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Bishop John Gray laid to rest

The Rt Rev John Gray, first Bishop of Te Hui Amorangi o Te Waipounamu, has been buried at Tokomaru Bay, heartland of Ngati Porou.

Boys from Te Aute College bear Bishop John to the Tuatini urupa - Bishop John helped saveTe Aute from financial calamity.

A view through the waharoa to Pakirikiri Marae,where Bishop John's funeral was held.

Bishop John is brought from the porch of the wharenui to lie in the marae atea for the funeral service.

Archdeacon Richard Wallace from Te Hui Amorangi o Te Waipounamu.

Archdeacon Mere Wallace from Te Wai Pounamu.

Bishop Api Qiliho delivers a message of condolence from Archbishop Winston Halapua.

Raquel Gray delivers her tribute to her dad - flanked by her brother, Robert, and Bishop John's siter, Lorraine Toki.

Robert Gray, Bishop John's son. Above all, said Robert "my dad was fearless."

Archdeacon Turi Hollis preached the funeral sermon.

Bishop Ngarahu Katene serves the Eucharist wafer to Lorraine Toki.

The funeral party begin their trek from Pakirkiri to the urupa.

Past a store which has seen better days.

Jackie Chesley-Ingle is carrying Bishop John's Waipounamu crozier - while Tapu Laulu is holdinghis mitre.

Tessa Tamihere leads the funeral party through Tokomaru Bay.

An unexpected pause as the funeral party passes Huiwhenua, the wharenui at Tuatini Marae.

Jackie Chesley-Ingle and the pallbearers pause at Tuatini Marae before processing to the urupa.

Entering the urupa. Tuatini Marae at left.

The pallbearers carry Bishop John through Tuatini urupa, with St Mary's Anglican church in the background.

Taonga News | 18 Nov 2015 |

Bishop John Gray was laid to rest today.

About 130 mourners turned up to his funeral service at Pakirikiri Marae, a stone’s throw from the water’s edge at Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast of the North Island.

Bishop John, who had Ngati Porou ties, was then taken through the town to Tuatini urupa, which abuts the historic St Mary’s Church, Tokomaru Bay.

John Robert Kuru Gray was born in 1947, ordained as a deacon in 1982, as a Priest in 1983, and as a bishop in 1996.

He served as Vicar General to Te Pihopa o Aotearoa for 10 years and, in the words of Archbishop Brown Turei, “his ministry and courageous leadership within Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa and the wider Three-Tikanga Church will be sorely missed.”

Bishop John leaves behind his wife Helen, son Robert, daughters Raquel and Rawinia, his mokopuna and extended family.