Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T14:57:39.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

From Settlement to Super-diversity: The Anglican Church and New Zealand’s Diversifying Population1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2016

Andrew Butcher
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Anglicanism in New Zealand can be traced back to the beginning of New Zealand settlement itself. From its earliest days, the Anglican Church has deliberately set out to bridge divides between New Zealand’s indigenous population, Māori, and Europeans, though with mixed success. This article will illustrate that, even with this experience in bicultural engagement, the Anglican Church has not adapted well to the super-diverse multicultural New Zealand of the twenty-first century. Census data reveal that the Anglican Church has had a precipitous drop in numbers, and has a demographic profile that is much older and whiter than the general New Zealand, let alone Christian, population. This poses significant challenges for its ongoing sustainability. Given the common experience of super-diversity with other Western countries, this article provides a case study and a cautionary tale about the challenges and realities of the Anglican Church adjusting to a new multicultural society.

Keywords

AnglicanismAotearoaAsiacross-culturalmigrationNew Zealandsuper-diversity
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Anglican Studies , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , May 2017 , pp. 108 - 129
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

I am grateful to Hugh Kemp of St John’s Theological College, Auckland who invited me to give the lecture on which this paper is based and to George Wieland of Carey Baptist College, Auckland, who provided useful critique on an earlier draft of this paper.

2

Andrew Butcher is an adjunct researcher in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University, New Zealand.

References

3. Kaye, Bruce, ‘Editorial: Why a Journal of Anglican Studies?’, Journal of Anglican Studies, 1.1 (2003), pp. 7-9 Google Scholar (7).

4. King, Michael, God’s Farthest Outpost: A History of Catholics in New Zealand (Auckland: Penguin Books, 1997)Google Scholar.

5. Spoonley, Paul and Bedford, Richard, Welcome to our World? Immigration and the Reshaping of New Zealand (Auckland: Dunmore Publishing), p. 9 Google Scholar.

6. McCarthy, Angela, ‘Migration and Ethnic Identities in the Nineteenth Century’, in Giselle Byrnes (ed.), The New Oxford History of New Zealand (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 173-196 Google Scholar (195).

7. Spoonley and Bedford, Welcome to our World? p. 9.

8. Spoonley and Bedford, Welcome to our World? pp. 27-28.

9. Belich, James, Paradise Reforged: A History of the New Zealanders from the 1880s to the Year 2000 (Auckland: Penguin, 2001), p. 78 Google Scholar.

10. Belich, Paradise Reforged, p. 124.

11. Davidson, Allan, ‘Conclusion: Reshaping Anglican Identity’, in Allan K. Davidson (ed.), Living Legacy: A History of the Anglican Diocese in Auckland (Auckland: The Anglican Diocese of Auckland, 2011), pp. 335-345 Google Scholar (335).

12. Davidson, ‘Conclusion’, pp. 336-37.

13. Statistics New Zealand, ‘2013 QuickStats about Maori’, Wellington: Statistics New Zealand, 2013. Available at: http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-maori-english.aspx (accessed 14 October 2016).

14. Statistics Canada, ‘Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: First Nations People, Métis, and Inuit’, 2011. Available at: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-011-x/99-011-x2011001-eng.cfm (accessed 14 October 2016).

15. Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2011’, available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/3238.0.55.001 (accessed 14 October 2016).

16. Spoonley, Paul and Butcher, Andrew, ‘Reporting Superdiversity: The Mass Media and Immigration in New Zealand’, Journal of Intercultural Studies 30.4 (2009), pp. 355-372 Google Scholar (356).

17. Gendall, Philip, Spoonley, Paul and Butcher, Andrew, New Zealanders’ Perceptions of Asia and Asian peoples, 1997–2011 (Wellington: Asia New Zealand Foundation, 2013)Google Scholar.

18. Kukutai, Tahu, ‘The Structure of Maori-Asian Relations’, New Zealand Population Review 33/34 (2008), pp. 129-151 Google Scholar (136).

19. Kukutai, ‘The Structure of Maori-Asian Relations’, p. 140.

20. Cited in Leckie, Jacqueline, ‘Afterword: Multiculturalism, being Asian and belonging in Aotearoa New Zealand’, in Gautam Ghosh and Jacqueline Leckie, Asians and the New Multiculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand (Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2015), pp. 285-299 Google Scholar (288).

21. Cited in Kukutai, Tahu, ‘The Structure of Maori-Asian Relations’, p. 131 Google Scholar.

22. Callister, Paul, ‘The Construction of Ethnicity and “Belonging” in New Zealand: Where We Have Come From and Where We Might Be Going’, Journal of New Zealand Studies 10 (2008), pp. 115-137 Google Scholar (115).

23. See Figures 10a and 10b in Asia New Zealand Foundation, New Zealanders’ Perceptions of Asia and Asian Peoples, 2013 (Wellington: Asia New Zealand Foundation)Google Scholar, available at: http://asianz.org.nz/sites/asianz.org.nz/files/Perceptions_of_Asia_report_2013.pdf (accessed 9 December 2014).

24. Chinese make up 36.3 per cent of the Asian population in New Zealand. See Statistics New Zealand, QuickStats about Culture and Identity (Wellington: Statistics New Zealand), p. 12, available at: http://www.stats.govt.nz/~/media/Statistics/Census/2013%20Census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-culture-identity/quickstats-culture-identity.pdf (accessed 9 December 2014).

25. Spoonley and Bedford, Welcome to our World? p. 26.

26. Data derived from the New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings, 2013, available at: www.stats.govt.nz (accessed 9 December 2014).

27. Bedford, Richard and Ho, Elsie, Asians in New Zealand: Implications of a Changing Demography (Wellington: Asia New Zealand Foundation, 2008), p. 11 Google Scholar.

28. Statistics New Zealand, ‘2013 QuickStats about Culture and Identity’, available at: http://www.stats.govt.nz/~/media/Statistics/Census/2013%20Census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-culture-identity/quickstats-culture-identity.pdf (accessed 9 December 2014).

29. Ward, Kevin, ‘Crunching the Numbers: Census 2013 and the Future of Christianity?’ available at: http://kevinrward.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/crunching-the-numbers-census-2013-and-the-future-of-christianity/ Google Scholar (accessed 9 December 2014).

30. McCarthy, ‘Migration and Ethnic Identities’, p. 195.

31. Spoonley and Bedford, Welcome to our World? p. 9.

32. Spoonley, Paul, ‘“I Made a Space for You”: Renegotiating National Identity and Citizenship in Contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand’, in Gautam Ghosh and Jacqueline Leckie (eds), Asians and the New Multiculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand (Dunedin: Otago University Press), pp. 39-60 Google Scholar (42).

33. Spoonley and Bedford, Welcome to our World? pp. 133-34.

34. Gower, Patrick, ‘Peters Wants Immigration Cuts to Protect Jobs’, The New Zealand Herald, 17 October 2008, available at: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10537930 Google Scholar (accessed 9 December 2014).

35. Brian Tamaki, Destiny Church Perspectives Column, 26 February 2007, available at: www.destinychurch.org.New Zealand/content/view/58/75/ (accessed 9 December 2014).

36. George, Garth, ‘Breathtaking Hypocrisy in Labour’s Immigration U-turn’, New Zealand Herald, 21 November 2002, available at: www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3005336 Google Scholar (accessed 9 December 2014).

37. Gendall, Philip, Spoonley, Paul and Trlin, Andrew, ‘The Attitudes of New Zealanders to Immigrants and Immigration: 2003 and 2006 Compared’, Occasional Paper Number 17 (Palmerston North: New Settlers Programme, Massey University)Google Scholar.

38. Asia New Zealand Foundation, New Zealanders’ Perceptions of Asia and Asian Peoples – 2014 Annual Survey, Wellington: Asia New Zealand Foundation, p. 32. Available at: http://asianz.org.nz/reports/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ANZF1046-Perceptions-of-Asia-Report2.pdf (accessed 14 October 2016).

39. Gendall et al., New Zealanders’ Perceptions of Asia, n.p.

40. For further discussion on this point see Butcher, Andrew, Attitudes towards Asia: New Zealand, Canada and Australia Compared. Pathways to Metropolis in the 21st Century: Immigration Issues and Futures Conference, Massey University, Auckland, 24–26 October. Available at: http://newsettlers.massey.ac.nz/publications_pdfs/Andrew%20Butcher.pdf Google Scholar (accessed 6 January 2016).

41. For example, see comments by former Archbishops of Canterbury: Carey, George, ‘Migration Threatens the DNA of our Nation’, The Times, 7 January 2010. Available at: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6978389.ece Google Scholar (accessed 9 December 2014); Williams, Rowan, ‘Archbishop’s Lecture – Civil and Religious Law in England: A Religious Perspective’. Foundation lecture, Temple Festival Series, Royal Courts of Justice (London: United Kingdom, 7 February 2008)Google Scholar. Available at: www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/1137/archbishops-lecture-civil-and-religious-law-in-england-a-religious-perspective (accessed 9 December 2014).

42. Vertovec, Steven, New Complexities of Cohesion in Britain: Super-diversity, Transnationalism and Civil-integration (Wetherby: Commission on Integration and Cohesion), p. 3 Google Scholar, available at: http://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/files/Publications/Reports/Vertovec%20-%20new_complexities_of_cohesion_in_britain.pdf (accessed 9 December 2014; see also: Vertovec, Steven, ‘The Emergence of Super-diversity in Britain’, Working Paper Number 25, University of Oxford, 2006. Available at: http://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/files/Publications/working_papers/WP_2006/WP0625_Vertovec.pdf Google Scholar (accessed 9 December 2014).

43. Spoonley, Paul, ‘Superdiversity, Social Cohesion and Economic Benefits’, IZA World of Labor, 46 (2014), pp. 1-10 Google Scholar; available at: http://wol.iza.org/articles/superdiversity-social-cohesion-and-economic-benefits.pdf (accessed 9 December 2014).

44. Gendall et al., New Zealanders’ Perceptions of Asia.

45. Statistics New Zealand, ‘Quickstats about Culture and Identity’.

46. Statistics New Zealand, ‘2013 Census Quickstats about National Highlights’, available at: http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-national-highlights.aspx (accessed 9 December 2014).

47. Statistics New Zealand, ‘Quickstats about Culture and Identity’.

48. Hawke, Gary, Bedford, Richard, Kukutai, Tahu, McKinnon, Malcolm, Erik Olssen and Paul Spoonley, Our Futures: Te Pae Tawhiti: The 2013 Census and New Zealand’s Changing Population (Wellington: The Royal Society of New Zealand, 2013), p. 6 Google Scholar, available at: http://assets.royalsociety.org.nz/media/2014/08/Our-Futures-report-web-with-references.pdf (accessed 9 December 2014).

49. Statistics New Zealand, ‘QuickStats about Culture and Identity’.

50. Kevin Ward, ‘Crunching the Numbers’.

51. Hawke et al., Our Futures, p. 8.

52. Andrews, Robyn, ‘Quiting India: The Anglo-Indian Culture of Migration’, Sites 4, 27 (2007), pp. 32-56 Google Scholar (37).

53. Otto SJ, Brent Howitt and Andrews, Robyn, Anglo-Indian Religious Research: A Project to Understand the Role of Religion in Anglo-Indian Identity, Today and Yesterday, Report of Survey Results June 2013 (Palmerston North: Massey University, 2013), p. 2 Google Scholar.

54. Cited in Ward, Kevin, ‘Migration, Cultural Diversity and the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand’, 20 September 2014, available at: http://kevinrward.wordpress.com/2014/09/20/migration-cultural-diversity-and-the-church-in-aotearoa-new-zealand/ Google Scholar (accessed 9 December 2014).

55. Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia, ‘Primates’, available at: http://www.anglican.org.nz/Directory/Primates (accessed 9 December 2014).

56. Depicted in a historic image here: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31162/chinese-anglican-mission-wellington (accessed 14 October 2016).

57. Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia, ‘About’, available at: http://www.anglican.org.nz/About (accessed 9 December 2014).