Kōkiri whakatika, Kōkiri whakamua | Social Outreach and Advocacy

Kōkiri whakatika, Kōkiri whakamua | Social Outreach and Advocacy

Christianity has long called for its adherents to help those who need help. But how help is conceptualised, who is considered worthy of help, and how many strings might be attached to that help have varied and fluctuated depending on social and cultural context and individuals’ behaviours and choices. Whether the people who were the intended recipients of Christian help considered the support offered them to have been helpful also has varied.

There are many ways in which adherents of the Anglican Church and members of its institutions have offered help and support to social causes in New Zealand. From running homes for unmarried pregnant women, schools and kindergartens, providing places to sleep or eat to those without shelter and food (such as with the city missions of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch), to speaking out against apartheid, war, colonisation, state and local government policies which exacerbate poverty, and nuclear testing—among many others—Anglicans have sought to influence the lives of many people in Aotearoa over the last two centuries. Some of those interventions have made enormously valuable improvements to people’s lives; in other instances, the efforts have been smaller but appreciated. There are also examples of abuse, racism, exploitation, callousness, and disrespect. The Royal Commission into Abuse in Care (2024) has catalogued some of those failures.

Projects we will undertake explore mahi and movements, hīkoi and housing, food provision and failures of care from people associated with the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand.