We will sing our own songs : a content analysis of selected Presbyterian hymnals, 1982-1993

Abstract

Maurice Andrew and several other New Zealand theologians have suggested, in recent years, that a New Zealand theology ought to have some salient features, i.e. speak about the Treaty of Waitangi, land, migration, alienation, relationship with Maori, living with difference, etc. Following in the footsteps of New Zealand church historians Bryan Gilling and Brett Knowles, who have examined, respectively, the music of New Zealand evangelical revivalism and of the emerging Pentecostal tradition, this study is an attempt to discover whether: any of the themes highlighted by these scholars are present, or whether there are any distinctive New Zealand motifs, or language being used within the hymnals used by one of New Zealand's largest Christian denominations: the Presbyterian Church of (Aotearoa) New Zealand. A content analysis was conducted upon three hymnals widely used within this Church since 1970: when a large influx of Pacific Island people was absorbed into this church, and the Maori renaissance began. It was found that the perspectives of the Maori, Pacific Island, and Pakeha/ European communities had markedly changed over time. Maori hymns transcended their initial missionary theology to begin talking about social questions, Pacific Islanders began to read Bible stories as their stories, and to do theology in terms of their own environment, and Pakeha /.Europeans began to situate Christian festivals here, and to become more socially conscious.