MAORI TRIBAL UNION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20386, 15 October 1929, Page 12

MAORI TRIBAL UNION.

PES IRE OF A .CENTURY*

CHURCH AS RALLYING POINT.

IMPORTANCE OF NEW DIOCESE.

The view that the Church of England—tho mother Church of Now Zealandshould take further action to unito all tho Maori tribes was expressqd by the Rev. W. N. Paiiapa in a sermon at St. Mary's Cathedral on Sunday. Mr. Panapa gave a most interesting exposition on the reaction of the Maori people to many of its present problems. "To the avorage Maori churchman, Christmas Day has a twofold significance," Mr. Panapa said. "It is not only the birthday of our Lord, but tho anniversary of tho day, in 1814, when Samuel Marsden preachod the first Christian sormon on the sands of Oihi, a day which marked the dawn of a now era in the history of this country. " Ono cannot look back over a space of 115 years without thankfulness for tho great work that has been accomplished. In spite of failures tho Kingdom of God is slowly advancing among the Maori people. An impartial survey of history will show that they have contributed to both tho social and the economic lifo of tho country in the past and we aro quite sanguine that they will continue to do so in the future. Economic conditions at prosent are pressing them to call on tho best in their ancestry and that call will not be made in vain."

Turning to tho religious viewpoint, Mr. Panapa outlined the work of tho Maori Mission. The mission, he said, was rather like a spoiled child, 50 much so that the average Maori churchman thought of himself as being outside tho Church. An appeal to tho Church meant an appeal to tho pakeha. However, if there was anyone to be blamed it was the spoiler, rather than the spoiled. It was vital to tho very life of tho Maori Mission that tho rank and file- should be made to realise their responsibilities. The only way to do that was for tho Mother Church to recognise that its child, the Maori Mission, had grown up, in years at any rate, and to give it work which would bo tho salvation of the Maori people. A Period of Transition.

Some sections were inclined to hesitate. They stood somewhat bewildered with what they had been taught of Clu'istianity and what they had tasted of civilisation. They were going through a period of transition. There was a section of tho race which was disposed to go a little further and change over to new religious sects. This showed that there was a certain restlessness abroad. In a race that held a clinging regard for sentiment and tradition and gave place to none in its loyalty to principle, that restlessness could not wholly be accounted for by tho lure and novelty of new religions. It had been one of tho weaknesses of Church organisation that, after a century of Christianity, a "scheme for bringing about the unity of tho tribes had only recently been evolved. In tho past everything had been in tho opposite /direction. With the creation of the .Waikato Diocose thß Maori people were divided up into four watertight compartments as far as Church life was concorned. Tho Maori Mission had not existed as a single <niity. ' '' ■ "Since the coming of Christianity there has always beon a desire" on the part of tho Maori people for some-form of unity," Mr. Panapa said., "If we study all tlje different Maori movements during the last century it will be found that the same desire is behind them all. This was the guiding principle of the 'Oing' movement. Wiremu Tamehuiia quite early-came under the influence of the missionaries and spent a short term at St. John's College. A keen student of his Bible, he saw in the appointment of the first King of Israel the solution to the problem. Tho movement, though misunderstood at the time, survives to-day among the Waikato and other tribes, a living testimony to the desire of a great man to unite his people. The Ratana Movement.

"To-day wo liavo in our midst the Batana movement. Whatever ono may think of that movement, it has attracted many of the people, not because of its religious aspect, but because it is making an. attempt to bring the people together. "It has been left entirely to these different movements, which have done more harm than good, to try to unite the people. The Church may very well take a lead from all these efforts, which have come from the Maoris themselves, and provide within herself the needed rallying point. It would be a tragedy if they wer# forced to find that rallying point elsewhere. "The fact that tho Maori Mission is now co-ordinated with the other enterprises under the board of missions shows that the best minds of tho Church to-day are alive to the position. It means a unification of the Maori work after a fashion.

"But by far the most important event which has ever taken place in the history of the mission was tho consecration of tho first Bishop of Aotearoa. A Maori chief said then that tho day would rank in history with the day on which Samuel Marsdcn landed at Oihi. No doubt he thought tho day marked a stage in tho progress of the mission toward'tho attainment of its full manhood. "Tho Maori bishopric scheme calls forth tho sincere gratituda of every Maori churchman and it is for the Maoris as a people to show their sincerity in n practical way and justify tho trust that has been placed in them. In giving the Maori Mission this measure the mother Church need have no misgiving. Wo know that since tho appointment of tho Bishop of Aotearoa a new spirit is moving in tho Maori peoplo. The indifferences of a generation aro being- swept aside. The way in which the Maori bishop has been received and welcomed as a Maori, without any suggestion of tribal feeling, shows that the timo is indeed ripo for that unity which has been desired for so long. Wo beliove that in tho new episcopacy we have a point of union for our race which nothing else could provide.".