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Marsden Bicentenary: 1814-2014Newsletter March 2014

From the Director and Canon TheologianOn Christmas Day 1814 – as we all rememberby now – the Rev’d Samuel Marsden andRuatara together proclaimed the Christian gospelfor the first time in Aotearoa New Zealand. Thisyear marks the 200th anniversary of thisoccasion, and so throughout 2014 there will be anumber of events and opportunities to remember,to celebrate, and to be re-inspired by whathappened at Oihi.

It’s that last that is, I believe, most important. Myfirst training was as an historian: I wellunderstand the delight of looking back into thepast, finding out what happened there, evaluatingit, and celebrating those things that deserve to becelebrated while reassessing those things thatwe wish had been done differently. (Hindsightcan be a fine thing!) But as important as the pastundoubtedly is, we look back in order to lookahead. Marsden and Ruatara’s proclamation ofthe gospel, their introducing people to the ‘gladtidings of great joy’, must inspire us to continue

that work. In order to do this, we are invited toengage with what they did, to find meaning in itfor ourselves. For some of us, that may meangoing on pilgrimage to Oihi or on otherpilgrimages throughout our land. Bishop RichardRanderson, from the Marsden Cross TrustBoard, outlines for us some of the eventsplanned for Rangihoua Heritage Park at Oihi,around the Welcome Centre, Rore Kaahu, andthe Pilgrimage Pathway down to the Cross.

There are other opportunities for pilgrimage, toOihi and in our own diocese. A group involvingpeople from the Peninsula parish (MiramarSeatoun Strathmore) and elsewhere has alreadyvisited the Bay of Islands. In the service ofthanksgiving at the top of the hill above Oihi Bay,the Rev’d Tim McKenzie noted that ‘pilgrimage isan opportunity to travel lightly, to walk free of dailyroutines, to meet people, to make friends, toenjoy and celebrate God’s creation. In thetravelling, the conversations and the silencesthere is also opportunity to reflect on the journeyof our lives and on our journey homewards toGod.’ May that be so for many of us this year.

For others, engaging with Marsden and Ruatara’slegacy may involve finding new ways to incarnatethe gospel and discovering new languages inwhich to communicate its good news. PaulMcIntosh suggests that using the language ofwhat it means to be human is a place to start, aplace from which to bless and to shape theculture in which we live.

This issue of the Wellington Institute of Theologynewsletter is a mixture of looking back andlooking forward, a mixture too of history andtheology. John McCaul (WIT Librarian andDiocesan Archivist) reviews Keith Newman’s2010 book Bible & Treaty: Missionaries amongthe Maori, a new perspective. It sets Marsden’smission, the signing of te Tiriti, and the earlykingitanga in context. Paul McIntosh’scontribution and my own, asking whether it is still‘good news of great joy’, help us to look forward,to what might happen next in the continuingproclamation of the gospel in our land. What willwe do to shape the churches’ mission inAotearoa New Zealand over the next 200 years?

We are family, we are disciples, we care for the last, the lost, the least. Anglican Diocese of Wellington, PO Box 12 046, Wellington 6144.

Rev’d Samuel Marsden

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Fourteen months ago I was fortunate to visitOihi, a beautiful and almost idyllic place in theBay of Islands. It is off the beaten track, but itis there that the Marsden Cross stands,marking the spot where the Reverend SamuelMarsden preached the first Christian sermonin New Zealand on Christmas Day 1814. Inthis year of 2014 it is a place of pilgrimage, asgroups of people make the journey to thissacred place. Nearby is the site where theMarsden Cross Visitors’ Centre is being built.

Back in November 2012 a significant historySymposium was held at Waitangi inpreparation for the Marsden bicentennial. Thepapers presented at that Symposium arecurrently being edited by well-known historianAllan Davidson, and it is expected that thebook will be published later this year. Weeagerly await its publication because it will bea major contribution to a contemporaryexamination of Marsden’s own contributionand legacy, and his place in New Zealandhistory.

In this anniversary year it is also appropriatethat we relook at the early history of NewZealand, and particularly the introduction andimpact of the Christian gospel on the Maoripeople. What has been achieved in 200years? What was the role of the missionariesin the drawing up and signing of the Treaty ofWaitangi? What has history taught us? Manyof us were brought up on the basics of thestory – Samuel Marsden, the brothers Henryand William Williams, William Colenso theexplorer, Octavius Hadfield of Otaki – theseand other names are very familiar to us. Thesignificance of the Treaty of Waitangi for bothMaori and Pakeha has raised many issues inthe years since 1840 about the purpose andmeaning of the Treaty, and the way in which it

was put into action. It is still with us as afoundation document, and the basis of ourbicultural nation and the bicultural journey ofour New Zealand churches.

Bible & Treaty: Missionaries among theMaori, a new perspective is the first of twobooks written by Keith Newman. The bookcovers a vast amount of history, the seventyyears from the 1790s to the 1860s, andNewman tells the story basicallychronologically. He covers the early contacts,Marsden and the initial missionary impact, thelater wave of missionary activity, the Maoriand tribal histories, expansion south toAuckland, the Waikato, the King Country,

Samuel Marsden in context

This newsletter is published by Wellington Institute of Theology (also known as WIT), a body set up by theAnglican Diocese of Wellington to explore contemporary theological and ethical issues, with particular referenceto the context of mission and ministry in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Director and Canon Theologian: Canon Deborah Broome

Editor: Darryl Ward

ISSN: 2350-2967

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Taranaki , the Bay of Plenty, and the EastCape and Hawkes Bay area. In addition toAnglican missionary activity, he covers theother churches that were active in the period,the Wesleyans, Presbyterians, and RomanCatholics in particular.

The book is comprehensive and detailed in itscoverage of a period of huge social change inthe Maori community, the growth ofChristianity, and the growth of Europeansettlement, and the impact of each of these onthe others. Of significance also is how themissionaries saw themselves and theirevangelistic task, and how this was to changeover the years. The contribution they made tolearning and writing the Maori language,translating of scriptures, and printing, cannotbe underestimated, nor can the role they sooften played as peacemakers. Some of themissionaries were covered with more than apassing reference, and I found the more in-depth study of people such as Bishop Selwyn,William Colenso and Thomas Gracefascinating. The people involved were allhuman with their successes and their failings.They were doing their best, as they understoodwhat they were doing, and they were productsof their times. Newman sets them in theircontext well.

We often tend to laud our own founding fathersin the main cities, particularly the NewZealand Company leaders. I thought the bookgave an honest account of the well-meaningbut problematic approach of these people,particularly over land acquisition, and I finishedthe book with a greater understanding andinsight of what is behind some of the issuesfaced in New Zealand today.

The events leading up to the signing of theTreaty of Waitangi, and the signing of theTreaty itself, are pivotal to the book. Well-meaning intentions, misunderstandings andcultural differences all made for difficulties.But even the missionaries were far fromunited. The events of 6 February 1840 makefascinating reading!

The book covers the background eventsleading up to the growth of the King Movementand the establishment of the first Maori King.Newman’s thorough coverage brings it all tolife, and leaves the impression that he was an

eyewitness to the events about which hewrites.

Well researched, it is annotated and with anextensive bibliography, making good use ofrecent publications and what is available viathe internet.

While I think this is a valuable backgroundhistory of the period, it is sadly marred inseveral respects which could easily berectified in any further reprint or revisededition. Firstly, there are occasional typos,indicating that more rigorous proof-readingwas needed. Secondly there are inaccuraciesthat a discerning Anglican church historianwould soon pick up. William Williams wasnever an Archbishop. Nor was OctaviusHadfield, but both were archdeacons who laterbecame bishops. Hadfield did becomePrimate, but the title Archbishop wasintroduced later, in 1922. Bishop Selwyn wasGeorge Augustus Selwyn, known as far as Iam aware as George. I have never beforeseen him referred to as Augustus Selwyn.Further, because there were several with thesurname Williams, it would often have beenhelpful to indicate whether Henry, William orSamuel was being referred to rather than just‘Williams.’ And I think it would have been moreaccurate to refer to Gore Browne rather thansimply ‘Browne’. These days we ‘collate’ anarchdeacon, but were Henry Williams andAlfred Brown really ‘ordained’ asarchdeacons?

I found the last chapter of the book, ‘HopeDeferred’, the most significant as Newmanbrings together and summarises well all thathas gone before. One final comment – thebook is full of little vignettes of history thatwould make great sermon illustrations!

John McCaul

There will be a review of Keith Newman’s newbook Beyond Betrayal: Trouble in the PromisedLand – Restoring the Mission to Maori (Penguin2013) in another WIT newsletter later this year.

NEWMAN, Keith Bible & Treaty:Missionaries Among the Maori –A New Perspective. Penguin,Auckland, 2010. $52.00 fromEpworth.

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200 years of Christian and bicultural heritage2014: the bicentennial year

2014 marks one of the first significantbicentennial events in our nation’s Maori/Pakeha history. On Christmas Day 1814 theRev’d Samuel Marsden, of the ChurchMissionary Society, first proclaimed theChristian gospel in Aotearoa New Zealand in asermon at Oihi, on the northern shore of theBay of Islands.

Born in a small Yorkshire village, Marsden wasinfluenced at Cambridge University by WilliamWilberforce, well known for his opposition tothe slave trade. Marsden later accepted aposition as assistant chaplain to the newconvict settlement at Port Jackson, Sydney.Ordained and married at age 29, he arrivedthere in 1794.

Marsden settled at Parramatta where he laterestablished a church and farm. A number ofyoung Maori (some of them chiefs or sons ofchiefs) stayed there learning English, farmingand agriculture. Among them were Te Pahi,and later his nephew Ruatara, who were

instrumental in inviting Marsden to come toNew Zealand. He landed at Oihi, adjacent toRuatara’s turangawaewae at Rangihoua Pa,on 22 December 1814.

It is not hard to imagine the astonishment ofMaori at seeing animals as large as horsesand cows which Marsden brought ashore andtheir amazement when Marsden rode one ofthe horses along the beach.

On Christmas Eve, Ruatara spent the dayassisting with preparations for the service onChristmas Day. Maori came by canoe and onfoot from around the Bay of Islands. Marsdentook as his Christmas text Luke Chapter 2,verse 10: “Behold I bring you glad tidings ofgreat joy…” Ruatara afterwards assisted withtranslation into Maori.

200 years later the significance of thoseevents is understood in terms of the sowing ofthe seeds of Christianity in this country, and theformation of an enduring bicultural partnershipbetween Maori and settler.

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In 2005 the ecumenical Marsden Cross TrustBoard acquired 20 hectares of land adjoiningthe DoC land on which the Marsden Crossstands, and skirting the Rangihoua Pa site. Aninspiring Welcome Centre, Rore Kaahu(soaring eagle) has been completed at theroad-end from Kerikeri.

The Centre leads on to a Pilgrimage Pathwaywhich will see eighteen way-stations erectedalong the track down to the Cross. The way-stations tell the story in word and pictures ofthe coming of Marsden with Ruatara, thepreaching of that first sermon at Christmas1814, and how the Gospel took root in thisland in a context of a strong biculturalpartnership. The centre and way-stations willbe opened later this year, well in time for thebicentennial commemorations at Christmas.Oihi is already a significant place ofpilgrimage for young and old alike.

The Anglican General Synod, meeting thisyear in Waitangi, will visit the site for aceremony and blessing on May 11. They willbe accompanied by Maori and ecumenicalleaders. A range of pilgrimages during theyear, organised by different church groups, willinclude Oihi as a central point.

A few days before Christmas, the officialbicentennial commemoration is planned,involving national, Maori and church leaders.On Christmas Day the bicentennial worshipservice will be held, ecumenical and open toall.

Among the leaders will be three directdescendants of the original party: Hugh Rihari(descended from Ruatara), John King, Chairof the MCTB, and a fourth generationdescendant of the CMS missionary of thesame name, and the Rev’d Samuel Marsden,a priest in the Church of England.

The Rangihoua Heritage Park, as the wholesite will be known, will capture the history ofThe Years before Waitangi* and will be seenas complementary to Waitangi, where theTreaty was signed 25 years and six weekslater.

Bishop Richard Randerson

* The title of an excellent history by the Rev’d PatriciaBawden, obtainable for $20 from the MCTB office:mctb@xtra.co.nz. There is a Marsden Cross website atwww.gospel2014.org

Bishop Richard Randerson was the inaugural Chair ofthe MCTB from 2003-2007, and a member since then.randersonjr@paradise.net.nz

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Is it still ‘good news of great joy’?

After reading the service, … itbeing Christmas Day, I preachedfrom the Second Chapter of St.Luke’s Gospel, and tenth verse:“Behold! I bring you glad tidings ofgreat joy.” The Natives told Duaterra[Ruatara] that they could notunderstand what I meant. He repliedthat they were not to mind that nowfor they would understand by and by,and that he would explain mymeaning as far as he could. When Ihad done preaching, he informedthem what I had been talking about.… In this manner the Gospel hasbeen introduced into New Zealand;and I fervently pray that the glory ofi t may never depart f rom itsinhabitants, till time shall be nomore.

J.R. Elder, ed., The Letters and Journals ofSamuel Marsden 1765-1838 , Dunedin:Coulls Somerville Wilkie, 1932, pp.93-94.

The ‘good news of great joy’ was not just thegood news of the birth of the Christ-Child,but also – and for Marsden and hiscolleagues, especially – the introduction ofChristianity into Aotearoa New Zealand.The glad tidings concerned the ‘doctrine ofthe only true God’ (as one of Marsden’scompanions, John Liddiard Nicholas,described it), so that the first inhabitants ofthis land might know and worship this God.

The incarnation itself is of course goodnews: that God should love humanity enoughto become human, to become one of us, isstunningly glad tidings, a message thatnever fails to surprise me even though Ipreach on it not only at Christmas butthroughout the year. But in what sense wasthe introduction of the gospel into AotearoaNew Zealand ‘good news’?

The question requires us to separate theintroduction of the gospel from all the otherthings that were going on at that time, suchas making and maintaining links with Britain,and (as Marsden and his Pakeha friends

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would have seen it) introducing ‘civilisation’. Itis with no small degree of embarrassment thatI quote the conclusion of Nicholas’ account ofthat day: ‘It was not, however, without feelingsof sincere pleasure at the promise afforded bythis day, of the future success of the mission,that we stepped into the board to return to theship; and the chiefs, with their people, gave usever reason to hope that they might, at nodistant period, become as civilized as theywere brave, and as enlightened as they werehospitable.’ (www.gospel2014.org/nicholas/) Ouch!

Is it possible to make this separation? Havingthe presentation of the Christian gospel mixedup with the concept of ‘civilisation’ (in a 19th

century European sense, which of course isdifferent from the conceptions of civilisationthey would have had in ancient Athens,mediaeval Paris or 16th century China), andwith the specific cultural, political andeconomic world-views of Britain, complicatesmatters hugely. Yet I believe it’s possible toadmit that, and still consider that the gospel isbigger than the cultural packaging it camewrapped in.

Indeed, it must be. And, indeed, it always hasbeen, ever since Paul and Peter were arguingabout circumcision and sharing meals withGentiles and eating food offered to idols. Justas God is so much bigger than our ideasabout God, so much bigger than all of ourtheologies, the gospel is far larger than theculture of its presenters, even though weencounter it first through the lens of our ownparticular culture. (Readers of Johann BaptistMetz, who described the ‘fiction’ of ‘a pure andnaked Christianity’ that can be clothedvariously in European, African, Asian orwhatever clothes might disagree with that.)We must beware of the trap which sees ourown understandings of Christianity as ‘neutral’while regarding all other forms as ‘culturallyconditioned’. We can rejoice that Marsden’spreaching has led ultimately to new theologicalexplorations. Maori and Pasifikaunderstandings of the gospel now complementthose that have come to us from Europe, Asiaand the Americas, giving us a bigger, morerounded picture of our multifaceted God.

Putting the ‘culture’ debate to one side – is itstill good news? I suspect that underneaththat question is a lack of confidence in theChristian faith that has bedevilled (is that apun?) the Church for too long in our society.We can’t blame postmodernism: the crisis ofconfidence started long ago, and it’sconnected to the views many hold ofChristians as people who can be narrow-minded, judgemental, and behind the times.Admit it – we’ve all heard those critiques, andeven though they are sometimes partially true,that does not change the fact that we havemuch to offer the world around us.

One of the things Christianity offers is apassionate commitment to our fellow humanbeings. This comes from imago dei and theincarnation: we are created in God’s image,and God became a human being. Since weworship a God who valued humanity so highly,how could we do otherwise than work for thegood of people everywhere? Theology givesrise to practical action – the living wagecampaign and concerns about the penalsystem and child poverty being but threerecent examples.

Another piece of the good news that is basicto Christianity is the way that it values humancommunity. That is not to deny that people ofother beliefs and none appreciate communallife, but a faith which holds that God is acommunity leads us to care about the sort ofcommunities we live in. Again, central toChristianity is the possibility held out to all ofus of second (and seventh and seventy-seventh) chances – the offer of forgivenessand starting again, of new life. To a societywhich can too often consign those who havedone wrong, made mistakes (whatever thesecular words are for ‘sin’) to the scrapheap:what we offer is indeed glad tidings.

Imago dei, incarnation, trinity, salvation andredemption: the theological jargon isshorthand for some very good news, and weshould rejoice in ‘the glory of it’.

Canon Deborah Broome

Official website for the 2014 bicentenary: www.gospel2014.org

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What language can we speak?In today’s predominately western secularculture, it can all too often feel like we live in asimilar predicament to the 19th century cross-cultural missionaries. We try to communicatethe gospel, but it’s simply lost in a culture thatdoesn’t understand.

Samuel Marsden was convinced that he had amethodology that could overcome thisobstacle. He would introduce the gospel to theMaori of Aotearoa through artisanmissionaries. In his communication to theCommittee of the Church Missionary Societyin 1808, Marsden explains his way forward,

“Commerce and the arts have a naturaltendency to inculcate industrious andmoral habits, open a way for theintroduction of the Gospel, and lay thefoundation for its continuance whenonce received…I would recommendthat three mechanics be appointed tomake the first attempt should theSociety come to the determination toform an establishment on New Zealand.One of these men should be acarpenter, another a smith, and a thirda twine-spinner.” 1

For Marsden, in this obvious cross-culturalmission where language was a barrier, theartisan missionaries would be those who wereable teach ‘arts’, which would buildrelationships and open doors for the gospel tobe proclaimed. At the same time the skillstaught would benefit the Maori people.

It was as if the ‘arts’ were used as a ‘language’to communicate and to benefit the culture theyfound themselves in. Is this an approach we canuse today? If so, what ‘language’ can we, asChristians, use to communicate to the secularculture we live in?

And it is here we turn to the doctrine of theIncarnation. The Incarnation gives uspermission, and also the tools, to use acommon language to communicate the gospelwithin our secular society.

The Incarnation is the point in history whenGod took on flesh in the person of JesusChrist. This is evident in John’s Gospel, “Andthe Word became flesh and lived among us,and we have seen his glory, the glory as of afather’s only son, full of grace and truth”.2

The Incarnation reveals the ‘two natures’ ofChrist, that Jesus is both fully divine and fullyhuman.3 Jesus being fully divine reveals to uswhat God is like.4 Yet at that same time,paradoxically, Jesus himself being fully humanreveals to us what it looks like to be fullyhuman. John Yoder writes, “…God brokethrough the borders of our standard definitionof what is human and gave a new, formativedefinition in Jesus”.5

It is through this latter ‘nature’ of Jesus, beingfully human, that we find our common‘language’ with those who are not yetChristians. If we believe that Jesus was fullyhuman then Jesus is the ‘role model’ of what itmeans to be human, not only for Christians, butfor the whole of humanity. Or as Michael Lloydwrites, “If Jesus is God living a human life, thenwe have, in Him, the designer’s blueprint forhow human beings are meant to live”.6

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying thatbeing human and being Christian aresynonymous, there is a difference; howeverlet’s not forget that there are many similarities!

I would like to suggest that when we starttalking about what we have in common, ourhumanity, we then open up a conversation,which has a common language. The languageof ‘what it means to be human’.

When society, whether that be our family orfriends, our workplace, our community or evenin our nation, are discussing or decidingissues around what it means to be human, thisis where our voice can be heard. But ratherthan it being an ‘us and them’ mentality, ofChristians versus non-Christians, we begin onthe same playing field, as we are all human.We can then add to and join in with theconversation that is already going on, rather

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1 Cited in, Elder, J.R. Marsden’s Lieutenants, p.162 John 1:143 The two natures of Christ are evident in the NiceneCreed4 John 14:7, Colossians 1:155 Cited in, Hays, Richard B, The Moral Vision of theNew Testament, p.2436 Lloyd, Michael, Café Theology, pg.1367 Examples include: parish ministries such as MainlyMusic and marriage courses, the services provided bythe City Mission, and our Diocese’s focus onrestorative justice.8 John 4:4-269 John 10:10

than limiting our dialogue to simply what wedon’t agree on.

We can then promote, cheer on, and endorsethe things that society is doing that point to thehumanity that Jesus embodied. Yet at thesame time, as we build relationships and trustwith people, we have also earned the respectto critique, question and challenge areas thatdo not line up with the humanity of Jesus.

Because we have this blueprint of what itmeans to be human, we can also offer supportand training for people to allow them to learnand develop as human beings.7

However this is not to say that the two naturesof Jesus Christ can be separated. When oneengages with the humanity of Christ there isalso the possibility of an encounter with thedivinity of Christ. Here the Samaritan womanat the well comes to mind.8 The woman meetsJesus at the well, and what begins with acommon need and discussion about water,ends with an encounter with the Messiah whooffers living water.

As we follow the fully human and fully divineChrist, we find that there is a common

language to be spoken with those around us.As we speak this language, of what it meansto be human, we find there are manyopportunities. Opportunities to bless theculture we live in, and also opportunities toshape the culture. And in doing so we alsohave the privilege to connect people to theOne through whom life in all its fullness isfound.9

So my hope and prayer is that as peopleengage with the humanity of Christ, they wouldencounter the divinity of Christ.

Paul McIntosh

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I wish I could be with you today to honour Ted andpay tribute to his work on the Council of theWellington Institute of Theology, the body in ourdiocese that runs theological seminars, librariesand other educational activities. Ted was a long-standing member of WIT Council, for many yearstravelling down to Wellington for meetings –sometimes with his dog in the back of the car.He was highly valued for his contributions and hiscommitment to the Care of Creation. He

Tribute to Ted AbrahamTed was a former member of WIT Council who died just beforeChristmas. This is a tribute from WIT that was read at his funeral.

articulated a theology that was grounded in thenon-human world that God created, in theenvironment in which we live and for which weare bound to care, because God cares for it somuch.

Ted was hugely committed to the work of WIT inthis diocese. When we were setting up a branchof the WIT Library here in Palmerston North, at StPeter’s, he had boxes of books stored in hisattic. Thank-you, Ted, for all you did for WIT, fromall of the past and present members of WITCouncil.

Amongst all the contributions he made, it wasn’tjust the trees, the plants and the soil that receivedhis care. I remember one year, getting ready fora Pet service on St Francis’ Day, and needingsome inspiration, so I emailed Ted. I now have inmy computer a file entitled ‘Animal Quotes fromTed A’ and it has helped me many times. One ofthe bits of wisdom he sent has stuck with me, aquotation from Meister Eckhart: ‘Every creatureis a word of God and is a book about God.’That sums up Ted himself: a word of God and abook about God.’ Now that book has beenclosed here, and moved on to be readelsewhere. We in the WIT Community mournhis passing and give thanks for his life.

Canon Deborah BroomeDirector, Wellington Institute of Theology

WIT wishes you every success with your studiesthis year.

Do you know that WIT’s Wellington Library has aspecial section for Diploma of Anglican studiesstudents, with books ‘on reserve’ – i.e. for use inlibrary only. These books are marked with a reddot, and include recommended books for thefirst semester.

Welcome to all new and returningDiploma of Anglican Studies students

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We are family, we are disciples, we care for the last, the lost, the least. Anglican Diocese of Wellington, PO Box 12 046, Wellington 6144.

Contact detailsThe Wellington Library is located based on the first floor of the Anglican Centre, 18 EcclestonHill (off Hill Street), Thorndon, Wellington. Contact Director Deborah Broome at 04 4759085or debroome@paradise.net.nz. Or contact Librarian John McCaul at 04 4718599 orWITLibrary@wn.ang.org.nz.The Palmerston North Library is located at St. Peter’s Church,229 Ruahine St, Palmerston North. Correspondence should be addressed to the WIT Council,c/o the Anglican Centre.

Wellington library hoursThe Wellington Library is open whenever the Anglican Centre is open, which is usually 8.30am - 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday. The Librarian is usually there from 3.00 pm - 4.30 pm onTuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

NZCMS Our Story: Aotearoa 2014Date: 24 – 27 October 2014 (Labour Weekend)Location: Copthorne Hotel, Paihia, Bay of IslandsWeb: www.nzcms.org.nz/our-storyContact Details: heather@nzcms.org.nz

NZCMS celebrates 200 years of mission in New Zealand.All are welcome! If you are keen tocelebrate God’s faithfulness in mission and learn from a distinguished collection of key speak-ers and delegates then this is the gathering for you.Join us to explore the stories of New Zea-land’s heritage and looking forward to God’s future. We’ll be visiting significant sites aroundthe Bay of Islands as a pilgrimage of discovery. Sites will include the Marsden Cross at OihiBay. Full details are available at www.nzcms.org.nz/our-story