This article was first published in eMessenger in November 2017.
Christchurch had perfect weather for the pōwhiri at Rehua Marae to start the forum. Arapera Ngaha and Rex Nathan leading manuhiri on to the marae. The Te Reo lessons with Willow were invaluable and the chefs made a delicious morning tea for us.
Te Taha Maori then led us in a korero on “The Methodist Alliance Aotearoa on the bi-cultural journey – what does a treaty informed alliance look like? How can the relationship between Te Taha Maori & the Methodist social services be strengthened?”
In small groups we discussed what bi-culturalism is; what it means to us in Aotearoa; and what bi-culturalism could look like in our organisation. There was a rich discussion when the groups reported back. I really liked the description of the bi-cultural journey being two cultures journeying together being at the same place and moving forward together and everyone being equal in the waka. The hopes expressed included:
The Forum would provide an opportunity for Maori staff to network and connect with each other. This has started to be realised as some of the feedback reported that workshop with Te Taha Maori and the discussion on Te Tiriti was the most useful parts of the forum.
Te Tiriti training for missions and parishes.
After lunch at Rehua groups went in various directions to visit:
Community led development programmes at Te Whare Roimata
Aratupu, Christchurch Methodist Mission's early childhood education centre & aged care home WesleyCare
The community garden at Kosipeli
Linwood’s social housing project
Connexional office hosted everyone for afternoon tea. The rest of the Forum was held at the Chapel Street Centre, where Jill Hawkey, Convenor of the Methodist Alliance, and Carol Barron, Methodist Alliance National Coordinator gave a presentation on the Methodist Alliance journey to date – where we have come from. Carol is pictured left.
Then we had presentations from the Methodist Alliance members:
Pat Teague, Christchurch North Parish, “Handiscope – a community project for disabled people”
Kim Penny & Jill White, “Palmerston North Methodist Social Services”
David, Ray & Katrina, Hamilton Parish, “The positive results of change”
Rhonda Swenson & David Harding, Trinity Union, “A little parish that could”
Peter Williamson, Crossroads Papakura Parish, “Street fronts and inside shops”
Margaret Birtles, Diakonia Task Group, “The role of Deacons in Te Hāhi”
It was a privilege to have Trevor McGlinchey, Executive Director of NZCCSS, to give a presentation on “A perspective on inequality in New Zealand.”
Friday night’s dinner was catered by Can Do Catering[1] and the food was fresh, delicious and delectable. I loved the edible flowers on the food and they also provided excellent food for those with special dietary requirements.
During the evening we were entertained by a Star Wars Storm Trooper, Yoda, and we sang along to, “What would Yoda Do?”
There was fierce competition eating Jaffas with lightsabers and then answering questions from the Star Wars memes. There was a Jedi Knighthood prize giving ceremony where someone was made a Jedi Knight.
The highlight for many was our key note speaker, Professor Paul Dalziel, who is a wellbeing economist and a professor at Lincoln University. Paul talked about how the economy is measured and whether our economy is really a rock star economy when we factor in wellbeing measures.
David Bush, started the second day of the forum with a prayer and theological reflection on what it means to be an alliance. David asked whether Acts Chapter 6 was the first organisation of social services reaching out in care and how we gather and draw into deep relationships with each other we are better equipped to meet the needs of others.
We then had presentations from members on their emerging work:
Working with children & families – building strong resilient children & families
Filo Tu-Faleupolu & Malavai P-Misikei, Sinoti Samoa, “The work of Puna’oa ole Soifua Manuia”
Zoe Truell, Lifewise, “Lifewise Intensive in home parenting support”
Community Led Development – Building strong neighbourhoods
David Hanna, Wesley Community Action, “Community Led Development”
Peter Norman & Jennifer Moor, Northcote Takapuna Parish, “The history of Takapuna in the community and how the work of the church has changed over time” Peter & Jenny are pictured below
Safe secure housing
Anne Preston, Hamilton East Parish, “Pensioner Housing”
Ratenesh Sharma, Airedale Property Trust, “Housing Solutions”
Jill Hawkey, Christchurch Methodist Mission, “Social Housing Solutions” Jill is pictured below.
It was great to have so many members willing to share their work. The short format of a five minute presentation is challenging to create and deliver. However it focusses your attention on what is the important messages and so the presentations are punchy, inspirational and uplifting.
Morning and afternoon teas on Saturday were catered by the Upper Riccarton Methodist Parish MWF who did a great job! We were all ready to go to our different workshops:
Maori staff and Te Taha Maori - facilitated by Rex & Arapera
Housing strategies including youth, social, emergency, long term - facilitated by Jill Hawkey
New approaches to working with children and families - facilitated by Zoe Truell
Fundraisers and communications staff - facilitated by Bernadette Murphy
Building strong neighbourhoods - facilitated by John MacDonald
These groups reported back after lunch and this work will be used to inform our strategic direction. We finished off with some business matters and had some very valuable discussions.
A formal evaluation with feedback from the attendees will inform the next forum. Some of the themes from the evaluation were:
Paul Dalziel’s key note address was the highlight for many
The sessions taken by Te Taha Maori were the most useful
The general organisation was very good as was the venue and facilities
People valued the networking opportunities and connections being made
The people that came to the forum made it successful. Their presentations, discussion, sharing knowledge, experience and skills, forming new relationships and strengthening others ensured that we celebrated the work that was being done under the Methodist name as well as learnt from each other and explored new ways of working together.
Carol Barron, Methodist Alliance National Coordinator, Carol@MethodistAlliance.org.nz
[1] Can Do Catering is a social enterprise business of Laura Fergusson Trust, providing real employment for younger adults with significant physical impairments. If you would like to know more, check out their website: http://www.lftcant.co.nz/whats-new/can-do-catering
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