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Update

Moderator of Te Aka Puaho

Following the death of Mona Riini, the Acting Moderator of Te Aka Puaho is the immediate past Moderator, the Very Rev. Tame Takao. Tame’s contact details are 75 Riverside Drive, Whakatane. Phone 07 312 6057.

The position of Moderator of Te Aka Puaho is crucial in our Church. The death of Mona Riini was a great loss. It will take time to work through the consequences. Please pray with Te Aka Puaho through this time.

Turakina Maori Girls College

Mona died at the nga manu korero competitions in Palmerston North. Where she died highlighted the significance of Turakina Maori Girls’ College in our Church, for Mona, and for people like her Mona was a former pupil. As her body was carried from the Hall, the Turakina girls sang. Very early the following morning, the girls were able to farewell her as the cortege went through the grounds of the College.

As Turakina continues to build for the future, please remember the Principal – Dawn Mitai-Pehi, the chaplain Peka Tautau, the Board and pupils. Turakina is an important place for developing leaders for our Church.

Bible College Principal Dies

The Principal of the Bible College of New Zealand, the Rev. Brian Hathaway died suddenly on Sunday 5 October. Mr Hathaway had been very helpful to our Church as we established our Foundation Studies programme for students for the ministry. He brought a desire to be of service to our Church, a will to cooperate, and a vision for the well-being of the whole Church.

Financial Systems revamp

The provision of reliable and timely financial information to parishes and ministers remains one of our key priorities. To achieve that we are installing new systems on computer. The installation is proceeding steadily with considerable testing. We are determined that we resolve difficulties as they arise rather than perpetuate them. This means the installation may not move as quickly as we would like, but we want to ensure a sound service.

Strengthening/Renewing Presbyteries

We’ve had several questions about progress on the Council of Assembly’s proposals to strengthen presbyteries. The Council still believes the renewing of presbyteries is crucial for developing healthy congregations. The discussion paper distributed after Assembly encourages presbyteries to consider how key functions could be performed. These include

regional planning and resourcing, and

leadership development and support.

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It is great to see some presbyteries initiating wider collaboration which Council sees as necessary for some functions. Council encourages presbyteries to keep engaging the points raised by the strengthening presbyteries initiative. It might be worth going back to the paper which went to Assembly. The Service Team has been asked especially to follow-up in one region as a further step.

Tutahi Tatou

The Council of Assembly thanks all those who participated in these events. Just over 300 people participated. The feedback provided is enormously helpful. Thank you.

The Council’s Policy Groups are collating the responses received through Tutahi Tatou. They will report how these responses have been taken into account in their decision-making. Policy Groups are meeting over the next few weeks leading up to the Council of Assembly meeting on 14/15 November.

The responses and follow-up decisions will be placed on the web as soon as possible. A link will be e-mailed out to people who attended or registered to receive information.

New Zealand Hymn Book Trust

Past Moderator the Very Rev. John Murray recently retired as founding chair of this Trust established 30 years ago. The Presbyterian Church is a participant. The Trust has published several hymn collections including With One Voice and Alleluia Aotearoa. John’s contribution has been immense. His drive, determination and imagination has enabled the Trust to be a significant vehicle for developing New Zealand church music. John Thornley of Palmerston North has picked up the management responsibility for the Trust. Contact details will be publicised shortly.

Connect event great success

Connect was a youth leaders event organised by the Assembly youth office, Mo Mansill and Jo Ryan. The event was so popular that late applications to attend were declined. Reports are the event was a great success and encouraged people in developing youth leadership in the Church. Great work. Find out about it from someone who went from your Presbytery or UDC.

Sexual Misconduct Complaints and Notices

Has every church venue you operate in got a sexual misconduct complaints notice in it? If not, ask us for a template and adapt it for your locality. Contact Sally Gatland at
aes(at)presbyterian.org.nz.

People are being updated on the revised processes in seminars presently being held around the country.

Conference of Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand

<typohead type=2>2003 Conference,
Christchurch September 27-29 </typohead>

CCANZ’s annual forum was a pivotal event. That may sound strange. For many Presbyterian and Uniting congregations CCANZ hasn’t been a major player for some time. But the forum focussed on two items that should change that.

Robyn Cave, the programme’s coordinator, has been developing excellent contacts and major resources to help congregations address violence within their own community. It is worth visiting the DOV website for links and resources, at:
http://www.ccanz.net.nz/dov/

<typohead type=3>A New Ecumenical Face</typohead>

The second major issue was the decision by CCANZ to respond to the call from the Presbyterian Church and others for a more theologically, culturally and denominationally representative ecumenical organis-ation.

As a result the forum committed itself to a two year process. In the first year it will invite an independent group to work with any and all interested in establishing a new expression of ecumenism in New Zealand. On the basis of the decisions of this group, the second year will be committed to winding down and disestablishing CCANZ to give room to the new organisation.

This decision was risky and difficult for the forum. But it relied on its confidence that new life can emerge when we are willing to let go of the old.

If you would like more information about the forum or the process for developing the new expression of ecumenism, contact Chris Nichol at
chrisn(at)presbyterian.org.nz

Email List Changes

There have been several changes to the way the Church operates its email lists. The lists have been moved to a new host which offers better management and functionality.

There are currently five lists which you are welcome to subscribe to:

Cybersouls - Internet technology discussion for Presbyterians

Equip5000-updates - Ideas, support and ecouragement for those in lay ministry

Nzpres - A forum for Presbyterians and members of Uniting Congregation to discuss issues

Typo3-users - For Presbyterians, Uniting Congregation members and others using Typo3 for their website

Youth-connection - List for Presbyterian youth leaders and workers

For further list information and to subscribe see this web page:
http://lists.presbyterian.org.nz/mailman/listinfo

Existing list members do not need to take further action to retain membership.

If you have any questions please email Kirsten Dale
kirstend(at)presbyterian.org.nz

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Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand