MAORI MISSION FIELD

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 31 October 1933, Page 6

MAORI MISSION FIELD

DIOCESE OF AOTEAROA j DOMINION AND CHATEHAMS. ADDRESS BY BISHOP BENNETT. At St. Mary’s Parish Hall in Ha-j wera last evening the lit. Rev. F. j A. Bennett, Bishop of Abt'edroa, ad-| dressecL an audience of some 3UO par-r ishioners and tiieir friends on the subject of spiritual work among tlie Maoris. His rfehiai-lis were illuktrateu py the •screening of over 100 lanterri slides. , , Proceedings opened with the singing or an appropriate hymn by tile congregation and prayers led by the R-ev. H-; Whitby James, vicar of St. Mary’S parish.. j Air Jaiiies expressed appreciation of» the visit to Hawera, of Bishop Ben- * nett and of the opportunity, afforded! flawera parishioners Of showing their love and regard for the Maori people, and of learning . something of , their spiritual life and uplift through the teachings of the Christian Church.. . .. Thanks were returned by BisKijß Bemiett who said that he #a.s indeed proud to visit Haivera and to meet so many people who had done thenutmost to make his stay ‘exceedingly pleasant. JSis stoi-Jr 'was that of the spiritual life of the Maori people and lie hoped that it would be rendered all the more eloquent by the. series of lantern Slides ivilich he had to show. '“Numbered among the Polynesian race were some of the greatest navigators and discoverers in the world’s history,” said Bishop Bennett in his remarks relative to the great navigations which t-b'd-k place from Hawaiki to the islands, of the South SeaS: As evidence of the Connecting liillt Between the M&o-ris of to-day and their origin in the .peoples of Malay, Syria, aiid Cven Ireland, slides of typical Maori ornamentation incorporating figures and designs which, because of points of marked similarity, could have originated only in those countries were exhibited and explained. The Maori people in the North Islfihd of Ne'w Zealand were distributed in tlie proportion of 18,000 in. the Auckland district, 11 000 in Waikato, 8,000 in Wellington and. 22,000 in .the v cry liil-ge distribt of Waiapu. The speaker referred briefly to the diffioujlty of the ministry in, Taranaki, wliibh was part rtf one of thfe districts mentioned, and ili Waikato. Both were still smarting under the alleged unjust punitive action of the Goverii.rnent of the day in confiscating large arfeas of native kihd. As eompensatioii fd'r, this tfeatmeiit annual grdnts Of £SOOO for all time Were hcHv paid to eAc-h ’district-. Taranaki hhd a'cceptfid aiid- was making gb'od usfi 8f thfe hioney hnifing its Jifiople, but the Waikatos still refused‘to handle it, sdyiiig ‘ ‘Let thfe Sim cbhtinfie to. shine oil the sins of the pakehfe.”. . Bishop Bfihnfitt ekplhined. that the Church of England did.,not hate niissibiiari'eS in the field in lWrahaki because of an arrangement entered into with the Methodist. Church many years- ago, whereby the. latter undertook the i'fisp'bhSibiiity of such work. Touching on subjects of special [interest to Taranaki Bishop Bennett referred to his visit in the morning to TurnturU-Mokai and said that in no other part of New Zealand had he seen such a wonderfully preserved historic spot. Turuturu-Mokai had tremendous possibilities aiid if it could be restored in years to come to its original state as a fighting pa, with ,pallisades and native buildings, it would be ah attraction, not only to New Zealanders, but to tourists froiii abroad Bishop Bennett also referifed to thfe hleinorial canoe receiitly unveilfid at Patfea ahd explained the significance of the ornamented prow. He congratulated ktr P. A. -Joiifis on his excellent wefi'k carried Pitt- in ebficrete find- also expressed Admiration hi the concrete casts of the Maori figures# in the canoe.

The lecturejr screened pi'ctmV’s of artists’ impressions of the discover; - of New Zealand by. Abel Tasman in 1642 and of the, eoriiing of Captain Cook in 1769, as well as studies of early missionaries among the Maoris — Samuel Marsden, Henry Williams, William Williams and Bishop Selwyn--and spoke of the work of translating the New Testament from Greek to Maori and of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Maori. He described Bussell (North Auckland) as the “cradle of Christianity among the Maori people’ and said it was sad td think that this spot was now deserted* of its once extensive Maori population. . Frejsh m our riiinds, Said Bishop Bennett, was the recent magnificent of Waitangi to the nation by Lord and Lady Bledisloe, for which the people everywhere, especially the Maori people, were deeply grateful. Pictures ivere shown of missionary work in various parts, of New Zealand arid the Chatham islands, and of the devoutness of isolated congregations in the building at iconsiderable saicrificje jof their own places of worship. An important feature of the work was the education of Maori boys and girls, in the very fine schools and colleges dotted about the country. Bishop Bennett paid a tribute to the great assistance he received from pakeha friends arid said that his work in a very large diocese was considerably lightened by tile fact that so nlariy people today were interesting theinselves in the spiritual uplift of his people. The proceedings concluded with congregational singing and a collection iri aid of the Maori mission funds Bishop Bennett pronounced the Benediction.