Our Movement is on the Move again!

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Rev. Andrew Doubleday to UCANZ. Many of you will know Andrew as the soon to be retired President of the Methodist Church here in New Zealand. The Standing Committee met with Andrew in September and an employment statement of intent was signed with him. Andrew will take up the position at the beginning of the New Year. UCANZ, as you are well aware, has the responsibility and pleasure of serving both its Partner Churches (Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Christian Churches of NZ), and the participating Cooperating and Uniting Congregations. The Standing Committee is confident Andrew has all the skills necessary to lead us into our future ecumenical journey.

UCANZ has been much blessed by the legacy of our recently retired Executive Officer, Rev. Adrian Skelton, whose innovation and organisational skills have left the Office Administration in a sound position. So much so that the Standing Committee have agreed that the emphasis of the new leadership Andrew will bring should be concentrated on serving the needs of the congregations. With this in mind, we have changed the title of the position from Executive Officer to Ministry Enabler. We are sure you will all welcome Andrew into this key role for UCANZ and know that you will offer him your fellowship and support.

Church Life Survey 2023

As an organisation UCANZ has been invited to take part in the Church Life Survey which is planned for next year. The Standing Committee have agreed that this will be a good tool for us to use to measure the strengths and weaknesses of our congregations as we make plans for the future and have accepted the invitation. We would therefore encourage all of you, as individual congregations, to watch out for the invitation to join in the survey and sign up for it. The more information we have the more we can channel our resources to the greatest benefit for us all.

Forum 2023

Standing Committee have also been planning the Forum next year. We will be holding it in Christchurch in April after Easter and hoping for a large attendance as we all officially welcome Andrew, listen to some interesting speakers, and discuss our future plans. We will also be electing new members to our Standing Committee. We encourage you all to think of people from your congregations who you can nominate to serve the church in this way. Please get in touch if you need more information or a nomination form.

Thanks

Many thanks to all those congregations who filled in and returned both their Membership Statistics and Financial Statistics forms. From your information we are grateful to Bianca from the Diocese of Waiapu who has collated them and has now completed updating the UCANZ Directory which should be on its way to you soon.

Kind regards / Ngā mihi nui
Rev Geraldine Coats (for UCANZ)
All correspondence please to office@ucanz.org.nz