“I’m going to pull down that fence,” says Bishop of Te Waipounamu, Richard Wallace, as he makes time for a chat on Canterbury Anniversary Day.   

He’s been discussing how he wants the Māori Anglican Church in the South Island to be more integrated with the community, so it would be easy to assume he’s talking figuratively. 

“If you’ve got a fence up people wonder what’s on the other side. I’m hoping to draw the community in – because the church needs to be part of the community,” Bishop Richard says. 

When Bishop Richard Wallace looks around the home of the Amorangi, he’s happy with how far it’s come since he was ordained nearly six years ago.  The old Waipounamu Māori Girls’ College site on Ferry Road, known as the Amorangi centre has recently been renamed ‘Te Pā o Te Hui Amorangi o Te Waipounamu.’  

“One of my thoughts when I came on the grounds here was that it felt like there was no spirit here. The spirit had gone. I think it’s a vibrant place now. There’s huge growth,” he says. 

 “We have our own garden out the back with vegetables that go to the pātaka at the gate. Twice a week, on a Monday and Friday, we bag up food and give it to the homeless and needy who wait at the gate.” 

 Despite it being a public holiday, Bishop Richard has spent the morning working on two speeches he’ll deliver over the weekend. The first is for the opening of Te Tōmairangi o Ihu Karaiti – a long-awaited building on-site that will be used as a training centre.  

“It’s set up so we can run our two courses here. We have Awhi Whānau, our social services training that brings people in from different Amorangi, and the other is Manaaki Hauora, which is training for chaplains.” 

The old buildings had become too small but they’ve been incorporated into the new-build. “And, in the future, as the church grows, our people can move into this building.” 

Bishop Richard explains Tōmairangi is the heavenly dew that comes down to earth. Soon construction will start on another building – Te Puna Wairua. “It means the spring of the spirit, so we are drawing on Te Tōmairangi from heaven and Te Puna Wairua from earth to embrace and manaaki the people so they may flourish.” Te Puna Wairua will include marae-style accommodation, a kitchen and dining space, and office block.  

Bishop Richard’s other big event for the weekend is the re-consecration of the Anglican Church in Arowhenua, near Temuka, at Te Pukitoru Tapu.  His vision for the church to have closer ties to the community has led to the creation of a new role called pou mīhana. “They are ordained encouragers, encouraging Christianity and unity. My expectation is they would be at every Māori gathering within their area.”  Already, pou mīhana are in demand, as are the new facilities, with many calls coming in from groups wanting to use them. 

It’s clear Bishop Richard is achieving that lofty goal of uniting church and community – and there’s another he’s set for himself. He says he’d like to achieve it before retirement, which he hints is now only a couple of years off. “When I first came here,” he says, “I wanted to make sure that whoever replaced me as bishop in the future would have a place that would be comfortable.”  And he’s well on the way to ticking that aim off his list. 

Republished from 'No barriers between the church and the people' at Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa, tpoa.nz