by Greg Meylan

More than 30 years ago a seed was planted in the Hamilton suburb of Nawton and in October it reached maturity with the Nawton Street Church being given the go-ahead from the Waikato Presbytery for independence from the First Church Westside.

The Rev Kora Tuaiti, who has been at Westside for 12 years, says that around 30 years ago several churches were planted in the Hamilton community and Nawton has followed Scot's Presbyterian and St David's in becoming independent.

"You might think Nawton has gone on its separate way because they are busting at the seams, they are not. It would be news for the whole world if it were so. It is that the time has come for them to be independent of First Church", he says.

"I am happy that this has happened because it has allowed people to grow. Because there is a lot of talent inside people, dying to get out, but they often don't get the opportunity because other people are sitting on the leadership role. But surprise, surprise you give somebody a responsibility and they rise to the occasion."

Session clerk at the Nawton Community Church, Bill Featherstone, says the bonds between the two congregations are strong and will remain so.

"One of the only misgivings about becoming independent was that we would like to see the affection and appreciation between the congregations maintained," he says. Featherstone says the very long cultural contact between the mostly European parishioners of Nawton and the Pacific people of Westside has been greatly valued.

Featherstone says the two worship centres had worked in a collaborative and collegial way over the years, but had come to have different missions to different people.

"It is a very exciting time for us, and we appreciate the confidence the Waikato Presbytery has shown in us to respond to the local community's needs," he says.

The Rev Tuaiti says Nawton has an excellent pool of leaders. "I think they have got more leaders that have come through the ranks and capable leaders who want to make a go of exploring and going out on their own. I have worked with the those leaders and they are very, very capable. One of them went to study theology here at the university, there is a minister who retired into the parish and they have a retired accountant, who is also a very important person."

He says the people at Nawton are more charismatic in their worship. "There is more chorus singing than the old type hymns and the lay preachers are allowed to express their faith in a more up-to-date kind of preaching and expression. Nobody cares when somebody raises up their hands or dances in the aisles. We allow that because if that is the way somebody feels at the time, joyous, then go for it."

Rev Tuaiti says the process of becoming independent has taken some time and careful planning. "We had our trials and errors but we said to ourselves, let's put in place the steps we wish to achieve. So we put them in place, we strategised, we asked the people, we met as leaders of the church to look at how best to handle the situation. Having done all that we then had a strategy for a trial period. We had one whole year operating as two parishes with separate accounts and everything. So we practised first," he says.

Nawton became independent on October 1 2002 and Featherstone says this year they would like to establish a ministry that is outward looking which will ensure the ongoing health of the congregation.