Revd Dr Jione Havea

It is with sadness that we have learnt of the death of the eminent Methodist Tongan theologian the Revd Dr Jione Havea.

WCC mourns Jione Havea, “prophet of the Pacific” | World Council of Churches

These memories of Jione are shared by the Revd Dr Adrian Burdon, Superintendent Minister of the Telford Methodist Circuit, Moderator of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and Former Mission Partner and Principal of Sia'atoutai Theological College,  Kingdom of Tonga (1993–2000).

Remembering the Revd Dr Jione Havea (1965–2026)

The Revd Dr Jione Havea, a Tongan Methodist pastor and Pacific theologian, died on 29 April 2026 in Tonga. Educated in Tonga and Fiji, he later studied at Perkins School of Theology (Southern Methodist University), completing an MDiv, an MTS, and a doctorate. Ordained in the Methodist Church of Tonga and connected with the Uniting Church in Australia, he taught and researched across the region and beyond, including at Charles Sturt University (Australia) and Trinity Theological College (Aotearoa New Zealand).

Jione Havea will be remembered as an exacting scholar whose contextual biblical interpretation drew on Pacific theologies shaped by story, metaphor and the sea. He brought clear postcolonial and decolonial critique to church and academy, insisting theology is truest when it is plural and relational, widening the circle for voices long pushed aside. He paired humour with courage, naming power while pressing for repair, listening well, telling the truth, and acting together. Rooted in Pacific struggles and hopes, he resisted patriarchy, white supremacy, and other forms of “mental slavery.” His writing linked faith with migration and climate justice, calling the church to solidarity, compassion and shared humanity.

Jione is survived by his wife, Prof Monica J Melanchthon, and their daughter, Diya.