Christianity in New Zealand
It soon became the predominant belief amongst the indigenous people, with over half of Māori regularly attending church services within the first 30 years.
Christianity remains New Zealand's largest religious group, but no one denomination is dominant and there is no official state church.
[2][3] The first Christian service conducted in New Zealand waters was probably 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.
[4][5] 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).
In June 1823 Wesleydale, the first Wesleyan Methodist mission in New Zealand, was established at Kaeo, near Whangaroa Harbour.
[10] 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).
[26][27] 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.
[29] By then, there was probably a higher proportion of Māori attending Church in New Zealand than British people in the United Kingdom.
[8] Selwyn was criticised by the CMS for being ineffective in training and ordaining New Zealand teachers, deacons and priests—especially Māori.
Anglicanism and Presbyterianism are both losing adherents at a rapid rate, while smaller Protestant groups and non-denominational churches are growing.
[45] In general, the tendency is for rural areas, particularly in the lower South Island, to have somewhat higher numbers of Christians, and urban areas to have lower numbers—of the sixteen designated Cities of New Zealand, fifteen have a smaller proportion of Christians than the country as a whole (the exception being Invercargill).
[45][needs update] Catholicism, associated mostly with New Zealanders of Irish 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 the largest denomination in most parts of rural New Zealand, the main exception being the lower South Island.
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.
The iconic Futuna Chapel was built as a Wellington retreat centre for the Catholic Marist order in 1961.
[51] Christmas Day, 25 December, falls during the Southern Hemisphere Summer allowing open air carolling and barbecues in the sun.
It owns radio networks Rhema, Life FM and Star, and television station Shine TV.
[66] Many New Zealand prime ministers have been professing Christians, including Jim Bolger, David Lange, Robert Muldoon, Walter Nash, Keith Holyoake, Michael Joseph Savage and Christopher Luxon.
[67][68][69][70][71][72] Prime ministers Helen Clark, John Key and Jacinda Ardern identified as agnostic during their time in office.
[77] 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.
[80][81] 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.
