Te Hīnota Whānui has agreed to scope out ways each respective Tikanga of the Anglican Church can partner to support others’ ministry through sharing of human, financial and infrastructure resources.

Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi moved Motion #11 on behalf of Tikanga Pasifika, which aims to revisit a conversation on resource-sharing raised by Tikanga Māori a decade ago at the 2012 Fiji General Synod.

The motion sets out the rising problem faced when the Diocese of Polynesia’s Ministry Committee discerns that ordained ministers will benefit from study abroad, but then finds that once trained those clergy take up offers to minister in parishes that are not part of the Diocese of Polynesia.

“The issue is an issue of sharing resources.” Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi told Te Hīnota Whānui on 28 October.

 “In our Tikanga we are sending priests to New Zealand for education, but some of our best decide not to return.”

Fe’iloakitau identified that some clergy find themselves equally drawn to answer a call to ministry in Aotearoa New Zealand or Polynesia, but stronger financial provisions in New Zealand Dioceses make it hard for the Diocese of Polynesia to compete.

The motion invites the three tikanga Church to engage in a process of reflective discernment on the thirty years of journeying together and calls on the Church, under the leadership of the house of Bishops, to identify pathways that would allow for each tikanga to offer ministry resources to address needs in the other tikanga.

These resources for sharing could include ministers and other staff, financial resources and ministry supporting infrastructure such as land and buildings.

The motion (in full below) now mandates the General Synod Standing committee to guide a consultative process on how the three tikanga can develop ways to share resources that benefit the Church as a whole.

Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi and Diocese of Polynesia delegates hope this project will help the whole Church turn its attention to how resources can be focused in support of our mission as a Church across tikanga,

“It is envisaged this proposed way forward would lay the foundation for a greater sense of common history and engage an inward expression of what and how we do mission as the three tikanga church.”

MOTION # 11

SHARING OF 3 TIKANGA RESOURCES                                        

This 65^th Session of the General Synod / Te Hinota Whanui on this 28^th day of October of the Year of Our Lord 2022;

•  Mindful of the resources allocation in the three Tikanga Church that provides for the formation of clergy as offered by the Saint John’s College Trust to the respective Tikanga;

•  Noting that the scholarships application of the Diocese of Polynesia are allocated after careful deliberation of the needs of the Tikanga Pasefika through the deliberation of the Ministry Committee;

•  Noting the recent trend for our graduate ordained clergy of the Diocese of Polynesia to take up offers to minister in parishes that are not part of the Diocese of Polynesia;

•  Acknowledging that the need for ordained clergy is a dire need across the whole Church;

•  Mindful of our call as three tikanga to work together and to be more deliberate about the way in which we express our partnership in the three tikanga church;

•  Celebrating the 31st Anniversary of our three tikanga church and our relationships to celebrate Our Lord’s work in our Church; 

This 65th Session of the General Synod / Te Hinota Whanui;

1. Invites the three tikanga church to engage a process of reflective discernment on the 30 years of journeying together;

2. calls on the Church, under the leadership of the House of Bishops, to identify pathways that would allow for respective Tikanga to offer human, financial and infrastructure resources to address needs in the other tikanga;

3. mandates the GSSC to guide a consultative process to develop a narrative around the sharing of resources with a view to benefit the three Tikanga Church as a whole;

4. invites the GSSC to allocate necessary financial and human resources towards this initiative; and

5. invites the House of Bishops and the GSSC to report back to the next General Synod on the outcomes of this consultative process.