Hoani Tapu, Author at St Johns Theological College

Clothed in my Korowai

by Hoani Tapu | May 23, 2025 | Whānau Voices

A project from former Hoani Tapu student Koriniti Mckillop.

Just sitting and being before the altar.

A feeling I really miss these days, just being before the Lord clothed in my
korowai, sitting in the posture I was taught in Kapa Haka (women sit with
legs sideways).”

Bishop Te Kitohi Pikaahu approved a request by Koriniti to wear her
Korowai, rather than the alb, at her commissioning to become a Kaikarakia
for Te Haahi Mihinare. Koriniti tells her story of the significance of the
Korowai.

“This Korowai was blessed by my father Rev. Canon Arthur Hokianga when
I was licensed as Kaikarakia in Te Amorangi ki te Tai Tokerau. Ko Hūmārie
te ingoa o tenei kākahu. A beautiful reminder to serve with humility and
love whenever and wherever I lead karakia.

I believe that wearing a Korowai is the most honourable way for me to
present myself before the Church and God as Mihingare and Tangata
Whenua.

Bishop Whakahuihui Vercoe said in his Waitangi speech in 1990, ‘We
(Maori) have been marginalised since 1840, and we continue to be
marginalised…’

I would like to honour my Tupuna and those before them by
acknowledging our own kakahu whakahirahira/Kakahu Maori as a small
gesture of my heritage.”

View the project >>

Indigenising Anglican Theological Education

by Hoani Tapu | May 23, 2025 | Theological Education

Excerpted from Anglican Community News Service

St John’s Theological College in Auckland hosted a landmark gathering of Anglican Seminary Deans from East Asia and Oceania to explore ways to reshape theological education through an indigenous lens.

From 2–4 March 2025, the Anglican Seminary Deans Network convened at St John’s Theological College in Auckland for its bi-annual in-person meeting. The gathering brought together college principals, deans, and directors of theological education from across East Asia and Oceania—including Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Polynesia—alongside representatives from the Episcopal Church, USPG, and the Anglican Communion Office.

The setting of St John’s College provided an inspiring model of what this vision could look like. With Māorileadership at the helm, a significant proportion of indigenous students, and a culture deeply embedded in Māori identity, the college embodies many of the principles discussed throughout the meeting. Participants were welcomed with a ‘Powhiri’ (a traditional Māori welcome) and worship was conducted in both Māori and English.

Hosted by The Reverend Dr Hirini Kaa, the Principal of St John’s College, the meeting was centred on the theme ‘Indigenising Anglican Theological Education’. Participants explored how theological curricula, pedagogy and institutional life could be refashioned to allow the outlook and culture of indigenous peoples across the Anglican Communion to shape theological education.

Read the full article >>

Anglican Journal of Theology in Aotearoa and Oceania

by Hoani Tapu | May 23, 2025 | Whānau Voices

From 2022 to 2025, Hoani Tapu was proud to launch and grow the The Anglican Journal of Theology in Aotearoa and Oceania, a publication born out of our commitment to fostering deep theological engagement across the region.

Rooted in the kaupapa of Te Piri Poho, the journal exists to cultivate a network of intellectual discipleship – drawing together theologians and scholars working broadly within the Anglican tradition. It provides a platform for research and resources that serve God and the mission of the church in Aotearoa and the Pacific.

Read the Autumn 2025 issue on Trauma, Abuse, and Healing >>

Anglicans Share Climate Solutions

by Hoani Tapu | May 23, 2025 | Climate & Creation Care

As the climate crisis intensifies, voices from across the Anglican Communion are rising to meet the challenge with faith-rooted action. Leaders including Hoani Tapu Manukura, The Reverend Dr. Hirini Kaa, are sharing Indigenous perspectives and practical responses to climate change, reminding us that care for the earth is both a theological imperative and a moral responsibility. Rooted in whakapapa and guided by the concept of kaitiakitanga (guardianship), Rev. Dr. Kaa’s contributions highlight how Indigenous wisdom can lead us toward justice and healing for our planet.

Click to read a Call to Climate Action from the Anglican Consultative Council
to the UNFCCC 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28). Learn how collaboration between communities, cultures, and churches offers a powerful model for collective transformation and hope.

Mihinare: 200 years of Māori and the Anglican Church

by Hoani Tapu | May 23, 2025 | Mihinare Reflections

Excerpted from The Spinoff:

In his new book, Anglican minister and historian Dr Hirini Kaa tells the 200-year story of iwi engaging with the church. Here he shares some of the threads of his life that led to writing Te Hāhi Mihinare – The Māori Anglican Church.

By The Reverend Dr Hirini Kaa

All of us grow up with multiple identities, multiple ways of seeing ourselves (and being seen). I was working class Ōtāhuhu Pākehā from my grandparents; middle class white boy from my school; proud Ngāti Porou descendent every holiday back down the coast; and so on.

But possibly most of all I was Mihinare – a Māori Anglican. That meant that nearly every day was being part of a religious community at Tatai Hono marae on Khyber Pass Rd, where my dad, the late Hone Kaa, was the minister. So I had aunties and uncles and cousins from Ngāti Kahu, from Te Aupōuri, from Tainui – from the north, south, west and of course, the east.

This community and its rhythms fed my life, not just on Sundays, but every day. It was conservative in many ways – disapproving of many of our young behaviours, and of much of the change Aotearoa was going through in the 1980s. It was also capable of radical, prophetic acts, such as hosting and powering the Waitangi Action Committee and the Hawke whānau after the terrible events at Takaparawhau. In my Mihinare world we would have governors general, judges, Mongrel Mob members and Asian liberation theologians all mixing and mingling. We were even spied on by the SIS during the Springbok Tour. It was transformational, often transcendent. And all having its roots in an obscure English religious cult meeting mātauranga Māori.