Methodist Mission and Ecumenical Report

The key focus of the board has been to set out a new vision and strategies to take us in to the future and to determine what it means to be a member of the board regarding being responsible for the strategies we produce.

Our new tirohanga/vision is:

Kia whakakotahi ai tātou o ngā waka wairua whānui-To come together as communities of faith.

Kia hanga whanaungatanga pono – To build and promote dynamic, ecumenical relationships.

Kauapapa rautaki Matua/ Strategic priorities include:

1.Whanaungatanga -to be “relational”.

2. Whakakakau - to undertake effective communication.

3. Tauatanga - to be forward looking, future focussed and guiding succession.

We have worked hard this year to meet every two months either via Zoom or in person to achieve a new vision and strategic priorities and we thank Craig Fisher for guiding us through this process.

As with a lot of boards and committees in the church we have had issues with attendance at meetings. We acknowledge the work done in voluntary roles in the church by many lay and ordained people. However there seem to be fewer and fewer Methodist members able to commit to these roles and thus some have too many roles which makes it difficult to attend meetings. If the church wants these roles to continue, then more members need to become involved as few cannot carry all the load.

When deciding as a board to not renew the acting director’s contract, we knew that the work would have to be done by the board. Fortunately, many of the board offered to cover some of the roles that would have been done by a director until we appoint a new one. These include corresponding with our partners in mission in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, finding articles for e-messenger and being a representative overseas at the various conferences a director would attend. This has been a good learning curve for us as a board into what roles a new director will have and gave us an insight into what roles we have in governance as board members.

The ME board’s recommendation is to finish off the year finalising our strategies and looking towards appointing a new director in the new year.

Conference Decisions

Conference received our report and 12 decisions.

Included in this was our continuing relationships with the united churches both in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

Conference affirms its commitment to foster unity, which includes its continued engagement in the Anglican-Methodist and Methodist Roman Catholic bilateral dialogue, and through the National Dialogue for Christian Unity and Te Rūnanga Whakawhanaungai ngā Hāhi o Aotearoa (Māori Council of Churches).

Conference also affirmed representation of NDCU, WCC, CCA, PCC, MCCP and the WMC, and as a stakeholder in the Religious Diversity Centre.

It affirmed our thanks to our acting Director Rev Tony Franklin-Ross and retiring members Linda Hall, Lesieli Samiu and Casey Lita Fa’aui for their service to the board. We also thanked Jane Pinney who has been our financial advisor for 13 years.

Conference affirmed our decision to continue to seek a new director.

It also affirmed the work of Christian World Service and commends the 2023 Christmas Appeal to all churches and Methodists for their support.