This year, St John's College wants Kiwi theologians to help analyse and review this Church’s Three Tikanga constitution.

The move to reflect on our Church’s structure comes 25 years after General Synod reshaped life in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia according to its three major cultural streams: Māori, Pakeha and Pasifika.

“It is time for critical reflection on the radical step taken in 1992,” said Dr Don Moffat with the call for submissions this week.

Dr Moffat, who is the Sir Paul Reeves Lecturer in Biblical Studies at St John’s College, is overseeing the call for 4000-7000 word theological papers on Te Pouhere (the 1992 constitution that moved the church's operations into culturally-organised streams).

Abstracts for proposed papers are due at St John’s by the end of May. Submitters have been invited to critique the Three Tikanga structure of this Church, using frameworks from biblical, systematic, historical, pastoral, or contextual theologies.

The selected papers will be presented at a colloquium to be held at St John’s College, Auckland from October 19-20 this year, before being published as a collection.

Dr Moffat says the Three Tikanga theology colloquium has two aims: one, to encourage conversation on what theology grounds our understanding of the Three Tikanga structure, and two, to provide resources to the Church from that work:

"We hope that moving toward a sound, shared theology to underpin the Three Tikanga structure will help this Church on the bicultural journey that Te Pouhere was intended to aid." 

For more information please contact Dr Don Moffat: d.moffat@stjohnscollege.ac.nz