kids encyclopedia robot

Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
"Province of New Zealand" redirects here. For New Zealand's former provincial system, see Provinces of New Zealand.
Quick facts for kids
Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia logo.gif
Classification Protestant (with various theological and doctrinal identities, including Anglo-Catholic, Liberal and Evangelical)
Orientation Anglican
Scripture Holy Bible
Theology Anglican doctrine
Polity Episcopal
Primates (Archbishops) Don Tamihere (Aotearoa)
Philip Richardson (New Zealand)
vacant (Polynesia)
Dioceses 13
Parishes 552 (2008)
Region New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands
Headquarters Meadowbank, Auckland, New Zealand
Separations Church of Confessing Anglicans of Aotearoa/New Zealand (2019)
Other name(s) Te Hahi Mihinare ki Aotearoa ki Niu Tireni, ki Nga Moutere o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa

The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (Māori: Te Hahi Mihinare ki Aotearoa ki Niu Tireni, ki Nga Moutere o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa; formerly the Church of the Province of New Zealand) is a province of the Anglican Communion serving New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. Since 1992 the church has consisted of three tikanga or cultural streams: Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia. The church's constitution says that, among other things, it is required to "maintain the right of every person to choose any particular cultural expression of the faith". As a result, the church's General Synod has agreed upon the development of the three-person primacy based on this three tikanga system. It has three primates (leaders), each representing a tikanga, who share authority.

The Anglican Church is an apostolic church, which claims to trace its bishops back to the apostles via holy orders. A New Zealand Prayer Book, He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa (ANZPB/HKMOA), containing traditional liturgies, rites, and blessings, is central to the church's worship. Since the 1960s the New Zealand Anglican Church in general has approved the marriage by a priest in a church of someone whose earlier marriage was dissolved (even though the former spouse still lives), and has approved blessings for same-sex couples.

The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is not established as an official church of any sovereign state, unlike the Church of England from which it grew. However, Anglicans have taken a preeminent leadership role on New Zealand state occasions. The 2018 census recorded 314,913 Anglicans in the New Zealand part of the church while the 2013 census had recorded 469,036. The number who attend services on a regular basis or have any connection with the church is considerably smaller. While one in three New Zealanders identify as Christian, only about one in ten identify as "active practisers".

Leadership

The church has decided that three bishops shall share the position and style of archbishop, each representing one of the three tikanga. The three archbishops sharing the title of Archbishop of New Zealand are: one vacancy for the head of Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa which oversees churches for the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand (following the death of Brown Turei, Bishop of Aotearoa); Philip Richardson, Bishop of Taranaki, representing the dioceses in New Zealand; and Winston Halapua, Bishop of Polynesia.

Aotearoa

Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa, one of three tikanga, oversees churches for the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand. Aotearoa is made up of five hui amorangi or regional bishoprics:

  • Manawa O Te Wheke (north island central region)
  • Tairāwhiti (East Coast Region)
  • Tai Tokerau (Northern Region)
  • Upoko O Te Ika (Wellington/Taranaki)
  • Waipounamu (South Island)

New Zealand

The tikanga of New Zealand, which serves non-Maori in New Zealand, is made up of seven dioceses:

Anglicans in NZ
Distribution of Anglican population within New Zealand at the 2001 census.
  • Auckland
  • Christchurch
  • Dunedin
  • Nelson
  • Waiapu
  • Waikato and Taranaki
  • Wellington

Formerly, the dioceses in New Zealand were led by a "senior bishop" elected from among the diocesan bishops. However, as the church moves towards a three-person primacy, the leader of the dioceses in New Zealand is elected as co-presiding bishop and styled as an archbishop. The current Pākehā co-presiding bishop is Philip Richardson, Bishop of Taranaki.

Polynesia

The Diocese of Polynesia, or the Tikanga Pasefika, headed by Bishop Winston Halapua, serves Anglicans in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. The diocese's first bishop was consecrated in 1908. The diocese's cathedral is Holy Trinity Cathedral in Suva, Fiji. As the province moves towards a three-person primacy, the Bishop of Polynesia is automatically a co-presiding bishop and styled as an archbishop. The Bishop of Polynesia is currently supported by three suffragan bishops: Bishop Winston Halapua, now the new Bishop of Polynesia, formerly lead the ministry to Polynesians in New Zealand, Bishop Apimeleki Nadoki Qiliho serves Vanua Levu and Taveuni, and Bishop Gabriel Sharma serves Viti Levu West as well as the archdeacons of Suva and Ovalau, Samoa and American Samoa, and Tonga.

Theological training

Residential theological training is carried out primarily at St John's College, Auckland, which is also organised according to the three tikanga approach.

Theological training was formerly carried out by College House in Christchurch, but over time College House has become secularised as a hall of residence of the nearby University of Canterbury. While it still falls under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch and has the extensive theological holdings in its library, it no longer trains ordinands.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Iglesia anglicana en Aotearoa, Nueva Zelanda y Polinesia para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.