The Methodist Church of New Zealand (Māori: Te Hāhi Weteriana o Aotearoa) is a Methodist denomination headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is a member of the World Methodist Council.[1]

History

Samuel Leigh was one of the first Wesleyan missionaries in early colonial New Zealand.

The Methodist movement was started by John Wesley, an 18th-century Church of England minister. Methodist missionaries were among the earliest Europeans to come to New Zealand. Missionaries Samuel Leigh and William White established the first Wesleyan mission, Wesleydale at Kaeo on the Whangaroa Harbour, on 6 June 1823. Leigh worked alongside Anglican missionary Samuel Marsden.[2] In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the Methodist Church, with its emphasis on personal salvation and social responsibility, played an important part in the temperance movement and other moral debates. Writer and social reformer Percy Paris became president of the Conference in 1938.[3] The Annual Conference has always been the governing body of the Methodist Church of New Zealand.[4]

Since the early 1900s the proportion of New Zealanders who are Methodist has declined from 10% to a reported 2.6% in the 2013 census.[5] At the 1983 conference the church made a conscious decision to work towards inclusion of all ethnicities and cultures.[6] The denomination is supportive of women ministers and clergy in same-sex relationships.[7] In 1999 the conference decided to allow ministers to bless same-sex relationships.[8] In 2013, when same-sex marriage was legalized in New Zealand congregations that opted to do so were able to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.[9]

The World Methodist Council website reports 9,473 Methodist Church members who worship as part of a Methodist Church parish; additionally, a "significant number" of Methodist members worship in churches co-operating with Anglicans and Presbyterians. This membership figure is undated.[10]

Ecumenical relations

The Methodist Church of New Zealand is a member of the World Council of Churches[11] and the Christian Conference of Asia.[6] Since 2016 the church has participated in an ecumenical platform, National Dialogue for Christian Unity (NDCU), along with Anglicans and Roman Catholics.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Member Churches". worldmethodistcouncil.org. World Methodist Council. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  2. ↑ "Wesleyan mission established". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 21 December 2016. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  3. ↑ Clements, Kevin P. "Percy Reginald Paris". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "New Zealand Methodist Conference". www.methodist.org.nz. Methodist Church of New Zealand Te Hāhi Weteriana O Aotearoa. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  5. ↑ "2013 Census QuickStats about culture and identity". archive.stats.govt.nz. Statistics New Zealand. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Methodist Church of New Zealand — World Council of Churches". www.oikoumene.org. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Civil Union Zealand Methodist Same-sex marriage". www.methodist.org.nz. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "New Zealand Church unaffected by US methodist schism over gay marriage". RNZ. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "Gay Marriage Coming to the Bay". www.baybuzz.co.nz. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "New Zealand, Methodist Church". World Methodist Council. June 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  11. ↑ Methodist Church of New Zealand Archived 5 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, World Council of Churches.
  12. ↑ "New Zealand churches open new unity dialogue". www.anglicannews.org. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2018.


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