I have been privileged to visit New Zealand twice this year. On my first visit in May, I had time to explore a little of this beautiful land from alpine mountains to the lush forests bordering restless volcanic lakes, but I am still haunted by the sight of the ruined Christchurch Cathedral, its west end still open to the elements after the spire collapsed in the 2011 earthquake.
My second visit, in mid-October, was for the consecration of The Revd Jay Behan as the first bishop of the new Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand (CCAANZ), an extra provincial diocese under the oversight of the GAFCON Primates Council. While Christchurch Cathedral remains a ruin, courageous Anglicans in New Zealand are taking the first steps to restore the grievously damaged spiritual fabric of Anglican life and witness.
By its decision to allow the blessing of same-sex marriages, the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia’s (ACANZP) has forsaken ‘the foundation of the apostles and prophets’ (Eph. 2:20) and hope for the future must now lie with this new diocese. It is small, consisting at the moment of just 12 parishes, but no one should underestimate the significance of this historic step.
