I te Pāpaho - Media and Latest News
Pictured above: Rowena Park and Jacquie Wright presenting Carol Sainsbury with a beautiful posy made by Rowena and some vouchers on Sunday 30 March. This was to say thanks to Carol who has been the treasurer at St Barnabas church Warrington for over 12 years
Local & Wider News
Above: Bishop Anne's first service at Holy Trinity Port Chalmers - more photos in gallery below.
Without churches, NZ would plunge into poverty and chaos: Juliet Chevalier-Watts explains why an atheist academic changed her mind on churches’ tax free status (ODT, 31 March 2025)
New bishop ‘at home’ in role: PEOPLE piled into a packed St Paul’s Cathedral to welcome Dunedin’s 11th Anglican bishop to the congregation. On Saturday, the Rt Rev Anne van Gend was ordained and installed as the Anglican Bishop of Dunedin at St Paul’s Cathedral. She succeeded the Rt Rev Steven Benford who has moved back to England after seven years in the role. Dr van Gend has been with the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin since 2021, first as community ministry enabler and more recently as the diocesan ministry educator. ‘‘ I’m really, really happy, very happy, and quite at peace, and at home.’’ She said on Saturday she would be prayed over and anointed with oil. The second half of the service was the installation during which she was officially made a bishop. ‘‘ What that means is I’m made a bishop — I’m a bishop everywhere , all over the world — but this particular diocese has to accept me as their bishop, and so that’s the installation.’’ At that point, she ‘‘ whacked on the door and asked for permission to come in’ ’ then was placed in the bishop’s chair. ‘‘ As the bishop you’re there to care for and co-ordinate and facilitate and encourage and just help that ministry of the people to happen. ‘‘ So you’re kind of a pastor. You’re kind of an administrator and you’re on far too many boards,’’ she said. Dr van Gend said she would be ‘‘ praying a lot, studying a lot’ ’ and hopefully working out what God wanted her to do. ‘‘ Within the church, we believe that everyone has a mission and a ministry, all part of what we call the body of Christ.’’
Dr van Gend was born in South Africa, before moving to New Zealand at 4 years old. She then moved to Australia where she attended high school and university.
Prior to her ordination as a deacon in 1997 and to the priesthood in 1998, she worked as a music therapist and English and music teacher in Australia, Zambia and South Africa. Changing from teaching to joining the church was ‘‘ very easy’’ . ‘‘ The joy of teaching for me was being able to communicate something that I loved in such a way that somebody else loved it. . . it was just a kind of shift of what it was that I was trying to communicate and teach.’’ (March 31 2025, Otago Daily Times)
Mad Hatters Tea Party: A Joyful Step Into Community Outreach: Earlier this month, the team at St John’s in Hira hosted a Mad Hatters Tea Party—a joyful, family-friendly outreach event held as part of the Haere Mai initiative. Brad caught up with Rev. Gordon Taylor to hear more about the event, how it came together, and what it might inspire in others (Korero, Diocese of Nelson, 27 March 2025)
Induction celebrated: Local churches celebrated joining the world-wide Community of the Cross of Nails network, dedicating themselves to international peace and reconciliation in two special services on Sunday. Parishioners of Knox Church O ¯ tepoti Dunedin and Otago Peninsula Anglican Parish at St Michael and All Angels Church in Andersons Bay were joined by visitors from across the region and representatives of Coventry Cathedral in the United Kingdom, as each church held a service (The Star, 27 March 2025).
Government will change charity tax rules at its peril: OPINION: When Oliver Twist said, “Please, sir, I want some more”, it accurately characterised the mindset that many still carry today when thinking about charities. It’s a mindset of reliance on donations from others, with hands outstretched in the hope of some crumbs falling from the plate of the wealthy (Steven Moe is a partner at Parry Field Lawyers and hosts the podcast Seeds. He works extensively with purpose-driven organisations. The Post, 21 March 2025)
World news
Pope Francis: King Charles postpones Vatican visit (CNA), and the Pope was so close to death that doctors considered ending treatment (Reuters)
New Mothers' Union Worldwide President—ACNS
Lenten Appeal backs Gaza & Pacific—Anglican Taonga/Anglican Missions
New Zealand Aotearoa news
Charities could benefit greatly from small bequest changes—CathNews
Cathedral: Miniature Christchurch landmarks brought back to life (The Press) and Cathedral hosts 'beloved spaces' (Anglican Taonga)
Community rallies after Katikati vicarage burns—Bay of Plenty Times
National Anglican News at Taonga
+Anne takes the lead in Dunedin
Dappled sunlight warmed a joyful congregation at St Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday, as they gathered to witness the ordination and installation of Ven Dr Anne van Gend as the 11th Anglican Bishop of Dunedin.
Fono reflects on Taranaki stories
Anglican Primates and General Secretaries of the Anglican Churches of Australia, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia gathered together in Taranaki where they shared in a pilgrimage to the region's key sites of conflict and reconciliation between Māori and Pākehā. For some it was surprising journey into an unknown past whose echoes reverberate still in the present day.
• Read the full 2025 Oceania Primates' Communiqué
Posters foster good disabled lives
This year's Anglican disability ministry reflections for Lent connect the journey towards Easter with principles from Aotearoa New Zealand's "Enabling Good Lives" movement that promotes community inclusion for disabled people.
Cathedral hosts 'beloved spaces'
Christ Church Cathedral has opened its doors once again to the people of Christchurch, this time to host an art exhibition that features places in Christchurch's centre city that were once loved and now lost.
Gaza hospital offers 24/7 care
As the world reels at Israel's end to ceasefire in Gaza, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East's Al Ahli Hospital is on the ground in Northern Gaza continuing to offer its ministries of healing 24 hours a day amidst the crisis.
• Donate to the Hope for the Holy Land Appeal
The Wider Church and World
