Tues 15 Nov 2016

The Right Rev Richard Dawson of Dunedin is the new Moderator or elected leader of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. He begins his two year term from Tuesday 15 November 2016.

Richard is minister at St Stephens/Leith Valley Presbyterian Church in Dunedin. Born in Dunedin, he studied at the University of Otago. After graduating in 1980 he worked for Youth For Christ and then as a forestry contractor until 1985.  He then studied at the Presbyterian Theological Hall completing his training in 1988.

Due to the Civil Defence advisory asking people to stay out of Wellington's central business district following the large earthquake which has affected the top of the South Island and bottom of the North Island, Assembly Office is closed until an inspection of the building has been completed.

The 2016 - 2017 lectionary worship resources is now available for download from the Church's website. This lectionary is Year A - Matthew. Download or view lectionary

Christian World Service (CWS) has launched an appeal to support the people of Haiti following Hurricane Matthew, which earlier this week caused widespread destruction.

Latest figures indicate that just under 300 people have been killed.

Funds raised during the appeal will help families with urgent relief supplies and to rebuild homes and livelihoods. Read more about the Haiti Appeal on the CWS website. 

Introducting the new "Stepping Stones of Formation" website, which has been developed by Presbyterian Youth Ministry to help youth leaders create a long-term youth ministry curriculum plan for discipling the young people - aged from 10-30 years old - entrusted to them. PYM have hand-picked a few resources that have excellent content and are easy-to-use. One of the goals of the website is to help youth leaders think about discipling young people in a well-rounded, holistic way.

In early October, the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches - Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit - will visit New Zealand. The iteniary for his visit, including several public events, is noted below:

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This weekend Spanz magazine was awarded the 2016 Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) Silver Award for 'Best Written News Story', for a story on the Dingwall Trust: “Trust supports youth transition to independence” (Sp

Following on from a request by General Assembly to review the Beneficiary Fund, a series of changes are proposed that will alter the retirement and support offered by the Church to its ministers, including changes to the Beneficiary Fund.