John Robert Kuru Gray (1947 – 13 November 2015) was a New Zealand Anglican bishop. Born in 1947 of

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion and has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zealand ...

and

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...

descent, Gray was raised at

Tokomaru Bay Tokomaru Bay is a small beachside community located on the isolated East Coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is 91 km north of Gisborne, on State Highway 35, and close to Mount Hikurangi. The district was originally known as Toka-a- ...

. After studying nursing in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

, he moved to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

where he became active in the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd in the suburb of Phillipstown. He was elected to the vestry and served as a churchwarden and, for five years, as a lay reader, before being ordained as a deacon in 1982. Ordained to the priesthood in 1983, Gray was named Pīhopa o (Bishop of) Te Waipounamu, New Zealand, in 1996, becoming the first Māori Anglican bishop for the South Island. He was consecrated a bishop on 17 February 1996.ACANZP Lectionary, 2009
(p. 96) Gray died on 13 November 2015, and his body was returned to Tokomaru Bay for his

tangihanga ''Tangihanga'', or more commonly, ''tangi'', is a traditional Māori funeral rite held on a marae. While still widely practised, it is not universally observed in modern times. Each iwi (tribe/nation) differs on how they honour those who pass. ''T ...

at Tuatini Marae.

References

1947 births 2015 deaths 21st-century Anglican bishops in New Zealand Ngāti Porou people Ngāti Kahungunu people People from Tokomaru Bay Anglican lay readers 20th-century Anglican bishops in New Zealand Anglican bishops of Te Waipounamu {{Anglican-bishop-stub