Peace Sunday – Parihaka

Each year, and since 2017, Flagstaff Community Church hosts a Season of Peace. Parihaka is acknowledged (Remembering Parihaka: Seeking Peace in a Troubled World). This involves three Sunday services of worship in November dedicated to the theme of peace (incl. Armistice Day).

We host a number of community events including Hīkoi around significant sites in Dunedin, a restoration project at the Northern Cemetery and collaborate with key organisations within the community including Peace and Conflict Studies (University of Otago), Quaker Community, Parihaka Network Nga Manu Korihi ki Ōtepoti and Parihaka Papakāinga Trust.

These events are open to the wider community. We have provided some examples of what we do and what a service of worship might look like.

All the activities are related to the theme of peace and we encourage the whole whānau to attend ensuring our activities and events are both inter-generational and age appropriate.

We take our inspiration from the story of Parihaka which has a sad but close connection with Ōtepoti Dunedin, Te Paipera (Holy Scripture) and Jesus’ message of peace and reconciliation. We think this is an important message in a very troubled world.