In his essay People, Land and Community, American author Wendell Berry says this about farming:
“When one buys the farm and moves there to live, something different begins. Thoughts begin to be translated into acts…It invariably turns out, I think, that one’s first vision of one’s place was to some extent an imposition on it. But if one’s sight is clear and one stays on and works well, one’s love gradually responds to the place as it really is, and one’s visions gradually image possibilities that are really in it.[1]
I’m no farmer, but I think church leaders can learn a lot from Berry. His description of being responsive to the particularities of the place and context we are in is so important in church leadership, and deeply resonates with me as a pastor. It is far too easy for ministry to become an imposition of our own personal vision upon the community in which God has called us to minister, rather than allowing vision to emerge from what God is already doing in this place, at this time, and among these people.
This sensitivity to people, land and community is what I appreciated about the recent Church Leaders’ Day hosted by Laidlaw College. Overarching the day was a focus on what it means to do ministry and mission in this particular place - Aotearoa– and in our particular communities. How can we find our place in the story of what God is doing in New Zealand, and how can we express and embody God’s story well within our own local places?
An emphasis through the day was on ministry to and among Maori as being central to the expression and transmission of the gospel in our unique cultural landscape. Te Karere Scarborough and Neihana Reihana gave insights into the Māori worldview and the relationship between Maori and the church. Lyndon Drake surveyed the history of Māori Christianity in New Zealand. Andy Shudall posed this question: is the gospel an invasive weed or an indigenous plant in New Zealand? It is often seen as an invasive weed by those who view the arrival of the gospel in New Zealand as an imposition of religious dogma by imperial colonists. But a closer reading of history shows that the gospel is more indigenous to this place than we might realise: Māori paved the way for the arrival of the gospel in Aotearoa; and following its introduction Māori were hugely instrumental in carrying the gospel among their own people, leading to the biggest spiritual renewal in New Zealand’s history, which was among Māori in the early-mid 19th century. Māori continue to be among the most open to the gospel in New Zealand today. All this calls for greater support, prayer and resourcing of Māori ministry by Christian leaders and churches of all cultures throughout New Zealand.
This call is already being responded to by Te Wānanga Ihorangi, a faith-based Te Reo Māori kaupapa that will be launching two new Te Reo Māori Diplomas in February 2024. Celebration around the launch of this new project was a thread woven through the Church Leaders’ Day.
Alongside this focus on ministry to Māori was an encouragement for church leaders to faithfully incarnate the gospel in their own local contexts in ways that are responsive, not imposing. In my own context at Shore Community Church on Auckland’s North Shore this is something we are continuing to learn. For us this is primarily happening through grassroots relationship building with leaders and organisations in our local community, which has led to some interesting possibilities. Our church meets in a school, which is not exactly the dream property that church leaders fantasise about! But our presence in the school has led to new opportunities for local ministry. We now have four youth-workers based in the school part-time and have continued to see other pathways open up to serve and support the school community. A second school down the road has now expressed interest in having youth-workers. The local community board invited us to begin a preschool music programme based in the community hall. We’ve recently received an invitation from a local retirement village to run chapel services for their residents. None of these are things we wrote in a strategic plan; they are simply opportunities God has brought along, mainly through relational connections. Our church is not asset-rich nor resource-heavy, but we are simply seeking to be attentive to what the Spirit is doing in the community God has placed us and respond as He leads.
Opportunities like the Church Leaders’ Day are great ways to reflect on our own contexts, while hearing stories of what God is doing in places around Aotearoa, sharing with other church leaders, and learning new insights that can fuel ministry and mission. As we gather to be equipped, encouraged and inspired, we then return home able to see possibilities in our own churches and communities a little more clearly, in the hope that “one’s love gradually responds to the place as it really is.”
Reuben Munn
Senior Pastor - Shore Community Church
[1] Wendell Berry, “People, Land and Community,” in Standing by Words: Essays by Wendell Berry (Berkeley: Counterpoint Press, 1983), 133.
