The late Reverend Dr Ilaitia Tuwere was a humble, exemplary leader who touched the lives of many people from all walks of life.

As a former president of the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotma, he was recognised for cleaning up the church finances and restoring stability and unity.

In his final years, Reverend Dr Tuwere was instrumental in the reunification of the Methodist Church factions in Auckland, New Zealand.

He was known to be the only clergy member to hold two licences as a pastor for two churches at the same time – the Anglican and the Methodist Church.

He was a legend in his own right, people were told during the presentation of the different euologies at the funeral service at Meadowlands Methodist Church, Somerville in Auckland.

His eldest child, Josua Tuwere, said dad had left behind big shoes that would be hard to fill.

He is the First Secretary at the Fiji High Commission in Wellington and before that worked as a Fiji Sun sub-editor and writer.

The late Reverend Dr Tuwere was an outstanding teacher, mentor and inspirational leader, those he touched, shared.

During his illustrious service, his humility and his focus on addressing the people’s spiritual and physical needs were central to his philosophy about service.

He asked the question: What is the church? He said the people were the church.

He challenged those in leadership to ensure that church members were not overly burdened with financial commitments. He taught church ministers to be kind, patient and persevere with solving problems.

He said no matter the magnitude of the challenge, it could be resolved if it was done in God’s way. Nothing was impossible if God was in control.

He said those who were in God’s errands must be at peace with deity to achieve success.

He taught that doctrine and it became the hallmark of his legacy. Among the people who travelled from Fiji to attend the funeral service included the president of the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma, Reverend Ili Vunisuwai, The People’s Alliance leader Sitiveni Rabuka and deputy leader Lynda Tabuya.

The two politicians had attended the funeral service of the late Jai Ram Reddy on Friday. The late Reverend Dr Tuwere was buried at Purewa Cemetery & Crematorium, Meadowbank in Auckland.

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