New Bishop and Archbishop
for the Church

A standing ovation from General Synod greeted the announcement that Bishop Winston Halapua had been elected as the new Bishop of Polynesia – and, therefore, as one of the three Archbishops of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The announcement was followed by a series of brief but moving presentations from representatives of each of the three tikanga.

Academic and Cleric

Bishop Halapua succeeds the late Bishop Jabez Bryce who died in February this year, having led the Diocese of Polynesia for past 35 years.Dr. Halapua was elected bishop in 2005 – one of three assistant bishops in Polynesia chosen at that time. His ministry has an academic focus. He has a doctorate in sociology from the University of the South Pacific, and he came to New Zealand in 1996 to take up a post as a lecturer at St. John’s College, the Auckland theological college where many Anglican priests are trained.

In 1997 he was appointed Principal of the College of the Diocese of Polynesia in New Zealand – one of the three constituents colleges at the greater St. John’s College campus. As such, he has been deeply involved in the formation of many Polynesian priests, and as a lecturer at Auckland University’s School of Theology.

In the Anglican scheme of things, bishops are declared elected only after they have been approved in a three-part process. They are nominated at the Electoral College – and that nomination must then be approved by the other bishops in the church, and (assuming there are no hitches there) by General Synod, which functions as the parliament of the church.

The final stage of the electoral process, the balloting of the members of the general Synod, took place during their May meeting in Gisborne.

Bishop Winston is married to Sue, who is also an ordained priest (in the Diocese of Auckland) and they have two adult sons. The new diocesan Bishop of Polynesia – and therefore Archbishop of this province of the Anglican Church – was ordained and installed at Suva’s Holy Trinity Cathedral on August 1 this year. Our dean, Jamie writes :-

I was privileged to attend the installation of The Right Revd Dr Winston Halapua as the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Polynesia (the forth such bishop was, of course, a former vicar of this church ! Also, The Very Revd Michael Bent was the Cathedral's former dean. Quite good links...), and his recognition as an archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Suva, Fiji. I say, “Privileged' with every possible weight that that small word could carry – the occasion was full of the presence of the Holy Spirit – full of life, colour and music; celebration and song. A fantastic sermon was preached to a crowd of nearly 2000 people, by Sepi Hala’api’api, Youth Co-ordinator for the diocese. The service included two beautiful liturgical dances offered by over a hundred young people. It was a powerful sign of the vibrancy of God's church in AD2010. Thanks be to God for all that is happening in this part of our home – our Church.

In the days that followed the installation, I set aside some time for retreat; for listening to and walking with God, and for getting a feel for life and church in Tikanga Pasifika. I would like to share a story with you from those few days.

Have you ever watched a maestro at work; unpretentious in the depth of their talent ? Gently weaving the cloth that they love to weave, in an understated manner. This week I found myself in one of those situations, watching a true craftsman about his work. He was doing some landscaping. Landscaping is a glamourised term, in this case, for raking ! But it deserves the loveliest term. With extraordinary care and attention to detail; without the slightest hint or haste or hurry, he was gently carressing the sandy earth with two rakes. Swirling it slowly as he raked it, to leave a pattern that was somehow, in itself, a work of art. Caaaaarefully, sloooooowly, unhurriedly, unashamedly laguidly he saw to his work of tidying God's creation.... That evening, in his village home we were chatting and he quoted to me Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

YOU, the family of this Cathedral are craftsmen and women of the Gospel, going about your task. You are like that gentle gardener. You have extraordinary gifts and patience and care in living out the Gospel. I watch a hundred different simple scenes of ministry unfold at St Mary's and feel the same thrill.

I sometimes think churches as communities spend so much time fussing about the details, even agonising, that we can forget to be overjoyed. Now that we ARE Taranaki's Cathedral, and we are a little more used to it, perhaps the time has come to relax. To be less serious (no less sincere) and more full of joy. Not to allow the pressure of 'doing' to detract from the gift God has given us – which is our present. My response to watching this craftsman ? I hope... to take things a little more slowly. Less time in the office, more time in the community.

Your response ? Canon Bill & I have been meeting with our Licensed Lay Ministers (Bill writes about this later in our magazine) and I am wondering where new people who are going to be licensed as ministers or ordained as new ministers, or volunteers to help welcome people to Taranaki Cathedral... or the next future Bishop of Polynesia are ?! Begin to come forward and offer these gifts anew.

Returning to watching my Fijian friend working – when he came to the end of his careful raking, he turned around and walked backwards over the sandy soil, pulling two rakes with him, so that his footprints would not interrupt the beauty of the scene. I reflected on this action in the light of our work as individuals and as church. He used the word, flock which is a community word – not an individual word. In sharing the Kingdom here, we work as a community, not as individuals. In essence, he removed his mark from the work; he raked over the footprints. It wasn't about him.

Are we brave enough to do the same thing ? For our time here; our worship, to be so much about God and so much about this community that we can brush over our footprint ?

Indeed we are brave enough.... For Jesus said, "Do not be afraid, little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." Luke 12:32