Great news from St Matthew’s in Taita! The exploratory mission venture has been approved for a housing development programme worth $2.3m, which will see eight new dwellings built on a 1,200m2 site where the old church used to be located.

Wendy Scott has been in Zambezia visiting with Bishop Vincente. She tells us about her time there.

“A mountain of need” is how Matt Crawshaw, Diocesan Social Transformation and Community Development Manager, describes the scene in Hawke’s Bay after arriving with a team to support the Cyclone Gabrielle response.

Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne, visited the Wellington Cathedral of Saint Paul on Thursday 16 February 2023 for the unveiling of the stone commemorating the Mission to Seafarers and the Merchant Navy.

Covid played havoc with the St Alban’s children’s ministry over the last three years, so by the end of 2022 it was time for Eastbourne parish to get creative. A team led by Jutta Chisholm took over the local community centre for a Children’s Event on Christmas Eve and created a ‘Christmas tent’ for families of all ages.

Professional supervision is a significant investment of time and money. But is it working for you? The new year is an excellent time to reflect on what you need this year, and to review your supervision.

We’re excited to bring you two new resources that we think are pretty cool.

A treasured friend and colleague to many, Chris Casey died last week after battling cancer. We know that so many in our Diocese and beyond were impacted by Chris’s life and ministry over almost 20 years, and so we wanted to offer some reflections and stories from some of those who worked closely with him.

At this time of year there are plenty of articles in the news media about the price of getting children back to school. This expensive period has been made slightly easier this year thanks to the hard work of the team at St Michael’s, Newlands-Paparārangi.

Join us in 2023 for a range of courses designed to further your formation as a follower of Christ. Courses are open to everyone and most can be credited towards a Diploma of Christian Studies.

We’re excited to say that so far we have raised $10,000 toward the building of the Whakamaru Chapel for the Wellington City Mission. A huge thanks to all who have donated.

David Chapple and Michael Webster were honoured in the New Year Honours for 2023.

Bishop Justin extends an invitation to the Wellington City Mission Commissioning Service.

The Mustard Seed Community celebrates its first year with a Christmas dinner.

In June this year our Vicar, Rev Chris Dodds, invited a group of parishioners to join him on Monday nights for a course on ‘Learning to preach sermons - focusing on Old Testament narratives’. This was such a great experience that we we’re asked to share it with our wider movement whānau.

This weekend past ‘our’ Bishop Ellie (we can still call her that) was gifted the most amazing taonga from Bishop Wai and Te Upoko o te Ika; a reminder for her and for us of the woven story we share as God’s people across the world.

Harry Gibbons has been volunteering for the past three years as the Diocesan Governance Secretary taking minutes at all of our governance meetings. Harry is stepping down and we are hugely thankful for all the mahi he has done for us. We took a moment to talk to him about his time in the role.

In 2022 we live in an age where the Christ of Christmas is rapidly being replaced by rampant consumerism, where canned carols echo eerily out of place in crowded shopping precincts, and signs as we move through malls entice us with endless “two for the price of one” bargains.

Simultaneously our daily local and global news highlights the many concerns facing us today such as the heart-breaking effects of global warming and absolute poverty on so many vulnerable people and communities. What, you may ask, do these issues have to do with Christmas?

It’s pretty safe to say that there isn’t a parish in the Wellington Diocese that hasn’t been impacted by the mahi of Chris Casey. In addition to all of this, Chris was pivotal in the transformation of the Ohakune Lodge Retreat situated next to St John’s parish in Ohakune.