The Māori Anglican Church gathered at Tūrangawaewae Marae today to celebrate the 10th anniversary since the ordination of Rt Reverend Ngarahu Katene. A lifelong follower of the Anglican faith, Bishop Ngarahu says his work isn't over yet.
A mechanic turned Māori Bishop, welding the Treaty and Gospel has been Rt Rev Ngārahu's biggest legacy.
Anglican Archbishop Philip Richardson says, “The great achievement that I've experienced is the way that he's drawn our diocese and his Amorangi together even more closely. I think what Ngarahu does is that he says we stand alongside each other and we represent to Church and to Nation what partnership under the Treaty can look like.”
Over 250 members of the Anglican Church gathered in thanksgiving for the Frist Ten Years of the Episcopal Ministry of Bishop Ngarahu Katene, first elected Bishop of Te Manawa o Te Wheke diocese.
Ngarahu Katene says, “When I think about these ten years that I'm here to celebrate, I remember back as a teenager as I stepped out to become a man I took on an apprenticeship as a mechanic and the term was 5 years and I thought five years that’s a whole lifetime!”
Those five years would soon become 35 before being ordained as deacon and priest of the St Faiths vicar in 1980. In 1994 he was posted as chaplain to Te Wairua Tapu Church in Sydney Australia and in 2006 was ordained as Bishop by Archbishop Brown Turei.
Katene’s sister Hariata says, “My mum and dad especially my mother, pīrangi ia mo Te Ngārahu, kua uru mai ki te Hāhi mahi ai. That was always her wish. She would have been the proudest person in the world and to see that her son was the bishop.”
Ten years as Bishop and a lifetime of devotion, Bishop Brown says his work has only just begun.
“I want our people to return to the gospel because in today’s times our people’s faith is diminishing and the gospel word is on the decline.”