Tongan worshippers flocked to St Columba, Grey Lynn on Sunday, 6 July, for a special homecoming.

Along with representatives of other tikanga, they were celebrating the 40th anniversary of a home for Tongan Anglicans arriving from Tonga.

Many Tongans who had left Grey Lynn to found churches closer to their homes in other parts of the city – such as Otahuhu and Papatoetoe – returned to honour the place where they began their faith journey in New Zealand.

They had come to Auckland in the 1950s seeking new life and opportunities for their families.

The late Lillie Edwards – aunt of the present Tongan priest, Rev Talau Hoeft – and her family attended St Columba in the late 1950s.

Among those who founded the Tongan mission there in the 1970s were Rev Edgar Tui`nukuafi and family, Lileni and family, and the Latu, Founua, Inia and Lapa families.

Rev Canon John Tamahori helped establish the Tongan-speaking Anglican congregation, with the assistance of Rev John McLean.

To mark the anniversary, the Tongan community presented a magnificent tapa cloth to St Columba’s vicar, Rev Brent Swann.

He accepted it in recognition of “the special bond they have with this place and its people, the friendships we have forged – Tongan, Pakeha, Maori and Samoan all together – and we are humbled and moved to receive such a beautiful gift.”

Brent then blessed the tapa cloth, which now hangs on the eastern wall of the church.

Bishop Ross Bay referred in his sermon to St Columba’s unique ‘three tikanga’ congregation, which reflects the reality of 21st-century Auckland.

The altar and sanctuary were dressed in traditional Tongan mats, brought from all over the city for the occasion.

The service was bursting with energy. Clergy, visitors and members of St Columba who were to be baptised, confirmed or licensed to lay ministry were called into the church by conch shell and karanga.

The liturgy – rich in the diversity of four languages – was interspersed with harmonies so beloved of Tongan churches. Loimata Lilo played classical guitar during communion, and the organ led the hymns.

After the service, a traditional Tongan feast was held in the hall with many whaikorero from clergy past and present.

Visitors included the Archdeacon of Polynesia, the Rev Lui Amanaki, Fr Iloa Tu`ineau and former vicars Rev John and Joyce Marcon, Rev Hugh Kempster and Rev Susan Adams,

Rev Talau Hoeft recalled how, as a child, he had played beneath the pohutukawa tree in the grounds, and spoke of the joy of watching his own children and grandchildren continuing that tradition.

Families of original parishioners found new connections as they mingled with the present-day congregation.

At the end, some of the original Tongan founders, along with youth who were confirmed that day, planted a Kowhai Ngutu Kaka tree in the Peace Garden.

Brent Swann told the gathering that this tree was used for healing by Maori and that he hoped St Columba would be a place of healing for everyone coming there.