“Almost two hundred years ago two leaders in their respective worlds, the chief Ruatara and Rev. Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society, struck an historic accord.
Seeking peaceable engagement, they entered into a partnership that was made manifest when Marsden conducted the first Christian service in New Zealand at Oihi on Christmas Day 1814 and missionaries settled close by at Te Puna.
Over the last two years the Marsden Cross Trust Board Te Ripeka o te Matenga and Ngāti Torehina have together explored ways in which the promise of that accord, based as it was on utmost good faith, can be acknowledged and given relevance for the people of our nation today.”
Ken Gorbey 2009
