Thursday 19 February 2026
There has much to be thankful this past week in Chapel. Last week, we celebrated Waitangi Day with a very special service in the Great Hall that offered a bi-lingual approach, including liturgy, hīmene and readings in both Te Reo Māori and English.
A special privilege – as part of that service - was to hear from The Reverend Keri-Ann Hokianga, who whakapapa’s to Ngā Puhi. She shared how her tupuna – the Rangatira and Chief Ruatara - was cared for by The Reverend Samuel and Elizabeth Marsden after being boarded onto a slave ship and sent to Australia, after a failed attempt to see the King of England from Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Reverend Keri-Ann’s singing and the development of her korero and message showed how the relationship between Māori and Pakeha was forged in friendship and a desire to share the mutual gifts of Māori language and culture on the one hand, and the gifts of the Gospel and agriculture, on the other.
Rev Keri-Ann’s rare gift was to honour the gift that the Treaty was intended to be, to recognise the realities of failed promises, but also to lift our collective hope. She said that each of us are being called to lift one another by appreciating our respective and respectful roles as tangata whenua and tanagta Te Tiriti, a relationship built on the kind of ‘aroha’ and mutual kindness offered between Ruatara and the Marsdens.
We were also honoured as a Chapel to host the Induction Service for our newly appointed Headmaster, Mr Patrick Gale during our term’s Boarding Service. The Right Reverend Ross Bay, Bishop of Auckland helped lead the service. The Bishop spoke of the commitment the Anglican Church has to educating young people, which dates back to one of his predecessors - Bishop Selwyn and his prayerful desire to establish an Anglican Church School in Auckland. This was realised with the establishment of King’s College in Remuera, before it moved to its current site here in Ōtāhuhu.
The Bishop reflected on the fact that the Anglican commitment to education does not merely take a ‘siloed’ approach – interested in religious matters and subjects only - but in referencing both Proverbs 8 and Colossians 3, the Bishop made clear that as Anglicans we desire our students to grow in ‘an ancient and divine wisdom’ that can be applied to all of life. At the College we help our students ‘to put on’ the qualities of ‘…compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience’, forgiving one another, while ‘binding all these virtues together in love.’ This approach has been at the heart of what we offer as a Chapel and we hope that as your students move through their time with us, they are experiencing the gift that an Anglican approach to education offers.
These qualities of compassion and kindness are why we offer the Community Service programme, because we believe that it is through learning to serve that we grow in our character and find where true life is to be found. Mr Antony Horacek-Glading, who oversees the Community Service’ programme offers an update in this edition of the King’s Connect.
Finally, we look forward to our families attending our Sunday Chapels, beginning with the Peart and Marion Bruce Service at 6pm this Sunday 22 February in the Memorial Chapel. The Sunday services then follow:
- Sunday 8 March 2026 - 6:00 pm – Marsden & Greenbank Sunday Chapel, 7:15 pm – School & Selwyn Sunday Chapel
- Sunday 15 March 2026 - 6:00pm - Parnell & Major Sunday House Chapel, 7:15 pm – St John & Middlemore Sunday Chapel
- Sunday 22 March 2026 - 6:00 pm – Taylor & Averill Sunday House
- Sunday 29 March 2026 - 5:00pm – A special Confirmation Service with The Bishop - for candidates and their families, and anyone who wishes to support them.
Go well for the week ahead.
Peace and grace,
Reverend Gareth Walters, Mr Antony Horacek-Glading and Mr Max Masters