"Hoake taua ki Waiapu ki tatara e maru ana"
"Let us return to the sacred cloak that shelters us all"
Porourangi Whare, at Te Pa o Waiomatatini near the banks of the Waiapu river, will be the venue for the Ordination and Installation of The Reverend Don Tamihere as the 2nd Bishop of Tairawhiti.
The Waiapu Valley holds deep significance in the history of the Maori Anglican Church in Tairawhiti and Aotearoa. It is the place where the Gospel was first preached in Tairawhiti, by Piripi Taumata-a-kura of Whakawhitira, at Te Hatepe on the 1st of January 1834. It has been a home and shelter to generations of revered priests and leaders – including Mohi Turei, Reweti Kohere, Pine Tamahori, Anaru Takurua, Hone Kaa, and our late Bishop, Paraone Turei among others.
The Waiapu Valley was also the home of the great Sir Apirana Ngata, who was at the forefront of the movement to establish Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa – the Maori Anglican church – and to secure the ordination of the very first Maori bishop, on the 2nd of December 1928, so that the Maori church could finally be led by Maori people, professing their faith in a truly Maori way. Sir Apirana passed away in 1950 and is buried in the Waiapu Valley at Puputa, the ancient pa site that stands behind Porourangi Whare and the nearby Bungalow that was Sir Apirana’s homestead.
Rev Don Tamihere, who was elected in October 2016 to succeed the late Archbishop Brown Turei as Bishop of Tairawhiti, has strong whakapapa links to the Waiapu Valley. He spent a large part of his childhood on the family farm at Kakariki, just down the road from Porourangi, and was baptised at Rakaihoea. His father, the late Don Tamihere Snr, is buried at Maro Tarewa alongside his mother and grandparents. This is the same cemetary where the Rev Pine Tamahori, also of Te Whanau a Rakaihoea, is buried.
“It means a lot to me to be able to come home, and to celebrate the story of our people and the story of the gospel in our place” says Rev Don, “While the purpose of this service is to have me ordained and installed as a bishop, I think there is a greater kaupapa for us to share. That kaupapa is the beautiful faith – te waere ataahua – that our ancestors have gifted to us. That’s a gift we should celebrate and share with the world.”
Where
Porourangi Marae, Waiomatatini (7KM north of Ruatoria on Waiomatatini Road).
When
11 March 2017
10:30AM Powhiri
11AM Service
Hakari to follow
RSVP & Enquiries
Phone: 06 867 8856
Email: office@tairawhiti.org.nz
To assist with catering and arrangements please advise attendance to the Tairawhiti Office by 6 March