Readers share their thoughts and concerns.

Conversations between Church and Government

To the editor

I was touched by a quotation included by Katherine Doig in the ‘Now and Then’ section of the April 2024 edition of Touchstone. I may be mistaken but I think that in times past representatives of the Methodist Church of New Zealand used to meet with political leaders to discuss issues of importance. Was this perhaps the Public Questions Committee and were reports from that committee published from time to time in Touchstone?

This is important to me as I believe conversations between the church and the Beehive should be happening now about the fear currently being felt by many, many people, myself included, as to our falling standards of living and the intentions expressed by the Coalition Government.

Of course, this may be happening. I don’t know but I should like to be informed and hopefully reassured.

Yours faithfully,

Heather Kelly, Invercargill.

Hymn Honour the Dead

We were reminded of the New Zealand hymn Honour the Dead, this recent Anzac Day. With words by Shirley Erena Murray and music by Colin Gibson, it was warmly received. One choir member from Hutt City said, “It’s great to have a hymn that honours the bravery and sacrifice of the soldiers, but does not glorify war.”

We wonder how many churches and civic events included this 2005 hymn in their worship services?

There are now many hymns related to New Zealand, pioneered in David Dell’s New Zealand Praise (1988) and later, by the four collections of the New Zealand Hymnbook Trust (1996 to 2009). Honour the Dead was included in Hope is our Song (2009).

There are two CD recordings of Honour the Dead: the Auckland chamber choir Viva Voce’s Hope is our Song CD, and a brass band version on the NZ Army’s Lest We Forget CD.

We would be interested to learn how Honour the Dead was heard, or not heard, in this year’s Anzac Day events.

Gillian and John Thornley (johngill@inspire.net.nz)

Palmerston North