weekend, and for all who helped out over the weekend as well. Māori evangelists, before the missionaries and the Treaty, brought the gospels and Christian worship to the south. The first Methodist preacher and evangelist to lead worship in Canterbury was Tawao, who visited Koukourarata in 1839 or 1840. There is a stone cairn at Koukourarata that marks the spot. When Bishop Selwyn, walking to Otago, stopped over in Taumutu in 1844, the people here were regular worshippers who knew the gospels, the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. Methodist missionaries also visited; Charles Creed in 1845 and James Watkins in 1851. Rev. Koti Te Rato, Methodist Māori Minister, was appointed to Rāpaki in 1865. He was born in the Wairarapa and married Irihapeti Mohiko of Ngāti Wheke. He served the Māori communities at Rāpaki, Koukourarata, Akaroa, Wairewa, Taumutu, Arowhenua and Moeraki, and made trips south to Karitāne, Ōtākou and Colac Bay. When he retired in 1891 he went home to the Wairarapa. Ngāi Tahu leader, MP and then Legislative Councillor, H.K. Taiaroa lived in Ōtākou when he first entered Parliament as Member for Southern Māori. He and his family moved to Taumutu in the late 1870s and built Awhitu House. His wife, Tini Pana (Burns), was a Methodist from Moeraki. She was the one who kept the home fires burning while H.K Taiaroa went to and fro to Wellington and places within his electorate. H.K Taiaroa, Tini Taiaroa, Koti Te Rato, Te Maiharanui Maopo and Rewi Koruarua believed it was time to build a church at Taumutu. The site they selected was within the walls of Te Ruahikihiki’s pā, Ōrariki, and stands in special relationship to Horomaka, Te Waihora and the Southern Alps.
Funds were raised from Māori and Pākehā alike – the Māori communities at Kaiapoi and Little River were especially supportive as were the Pākehā communities at Sedgemere, Lakeside and more widely in Ellesmere. The Architect TS Lambert designed Hone Wetere Church, and Herman (Hamana Kamura), the German carpenter who built Awhitu House, was the builder. The church was completed in 1885 and the opening service held on Easter Tuesday. A document was read and signed by the Chiefs Te Maiharanui Maopo, Irai Tihau, Rewi Koruarua and Te One Topi Putuki, on behalf of local Māori. The building was called Hone Wetere (John Wesley) and gifted to the Methodist Church of New Zealand. Māori people arranged for the church to be built for their use and for the use of the district. Rewi Koruarua, Riki Te Mairaki Taiaroa, Atareta (Te Maiharoa) Maopo, and Hoani Nutira from the marae and Frederick Overton, John Barnett, and George Chester Waby from the Methodist Circuit were the first Trustees. Hoani Nutira took special care of the urupā and the church building, and rang the bell to call the people to worship.
Te Rūnanga o Koukourarata Greetings! Auē, a quarter of the year gone already and so much has been packed into such a short period of time. So rest while you can whānau, there is still more to come. Thankfully the weather has been beautiful – in fact better than our summer. Here’s hoping we get a gradual lead to the frosts… Before moving on, the whānau of Te Rūnanga o Koukourarata would like to extend our heartfelt aroha to all of our whanauka who have lost loved ones over the past months, in particular acknowledging the MatuaTipene/Wakefield whānau with the sudden loss of Bevan. Nō reira koutou o te huka wairua haere atu rā, moe mai rā i kā peka o tō tātou nei Ūkaipō. Mā te Atua koutou katoa e manaaki e tiaki. Apiti hono tātai hono rātou ki a rātou ka moe, āpiti hono tātai hono tātou te huka ora ka noho, pai marire!
Nau mai Tauti mai
Nuku Tawhiti Rapana-Moka. Nau mai tauti mai ki a Nuku Tawhiti Rapana-Moka born 26 February to very proud parents Tekerei Moka and Lisa Brown. We look forward to meeting you in the near future.
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