Salvation Army moves to incorporate Māori to help set new strategic guidance

The Salvation Army has asked Anglican Bishop Te Kitohi Pikaahu to chair a revamped Māori Ministry Rūnanga. Photo / Megan Wilson

The Salvation Army is making strategic tactical decisions to Māori who make up 40 per cent of its client database.

The Salvation Army has asked Anglican Bishop Te Kitohi Pikaahu to chair a revamped Māori Ministry Rūnanga which will provide overall strategic guidance to the organisation, which receives government funding to manage a range of social services.

Ian Hutson, the head of the Salvation Army’s Social Policy and Parliamentary unit and co-chair of its former bicultural rūnanga, says about 40 per cent of the 150,000 people who access services each year from the nationwide charity are Maori.

Anglican Bishop Te Kitohi Pikaahu. Photo / Supplied

Hutson told Waatea News.com that throughout its history the organisation has not been as responsive as it should be to tangata whenua, and it wants to better implement Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

A covenant has been written between the army’s territorial governance board and the rūnanga.

“It’s based on a relationship of commitment to each other, to God’s mission because we are a Christian organisation but also fulfilling God’s plan for Aotearoa and TSA’s tiriti alignment and also to ensure Māori aspirations are part of everything we do,” Hutson told Waatea News.Com