Te tiriti o Waitangi
(The treaty of Waitangi)

As a church we are on a journey, learning what it means to honour te tiriti o Waitangi. Te tiriti is the founding document of Aotearoa and speaks of New Zealanders coming together in partnership with tangata whenua (people of the land).  

We are passionate about becoming a truly multicultural church (spoken about  in Acts 13 & Revelation 7), and we believe that a key step in our journey is to understand and value the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa. After all, how can a whānau (family) invite guests in to their kāinga (home) if there is division amongst them as hosts? 

Our desire is to allow and encourage people from all cultures and nationalities to be all that God has called them to be - and therefore we must allow and encourage Māori to reclaim all that God has called them to be too. As a church we acknowledge that this has not always been the case in Aotearoa New Zealand. As part of taking our responsibility to rectify this and rebuild the true  sense of partnership enshrined in te tiriti o Waitangi we’re keen to encourage  the use of te reo Māori (Māori language) in our services and acknowledge the  place of te ao Māori (Māori world view) in the community. 

We believe that in playing our part (however small) to redress the effects of  past injustices to Māori and seeking to restore them to a place of respect and equality, all nations will find a tūrangawaewae (standing place) among us.