Western Bay of Plenty Parish striving to be good allies to the Rainbow community

Whenever I talk about prophets at church I tell the people that “a prophet is someone who draws close to God and God draws close to them and they know what is important. A prophet could be anyone, there could be a prophet in this very room with us.” I believe that is true.

When Jesus walked around on earth he made a concerted effort to stand with people who were not fully accepted by society, people who were not fully included and people who did not have a seat of power and privilege. Jesus allied himself with those who were hurting.

I originally come from the United States of America and from my perspective, Aotearoa New Zealand is a loving, accepting and inclusive place. I know that there is still a long way to go and that we are far from perfect but I was still surprised, and deeply saddened, when I learned that in Aotearoa New Zealand it is, statistically speaking, five times more likely for someone from the Rainbow community to attempt suicide than their heterosexual counterparts.

To follow Jesus, to gain a prophetic perspective by drawing close to God, we must ally ourselves with those who are hurting. Our Western Bay of Plenty parish strives to be a place where we welcome people from all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, cultures, nationalities, abilities, sexual orientations and gender identities. We want to share God’s love in its many forms. We want to say to each person that no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!

Sometimes being welcoming is not enough. Sometimes we must do more, we must accompany hospitality with action. The problem is, like many pākehā churches in the Methodist Connexion, we are getting older and we find that as a parish we have less energy than we used to. This does not change the need for action and allyship; it just changes the way we go about it.

Our first year as a sponsor for the Tauranga Moana Pride Festival was 2023. It is a week-long festival in Tauranga where the Rainbow community is celebrated. It is an event where people can have fun, be themselves, and feel safe. We decided that we wanted to be known publicly as a safe place that allied itself with the Rainbow community. Directly after the first festival, we had people contacting the church to express their appreciation that a church was stepping into that space. We had people from the Pride Fest partner with us later in the year to hold a workshop at our church where we brought in theologians from all over Aotearoa to discuss how churches could be safe spaces.

We have now been sponsors for two years and we intend to continue to lend support to the Rainbow community and the Tauranga Moana Pride Festival. We want to be known as a church that practises a prophetic and loving vision for inclusion. We want to draw close to God and know what is important in this world. We want to be a church where all people know that they are welcome. And so, we will continue to strive to be good allies to the Rainbow community.