What's Changing

Over the past few years there has been a huge change in the way ministry is done in these areas. A form of ministry called Local Shared Ministry has been adopted. The central tenet of this style of ministry is that all the baptised have a ministry. These ministries have been encouraged so the church begins to look more like a ministering community than a group gathered around a minister. Such changes have not been without their pain, and they don't come overnight. However, the results of this approach have borne significant fruit in the past few years. Once the members of the congregations have reflected upon and begun to name and exercise their ministries, a Ministry Support Team is called to support and organise the ministries of the church. These teams include ordained deacons and priests. Hokitika has such a team, which also supports Ross.

Diminished populations and congregations in South Westland have proved too limited to support Local Shared Ministry. This region is known as a mission and ministry unit. Local priests lead worship in Harihari, Whataroa and Franz Josef on a regular basis, while occasional services are held in Fox Glacier, Jacobs River and Haast.

In a sense, the church is called to become more self-sufficient in its ministry and to not rely on vicars coming in every few years. However, a suitably trained ministry enabler is appointed to support and resource the congregations and their ministers, as well as sharing the task of providing oversight.