Methodist Church of New Zealand

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]

The Methodist movement was started by John Wesley, an 18th-century English Anglican minister. Methodist missionaries were among the earliest Europeans to come to New Zealand. 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.[2] The Annual Conference is the governing body of the Methodist Church of New Zealand.[3]

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.[4] In its 1983 conference the church made a conscious decision to work towards inclusion of all ethnicities and cultures.[5] The denomination is supportive of women ministers and clergy in same-sex unions.[6] As of June 2018, there are 9,473 Methodist Church members who worship as part of a Methodist Church parish.[7] 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.[8]

Ecumenical relations

The Methodist Church of New Zealand is a member of the World Council of Churches[9] and the Christian Conference of Asia.[5] Since 2016 the church has participated in an ecumenical platform, National Dialogue for Christian Unity (NDCU), along with Anglicans and Roman Catholics.[10]

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gollark: PRs welcome!
gollark: By heavy, I mean heav and the letter y.
gollark: <@319753218592866315> Can you make a conspiracy theory suggesting me and heavy are the same person?
gollark: I really need some sort of lyricly macron conspiracy theory.

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


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