Christianity in New Zealand

The first Christian service conducted in New Zealand waters was likely to be carried out by Father Paul-Antoine Léonard de Villefeix, the Dominican chaplain on the ship Saint Jean Baptiste commanded by the French navigator and explorer Jean-François-Marie de Surville. Villefeix was the first Christian minister to set foot in New Zealand, and probably said Mass on board the ship near Whatuwhiwhi in Doubtless Bay on Christmas Day in 1769. He is reported to have also led prayers for the sick the previous day and to have conducted Christian burials.[3][4]

New Zealand's religious history after the arrival of Europeans saw substantial missionary activity, with Māori generally converting to Christianity voluntarily (compare forced conversions elsewhere in the world).[5] The Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) sent missionaries to settle in New Zealand. Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society (chaplain in New South Wales) officiated at its first service on Christmas Day in 1814, at Oihi Bay, a small cove in Rangihoua Bay in the Bay of Islands, at the invitation of chiefs Te Pahi and Ruatara, considered to have been the first preaching of the gospel in New Zealand.[6][7] The CMS founded its first mission at Rangihoua Bay in the Bay of Islands in 1814 and over the next decade established farms and schools in the area. In June 1823 Wesleydale, the first Wesleyan Methodist mission in New Zealand, was established at Kaeo, near Whangaroa Harbour.[8]

The first book published in the Māori language was A Korao no New Zealand! The New Zealanders First Book!, published by CMS missioner Thomas Kendall in 1815. In 1817 Tītore and Tui (also known as Tuhi or Tupaea (1797?–1824)) sailed to England.[9] They visited Professor Samuel Lee at Cambridge University and assisted him in the preparation of a grammar and vocabulary of Māori. Kendall travelled to London in 1820 with Hongi Hika and Waikato (a lower ranking Ngāpuhi chief) during which time work was done with Professor Samuel Lee, which resulted in the First Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language (1820).[10][11]

In 1823, Rev Henry Williams became the leader of the CMS mission in New Zealand. He settled at Paihia, across the bay from Kororāreka (nowadays Russell); then described as "the hell-hole of the South Pacific" because of the abuse of alcohol and prostitution that was the consequence of the sealing ships and whaling ships that visited Kororāreka.[12] Williams concentrated on the salvation of souls.[13] The first baptism occurred in 1825, although it was another 5 years before the second baptism.[14] Schools were established, which addressed religious instruction, reading and writing and practical skills. Williams also stopped the CMS trading muskets for food.[15] Māori eventually came to see that the ban on muskets was the only way to bring an end to the tribal wars.[16]

Williams organised the CMS missionaries into a systematic study of the Māori language and soon started translating the Bible into Māori.[17][18] In July 1827 William Colenso printed the first Māori Bible, comprising three chapters of Genesis, the 20th chapter of Exodus, the first chapter of the Gospel of St John, 30 verses of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St Matthew, the Lord's Prayer and some hymns.[19][20] It was the first book printed in New Zealand and his 1837 Māori New Testament was the first indigenous language translation of the Bible published in the southern hemisphere.[21] Demand for the Māori New Testament, and for the Prayer Book that followed, grew exponentially, as did Christian Māori leadership and public Christian services, with 33,000 Māori soon attending regularly. Literacy and understanding the Bible increased mana and social and economic benefits, decreased the practices of slavery and intertribal violence, and increased peace and respect for all people in Māori society, including women.[22]

Henry Williams played an important role in the translation of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. In August 1839 Captain William Hobson was given instructions by the Colonial Office to take the constitutional steps needed to establish a British colony in New Zealand. Hobson was sworn in as Lieutenant-Governor in Sydney on 14 January, finally arriving in the Bay of Islands on 29 January 1840. The Colonial Office did not provide Hobson with a draft treaty, so he was forced to write his own treaty with the help of his secretary, James Freeman, and British Resident James Busby.[23] The entire treaty was prepared in four days.[24] Realising that a treaty in English could be neither understood, debated or agreed to by Māori, Hobson instructed Williams, who worked with his son Edward, who was also proficient in the Māori language, to translate the document into Māori and this was done overnight on 4 February.[25][26] Williams was also involved in explaining the treaty to Māori leaders, firstly at the meetings with William Hobson at Waitangi, but later also when he travelled to Port Nicholson, Queen Charlotte's Sound, Kapiti, Waikanae and Otaki to persuade Māori chiefs to sign the treaty.[27]

Jean Baptiste Pompallier was the first Catholic bishop to come to New Zealand, arriving in 1838. With a number of Marist Brothers, Pompallier organised the Catholic Church throughout the country.[28] George Augustus Selwyn became the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand in 1841.[7] Selwyn was criticised by the CMS for being ineffective in training and ordaining New Zealand teachers, deacons and priests – especially Māori. It would be 11 years until the first Māori deacon, Rota Waitoa, would be ordained by the Bishop at St Paul's, Auckland, and 24 years before he ordained a Māori priest.[29] The first Māori bishop in New Zealand's history was Frederick Bennett, who was consecrated Anglican Bishop of Aotearoa, in 1928.[30]The first Catholic Māori priest, Father Wiremu Te Āwhitu was ordained in 1944,[31] and the first Māori bishop, Bishop Max Mariu was ordained in 1988.[32]

The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Auckland in 1850 and were the first order of religious sisters to come to New Zealand and began to work in health care and education.[33] At the direction of Mary MacKillop (St Mary of the Cross), the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart arrived in New Zealand and established schools. In 1892, Suzanne Aubert established the Sisters of Compassion – the first Catholic order established in New Zealand for women.[34] The Anglican Church in New Zealand recognises her as a saintly person and in 1997 the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference agreed to support the "Introduction of the Cause of Suzanne Aubert", to begin the process of consideration for her canonisation as a saint by the Catholic Church.[35]

In 1892 the New Zealand Church Missionary Society (NZCMS) formed in a Nelson church hall and the first New Zealand missionaries were sent overseas soon after.[36]

Although there was some hostility between Catholic and Protestants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, this declined towards the end of the 20th century.[37]

The proportion of New Zealanders who identify as Christian is declining—accounting for around forty percent of responses to the 2018 census, whereas in the 1991 census it stood at around three-quarters.[38] Christian groups are experiencing mixed trends. Anglicanism and Presbyterianism are both losing adherents at a rapid rate, while smaller Protestant groups and non-denominational churches are growing.[39]

"Anglican" is the largest single Christian religious affiliation in New Zealand, according to the 2018 census, which recorded 314,913 adherents in New Zealand. "Roman Catholic" recorded 295,743. When all "catholic" religious affiliations are added together they total 473,145 people. But the word "catholic" in English can mean either "of the Catholic faith" or "relating to the historic doctrine and practice of the Western Church".[note 1][40]

The dominant religious affiliation in each territorial authority (based on 2013 census)

Denominational affiliation[41][42][38]	2018		2013		2006		2001		Trend (%)
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	2001–13
Total Christian	1,793,970	38.17	1,858,977	47.65	2,027,418	54.16	2,043,843	58.92	-11.27
Christian (Not Further Defined)	310,143	6.6	216,177	5.54	186,234	4.97	192,165	5.54
Protestant (& Protestant affiliations)	846,000	17.43	1,093,065	28.01	1,286,196	34.35	1,324,353	38.17
Anglican	314,913	6.70	459,771	11.79	554,925	14.82	584,793	16.86
Presbyterian, Congregational and Reformed	244,701	5.20	330,516	8.47	400,839	10.71	431,139	12.43
Methodist	72,183	1.5	102,879	2.64	121,806	3.25	120,546	3.48
Evangelical, Born Again and Fundamentalist	65,283	1.38	15,381	0.39	13,836	0.37	11,016	0.32
Pentecostal	53,874	0.67	74,256	1.90	79,155	2.11	67,182	1.94
Adventist	18,510	0.39	17,085	0.44	16,191	0.43	14,868	0.43
Baptist	38,043	0.8	54,345	1.39	56,913	1.52	51,423	1.48
Brethren	14,160	0.30	18,624	0.48	19,617	0.52	20,397	0.59
Protestant (not further defined) & non denominational	9561	0.20	4,998	0.13	3,954	0.11	2,787	0.08
Salvation Army	7929	0.16	9,162	0.23	11,493	0.31	12,618	0.36
Asian Christian	5101	0.2	132	<0.01	195	0.01	195	0.01
Uniting/Union Church and Ecumenical	3693	0.07	999	0.03	1,419	0.04	1,389	0.04
Lutheran	3585	0.07	3,903	0.10	4,476	0.12	4,314	0.12
Church of Christ and Associated Churches of Christ	3258	0.06	2,145	0.05	2,991	0.08	3,270	0.09
Catholic (& Catholic affiliations)	473,145	10.02	492,105	12.61	508,437	13.58	485,637	14.00
Orthodox (& Orthodox affiliations)	15,450	0.29	13,806	0.35	13,194	0.35	9,576	0.28
Other Christian affiliations	82,978	1.83	63,504	1.53	66,861	1.79	62,886	1.81
Latter–day Saints	54,123	1.15	40,728	1.04	43,539	1.16	39,915	1.15
Jehovah's Witnesses	20,061	0.42	17,931	0.46	17,910	0.48	17,829	0.51
Other Christian	-	-	3,714	0.10	3,798	0.10	3,558	0.10
Total Māori Christian	56,157	1.19	52,947	1.36	65,550	1.75	63,597	1.83	-0.47
Rātana	43,821	0.93	40,353	1.03	50,565	1.35	48,975	1.41
Ringatū	12,336	0.26	13,272	0.34	16,419	0.44	15,291	0.44
Māori Christian (not further defined)			222	0.01	219	0.01	237	0.01
Other Māori Christian			333	0.01	360	0.01	426	0.01
Total population			4,242,048		4,027,947		3,737,277

(Note: All figures are for the census usually resident population.
Percentages are based on number of responses rather than total population. These are nominal.
The 2011 census was cancelled due to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake
In all censuses, up to four responses were collected.)

St. Patrick's (Catholic) Cathedral in Auckland

St Paul's (Anglican) Cathedral in Wellington

First Church of Otago (Presbyterian) in Dunedin

Catholicism, associated mostly with New Zealanders of Irish, Polish, descent, is the most evenly distributed of the three main denominations, although it still has noticeable strengths in south and central Taranaki, on the West Coast, and in Kaikōura. It is also the largest denomination in Auckland and Wellington, although not by a great extent. The territorial authorities with the highest proportion of Catholics are Kaikōura (where they are 18.4% of the total population), Westland (18.3%), and Grey (17.8%). The territorial authorities with the lowest proportion of Catholics are Tasman (8.1%), Clutha (8.7%), and Western Bay of Plenty (8.7%).

Anglicanism, associated mostly with New Zealanders of English descent, is common in most parts of the country, but is strongest in Canterbury (the city of Christchurch having been founded as an Anglican settlement) and on the North Island's East Coast. It is the largest denomination in most parts of rural New Zealand, the main exception being the lower South Island. The territorial authorities with the highest proportion of Anglicans are Gisborne (where they are 27.4% of the total population), Wairoa (27.1%), and Hurunui (24.9%). The territorial authorities with the lowest proportion of Anglicans are Invercargill (7.7%), Manukau (8.3%), and Clutha (8.5%).

Presbyterianism, associated mostly with New Zealanders of Scottish descent, is strong in the lower South Island – the city of Dunedin was founded as a Presbyterian settlement, and many of the early settlers in the region were Scottish Presbyterians. Elsewhere, however, Presbyterians are usually outnumbered by both Anglicans and Catholics, making Presbyterianism the most geographically concentrated of the three main denominations. The territorial authorities with the highest proportion of Presbyterians are Gore (where they are 30.9% of the total population), Clutha (30.7%), and Southland (29.8%). The territorial authorities with the lowest proportion of Presbyterians are Far North (4.4%), Kaipara (6.2%), and Wellington (6.7%).

Pentecostalism and non denominational churches are amongst one of the highest denominations according to the 2018 census. Examples of these churches are Life Church in Auckland, Curate Church in Mount Maunganui, Arise in Wellington and Harmony Church in Christchurch.

Christian organisations in New Zealand are heavily involved in community activities including education; health services; chaplaincy to prisons, rest homes and hospitals; social justice and human rights advocacy.[44] Approximately 11% of New Zealand students attend Catholic schools;[45] the Anglican Church administers a number of schools;[46] and schools administered by members of the New Zealand Association for Christian Schools educated 13,000 students in 2009.[47]

In November 2021, the New Zealand government announced that New Zealand will head into a traffic light system.[56] This meant that New Zealand churches had to choose between having a smaller congregation of both unvaccinated and vaccinated members attend or the alternative of an unlimited amount of attendees that provided a vaccination pass.[57] Many churches like Auckland's Life Church, Wellington's Arise Church and Christchurch's Harmony Church[58] opted to take their ministry online over the Christmas period.[59]

Christianity has never had official status as a national religion in New Zealand, and a poll in 2007 found 58 percent of people were opposed to official status being granted.[60] Despite this, each sitting day of the New Zealand Parliament opens with a Christian prayer.[61][62] In contrast to England, where the Anglican Church is the officially established church, in New Zealand the Anglican Church has no special status, although it often officiates at civic events such as Anzac Day.

Most New Zealanders consider politicians' religious beliefs to be a private matter[63] and although many New Zealand Prime Ministers have been professing Christians,[64] the incumbent, Jacinda Ardern and two recent predecessors, John Key and Helen Clark are agnostic.[65][66][67]

Christian political parties have never gained significant support and have often been characterised by controversy. Many of these are now defunct, such as the Christian Democrat Party, the Christian Heritage Party (which collapsed after leader Graham Capill was convicted as a child sex offender),[68] Destiny New Zealand, The Family Party, and the New Zealand Pacific Party (whose leader Taito Phillip Field was convicted on bribery and corruption charges).[69] The Exclusive Brethren gained public notoriety during the 2005 election for distributing anti-Labour pamphlets, which former National Party leader Don Brash later admitted to knowledge of.[70]

The two main political parties, Labour and National, are not religious, although religious groups have at times played a significant role (e.g. the Rātana movement). Politicians are often involved in public dialogue with religious groups.[71][72]

In 1967, Presbyterian minister and theologian Lloyd Geering was the subject of one of the few heresy trials of the 20th century, with a judgement that no doctrinal error had been proved. The Catholic Church in New Zealand had a number of its priests convicted of child sexual abuse, notably at Marylands School. Newspapers have also reported child sex abuse cases within the Exclusive Brethren.[73]

According to a 2019 survey, nearly four in ten New Zealanders lacked trust in Evangelical churches.[74]

• National Statement on Religious Diversity
• Religion in New Zealand
• Christmas in New Zealand

• Ahdar, Rex (2003). God and Government: The New Zealand Experience. Dunedin: University of Otago Press.
• Davidson, Allan K. (2004). Christianity in Aotearoa : a history of church and society in New Zealand (3rd ed.). Wellington: Education For Ministry. ISBN 0-476-00229-X.
• Davidson, Allan K.; Lineham, Peter J. (1989). Transplanted Christianity: Documents Illustrating Aspects of New Zealand Church History (2nd ed.). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.
• Harper, Tobia, "'Amen, Amen!'" New Zealand Journal of History (2008) 42#2 pp 133–153. Studies the impact of Christianity on New Zealand society in the 1920s
• Hoverd, William James (2008). "No Longer a Christian Country? – Religious Demographic Change in New Zealand 1966–2006" (PDF). New Zealand Sociology. Royal Society of New Zealand. 23 (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2009.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christianity in New Zealand.

• Interdenominational Christianity – Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
• New Zealand topics – Christianity Today