Mission Resourcing and Auckland Synod are jointly supporting outreach at Hobsonville Point, a new housing development on the former Air Force Base.

The mandate of Mission Resourcing is to resource synods, parishes, and leaders for contemporary missions and ministry. Over the years, Mission Resourcing through its responsibility to administer the Ministries Development Grant has engaged with synods and parishes by offering them financial help to assist their mission in their local communities. 

Synods and parishes know well their contexts and possible mission opportunities and Mission Resourcing is happy to consult with these synods and parishes to enable them to fulfil their vision of establishing new mission opportunities. There are many examples of the positive impact of the Ministries Development Grant on the mission of synods in their local context.  Rev Barry Jones shares a story which reflects the joint effort of Mission Resourcing and Auckland Synod in supporting the outreach at Hobsonville Point.

How To Be Church in a New Housing Area?

Rev Barry Jones

That’s the question the Auckland Synod asked at a strategic planning day held in 2016. Hobsonville Point is a new town being developed on the old Air Force base. When completed Hobsonville Point will have a population of over 15,500; bigger than many existing provincial towns in New Zealand.

I volunteered to be the facilitator of a small support team of lay people from the Takapuna congregation and the Te Atatu Union Parish, to pioneer a new expression of church in Hobsonville Point. Rev Andrew Gamman from the Whangaparaoa Parish suggested a model for establishing a church in the area and gave valuable ‘hands-on’ support for the initial phase of the project.

The name given to the Hobsonville Point project was “Discoverers,” because it infers a commitment to explore and be adventurous in being church.

There were several challenges that Discoverers faced when they began meeting in February 2021.

· The developers of the Hobsonville Point town made no provision of land for church use. Rather than being a disappointment, it has been a creative challenge to meet in the Baffin lounge which is part of a large community facility. This has encouraged Discoverers to emphasise informality in its monthly gatherings. There are no pews in the lounge, only comfortable sofas and chairs!

· The Auckland Synod recognised that there was little point in trying to replicate in Hobsonville Point, traditional church practices that have limited appeal today. Rather something new needed to be pioneered. After its initial first gatherings, one of the participants suggested that Discoveres should promote itself as an informal church because that is the significant emphasis in its monthly gatherings.

Discoverers gatherings focus on themes that enhance personal wellbeing and the health of the community, encouraging interaction and sharing among the participants as they engage with Biblical insights. Discoverers is committed to the development of spirituality that is life-centred, inclusive and world-affirming.

· Generally, the church has little appeal to people. This is no exception in Hobsonville Point. Before the Discoverers project commenced there was a letterbox drop to 800 homes in the area. That mailout generated no response from the community. However, Discoverers is committed to staying the distance. It recognises that it will take time to establish its credibility among the residents. Gavin Gunston, the Manager of the Hobsonville Community Trust, which oversees all the City Council’s community facilities in Hobsonville Point, has encouraged Discoverers to keep on keeping on.He said, “Members of the community will be watching to see if Discoverers has the stamina to last the distance.”

As a means of engaging with the community, Discoverers hosted a children’s Christmas decorations workshop on the Sunday afternoon before Christmas 2022. The decorations were carefully chosen to illustrate the Christian significance of Christmas. A short video was shown depicting the birth of Jesus using Lego block characters. Over 60 people attended, and Discoverers received positive feedback from participants.

Arising from its reflections on the teaching of Jesus about offering ‘unconditional hospitality - no strings attached,’ (Luke 12:12-14), Discoverers made a successful application to the Auckland Synod’s “Dream Fund,” for a grant to host community forums that would address issues facing three specific groups in the community; 1) migrants who are new to New Zealand and settling into a new community, 2) single women, some of whom are experiencing social loneliness, and 3) elderly residents who are vulnerable.

Since the beginning of the Hobsonville Point project, Discoverers has been generously supported by grants from the Auckland Synod and Mission Resourcing’s Ministry Development Fund. Without that financial support, the project would not have been able to start, and subsequently restart after the long Covid-19 restrictions on social gatherings were lifted.