Who will build Takeli’s Emerging Church? Articulating a way forward for Anglicanism in Solomon Islands.

Saint Barnabas Provincial Cathedral, Honiara : Photo: TMC

The sixth Archbishop of the Province of Melanesia, The Most Rt Rev George Angus Takeli formally ended his reign last Sunday 24th March as hundreds gathered at Saint Barnabas Provincial Cathedral in Honiara to witness the event in a liturgical farewell service. The retired Archbishop re-iterated his vision for the, “emerging church; building a 

new community of God’s people in the Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACOM)”. “I realise that God did not call me to build the church, but to lay the foundation”, he said in his closing remarks, referring to his three years in office.

Takeli’s ‘Emerging Church’ is still an enigma to manyAnglicans. On the surface it is gauged to develop ACOM into a fully-capable spiritual enterprise; self-reliant, self-supported and self-propagating according to the ACOM website and having the socio-political and cultural appeal. It’s a big statement, which raises the key question as to who exactly will build Takeli’s emerging church  now that he is leaving? 

Anglicans in the Solomons make up 35% of the population. ACOM is further fragmented into nine dioceses, microcosms of distinct social and cultural expressions let alone the geographical sparseness that divide them. When the early Melanesian Mission found the islands in the 19th century, Bishop of New Zealand George Selwyn and first Bishop of Melanesia John Coleridge Patterson overseers of the See, decided that a culturally accommodating version of Christianity was best for the Melanesians, one that was culturally acceptable but could win souls. It remains the hallmark of Melanesian Anglican worship to this day. In a similar sense, Archbishop Takeli’s emerging church calls for cultural relevance but adds spiritual vitality. His criticised for reinventing the wheel, something that his predecessor retired Archbishop David Vunagi differed. Vunagi inherited a church that had lacked lustre in terms of spirituality as stagnant, disoriented and ill-disciplined, in his own words, “a sleeping giant and a drunkard church”. He pursued to better what he found, above all calling for a self-reliant church that arose from concerns for its heavy reliance on the Melanesian Mission Trust in New Zealand (MMTNZ) but also rising needs and challenges. Many fear that Takeli’s successor may sing another tune instead of running with the vision, in that case a sobering thought for a church that is still grappling for a sense of direction. 

Takeli’s foundation was the re-launch of the decade of Evangelism and Renewal 2017-2027 at Saint Barnabas Cathedral last year. It’s intended to build faith, forging a community of renewed faithfuls, versed in the scriptures and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Takeli and Vunagi share the ‘mission emphasis’; build genuine faith and you have a knit community of believers with an attitude to win the world, a script right from the Acts of the Apostles. The Anglican church in the Solomon Islands need this impetus and Takeli’s successor holds the key to making this happen. It will be an arduous task for the new leader. Anglicanism in Solomon Islands is wrapped in strong traditional and socially conservative values and a proud and long history, and have always held restraint whenever there is a call to change. But restraint should never come at the cost of Bible truth, purely for appeasing traditionalists over what Christ is really trying to tell the church today. There already is a generation of young people and their families who are notably absent from the Sunday pews, and whether this is indicative of the Christianity the church is presenting. An emerging church needs to find out why? And be adept and humble enough to develop its understanding of the big reality, the ordinary Anglicans and the kind of questions that exist.

ACOM is notably an imperious environment at times at the perspective of ordinary Anglicans. An oppressive head does manifest itself occasionally; disconnected leadership, church bureaucracy and politics, excessive social gatherings are open concerns and the feeling that ordinary Anglicans are always giving than they are getting back.

In a culturally changing landscape domestically and globally where the church is being challenged for its appeal, Takeli’s emerging church must rise to deliver true spirituality for Anglicans. 

TMC 2019