The New Zealand Anglican Church

Judy Gill

Last month, members of the Māori Anglican Church attended the installation in London of Sarah Mullally, the first woman to become Archbishop of Canterbury in the office’s 1,400-year history.[1] In Te Ao Māori News, Archbishop Don Tamihere (no relation to John or David Tamihere) described the occasion as one in which a “Three Tikanga Church” could rightly rejoice, and he framed that response in terms of justice, equity, colonial history and culturally grounded expressions of faith.[1]

This reveals, clearly, what the modern Anglican Church has become.

When a church starts organising itself by ethnicity, speaking more in the language of gender, social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion and cultural identity than of common identity and shared belonging, something fundamental has changed.

The New Zealand Anglican Church now practises identity and race Marxism.

The church presents its three tikanga structure as serving “the unity of Christian mission”. Yet instead of reflecting the ideal of we are [now] one people – it formalises ethnic division within one church in one country. That is not “unity”. It is institutionalised separation, defended by the DEI language of culture, inclusion, and Christian mission.[2][3]

That is what makes the recent Te Ao Māori News article so revealing. It is not only about ethnicity – it is also about gender politics. The same report that celebrates a “Three Tikanga Church” also celebrates the installation of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury. Taken together, it shows a church the public identity of which is now being expressed through ethnicity, gender, post-colonial framing, diversity language and progressive causes as much as through historic Christian doctrine.[1]

When clergy in Tikanga Pākehā speak about identity in terms of being rooted in the whenua, something more than ordinary church language is going on. That is a distinctively Māori concept, not a distinctively biblical one.

When clergy in robes perform karakia to bless the kiwifruit industry, or to bless Kaitāia Airport, one does have to wonder whether this is Tikanga Māori in action. And if it is, what exactly is being practised? Is this Christianity, or is it a different religious framework operating within the Anglican Church?

This did not happen overnight.

In 1814, a Church Missionary Society mission was established at Rangihoua, marking the first Anglican mission in New Zealand.[4]

In 1840, Hobson greeted chiefs with the words “He iwi tahi tatou” – we are [now] one people.[2]

In 1992, the Anglican Church in New Zealand and Polynesia adopted its revised constitutional structure, formally providing for three partners to order their affairs within their own cultural context: Tikanga Māori, Tikanga Pasefika, and Tikanga Pākehā.[3][5]

In 1994, the Church of England ordained its first women priests.[6]

In 2014, the Anglican Church in New Zealand created a pathway toward the blessing of same-gender relationships while saying it was upholding the traditional doctrine of marriage.[7]

In 2017, the Church of England’s General Synod passed a motion welcoming transgender people.[8]

In 2018, the Church of England published guidance inviting clergy to use the existing rite of Affirmation of Baptismal Faith in relation to gender transition.[9][10]

Also in 2018, the Anglican Church in New Zealand opened the way for the blessing of same-sex relationships.[11]

From 2018 to 2020, New Zealand Anglican bishops publicly opposed euthanasia and the End of Life Choice legislation.[12][13]

In 2020, during New Zealand’s abortion law reform, the Anglican Church took no clear public province-wide stand either for or against the change.

In 2021, the Anglican Church published official Matariki liturgical resources, including a Celebration of Matariki and a Memorial of the Departed. That was a clear public embrace of Matariki within church worship.[14][15]

In 2025, Windsor Castle hosted an Open Iftar in St George’s Hall in collaboration with the Ramadan Tent Project.[16][17]

Also in 2025, Lady Tureiti Moxon took her complaint about alleged systemic racism in New Zealand to the United Nations, where it was accepted for consideration by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.[18]

And now, in 2026, Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa attended the installation of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, with Archbishop Don Tamihere openly celebrating the occasion in the language of a “Three Tikanga Church.”[1][19]

There is also a wider irony here. Lady Tureiti Moxon has accused New Zealand of racism at the United Nations. Yet the Anglican world around her has itself normalised race-based structures, race-based language and race-based categories in church life. If New Zealand is to be accused of racism on the world stage, then the Anglican Church can hardly pretend it is innocent of embedding race into its own institutions.[18][20]

This is not just about one overseas ceremony and not just about one female archbishop. It is about what the modern Anglican Church now is.

In modern New Zealand, the Anglican Church increasingly functions, at least on the public stage, as the historic Treaty church turned church of the progressive left. Individual parishes may vary, but the public face of the church has changed profoundly.

It was once the church of the original Treaty of Waitangi. It is now, far more clearly, the church of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This is a church that now publicly speaks less in the language of common faith and more in the language of identity politics, grievance, and race Marxism.

It has become, in public life, a natural church home for the religious wing of the Labour, Green and Te Pāti Māori world and it is not the only church in New Zealand to have moved in that direction.

References

[1] Te Ao Māori News, “Māori Anglican church attends historic installation of first female Archbishop of Canterbury,” 30 March 2026. https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2026/03/30/the-maori-anglican-church-attends-historic-installation-of-first-female-archbishop-of-canterbury/

[2] NZ History, William Hobson. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/william-hobson

[3] Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, “About.” https://www.anglican.org.nz/About

[4] NZ History, “Marsden and the CMS.” https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/missionaries/marsden-and-cms

[5] Anglican Communion, case study on Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/254205/7a-Aotearea-New-Zealand-Polynesia.pdf

[6] Church of England, “Celebrations mark 25 years of women’s ordination to the priesthood.” https://www.churchofengland.org/media/press-releases/celebrations-mark-25-years-womens-ordination-priesthood

[7] Anglican News, “ANZP same-gender blessings, a way forward,” May 2014. https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2014/05/anzp-same-gender-blessings%2C-a-way-forward.aspx

[8] Church of England, “Welcoming transgender people,” 2017. https://www.churchofengland.org/media/press-releases/welcoming-transgender-people

[9] Church of England, “Services to mark gender transition: House of Bishops response,” 2018. https://www.churchofengland.org/media/press-releases/services-mark-gender-transition-house-bishops-response

[10] Church of England, “Guidance for welcoming transgender people published,” 2018. https://www.churchofengland.org/media/press-releases/guidance-welcoming-transgender-people-published

[11] Anglican News, “Anglican Church in New Zealand opens the door to blessing same-sex relationships,” 9 May 2018. https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2018/05/anglican-church-in-new-zealand-opens-the-door-to-blessing-same-sex-relationships.aspx

[12] Anglican Taonga, “End of Life Choice Act: Yes or No?” 15 July 2020. https://www.anglicantaonga.org.nz/news/tikanga_pakeha/eolcact_g

[13] Anglican Taonga, “Religious leaders urge NZ ‘Vote No’,” 19 September 2020. https://www.anglicantaonga.org.nz/features/extra/eolcact_voteno

[14] Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, “Matariki Resources 2021.” https://anglican.org.nz/content/download/161994/813148/file/Matariki%20liturgies%20CLLC%202021%20reviewed%20by%20Tikanga%20Pakeha%20Oct%202021.docx

[15] Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, “Special Days.” https://anglican.org.nz/Resources/Worship-Resources-Karakia-ANZPB-HKMOA/Special-Days

[16] Royal Collection Trust, “Open Iftar at Windsor Castle.” https://www.rct.uk/event/open-iftar-at-windsor-castle-03-2025

[17] Ramadan Tent Project, “First Open Iftar Held at Windsor Castle in 1000 Year History,” 2025. https://www.ramadantentproject.com/first-open-iftar-held-at-windsor-castle-in-1000-year-history-2025/

[18] Te Ao Māori News, “Lady Tureiti Moxon’s human rights complaint accepted by the United Nations,” 15 November 2025. https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2025/11/15/lady-tureiti-moxons-human-rights-complaint-accepted-by-the-united-nations/

[19] Anglican Taonga, “Archbishops reflect on Canterbury,” 28 March 2026. https://anglicantaonga.org.nz/news/the_communion/abps_reflect_abcinstallation

[20] The Platform / Michael Laws, “Lady Moxon’s Bizarre Appeal To The United Nations To …” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tmEPwQf538

Supplementary background

[21] Dr Muriel Newman, “Divided Agenda,” NZCPR, 2 August 2015. https://www.nzcpr.com/divided-agenda/

22] Circle (Anglican publication), describing the sanctuary at Te Karaiti te Pou Herenga Waka, Māngere, including “Papatūānuku (Earth Mother) and Ranginui (Sky Father)” alongside “Adam and Eve, Moses, Elijah and Peter.” https://anglican.org.nz/content/download/47238/238806/file/Circle%20Vol%2049%20no%204webR.pdf