New Zealand Churches Respond to the Covid-19 Protection Framework

Loving Our Neighbours?
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-73232-9
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales)

Buch, Englisch, 248 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 526 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Religion

This book examines the ways in which New Zealand’s churches interpreted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s “Covid-19 Protection Framework,” which saw unvaccinated New Zealanders excluded from access to many aspects of civil life, including church attendance.

The book considers the socio-political factors that contributed to a high degree of compliance with measures that Ardern herself acknowledged created “two classes of people” in a country that prides itself on being egalitarian and kind. It interrogates New Zealand’s Covid response from ethical and theological perspectives, inviting readers to listen deeply to the voices of 75 clergy and lay people whose contributions illustrate a range of responses to the Covid-19 Protection Framework and highlight that the biblical injunction to love our neighbour is not as simple as it sounds. As one contributor commented, “I did notice that people tended to have different ideas on who we should love at any point in time.” Were these measures compatible with the gospel? How did they impact on already vulnerable, disadvantaged, or marginalised communities? What are the implications of this study for Christian praxis?

This book will be of interest to churches, practical and public theologians, and others who are interested in global responses to the pandemic.

Zielgruppe

Academic and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Clough, Miryam

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologie: Sachbuch, Ratgeber
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Praktische Theologie Christliches Leben & Praxis
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Gebet & liturgisches Material
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Soziallehre und Sozialethik, Pastoral und Seelsorge

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part one. Introduction. New Zealand responds to Covid-19 1. The Covid-19 Protection Framework 2. Stigma, segregation, and protest Part two 3. How churches navigated the Covid-19 Protection Framework 4. Lay people’s experiences of church under the Covid-19 Protection Framework 5. Excluded Christians speak out 6. Crossing the divide 7. Church leaders reflect on the Covid-19 Protection Framework Part three 8. Have we lost our moral compass? 9. Reframing a theological response to health crises Conclusion. Loving better – an ethic of care. Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Miryam Clough is an Anglican priest and Research Fellow based at St John’s Theological College, Auckland and a Research Affiliate at Otago University’s Centre for Theology and Public Issues. Her work focuses on shame, stigma, exclusion, and violence, especially as these impact marginalised communities.