Ngaro Alfred: Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board Empowering Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board Empowering Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 02 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9320. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National): It is an honour to stand and take a call on the Christian Churches New Zealand Property Trust Board Empowering Bill here in the House in its second reading. I want to make a disclaimer. I am not a member of the Government Administration Committee and also I have not sat in on the submissions. But I do stand here—I wanted to be able to say that because we all have the opportunity to speak in the House. I suppose the opportunity to be able to speak—others have spoken about the technicalities of the bill and I am sure some of my other colleagues and maybe members on the other side will fill their 10 minutes with a lot of the detail that is really important about this bill.At the heart of the bill—it is a piece of legislation that is really about the transfer of assets and liabilities. I will just put that out there—we know that. So there is the technical aspect of it. The point that I want to speak about is that—I have done a theological degree and I have actually been a pastor of a Church and worked in Churches in what they would call in Church a form of ministry which is to work through the Church into communities both to the parishioners and to the congregation that you work with on a Sunday and serve and also into your communities.I would like to take a slightly different tack and talk about the intent of this bill and what it is trying to do. So why would we look at this legislation which looks a little bit odd? Why would a Church group seek a form of Government legislation to ensure that its roles and responsibilities were carried out in a way that continued the faith of those who had bestowed that upon them for the ongoing stewardship of their roles and responsibilities?I would have to say that the intent of this and of these 33 or so Churches up and down New Zealand was that although they in a sense may have played a religious role on a Sunday they also played quite an important role of meeting some of the other needs inside those communities. So when the legislation actually put this association of 33 Churches together—there are times in the life of Churches where they grow and then times in one sense when they sort of fade away for all sorts of reasons. Therefore properties are sold. They are then bestowed back to the responsibility of the association.I suppose the challenge that I have seen both in my experience and in other Churches that I have seen and with this Church association in particular is how we can continue to be relevant with the intent that we have not only to serve our congregations on Sundays but also to meet the needs of our communities that are around us. You will see in the bill that the intent now is that although there is the sale of those properties and those assets which will then return that income into the responsibility of the trust what it is seeking to do—this is not just about bricks and mortar. In other words it is not just about building another church that will make a difference.A lot of these Churches are now saying that the fact is that actually there are other roles and responsibilities that we can play such as providing day-care centres or kindergartens—when I was at Tāmaki Community Church that is what we did—or providing opportunities for budgeting services. We had the East Auckland Home and Budget Service at Tāmaki Community Church. We had an op shop that ran there. There were a number of different services that came out.So I can actually see really clearly and understand that the intent of this bill is not just to enable that association of Churches to say “Let’s build more churches and let’s build more buildings.” but more important at the heart and the intent of their Christian faith is “How can we ensure that we make a difference to the communities in which we seek to serve?”.I also want to put on record that when we think about Churches people again keep thinking about these religious organisations but many of these Churches have had an important role in the life of New Zealand—in its social services in its areas of advocacy and so forth. Think about for instance the Salvation Army state of the nation report and the roles that it plays. Let us talk about the Methodist Mission. There is also Lifewise which is up in Auckland which comes out of the Methodist Church of New Zealand. Presbyterian Support New Zealand provides a number of social services—regionally in the different regions as well. Another one that people may not know is Barnardos. Dr Barnardo was a Christian who was also a physician. Back in his time he wanted to provide a provision and a place for orphans. So the role of Barnardos actually has quite a strong Christian base.Again the reason why I am mentioning these in relation to and in the scope of this bill is that I can understand the intent of these 33 Churches in their association to seek the right to ensure that the legislation that gets renewed from the previous legislation of 1929 enables them now in 2016 to continue to provide and to adapt the services that truly do make a difference in our communities.So I commend these Churches for what they are doing. I can see the needs that they have. There will be services such as as I said budgeting services. There will be after-school programmes like the OSCAR Foundation and the funding that they give that allows them to hold these programmes in their facilities. It is in the community halls that they provide.Also I have seen in the Religious Charitable and Educational Trusts Act 1908 that this trust had associated itself with the education clause that allowed it to provide education. I remember there was a time when I used to take—what do you call it—they used to call it Bible in Schools. I remember that for nearly 16 years I would faithfully go along and teach kids I suppose just about simply the values that they thought were really important. I have to say that many parents would come along. In fact just recently a young man saw me at a shopping mall. He said to me: “Mr Ngaro do you remember me?”. I said: “You look really familiar but I don’t quite remember your name.” He said: “I am one of the boys who was at your Bible in Schools classes.” I said: “Oh that is great.” and I said: “Did you learn anything?”. He said: “No I didn’t. I didn’t learn anything.” which made me feel quite interested. I thought: “Oh no. Was I not a good teacher?”. He said: “No—I can’t remember any of the words and so forth but what I do remember was the fact that you made us feel good about being who we are.”Maya Angelou said that sometimes it is not about what you say and maybe it is not always just about what you do. Sometimes what is important to people is actually how you make them feel. I suppose in a sense that part of the role of these Christian churches these 33 Churches is about ensuring that what they do—both on a Sunday and also more important what they do every day of the week in the roles that they play seeking to become relevant to those communities—is what really makes a difference in the hope that people will turn round. They may not always remember the things that they talked about or maybe even the things that they did but I do hope that what they will remember is how they made them feel. Did they feel that they felt important? Did they feel that they were acknowledged for where they were in their circumstances? Did they feel uplifted because there was a message of hope that may have been given to them at that point in time in the circumstances that they were facing or the challenges in their life whatever they may be? The intent is what I am speaking about in this bill with the 33 Churches that are seeking through Government a change in legislation that will enable them to continue to become relevant in the roles that they play inside their communities.Can I just finally round off my comments by saying that when I think about these Churches that are here everything from Mairangi Bay Community Church which Mark Mitchell has talked about on the North Shore to Invercargill the Freedom Community Centre; to the Reach Christian Centre which is in Naenae; to the Church of Christ Community in Dunedin North; all the way down to Harvest Christian Church in Te Atatū—that is actually on Swanson Road. It also holds services in the Te Atatū Tennis Club. We have got Churches down in Nelson in Annesbrook Church; Feilding Lifepoint in Rangitīkei—so thereto my colleague Ian McKelvie—and all the way through down even to Matamata Union Parish and Homestead Community Church in Point Chevalier. There are a number of them here.I think the broad reach of this Church throughout the regions throughout the different communities whether they be urban city centres or in the localised rural communities speaks volumes that the Churches are wanting to make a difference. What I would like to say in closing is that I do wish them well. I do hope that this change in legislation will enable them to continue to be relevant to the communities and the people they seek to serve so that they truly can live to the values and the principles of their faith so that people can be uplifted and have faith and hope in their lives. Thank you.