As hundreds of mourners gather for Archbishop Brown Turei's tangi on the East Coast, Archbishop Winston Halapua and Archbishop Philip Richardson have issued a call for thanksgiving and prayer in Anglican churches across Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

The archbishops request all churches in this province to remember Archbishop Brown Turei before God, and to offer thanksgiving for his gentle and wise ministry as Bishop of Tairawhiti, Bishop of Aotearoa, Primate and Archbishop of this Church.

"Please offer thanks to God for Archbishop Brown Turei's unparalleled service and example across more than sixty years' as a priest and twenty-five years as a bishop in this Church."

"And pray that God's comfort will be with all those who mourn, especially Archbishop Brown's wife Mihi and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"May he rest in peace and rise in glory."