1st Edition

New Zealand Churches Respond to the Covid-19 Protection Framework Loving our neighbours?

By Miryam Clough Copyright 2025
232 Pages
by Routledge

248 Pages
by Routledge

232 Pages
by Routledge

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... Read more

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

Biography

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.