Bishop Andrew Hedge has been attending the consecration of Bishop John Dubabagi at Dogura, Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. He has been staying alongside the other PNG bishops, Bishop Steve from Melanesia, and Dennis the General Secretary of ACPNG.
Their flight to Alotau was delayed a day due to cancellation. Once there they were met with warm hospitality by old friends and welcomed to Melita House the home of the origins of Mothers Union in PNG. It was a very special place to be because it was the site where the missionaries first set foot on PNG and then travelled on to Dogura to settle.
Travelling by dinghy for an hour to get to Dogura, with its distinctive Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul standing high on the plateau above the coastline was a tremendous sight. Dogura is a special place for ACPNG as the home of Anglican mission in 1891. The first chapel was built on a corner of the plateau overlooking the ocean. A corner post of the chapel was made from the Modawa tree and took root in the ground. The tree grew and still stands strong today well after the chapel was demolished once the Cathedral was built. The Modawa tree has four main limbs reaching out from the trunk, which locals have taken to symbolise the four gospels.
On the day of the consecration, there was a grand procession with a full Cathedral and many clergy with support from us as Anglican partners and also members of the local Roman Catholic and Kwat Church in Alotau. The music was a wonderfully typical mix of PNG song and dance, hymns, praise and worship music with a variety of music groups leading different songs, some in English and others in PNG language. The service was led by Acting Archbishop Nathan, Bishop of the Diocese of Aipo Rongo and the preacher was Bishop Peter Ramsden, retired bishop of the UK but who served for many years as Bishop of Port Moresby. The three-hour service flew past, followed by a celebration with the whole community and Diocese as they welcomed Bishop John as their Bishop.
