The Rise and Fall of a Vision: Maori in the Midst of Pakeha in the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand

Abstract

The thesis argued here is that the policy of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand towards Maoridom was seriously flawed in that it treated the Maori as an inferior person, and despised Maori culture to the point that white Presbyterians sought to undermine and destroy its integrity. Attempts made by individual European missionaries among the Maori were largely thwarted by the Maori Mission Committee of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand throughout its history. Because of the way in which Presbyterian decision making is taken, the General Assembly did not take its Maori members seriously and only complained about the amount of money put into the Maori work. They treated their missionaries in the Maori field shabbily, and shamelessly took advantage of their "call" to this mission work by paying them barely enough to cover the assorted requirements of life. Virtually no attempt was made to try to understand how Maori felt about religion and the European church. The establishment of the Maori Synod brought some relief, but the bureaucracy created by the Synod had the effect of demoralising the Maori in a positive way. The roots of racism can be seen in the corrupt practices of the Committee, and in the way the Maori was treated, and one wonders how the white Presbyterians squared all this with their understanding of the gospel. Maori Presbyterians have few really authentic advocates within the European church apart from Duncan Jamieson and Sir Norman Perry. Without a positive view of Maori culture, it is difficult to see how the white Presbyterians could have treated the Maori as an equal. This continues until the present day, despite the official bicultural policy and a positive affirmation of the Treaty of Waitangi. One suspects that such decisions were taken not out of conviction but out of expediency, for fear of the true attitudes being exposed around the 150th anniversary celebrations of both the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand and New Zealand itself.