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Tutahi Tatou Report by Helen Bichan
"Tutahi Tatou - Let's engage together" was the theme and the title for a series of workshops arranged by the Council of Assembly in response to the 2000 General Assembly request for regional gatherings to be held between Assemblies.
Well appointed church complexes were the venues in Northshore, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Mosgiel with local people making the arrangements run smoothly. Between 45 and 75 attended in the North Island and 75 - 120 in the South between late September and early November last year.
Council presented an overview of policy developments and noted the importance of national, regional and local levels working together in mission. Small groups discussed what they wanted to say to Council, their Presbytery/UDC and their congregations. Progress on the Pacific Island Synod review, Subordinate Standards and Resourcing were presented and discussed. Equip 5000 introduced their programme and ran three short (appreciated) 'samples'.
Participants:
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welcomed connections between national, regional and local church and commended the directions of policy development
supported the concept of healthy congregations
supported and valued diversity in ways of 'being church' including recognition of Co-operative Ventures
emphasised the importance of leadership including a wider range of ministries.
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Participants also:
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reminded Council about diversity - socio-economic, population growth in Auckland, rural depopulation, new settlers, and different understandings of being church
noted that what goes on nationally or regionally is often seen as irrelevant to congregations
referred to communication deficiencies
showed a desire to learn more about the Pacific Islands Synod
asked for better co-ordination of regional activities and national resourcing across denominations.
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Discussion on regional functions and structures was practical. Functions requiring technical expertise, including 'human resource', legal, administration, networking of information and expensive equipment could be managed for a large region. Pastoral care, training sessions and Moderator's visits were more appropriately arranged for smaller geographic groupings. Both types of arrangement are already working in some areas but much more could be done.
In response to Tutahi Tatou Council of Assembly:
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will ask Presbyteries/UDCs for time between March and May 2002 for Council to update members and receive feedback on national policy development and resourcing
has established a Task Group to work on responses from Tutahi Tatou related to regional functions and resourcing along with those received on the Healthy Presbyteries paper.
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The Tutahi Tatou presentation can be accessed on the Tutahi Tatou page, or contact Kirsten Dale Ph 04 381 8292 for presentation material for use at parish or presbytery level.