In so many ways it was brilliant being in Tonga for General Synod/Te Hinota Whanui 2026 (GSTHW 2026). The weather was warmer than in Aotearoa New Zealand; the hospitality from local Anglican parishes and St Andrew's High School (our only Anglican school on Tongatapu) was magnificent; the food was plentiful and delicious (though for some this was tempered by some tummy bugs doing the rounds); and our main venue, a world class gymnasium at Tonga High School (built by - you guessed it - China Aid), was very pleasant to meet in.
Anglican Taonga has reports worth reading and looking at the great pics taken by our media team:
On the outstanding formal welcome to the members of the General Synod/Te Hinota Whanui, read this.
On the overall themes of the synod, One Mission, One Vaka, One Ocean, read this.
On the splendid opening eucharist, read this.
On the question of equity re funding in our church, read this and this, and for some Pakeha work on the matter just before the Synod began, read this.
A fair amount of time was spent considering the plight of the islands of our church, especially those within the Diocese of Polynesia, as climate changes ravage us and change the ocean around us. I hope there will be a report in Taonga soon on these important conversations and information sharing.
We also made some important changes to Title D our canon on ministry standards.
Am I hopeful for our church?
On the whole, Yes, but it was good to be reminded by one member of the synod that various statistics tell us we are a church in numerical decline, and we should be the opposite of complacent about this reality.
UPDATES
A. Lovely reflection via video of the GSTHW here.
B. Since posting the above, news has entered the public domain of a boating incident on the last full day GSTHW members had together on Tonga, some of whom went on a whale-watching trip. Taonga has now posted a news report about this, here.
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