Chris Chamberlain is the National Leader of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand.
Kia ora koutou New Zealand Baptist whānau,
We are a kingdom people, a reconciled people, and hope-filled movement. I’m aware that after three months of living in Auckland, that it is high time I wrote something. I have been posting short videos that catch a bit of what is on my mind, but today I decided to write. The main thing here is encouragement. I love the phrase Charles Hewlett helped us to make use of, ‘People and Places’ and I have observed numerous good things occurring in our movement in my first few months. Here are a few of them:
- Whakatāne Baptist celebrated their 75th anniversary on Anzac weekend. I loved hanging out with this lively and engaging church community. My thanks to Pete and Joce Foster who put me up, pastored this church for 16 years, and also to Jono and Gabby Edmeades who now pastor Whakatāne. My favourite moment was meeting up with Eric King after over 20 years. As South Island Regional Superintendent in the 1990s Eric believed in me when I was a young pastor and encouraged my wife Julie and I to shift to Greymouth where we stayed - and I pastored - for 11 years.
- A two-day trip to the Far North with our Te Pouarataki mō te Hīkoi Luke Kaa-Morgan was arranged for us by Josie Te Kahu, the Northern Baptist Association’s Area Leader Northland. There are some unique challenges faced by the churches in that region - weather, housing and employment challenges being just some of them. Several have strong community-facing ministries such as op shops, gardening projects and community meals. Some are even dreaming of social housing projects.
- I connected with pastors from five of our Baptist churches in the Hawkes Bay just before Easter. This is another area with a unique set of challenges, but the pastors and their church communities are pressing into their contexts. I saw amazing community gardens, a building project, churches oriented strongly toward social services and good engagement with migrant Christians.
- A Sunday visit to Auckland’s Baptist Tabernacle was very encouraging. The ‘Tab’ has numerous congregations and nationalities, and there was a warm welcome from pastors Neil Baker, Kok Soon, and Steve Worsley. Multiple spaces and time slots are utilised on a Sunday as people from all nations converge at the top of Queen Street.
- I have really enjoyed meeting with several Auckland pastors’ clusters, including Samoan, Chinese, and Eastern. The hospitality and food have been pretty impressive, and each pastor has been keen to chew over what it means to be radical disciples, and how they express the coming of the kingdom in their settings.
- A visit to Parklands Baptist in Christchurch showed newly commissioned pastor Brent Davie (previously at Gore Baptist) and the church enjoying a new season already after a couple of months.
- On 1 April I hosted an online call (sponsored by World Vision) with a Palestinian Christian leader from the West Bank, discussing persecution, violence, trauma implications in children, and the gospel. I’ve also been interviewed several times by external groups on subjects like social housing, move on orders, and economic justice.
- Northern Easter Camp was exhilarating! I’ve spent a bit of time at the Christchurch one, so this was a new experience for me. The biggest difference to Christchurch is that the main meeting space provides chairs... pretty flash! The response on the first night was massive. It was so good to see what we as a movement have been providing deliver so many responses to the work of the Spirit. God is at work among youth.
- Northern Association’s Tim Palmer arranged and hosted an outstanding gathering at our Carey Baptist College recently. About 30 people attended, prioritising the questions of immigrant and ethnic leadership, second generation connections, and how to flourish in a church setting that is struggling to keep up with the new future that has already arrived with us. Did you know that already less than 50% of Auckland’s population is pākeha?
We are heading into a busy period- five Regional Hui from late May-late June, followed by the Hui-a-Māori in the first weekend of July. Busy yes, but also a great opportunity to connect. I’m hoping to hear responses to some of the initial thoughts I have posed about an overarching sense of vision for our movement. Click here for a copy of the three verses I am paying a lot of attention to at this time.
Here are some of the folk I’ve hung out with over the last few months.
God bless you,
Chris
Photo credit: Chris Chamberlain
