Dominating the intersection that overlooks our Parliamentary buildings, Wellington Cathedral of St Paul was built to be a cathedral for the nation. Now overlooking the most secular city in the country, it was still here in our Cathedral that the nation farewelled our Queen's loyal and loving husband - and behind the ceremony was the hard work and long hours of Richard, Katie, David, Pixie, Michael, and our whole Cathedral whānau.

Just over 100 members of our St David’s Naenae whānau had a wonderful kingdom experience on their church site during Palm Sunday weekend. It was a Palm Saturday/Sunday Sleepover and Climate Change Prayer Vigil on the St David’s church site, with plenty of activities, food and fun.

Government ministers, CEOs, NGO leaders and migrant community representatives were all part of the recent "Tango i te Kaupae Muri - Take the Next Step" conference on people trafficking and exploitation, which we co-organised. It was a conference at which Government launched our new five year action plan to tackle the issue, and feedback suggests it has taken our country's response to the issue to a whole new level. Yet within days of it ending, another prosecution has hit the news - and the exploitation happened right under our noses.

Wellington City Mission, supported by New World, have come together to introduce an innovative new Social Supermarket, improving food security for Wellingtonians in need.

The Government has increased their support for vulnerable seafarers visiting New Zealand ports, and this policy win is in part due to the advocacy of organisations like the Mission to Seafarers, led by our own Rev. Lance Lukin.

The kaupapa of Training Day has always been a gathering of the extended whānau, whilst upskilling and learning in the areas of ministry God is calling us into. And that kaupapa was strongly held to at our recent Training Day events, despite one of them being held online due to the week-long Level 2 lockdown.

An increasing amount of people within our movement are choosing to live in missional communities, centred around corporate prayer, hospitality and mission to those who are vulnerable. 

About a year ago, Scott and Nikki Wheeler from our Karori whānau were confirmed as new mission partners with NZCMS, destined for Kapuna in Papua New Guinea.  But COVID-19 put a stop to all of that, throwing them into a year of waiting and wondering what might lie ahead.  Now, their departure date has (almost) been set, and they're nearly ready to go.

Wellington City Mission staff and their families gathered with our diocesan whānau at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul on Sunday afternoon, the 1st of February, for the first of what will hopefully become an annual event. Bishop Justin and Bishop Eleanor were there to commission the staff for their important mahi in the year to come.

On Saturday the 21st of November, about 800 members of our whānau packed out the Cathedral to celebrate a flurry of ordinands in our Diocesan Thanksgiving and Ordination service.

This year, five of our deacons were ordained as priests, and a further fourteen of our whānau were ordained as transitional deacons. Twelve of those ordained (ten deacons and two priests) are couples, who went through the discernment process together.

This October, our movement will gather together (hopefully!) to tautoko / support the call of God on the lives of Paul and Hannah, two of our own who are called to be ordained as vocational Deacons. Our annual Vocational Deacons’ Ordination was to occur on Ascension Sunday in May, to mark the command to God’s people to spread the Good News into all the world, but was postponed due to our national lockdown. We now look forward to being together at the Cathedral on Sunday the 11th of October.

It's now two months until we go to the polls to exercise our democratic responsibilities, and this year presents a few differences - we are to vote on not one but two significant referendum questions, in addition to voting for the government and representatives we want to lead us through a time of global challenge. There are a number of election forums coming up, including the one that we are co-hosting. To assist with your decision-making in the lead up to the election, here is a list of the forums we are aware of.

The Ministry of Transport has now allocated $295,000 to help those stuck in New Zealand ports through the Mission to Seafarers' organisation. Reverend Lance Lukin dof Upper Hutt Parish is the Oceania Regional Director for the organisation, and he talked to Kim Hill on RNZ's Saturday Morning about the situation.