Connecting More Deeply With Local Community

St James’ Church, Lower Hutt, recently hosted the Hutt Valley Multicultural Council Spring Fest, a vibrant celebration of cultural diversity here in Te Awakairangi ki Tai. 

Parishioners were actively involved in supporting the event, running A/V and providing support to performers, stall holders and community groups both in the lead up to the event and on the day.  

Conversations at the event were particularly fruitful, providing the seed for future opportunities for connection in areas of mutual interest. 

Ralph, a parishioner who attended, said, "It was delightful to watch various cultures come together and, in particular to see the many young children who were so involved in these performances". 

Over the course of the day, several hundred people attended. Those from a range of local community groups, including emergency services and social services, made the most of the opportunity to connect kanohi ki te kanohi [face to face] with areas of our community for whom English is often a second language. 

The Spring Fest event provided the perfect opportunity to connect more deeply with a wide range of ethnic groups in our local community, many of whom hadn’t been inside our church previously. 

Developing multi-cultural connections was identified through the Mission Action Plan process as an area of focus for the Parish, so building on Rev Annette Cater’s previous connections with the Anglican Chinese Mission, the parish has been fostering links with the Hutt Valley Multicultural Council.