Between 17-21 April this year six Anglican young adults from the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia gathered with 200 Christian peers to study, worship and forge friendships at the Christian Conference of Asia's Asian Ecumenical Youth Conference (AEYA) in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The Assembly centred on the conference theme, “Break every yoke” (from Isaiah 58:6), asking "What ensnares and burdens young people today – and how can they break free?"

Anglicans Alokoulu Ulukivaiola and Loini Simeti (Tikanga Polynesia), Kauri Tangohau and Shinaya Kaiwai (Tikanga Māori), Hannah Corbett and Daniel MacDonald (Tikanga Pākeha) attended five days of seminars, plenaries and worship, with scripture, story and analysis focused on dissecting today's political, social, theological and environmental conditions that lead to a broken world. The challenge in every forum was; "How can we as young Christians work with God to transform the world to health and harmony?"

Conference forums, speeches and seminars revealed examples of diverse Christian responses shared by Asian and Australasian Christians as they zeroed in on issues pressing hard on their 20-35yr generation, including: the impact of wars, misinformation, mental health crises, ecological threats and spiritual malaise. 

Solidarity and connection

The stand-out experience for Loini Simeti was finding empathy and building relationships with other young Christian leaders.

"What really inspired and moved me was hearing how many young people across Asia are facing deep and complex challenges such as structural injustice, moral injury, poverty, discrimination, and environmental degradation." she said.

Loini reported hearing firsthand accounts of young people living through or working with people suffering from forced migration, human trafficking, unjust laws and limiting social norms, and manipulation caused by social media algorithms and AI. 

"Being together and telling those stories in person made it felt like more than just "information". It was a shared experience of hearing the struggles of brothers and sisters in Christ from different traditions and contexts." she said.

"...what truly touched me was their resilience and faith. Many shared how they continue to stand firm, speak up, and serve their communities even when they are directly affected by these issues."

Whanaungatanga and culture

Kauri Tangohau relished the chance to represent Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa in an international ecumenical space.

He also enjoyed the three tikanga crew, who he'd met for the first time as they boarded the plane at Auckland airport. 

"There was a strong sense of whanaungatanga within our group, and we carried our values of hospitality, respect, faith, and service into the wider Assembly community." he said.

Kauri says the ANZP group were proud to share their unique church identity too, telling others about life as a three tikanga church and sharing their own cultural and faith journeys.

Shinaya Kaiwai agreed with Kauri that for her, the most important aspect was being able to share through a whakaaro Māori approach.

"We were able to make strong connections with participants from other countries by the way that we carried ourselves and shared our experiences – which were quite similar to those experienced by others." 

Shinaya's favourite Bible study came from Matthew 6, which led insights on contemporary burdens placed on young people such as the 'yoke of image', the 'yoke of transaction' and the 'yoke of approval'.

"E hono ana aua kōrero katoa ki te whakaaro, me noho hūmārie, me noho whakaiti te tangata."
(All of the stories and ideas shared through our Bible study on Matthew 6 supported the concept that we must always remain humble.) 

Going to the heart of ecumenism 

Daniel MacDonald was energised by hearing Indian theologian Dr Kochurani Abraham's presentation on reclaiming the core vision of ecumenism – which she framed as the challenge of living in the world as one 'oikumene' - the source of the term "ecumenical", and the Greek word for 'household'.

"[Dr Abraham's] session on reclaiming the prophetic vision of the household of God was so engaging ... [She] spoke about the household of God as an inclusive household with space for everyone; how freedom leads us to seek freedom for others; about the Holy Spirit’s transforming power, and how friendship can break down hierarchies and other unjust systems that divide people." 

The conference included ten youth discussion forums (one of Kauri's favourite aspects) and further keynotes where Asian theologians opened up scripture and theology in response to young adults' experience of global political pressures on Creation and on livelihoods and vocational opportunities. 

Daniel summed up the wide-ranging ethical conversations during the session on AI and large language models. 

“AI is Good. AI is Bad. AI can be harmful. AI can be helpful. It depends on the user – Use it with care.”

Standing up for Christ

A highlight for the Diocese of Polynesia's Youth Coordinator Alokoulu Ulukivaiola was meeting fellow Anglicans from Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and he loved the visits to local Thai churches too.

"What moved me the most was meeting young people who had only become Christians in recent years, yet were already deeply rooted in Christ and courageously standing up for their right to worship God in their countries."

"Their faith and commitment were truly inspiring."

Sharing cultural riches

Alokoulu appreciated the three tikanga rōpū too, 

"Our group was amazing, with each person bringing different talents and skills that God had gifted them with. We worked well together as a team and were able to share our story through our culture and the way we live as Pacific people."

The ANZP Anglicans shared the riches of Pacific Christianity as they led the Assembly in worship and later took to the stage for cultural night to perform haka, waiata and Samoan siva.

An ecumenical revelation 

Alokoulu noticed how quickly Pacific young people from different churches found solidarity and common ground. 

"One thing that stood out was how we continued to stand together, no matter the denomination. We met Tongans from the Uniting Church in Australia, as well as Samoan and Māori members from the Methodist Church of New Zealand." 

"Together, we showcased the diversity of the Pacific and the solidarity that unites us." 

The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia is a member of the Christian Conference of Asia which includes churches from Asia, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The Diocese of Polynesia is a member of the Pacific Council of Churches. 

Read Kauri Tangohau's AEYA reflection on the website of Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa.
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Notes: In Polynesia, ecumenical experiences for young people are organised by the Pacific Conference of Churches and the National Councils of Churches in different Pacific countries. These include education, advocacy and action, and ecumenical dialogue. Christian approaches to decolonisation and climate change resilience are major themes in Pacific ecumenism.

Since the Conference of Churches of Aotearoa New Zealand was dissolved by church leaders in 2005, no national body of churches has organised regular youth ecumenism in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Aotearoa New Zealand Anglicans have continued to participate in ecumenism locally, through iwi and other networks and in joint worship during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity as well as local traditions of regular shared services and activities.

National ecumenical bodies continuing in Aotearoa-NZ today are: the universities-based Student Christian Movement Aotearoa (f.1896), Christian World Service (CWS) (f.1948) which supports aid and development-based ecumenism, Te Rūnanga Whakawhanaunga i ngā Hāhi o Aotearoa (f.1982 continuing Māori ecumenism across the motu including from within the National Council of Churches NZ f.1941).

Today, the Aotearoa New Zealand National Dialogue for Christian Unity (NDCU) (f. 2016) arranges regular church leader dialogues and other ecumenical initiatives. Recently Common Grace Aotearoa (f.2023) has gathered representatives across churches to support social justice campaigns.