Sowing for another generation
If you are a reader of the psalms, or undertake the daily morning prayer readings, you will likely have been struck by a key message repeated throughout these texts – that we are to hand on the faith, the knowledge of what God has done, to another generation. This has always been a part of the life and work of the church. There is a high likelihood that you are a person who benefited from this – that you have a faith the first embers of which were lit by a Sunday School teacher, youth worker or parent.
In 2024, the Standing Committee undertook to take the temperature of Koru Ministry, our diocese’s name for ministry to children, youth, and families, and to take a snapshot of what we presently offer and the areas we can extend this ministry. The report can be read here. This work was undertaken in partnership between the parishes of Taradale and Holy Trinity, Tauranga with the Reverend Alan Burnett and Marg Barsanti visiting, collating, and surveying the experiences, practices and statistical data of our churches and communities to develop a picture of our impact and how we may be able to improve.
While the report captures far more detail than can be shared in this article, what was discovered were five key dynamics impacting the ministry in our diocese, these were the age and stage of clergy; the aging of volunteer leaders; the centralisation of ACW services; facility and maintenance challenges and the time demands on clergy and lay leaders. The result is that in every centre, our Koru ministries do not even reach many of those that claim an Anglican affiliation, let alone the wider population of children and youth. As a response, the diocese is implementing a strategy that can be summarised in the terms ‘endear,’ ‘engage’ and ‘empower.’ The intention with this is that every parish should be encouraged (where possible) to develop ministries of endearment for children, youth, and families. These are things such as After School Programmes and Sunday School ministries. Beyond this, some parishes should be encouraged and supported to run ministries of engagement, opportunities to grow in understanding, faith, and discipleship. Ministries such as Christian youth groups, youth bible studies, mentoring initiatives and even youth services. At the ‘empower’ level, the diocese recognises that in each major area there needs to be a parish that can develop youth leadership, and the leaders who will develop the programmes of endearment and engagement in our parishes. This level of ministry will require significantly more resources and support. Overall, the strategy intends to create a process by which young people can be met, formed, and sent out to encourage the life of faith in another generation.
In the initial stages of this process, the Standing Committee acknowledged there needs to be significant diocesan investment in this work. From the proposed options in the report, the decision was made to take a varied approach, focused on the employment of champions and leaders who can help develop teams and resourcing across the diocese. The result is the appointment of two new roles and the development of a Koru portfolio within the Bishop’s Leadership Team.
The two new roles are partly funded by the diocese and partly funded by local parishes. In 2025, this will see a 0.6 role (made full time by the parish) based at Taradale who will serve the southern part of the diocese, and a 0.3 role based at Holy Trinity, Tauranga to, for this year, serve the city of Tauranga. These two roles will work closely with the Reverend Alan Burnett, who takes on the Koru ministry portfolio within the Bishop’s Leadership Team.
In seeking to appoint these roles, we have wanted to find people with experience, passion and energy for koru ministry that is not only necessary but is infectious to those they engage with. With that in mind, we are excited to announce the appointment of Marg Barsanti as the Regional Children and Families Pastor for Tauranga and that we are in the process of securing an appointment for the southern role.
Marg and our other candidate both have extensive experience in leading children and youth ministry in both small and larger church communities, and within the context of new church plants. Alongside Alan, we believe they will help to not only foster new life for this essential ministry in the diocese but also draw us closer to provincial initiatives and movements that we would be better positioned to take advantage of in the future.
These roles have a three-year window, with a set of deliverables that, come the third year, will see significantly more koru ministry offerings within the diocese and, it is our hopes, teams of lay people and parents resourced and encouraged to lead more confidently in these spaces.
We look forward to the opportunities in the near future to introduce you to Marg and the other appointment as the roles begin and the team is established. In the meantime, we encourage you to meditate on the words of Psalm 78:4-7 and ask God to open opportunities for you and your church community to engage in the beautiful task of sharing the faith with another generation.
“We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
…that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments”
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