acknowledging "God as Lord” while greeting the mana (prestige, status) of his tupuna (ancestors). He also expressed support for the mover of the motion while greeting the Synod. Afterwards, Mr Wallace said he felt the discussion had lost touch with the original motion, and that people were talking to

each other rather than listening to what the motion was saying. During his speech, he asked his cousin, the Rev. David Manning, with whom he shares both Scots and Maori ancestry, to withdraw his amendment that the Treaty of Waitangi not be placed at the centre of church life but, rather placed before “the treaty from Heaven.” Mr Manning said that wjille he was committed to the ideals in the Treaty of Waitangi he had a commitment first to another' “treaty, one drafted in }ieaven and signed with the blood of the Son of God."

, "My first commitment, however, is to the treaty from Heaven. From it , flows the understanding I need to bring a Christian base to understanding the other treaty — the one from Waitangi,” he said. “I have had the call of God to forgiveness; many of you may yet have to face the call of God to repent and repair.” Mr Manning said the Church existed to bear witness to God’s message “that in Christ, hostility and enmity can be transformed into peace.” The Synod finally agreed to “bind itself to the Treaty of Waitangi” as the benchmark from Which it evaluated all policy. Mr Vivian said he was satisfied with the amendment, although he was sad that the Synod had avoided discussing the “real principle” of what was becoming known as "institutionalised racism.”