'Forgive them - they know not what they do'

St Stephen's Anglican Church in Kaikohe is to be transferred to the Maori Pastorate. Photo / Debbie Beadle

One parishioner no doubt spoke for many last week when she begged forgiveness for the Anglican Church hierarchy, "for they no know not what they do".

Heather Ayrton was adding to the chorus of dismay at news that St Stephen's in Kaikohe, along with its hall and minister's residence, was to be transferred to the Anglican Maori pastorate.

That would leave four Anglican churches in the Bay of Islands, and 27 in the Maori pastorate, Mrs Ayrton said.

"It's a shame. This is where the Anglican Church was founded in New Zealand," she said.

The decision had been made without consultation or any local involvement. The Maori pastorate was expected to welcome Pakeha worshippers, but the transfer would inevitably create division, she said.

Last year, Kaikohe-Hokianga Community Board member Shaun Reilly tried to persuade Bishop Ross Bay, in Auckland, to rescind the decision to transfer St Stephen's, which he described as a "most unwise" action that would "rip the heart out" of the congregation.

He acknowledged that the congregation was in numerical decline, but believed that would change when Top Energy expanded its generation at at Ngawha and the associated industrial park was established.

"It won't happen overnight but it will happen, and the bequest from the Leslie estate would go a long way to preserving the parish until numbers grow to a more sustainable (level). In the meantime the parish will have something to cling to," he wrote.

"The transfer of the church's assets to the Maori pastorate is, to me and others, just passing the buck, and does not ensure the viable preservation of a very valuable community asset," he added.

"It does not make economic sense to lumber the pastorate with another church, hall and house when it already has such facilities about a mile away.

"It beggars belief that they, who are also low in numbers, can somehow, with limited resources, do better or make better use of them. It also ignores the fact that there are numerous other Maori pastorate churches in a reasonable distance from Kaikohe. Adding to their number will not make the problem disappear."

Rt Rev Bay replied that the decision to transfer the church had been taken with a great deal of thought. It was now "formally made," and would not be reversed.

"It has come as the result of a good deal of thought as to how to manage worship and ministry in the mission district as a whole, with four churches to manage and limited resources with which to do so," he said.

"I do not see this as duplication, since there is the strong option of Maori and Pakeha parishioners working and worshipping together in one place, and there are alternative places of worship in the wider area for this who prefer not to do so."

Mr Reilly said it had been very evident at a meeting of the Anglican community in Kaikohe that an almost complete lack of communication was the prime cause of unrest.

"It must now be patently obvious that the decision must be revisited with urgency," he said.

"Kaikohe is the third re-organisation after the Pukenui and Okaihau debacles. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and three times is, with great respect, incompetence.

"One is left with the overwhelming feeling that decisions are being made in Auckland without due and proper consideration or consultation with the people who are intimately involved. This is not what I believe true Christianity is about; most certainly it does not make for strong, vibrant communities."