OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND
Dear Prime Minister,
As pastors in New Zealand, we are praying for you and your government at this challenging time as you seek to navigate our nation through the current Covid-19 pandemic. We pray for “all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:1–2).
We do, however, have serious concerns with your government’s implementation of vaccination mandates and certificates. As pastors in the church, our mission and calling are clear. We are to act as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ by shepherding, loving, serving, and caring for whosoever is in need. The ministry of the church and the Christian gospel is to the ‘whosoever’ of society and is not determined by ethnicity, language, age, gender, orientation, education, social status, nor vaccination status.
In fact, it is often the church that ventures out to serve and care for the marginalized of our society. Our overarching concern is that the proposed system of vaccination passports directly hinders our ability to serve the ‘whosoevers’ of our society and our country will be the worse off for it. Our desire is that the church be allowed, without let or hindrance, to meet and minster to all, for all, and with all.
Further to this overarching concern, this letter raises four specific concerns that we have with the implementation of vaccination mandates and certificates. In writing this letter, we express similar concerns to those raised by church leaders in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Our first concern is that individual conscience regarding vaccination is being coerced and threatened through the use of vaccination mandates and certificates. Christians believe that the conscience, that internal part of us that impartially judges our own actions, is given by God and is a key means by which God speaks to us. It is a serious thing to force a person to go against their own will and judgment on a matter. Government should respect the important function the conscience has in aiding a person in worshipping God and living in obedience to the state.
As church leaders, we are not called by God to promote a pro-vaccination or anti-vaccination message but to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to care for the people in the churches entrusted to us. There are many in our churches who are vaccinated and others who are not. The reasons why a person may choose not to be vaccinated are varied. Some have genuine moral concerns with the manufacture and testing of the vaccine. Others are concerned with adverse side effects and the lack of long-term safety data. Many have reservations about the use of mRNA technology and would gladly receive a more traditional vaccine. They are not trying to be obtuse, belligerent, or obstructive but, rather, for a range of reasons their conscience cautions them against being vaccinated. An individual’s decision on this matter of conscience medical issue is personal to them and should be respected.
Sadly, there are those in our churches, and many in society at large, who must now decide between their conscience on the one hand and keeping their job on the other. They must submit or be sacked. The Bible tells us that work is good and ordained by God. To pit a person’s conscience against their need to work and provide for themselves and their family is, in our view, unethical and immoral. For many in society, the decision forced upon them is a cause of great anxiety, despair, and fear for their future.
Our second, and related, concern is for the as-yet future Government decision regarding the extension of vaccination to children aged 5 to 11. God has entrusted parents with the responsibility for raising, caring for and making decisions on behalf of their children. Some parents will jump at the opportunity to have their children vaccinated, as is their prerogative. Many parents will, however, be understandably hesitant and others ardently against having their children vaccinated. The risk of Covid-19 to children is extremely low and some have legitimate vaccination safety concerns (such as those seen in the withdrawal or age limitation of the Moderna vaccine in certain Scandinavian countries and the suspension of the second Pfizer vaccine in Taiwan for younger age groups). These are fair reasons for parents to not want to have their children vaccinated. Some argue that the children must be vaccinated to protect adults. In a healthy society, concern for children’s safety is paramount. To use children as a shield for the protection of adults, when children are at minimal risk from the virus, is immoral. We are not doctors, scientists, or public health experts, however, prudence would say that, when it comes to our children, utmost caution should be taken, and we would exhort that you let the dust well and truly settle on the science before making consequential decisions regarding our most vulnerable.
Parental choice and freedom from coercion in this matter is essential. It is one thing to coercive an adult’s conscience regarding their own employment, but it is another thing altogether to pressure parents into have their children vaccinated against their better judgment. While no such policies have yet been proposed, we are compelled to say preemptively that the prospect of differentiation and discrimination between vaccinated and unvaccinated children in primary and intermediate schools, because of their parent’s decision, is unconscionable and must not be allowed to take place.
Our third concern already alluded to, is with restrictions placed on churches. Throughout this pandemic, a fine reference to New Zealand as ‘a team of five million’ has often been used.
The church, however, has a different description given by Jesus Christ and that description is of a body. The church is a body, made up of many different but each important members, with Christ as our head. As Christians, our unity and commonality is not found in ethnicity, wealth, class, gender or, for that matter, medical status, but our unity is found in Christ (Galatians 3:28). We believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that salvation from sins is found in Him alone. He is our Lord and our Saviour, and we are one in Him. As such, it is untenable for us as church leaders to separate our churches into the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, for the Bible knows no such distinctions. Likewise, when it comes to the non-Christian, the good news of salvation is freely available to all. Jesus touched the lepers; He ate with prostitutes, and He communed with the despised tax collector. Jesus was known as the friend of sinners, and He came for the undesirable, the outcast, the ‘whosoevers’ of society. As Christians, we cannot discriminate against people along medical lines. We appreciate that not all church leaders think the same as we do on this. Perhaps they will divide or close their doors to a certain class of person, but we cannot.
For these reasons, under your traffic-light system framework, our churches will not utilise vaccination certificates and will remain open to all. Even as Christians are called to pray for those in authority, the Bible instructs us to be in submission to authority as we recognise that those in authority are appointed by God (Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2). In seeking to submit, and while still abiding by our religious convictions, this does mean that our ability to meet as churches is significantly impaired. For larger churches, a green-light mixed gathering of vaccinated and unvaccinated with a 100-person limit is problematic. An orange-light 50- person limit is challenging for many more churches. A red-light 10-person limit will outright stop churches from being able to meet corporately. It is at this point that the discrimination will be palpably felt. The vaccinated will be able to go about their business, for the most part, without missing a beat. The unvaccinated, however, and those that are happy to associate with them, will be severely restricted, including in their ability to practice their religion. The church has a crucial role in society. Practically, the church provides immeasurable support, assistance, guidance and encouragement to both Christians and non-Christians. Spiritually, the church, through sharing the gospel, provides hope for all for this life and the life to come. If anything, in challenging times the church should not be suppressed and shut down but rather be freed up to work and play our part in ministering to the many practical and spiritual needs of those struggling during this pandemic season.
Fourth, we are concerned that the implementation of vaccination mandates and certificates will further exacerbate already existing divisions between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Friends, families, and colleagues in workplaces are dividing. The tone and level of rhetoric, particularly towards the unvaccinated, is heating up. They are fast becoming ‘othered’ persona non grata. And yet, an unvaccinated person is not the same as an infected person. Both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated can contract the virus and pass it on, with one recent study showing that the vaccinated are just as likely to spread the delta variant to household contacts as the unvaccinated. Studies are increasingly showing that vaccine efficacy does not last long. Common sense also says that, while Covid-19 symptoms may be clearer and contagion last longer in the unvaccinated, the risk of the vaccinated being silent spreaders, unaware that they have the virus and are passing it on, is very real. Certainly the significant increase of Covid-19 cases in highly vaccinated countries such as Singapore and Israel, to name a few, indicate that the virus is spreading significantly among both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated and goes against the supposed logic of vaccination mandates and certificates. Such considerations do make one wonder if the measures being put in place in New Zealand are as much punitive as they are about public health.
Prime Minister, you yourself have freely acknowledged that the implementation of vaccination certificates will create two classes of Kiwi . A two-tier society. Jesus Himself said that a house divided against itself will not stand (Matthew 12:25). On your successful election night in October 2020, you promised to govern for all New Zealanders. More likely in mind at that time was the left versus right divide. We ask that you now follow your promise and show kindness in governing for both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.
In closing, for the reasons outlined above, we are concerned for our country and pray that you will reconsider your approach regarding the implementation of vaccination mandates and certificates. Freedom of conscience should be respected. Unity should be prioritised over policies that cause division. The church should be allowed to meet and minister to all without restriction. We would be happy to answer any questions you have regarding the concerns raised in this letter and to dialogue with you on this.
We pray that the words of New Zealand’s national anthem, undoubtedly the best in the world, would be true at this time. Particularly the second verse which is so appropriate to the days in which we live: “Men of every creed and race, gather here before Thy face, asking Thee to bless this place, God defend our free land. From dissension, envy, hate, and corruption guard our state, make our country good and great, God defend New Zealand.”
Yours sincerely
Jarryd Alcorn, Pastor, Calvary Wellington
Ryan Anderson, Pastor, Calvary Chapel Whangarei
Doug Calhoon, Pastor, Shoreline Calvary Tauranga
Jim DeLor, Pastor, Calvary Chapel Waimate
Eric Flores, Pastor, Calvary Hawkes Bay
Steve Jones, Pastor, Calvary Chapel Hamilton
Olykene Telogo, Pastor, Calvary Chapel West Harbour
Jordan Walsh, Pastor, Calvary Auckland
Mark Walsh, Pastor, Calvary Chapel Bible Institute
Scott Woodcock, Pastor, Calvary Chapel Christchurch
All imagery belongs to Calvary churches.
