“He mea hanga hoki na tetahi nga whare katoa; ko te Atua ia te kaihanga o nga mea katoa.”Hiperu 3:4
Ko te kitenga i ngā wā tonu, ko te iwi o Te Taitokerau ngā Māori tuatahi kia rongo i te rongopai e whakaarerotia ana, a, ko te tuatahi ki te hiki ake i te Karaitiana me ōna tūmomo āhua. Koia te take ka tūtakitakingia ngā whare rongopai tinitini puta noa i te Raki, i whakatūwheratia ai e te nuinga hapū tōna ake whare karakia, temepara rānei.
Ko te hāhi tuatahi ka whakaeke mai ko te Hāhi Mihingare. Ko te “haka rongonui “Te Hari a Ngāpuhi” i tukungia e te Māori e rima rau hei whakautu i te kauhou i tukungia i te rā Kirihimete 1814 e Samuel Marsden. Na Pīhopa Te Kītohi Pikaahu, Pīhopa o Te Tai Tokerau i tuku mai ngā kupu o “Te Hari a Ngāpuhi,” koia tonu nei:
“E! Ka nukunuku: E! Ka neke neke
Ka nukunuku: E! Ka neke neke
Kia kite i te Au o Waitangi
E hora nei
me he Pīpīwharauroa
Takoto te pai! Takoto te pai!
Whiti! Ta tata! Whiti! Ta tata!
E rua nei nga ra kei tua
Takoto te pai! Takoto te pai…”
Whai muri mai ko Te Hāhi Wēteriana, i te taenga mai o ngā kaikawe i a Samuel Leigh me William White, i tūwheratia ai te mīhana tuatahi a ngā Wēteriana, ko Wesleydale ki Kaeo ki te whanga o Whangaroa i 6 June, 1823. Ki raro i te ringa arataki a Reverend Nathaniel Turner, ka whakatūwheratia he mīhana ki Mangungu ki te tau i muri mai ki Te Hokianga. Ka iriiritia e tēnei mīhana āna pia i te tau 1830, e haere noa nei ki tēnei rangi. He ahurewa tapu, e tū ana ki runga i te tūnga o te mīhana tuatahi i hangaia e ngā mema Māori o Te Hāhi Wēteriana ki raro i te arahi a te Rev A.J. Seamer.
Tekau ma rima tau ki muri mai ka wheakotia ko te taenga mai o Te Hāhi Katorika, i a Pīhopa Jean-Baptiste Pompallier. Ka whakapuakitia e Pīhopa Pomapārie tōna taenga mai mā te rongopai o te Hapa Rātini tūturu tuatahi ki Tōtara Point i 13 January, 1838 te kāinga a Thomas rāua ko Mary Poynton. I haere tonu ia kia mau te aroha o te maha o te Māori, me tōna kōrero me te tuhituhi matatau i te reo Māori. I mate a Pīhopa Pomapārie i muri mai ki Wiwi engari ka hahua me te whakahoki mai e te tira i tohia, nā Rev Dr Pā Henare Tate, kua hemo tata nei i arahi. Ko ngā kōiwi ka tōreretia ki raro i te āta o te Whare Karakia o Hata Maria ki Motutī.
Whai muri i tētahi matakitenga i 8 November 1918, ka tīmataria e te kaihanga o Te Hāhi Rātana e Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana tōna mīhana wairua waenga i tērā tau o te mate uruta. Tae noa ki ngā tau 1920 kua whakahuri oratia e ia te Māori mai i ētahi atu hāhi ki te Hāhi Rātana. E puta noa i Te Taitokerau, ka kitea he temepara Rātana ki ngā kāinga pērā i a Te Hāpua, Te Kao me Mangamuka. Ko ia temepara ka whakatohu i ngā pourewa e rua, e riterite nei ki ngā temepara Rātana katoa, e whakaōrite nei ki ērā o Te Temepara Tapu o Ihoa ki te Pā ki Rātana.
He mea matua anō hoki ki ngā awaawa me ngā nohoanga hāpori o Te Tai Tokerau, he torutoru ngā temepara Moromona e tapu nei te tiaki ora, pērā i a Pākanae me Te Horo. Ko Te Hāhi o Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, e mōhiotia nei e te tini ko Te Hāhi Moromona, i tīmata i a rātou mahi mīhana i te tau 1881. E ū kaha tonu nei te maha o ngā hapū me ngā hāpori o te Raki ki tēnei rangi tonu.
Ko ngā whakaahua a Laurence Aberhart ki ngā tau moata o 1980 ka hopu ataahua i te whakarōau tapu me te whakamoemoea o aua wāhi whakahirahira hei piripono me te koiora wairua, e whakaatu ana i te kanorau o te āhua whakahoahoa, tikanga ritenga me te whakaraupapa. Ki ngā whare karakia, ka whakahaeretia te Hapa Tapu, ka kitea e tētahi te tino tikanga matua a te āta, kei ērā atu whare karakia kei tā te whakaminenga te hāpai i te kauhou rongopai tūturu, ko te atāmira te arahinga matua me te arotahinga. Ki te maha o ngā hāhi Katorika, ētahi Mihingare anō hoki kua tango whakaahuatia, ka whakawhirinaki i ngā whakairo tūturu me ngā tukutuku. Ko ētahi i hangaia ki te taera Gothic kia riterite ki ngā whare karakia o Ingarangi me Wīwī. Ko tētahi whare karakia tonu, ko Hato Kereti Hato Remehio i Waihou, i hangaia ki te tūmomo āhua mīhana Pāniora ki raro i te arataki a te Pirihi Katorika, Tiamani, Tatimana a Pā Carl Kreymborg me Te Tohukairangi i a Whina Cooper.
Ki roto i ngā temepara Rātana, ko te whetu mārama (tohu o te whetu me te mārama) ka tohutohutia matuatia hei te tino tohu o te hāhi. Ko ngā hāhi Katorika ka whakaatu tohu rongonui, tohu ritenga pērā i te rīpeka, ngā pākoko Itāria o te Madonna me ngā atua kairangi o te hāhi me te tāpenakara waengapū kei a ia te hapa tapu. Ko te maha o ngā hāhi Mihingare ka tohu kota rarahi ka whakamahia hei ipu iriiri, he matapihi karaehe kua tae whakanikonikotia, ā, he mea kitea rawa he kara tāniko whakairo o te whakahaerenga Ūniana Māmā.
Ko te katoa o ngā whare karakia nei ka whakatohu i te whakahirahira ki te hāhi o ērā mātua tūpuna i tākoha whenua, wā, moni, rawa me te mahi-ā-ringa mō te whakatūwheratanga me te tiaki ora ō aua whare hāpori wairua matua. Ko te nuinga e noho ana ki runga toro puke, ki waenga whenua urupā, wāhi tapu rānei, kia kitea wāteatia mai i ngā wāhi katoa i te awaawa, te awa, i ngā hāpori o ngā whanga rānei. I whakatūria te nuinga ki wāhi kia rangona te tatanga o te pere, hei whakatohu i te tīmatatanga tonu o tētahi whakahaerenga karakia, o ētahi ake kaupapa matua pērā i te matenga o tētahi mema o te hapū, i te karanga hui rānei.
Ko ngā tangonga whakaahua a Laurence Aberhart ka whakaatu ataahua i ēnei whare karakia, horekau he tāngata o roto, kia āhei ai tō tātou harikoa i tō rātou tū wātea i te wā horekau e whakamahia ana e ngā hapū me ngā hāpori, ki ngā ata Rātapu, ki ngā mārena, ki nga tangihanga rānei, ngā kaupapa whakamahi noa o ēnei whare ki ngā tino taiwhenua me nga hāpori noho mōtu. He mea whakamihi kia mōhio mai i ngā tau 1980 kua whakatikangia, kua whakaoratia te maha mō te oranga me te whakatupuranga wairua mō ngā tai rea kei te heke.
Ko ēnei whakaahua whakahirahira engari wairua poke ka whakatohu i ēnei whare karakia ki te ia o tā rātou tūnga mō te nuinga o te tau. Te whakarōau, te wahangu, te mokemoke, engari te arohaina.
“Kei tōna temepara tapu ia a Ihowā. Whakarongoa, e te whenua katoa, i tōna aroaro.”
Hapakupu 2:20
Geremy Hema
