Rhonda Swenson – artist, advocate, policy influencer and member of Ngaio Union Church – recently fronted a special service to raise the profile of an issue often overlooked, the level of ordinary people’s debt to the Ministry of Social Development, and its contribution to wealth inequality in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Rhonda worked with Ngaio Union Church’s Minister Sue Brown to create the service built around the real stories of people who are in debt to MSD and whose benefits are reduced to often unsustainable levels to repay that ‘debt’.

Rhonda has lived experience of this situation and has also been involved in preparing the Fairer Futures network’s report ‘Lifting the Weight – a Fairer Future Report on Experiences of Debt Owed to the Ministry of Social Development’.

An interview with Rhonda set the scene, followed by four stories (read by members of the congregation) drawn from the report, of people’s experience of being in debt to MSD – a very different reality for most people in the pews.

Liturgy was drawn from the mahi of retired Australian Uniting Church minister and activist, Dorothy McRae-McMahon, which values the human person and the sanctity of life. A poem called ‘Face to Face’ from Tranquil Moments by New Zealand poet Brian Hardie, and karakia from the Methodist Alliance discussion document provided inspiration for the congregation to engage in deep thinking around an issue that ‘hides in plain sight’.

A short reflection wove these contemporary stories together with the concept of Jubilee from Leviticus as embodied by Luke’s Jesus. The service concluded with a challenge for the congregation to sit with the stories in the coming week, to reflect on the fact that at least 461,000 people in New Zealand (unbelievably, that’s almost 1 in 10 of the population) owe debt to the Ministry of Social Development; to hold that statistic in one hand and in the other hold the story of Jubilee; then to open their hearts; and ask – how will I respond ...