Member Church feature: Etaretia Porotetani Maohi (EPM)

by CWM Communications Team

2016 marked the formal celebration of Etaretia Porotetani Maohi (EPM) entry into the Council for World Mission partnership.  It is also a homecoming as the Islands of Maohi Nui were the first islands to which the London Missionary Society (LMS) went in 1797.  Though they were the beginning of the LMS story in the Pacific, it was thanks to the Maohi Nui people who became missionaries that Christianity began to spread through the Islands’ peoples.

The EPM in numbers:

  • 8 Circuits – 104 Parishes
  • 135 500 Church Members (45% of the population)
  • 89 Ministers – 13 Theological Students

The EPM Logo is about CREATION: Land Sea Sky

  • Banana leaf: PEACE
  • Coconut leaf: POWER
  • Bread fruit leaf: LOVE

 

The Vision

  • To be a Church faithful to the teaching of the Gospel in today’s society,
  • To be a Church rooted in the culture and history of its people,
  • To be a Church opened to an ecumenical unity with the sister churches of the country, the region and the world.

The Mission

  • To proclaim The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Word of love, justice, hope and liberation to everyone,
  • To defend the rights of the Māòhi people and any person living in this country,
  • To promote justice, equity, social peace and respect for creation.

On-going Program and Services

  • Formation of Ministers, leadership and Capacity Development
  • Mission and evangelism
  • Promoting Justice, Peace and Development
  • Strengthening Social Work and financial resources
  • Census and Constitution Review

Resolutions taken in the Maohi Protestant Church Synod 2017 to be considered as plan of actions and concerns for the Church and the Society of Maohinui.

First: In 2004, affirming her name Maohi Protestant Church

A name which shows where the MPC comes from and who she is, and what God’s call is to her in this land, amongst its people and the world at large. A name which recalls the MPC’s responsibility today amongst Mäòhi People.

Second: In 2007, affirming the name of this land as Mäòhinui.

Through this assertion, the MPC Council aims to raise up a Nation despite the diversity of archipelagos and customs. Yet the MPC acknowledges strangers who consider Mäòhinui as their homeland. This led the 2011 MPC Council to affirm her unity with the Mäòhi people.

Third: In 2008, affirming that the Government of Maohi Nui is the Mäòhi Government as this is done with the French government.

Fourth: In 2011, affirming our support of the re-inscription of Mäòhinui on United Nations list of Nations to be decolonized.

The main aim is to respect the status and the dignity of Mäòhi People so that its heritage can be preserved and its status as nation be recognized by the French Government.

Fifth: In 2016, affirming the resolution to put French government on United Nations tribunal.

This is a call for justice, knowing that worse effects faced by the creation and the people is what future generations will inherit, because the evil nuclear waste is in the womb of the land and the blood of the parents.

Sixth: In 2016, affirming the definition of the Mäòhi nation today, consisting of those who acknowledge and love the land and its customs, and who see themselves as children of this homeland. 

As Ruth shared with her mother-in-law, “Wherever you will go, I will go with you, wherever you will settle, I will settle with you, your people will be my people, your God will be my God.”

In fact, this is a reminder from God to His people, to discern the realisation of His salvation for humanity, however diverse the gender, culture and people may be.

Therefore, the Mäòhi people we refer to, are the people whom God expects us to create and raise up in faith and God’s Love, in Mäòhi Nui.

The church is now known as EPM, reflecting the church’s desire to be known by the Maohi sigle (Etaretia Porotetani Maohi).

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