SESSION

Tūmanako Me Whakahounga: Forms of hope and renewal in the context of contemporary Aotearoa
Thursday 27 March 2025 | 4:30pm

A theological approach to restoration needs to draw on plausible forms of hope. For the church, plausible hope is grounded in the promises of God and the corresponding obligations of the church. God's promises in scripture portray a future where the church is effective and fruitful. They portray a restored world, which has become once again a temple for God's worship, filled with humans whose identity as God's children is brought to light in allegiance to Jesus and transformed lives. The church receives from the same scriptures obligations about its collective behaviour in the world, in the vocation of heralding the coming king. This session problematises hope for renewal that is based on programmes for churches to implement, or on concepts of leadership and structure. Instead, it draws on biblical texts that connect God's promises to the collective action of God's people in repentance, and suggest methods of reading these texts that draw from the Māori prophetic movements. It then offers some concrete proposals for the church in Aotearoa/New Zealand to draw from these exegetical insights and build a constructive approach to renewal that is grounded in righteous action, and then builds a prophetic voice.

SPEAKER BIO

Dr Lyndon Drake (Ngāti Kuri, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Ngāi Tahu) until recently served as Archdeacon of Tāmaki Makaurau in the Māori Anglican bishopric of Te Tai Tokerau. Lyndon has a DPhil in Theology at Oxford on economic capital in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, degrees in science and commerce (Auckland), a PhD in artificial intelligence (York), two other degrees in theology (Oxford), and a number of peer-reviewed academic publications in science and theology. Lyndon has written Capital Markets for the Common Good: A Christian Perspective (Oxford: 2017). Until 2010, Lyndon was a Vice President at Barclays Capital, trading government bonds and interest-rate derivatives. Since then, he has served in church ministry, as well as teaching theology and serving in a range of Christian leadership roles. He sat on a number of boards, including as chair of Te Whare Ruruhau o Meri Trust Board, and is married to Miriam with three children.