Bishop Andrew Hedge's Update

Kia ora koutou,

Recent Parish Visits

Over the past two weekends I’ve enjoyed spending time with two parishes in Hawke’s Bay - the congregation at Tikokino Church, and the Parish of Taradale. The community at Tikokino meets monthly on the last Sunday of the month and invites ministers from the various denominations that have been part of the history of the church to lead the service. I know a few people who live in the community and it has been my pleasure to support them on two occasions over the past two years. It’s a great story of a community wanting to retain the life of a worshipping community when there was the possibility of the church being sold. The response from the community was a firm ’No!’ followed swiftly by a commitment to create worship and community life around the church. The monthly services are normally followed by a shared meal and often a farm visit. Raewyn and I were treated to a tour of a local farm on which the family have lived for four generations, with the youngest actively involved in working the land with their parents. Tikokino looks out to the magnificent Ruahine Ranges and across the Waipawa river and is an iconic part of the Hawke’s Bay landscape. It was very good to share in this visit and nurture the relationship with the local Anglican Parish of Central Hawke’s Bay. My visit to the Parish of Taradale last week included a very successful and encouraging parish consultation. The parish are well placed to begin the next stage of the work of searching for a priest to be their next Vicar. The parishioners were very positive and engaged in the discussions at the parish consultation and shared their positivity with me about looking forward to the future of the parish. You will see the advertisement for Taradale included in eNews today, as well as the advertisement for Ōtūmoetai. Please share these notices around to clergy whom you think may be interested and offer your prayers for these parish communities as we work through an appointments process. 

Henry Williams commemoration

Henry Williams made his first visit to Tauranga on 25 June 1826, 200 years ago next month. A celebration and commemoration of that moment is being held on Thursday 25 June 2026 in Tauranga across three events. The events are being organised by an interdenominational group in Tauranga, Te Kohinga, in connection with the Otamataha Trust, and directed by Dr. Alistair Reese (Anglican Historian and Theologian). The Karuwhā Trust are supporting the organisers by providing some administration support and are hosting the event information on their website.  You will also find the invitation attached in eNews today. I, along with others from Waiapu, Te Manawa o Te Wheke and around the Province will be supporting the morning karakia and staying on for the two further events in the day: A lecture by Dr Samuel Carpenter at The Elms; A symposium on ‘Waitangi: A Treaty of Hope’, including presentations by Sir Joe Williams and Dr Alistair Reese. The work and ministry of Henry and Marianne Williams is foundational to our life as a church and a nation, and these events provide us an opportunity to commemorate this in Tauranga. I encourage you to consider attending these events, particularly as we make our way towards the bicentennial commemorations of Te Tiriti/The Treaty of Waitangi in 2040.

Tikanga Pakeha Mission and Ministry Council - creative Anglican liturgy

Last week a small group of clergy joined me at the TPMC special forum on creative Anglican liturgy. We spent the day with clergy from around Tikanga Pakeha exploring the notion of creativity, how creativity expresses and sustains our spirituality, and how it is embedded in our liturgical life in patterns old and new. It was an enriching day, and I hope to be able to share some of the experiences from the group who travelled with me in future editions of eNews.

Anglican Education

It was a real pleasure to sit alongside Fr John Matthews and the Hereworth School Trust Board this week at their invitation to guide a conversation about Anglican Education. The school will celebrate their centenary next year after two schools, Heretaunga School (est. 1882), and Hurworth School (est. 1901), merged in 1927. The board are actively looking ahead to the coming years and wanting to engage with what it means to be an Anglican School on multiple levels including ethos, ethics, pedagogy, pastoral care, spirituality, governance to name but a few. This is a very encouraging indication of the support that the Chair, Claire Hague, and Headmaster, Matt Allen, offer for the relationship between Waiapu and Hereworth. It was pleasing to see the level of engagement from the board, and I look forward to more opportunities to further this conversation in the future. 

Sunday 10 May - Commissioning and Collation: The Rev’d Christopher Tweddell

This Sunday afternoon at 3pm I’ll be at St George’s, Gate Pā, to lead a service to welcome the Rev’d Christopher Tweddell and commission him as Ministry Educator and collate him as Archdeacon. We will also take the opportunity to offer our grateful thanks to Ven Peter Bargh as he concludes his year of ministry supporting Waiapu as Archdeacon. The occasion will be a service based on evening prayer and clergy are invited to robe with white stole. We look forward to this opportunity and thank the Parish of Gate Pā for their support and hospitality. I look forward to seeing many of you there. After the service there will be an opportunity to meet Christopher and get to know him. I will be taking some time on Monday to spend the day with Peter and Christopher with my leadership team as we transition the responsibilities of Archdeacon and also look at the ministry education needs of parishes across the Bay of Plenty. 

The Waiapu Anglican Centre

A small milestone was noted this week in the new building … we now have full access to the building and all the fences have come down from the worksite. While there are still some small details to be worked on by the contractors we are now feeling more settled and at home in the building … especially now that we have key fobs to get us in and out of the building. Like getting keys to the house, it’s an exciting step forward in really feeling settled. We look forward to planning for a celebration to formally open the building. Now to get to work putting some art on my office walls!