The Right Rev Pamela Tankersley will be contributing a regular column to sPanzwill be contributing a regular column to sPanz.
“When I thought about becoming Moderator, I wondered what might be my priorities for the two years of my term. What can the Moderator do to make any difference? Make connections… hold out a vision…raise a voice. Let me share with you in more detail.
Firstly, I am passionate about helping parishes engage with their local communities in mission – being the love and grace of Christ to those who most need it. When we “seek the shalom of the place where God has sent us and pray for it”, we find our well-being and the well-being of the community are mutually enhanced. The energy created in such partnerships is a joy for both. And I am naïve enough to believe that as we stand side by side to work in our communities, our internal divisions will become less important. The Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban, keynote speaker at Assembly and Minister of the Community and Voluntary sector, pointed out that the Church – our Church in particular – is a significant contributor to New Zealand civil society. We are being called to join Christ; to engage with our local communities.
Then I want to help our Church celebrate its amazing, rich diversity. How do we enjoy and enhance this diversity beyond our own fear of difference and change? How do we make room for the wonderful diversity of ethic relationships in our church – Pacific Island, Asian and European. Beginning by keeping faith with Te Aka Puaho, our primary bicultural partner, can we then look to local partnerships in our community? How can we be a YES church to diversity?
In a visit to the Wairarapa last November, I ran a workshop on how we can resource our Church’s mission, with people’s energy and expertise and with buildings and money. I suggest to you that it is possible that community-facing mission be in part resourced by the community. I want to see, too, that the fantastic wealth of expertise available in our Assembly Office and across the Church is accessed to help us all in mission. The responsibility for mission has been divulged to the Presbyteries yet most struggle to make it happen, so how can we maximise the resources we have for effective, accountable and transforming mission?
Finally, as spokesperson for the Presbyterian Church, I want to strengthen our voice on public issues, particularly in those areas where we have a good track record of wisdom and experience. Have we become so paralysed by a fear of offence and by our own internal wrangles that we have become silent in what really matters? Our Church’s voice, reflecting the compassion, justice and integrity of Christ, should be heard as a voice of hope in the hard places, perhaps in the midst of racial prejudice, nonchalant acceptance of violence, environmental insustainability and in the shocking statistics about child welfare and youth suicide. I am setting up a focus group to resource me on some of these issues – I would be glad to hear your views too."