Bishop Te Kitohi Pikaahu on faith, tradition and service
Monday, 30 January 2023
His is a recognisable face on Waitangi Day as the mouthpiece for God – a role the Anglican Bishop of Te Tai Tokerau takes seriously. Olivia Shivas spoke with the bishop about his faith and why the church is still relevant today.
Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.
The Right Reverend Te Kitohi Pikaahu ONZM (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa and Te Roroa) always knew helping people would give him fulfilment in life.
At school, it was a career as a lawyer that first appealed to him.
“I suppose I had an image that a lawyer is a person that represents others and that you're an advocate.”
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But at 15 years of age, he made a choice that shaped the trajectory of his life – though still with a clear role of service.
Pikaahu was confirmed on July 1, 1979, by Bishop Manu Bennett – a significant date for him because that was the day he truly committed to his faith, he says.
“On the day, my father said to me and my two brothers that following our confirmation, we would then be responsible for our own lives in terms of faith, and I made the decision never to turn back on it.”
The 58-year-old based in Paihia has taken his responsibility seriously since he was a teenager and is now in his 22nd year as Bishop of Te Tai Tokerau.
He’s been organising Waitangi Day services for more than 20 years and plays a key role co-ordinating with the various denominations leading the services, choosing the hymns and working with the choir leaders.
Pikaahu recognises that most teenagers would not make the same serious commitment to faith that he made at that age.
“I was on my own and surrounded by adults and elders, kaumātua who were 70 or 80 years old,” he says.
Pikaahu is carrying on a long family tradition within the Anglican faith – in 1837 his great-great-grandfather was baptised by missionary Reverend Henry Williams.
“Ever since then, that's been our faith tradition, that's been our membership of the Anglican Church in the Far North,” he says.
“We're shaped by it and influenced by it in our community and our marae area, and it was all the life that everyone had in the valley.”
He describes having a “typical Anglican upbringing in the marae valleys and communities”, which meant attending two different churches regularly with Sunday school lessons, scriptures, hymn singing, prayers and sermons all in te reo Māori.
Pikaahu was just 37 when he was ordained a bishop in 2002, the youngest bishop in the world at the time.
“That also is an acknowledgement that those who voted for me wanted to have change that was going to be around for some time,” he says. “That's that's how I view it.”
He says one of the most challenging aspects of his role is finding ways to keep the church relevant.
“We've got to keep abreast of challenges in society, keep abreast of all aspects of how we live in New Zealand society for Māori. It's about keeping the church relevant and also important in the lives of all those who profess Christian faith.”
He says one of the keys to staying relevant is that church has to have “a lot of variety around it”.
“In urban settings, the strategy is a much younger team of ministers and there are more of them on the ground and really building diversity around membership,” he says.
“One of our archdeacons in Auckland, he's young himself, and he's also attracted a lot of younger ones. They in turn attract others who are friends and find a similar purpose. I'm really excited to say the energy and passion is really the key here.”
In the 2021 New Year Honours, he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit which he describes as “magnificent”, but says it wasn't all about him.
“I like to say it's a recognition of the people that I served for the last 37 years and as bishop for 22 years,” he says. “And in all that time, it's the people that I serve is what I find the most fulfilment from.”
He said one of the most important roles he has is to represent indigenous voices at the Anglican Communion worldwide because indigenous people around the world have been impacted by colonisation.
A week after Waitangi Day, he heads off to Ghana to speak to the Anglican Church about meeting the needs of indigenous people.
Pikaahu says the reason the Anglican faith plays a special role on Waitangi Day is because the English draft of the treaty was translated by Reverend Henry Williams, an Anglican missionary who arrived in the Bay of Islands in 1823.
“It's important to remember that our history connects with the Treaty [of Waitangi], therefore it brings about a certain duty that the Anglican Church must put its hand up and be part of any commemoration or celebration and also to be made accountable to.”
Outside his roles and various responsibilities, when asked what his hobbies or other interests are he responds: “I don't have time for that.”
Alongside his faith, it is family that is important, the bishop says. He is married with three children and seven grandchildren – “I exist because of that” – while also acknowledging his extended family and church family.
“We're related, but also through our mutual faith, we share that together,” he says. “I like to keep those networks strong with family. I try as much as I can to keep everyone together and be a point of contact. I find great fulfilment in doing that.”
Pikaahu says he’ll stay in the role as Bishop of Te Tai Tokerau for as long as he’s able to but doesn't intend to stay around forever.
“There'll be a retirement age and by then I'm certain there'll be a number of others who will be ready to take up the mantle.”