This look back at some of our nation's Christian heritage follows on from "Sailors and Missionaries".
While events following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi did not always fall out as planned or hoped, the ideal of a new nation based on peace, equality and justice for all was taken seriously by those who established our government. Just 14 years after the treaty was signed, following a democratic general election, our House of Representatives sat for the first time in May 1854.
They met in Auckland, the then capital, in a building – no longer existing – on the corner of Parliament Street and what is now Anzac Avenue.
There, the first act of our parliament – the first vote ever taken in our House of Representatives – was that a prayer might be said: that the governance of this nation might begin with praise to God and a prayer that His will might be done in this land.
And every single sitting day, for 163 years afterwards, proceedings in the house began with a prayer similar to this:
Almighty God, humbly acknowledging our need for Thy guidance in all things, and laying aside all private and personal interests, we beseech Thee to grant that we may conduct the affairs of this House and of our country to the glory of Thy holy name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the honour of the Queen, and the public welfare, peace, and tranquillity of New Zealand, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
While this prayer was abolished by the Labour government in November 2017, we can still make it our own, as we pray for our government and our nation. And we should be encouraged by this reminder that our nation began with the belief that our lives and affairs should be conducted to the glory of God.
The notion of equality and justice was also seen in our democratic suffrage. While voting in the first few elections was restricted to male landowners, the requirements did not discriminate on race. Recognising that much Maori land was held communally, in 1867 Maori seats were established – enabling Maori to vote without needing to meet the property requirements. These property requirements were abolished for all in 1879.
Women could vote in local elections from the 1870s. And this equality reached completion with universal suffrage in 1893 – with voting rights extended to women in national elections – following the campaigning and social efforts of Kate Sheppard and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
Kate Sheppard wrote and spoke passionately about our responsibility as followers of Christ to care for all members of society, both practically and politically. “All that separates, whether of race, class, creed, or sex, is inhuman, and must be overcome” she wrote, no doubt having in mind the verses from Galations: “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Image credit:
Auckland from Parnell, Andrew Robertson, 1859. Auckland Art Gallery No known copyright restrictions
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