Ministry Standards and
Complaints
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia expects very high standards of behaviour from all its ministers and authorised leaders. Click here to read more about our expectations and what to do if you have a concern or complaint.
Making a Complaint
If you wish to make a complaint about an office bearer in the Anglican Church (for example, a priest, deacon, bishop, licenced lay minister, trustee, etc) we encourage you to put it in writing and send it directly to the independent Registrar.
Office bearers include priests, deacons, bishops, licensed lay ministers, trustees, wardens and Vestry Members.
Write the complaint or ask someone to write it for you.
Send the complaint to the Independent Registrar:
Ministry Standards Registrar
C/- P O Box 87188
Meadowbank
Auckland 1742
Or email the complaint to: registrar@anglicanchurch.org.nz
Or, to leave a confidential voice message for the Independent Registrar, phone: 0800 004 031
Ministry Standards Registrar & process
The Ministry Standards Commission appoints an experienced lawyer as its Independent Ministry Standards Registrar. The registrar must be an enrolled barrister or solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand and have at least 7 years’ legal experience.
The current independent Registrar is Winston McCarthy and Alice McCarthy is deputy Registrar.
The Registrar is responsible for completing the initial assessment of each complaint received. The Registrar will then decide whether the complaint should be dismissed or referred as either unsatisfactory conduct or misconduct.
For more information on Ministry Standards, please see the Ministry Standards Commission website here
