On Thursday 10 June the Diocesan Council and the DDTB had a joint meeting to talk about ways that they could better connect with each other.

After enjoying some food together, members from both Boards introduced themselves. Bishop Steve began the session by asking "who is King in our life?", reminding us that we were all trying to follow Jesus. Others in the group spoke about the importance of being disciples, proclaiming the Gospel, helping the church grow and flourish, while creating an environment where we could be people who "read the scripture, pray and live out the life of Christ".

Bishop Steven (Chair of Diocesan Council) and Stephen Grant (Chair of the DDTB) gave a summary of what each group actually do (see existing information on the roles of Diocesan Council and the DDTB about this on our website), and then the combined group talked about ways to connect better with each other.

Points of collaboration and connection that were discussed are as follows:

• Future shape of ministry - useful for both groups to collaborate on this in terms of how we can fund ministry in the future, especially using our resources (including property) differently to fund this, along the lines of the national Church impact Mission Aligned Investment thinking. A link between the Stewardship Committee and the DDTB would be useful.
• Ensure both groups have access to each other's meeting minutes.
• Look towards 6 monthly combined meetings with a focused agenda on joint business/concerns. 
• Arrange a specific meeting to explore Mission Aligned Investment with a view to looking at what we could take to a future Synod around this. 

The NZ Prayer book has a very appropriate prayer on page 141 for the Mission of the Church: 

Draw your Church together, O God,
into one great company of disciples,
together following our Lord Jesus Christ
into every walk of life,
together serving him in his mission to the world,
and together witnessing to his love
on every continent and island.

Please continue to uphold the Diocesan Council and DDTB in prayer as they seek to enable us to fulfill our mission.