Elders’ Report to Conference 2023

As outlined in the Conference agenda, the Council of Elders shall enable and assist the Church in its Bicultural Journey by seeking to model the equal partnership prefigured in the Treaty of Waitangi, and at Conference specifically will:

(a) monitor all recommendations of Conference Committees and Boards of the Conference;

(b) reflect and comment on the style, processes, work and priorities of all Conference Committees and Boards, Conference discussion and decision making;

(c) refer back for further consideration any report or recommendation which the Council of Elders considers will hinder or divert the Church from its Bicultural Journey, and

(d) report each year to the Conference.

At a face-to-face Conference, it is easy for the Elders to sit together, get to know each other better and check out our perceptions as we go. On-line, this is much more difficult! Nevertheless, we were able to present this report at the end of Conference.

Te Taha Māori Elder, Kuina Matini from Tai Tokerau, greeted Conference in te reo on behalf of the Elders. Tauiwi Elder, Viv Whimster from Waikato-Waiariki, then reflected on how we had journeyed through Conference.

· Conference gives us all a great opportunity to be reminded that we need each other.

· The bicultural journey is about partnership and travelling together - and it is not just about Te Taha Māori and Tauiwi, but offers us a good model for all our relationships.

· For this on-line Conference, we needed a competent team behind the technology.
We commend them for a platform which operated smoothly and thank everyone for engaging with this on-line medium, especially those less comfortable with zoom.
When asked to unmute – or mute! – our conversations, we needed patience with each other. This happened and it helped.

· We needed skilled facilitators to guide us through our decision-making, so thank you to President Peter, Vice-President TeRito and General Secretary Tara.
We needed convenors and chairs of boards to guide us through reports just as we needed those who asked difficult or naïve questions, and those who challenged our assumptions.

· They in turn needed Conference members to engage in listening and contributing.
There were around 180 full members of Conference and 30 observers, yet at any one time there were not more than about 140 participants on zoom.
There were fewer green ticks to indicate agreement than we would expect in a face-to-face Conference – maybe we need to ask if it was because of technological issues, a lack of support for decisions or members simply not staying tuned in?

· We need each other’s input when it comes to making recommendations for people to serve on boards and committees, so we encourage conversations to happen before Conference so that members follow process: this means not taking nominations from the floor.

· For some, this was a special Conference – maybe their first; on-line is a difficult way to engage for a first time; for others their last. We hope both felt supported pastorally. For the ordinands this was also a special Conference. How could they have been better supported as they were received into Full Connexion?

· The break-out rooms were a great opportunity to travel on the Conference journey with smaller groups. They were particularly useful for sharing stories of needing each other to bring about restorative justice and of offering and receiving different perspectives when we talked about a statement on the situation in Gaza. We need to hear each other with our sometimes widely different views and this was done respectfully.

· In some of the discussions we needed each other to remind us that we all still have learning to do, including around Te Tiriti and the Treaty, colonisation and racism. Discussion papers will be circulated round Hui Poari and Synods during the year. Can we all commit to this opportunity to listen, learn and contribute as we engage with them?

· On many occasions, members of Conference stated the need to include and involve rangatahi – we do need them! But Te Hāhi also needs those who have been travelling longer who are able to share their experience and institutional memory. We need each other.