This article was first published in eMessenger in May 2018.
St Stephens Methodist Church, in Tauranga, celebrated Neighbours Day Aotearoa with a barbeque on 26th March. The Parish were joined by several girls brigade girls and their families as well as staff from Stand Children’s Services, who use part of St Stephens premises. The parish youth worker did a mail drop of 80 invitations and three neighbourhood families also joined in.
St Stephens report that it was a good fellowship event even though numbers were small.
Margaret Birtles is the stationed Deacon at St Stephens, and as well as leading worship, she focuses on community outreach. Connection with the community is at the core of a deacon’s ministry. Margaret also provides a supporting role in various community agencys, and recently identified a need in her community as a result of her own experience of needing to find a rental property to live in. Many people in Aotearoa need support and pastoral care as they are facing this same dilemma. It will be interesting to see how she can minister to this particular community.
The Diaconate Task Group is a member of the Methodist Alliance. The purpose of the Diaconate is to be a strong strand of the three strand ministry of MCNZ. The other two being the presbyteral and lay ministries. A Deacon is ordained by the MCNZ to a ministry shared by the community whom they are appointed to serve. Anyone who would like some assistance, in exploring developing this minstry in their Parish, can make contact with the Diaconate Task Group - m.a.birtles@xtra.co.nz.
BAMA Trust
The Beneficiaries Advice Mt Albert is another new member of the Methodist Alliance. BAMA was jointly established in 2012 by Mt Albert Methodist Church and St Luke’s Anglican Church Mt Albert, which offers a free service in Mt Albert for beneficiaries, superannuitants and low income persons and their families who need expert and independent help, information and advocacy support. The service is open for 10 hours a week, based at St Luke’s Anglican Church in Mt Albert, and support is provided in person, or by email or phone. BAMA provides the following for their clients:
Assess the financial assistance eligibility from Work & Income NZ
Clarify how the benefit is made up
Check that clients are receiving all the assistance they are eligible for
Accompany clients to a Work & Income appointment if they feel they would like the support of an independent advocate
Assistance in filling out Work & Income Application or Review of Decision forms
The service is confidential and they support 70-90 clients a year. BAMA sees clients from many different ethnicities many of who are new migrants or refugees. BAMA staff support their clients to do as much as possible themselves and offer them support through the appeals process where required. BAMA staff have good relationships with staff at Work and Income which helps with open communication and problem solving. To find out more about the BAMA Trust check out their website at http://bama.org.nz/
Child Poverty Reduction Bill
On behalf of the Methodist Alliance, David Hanna gave an oral submission to the Social Services & Community Select Committee on the Child Poverty Reduction Bill. We will keep you informed on the progress of the Bill through the House and any changes made to it.
Carol Barron, Methodist Alliance National Coordinator, Carol@MethodistAlliance.org.nz
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