Welcome!
The Anglican Diocese of Christchurch is an exciting place to be!
We have many churches throughout the wider Canterbury and Westland regions where you can find Christian teaching, worship and loving Christian community.
We also offer many ministries, community programmes and social services.
You can ‘Find a church‘ and explore ‘Within our Diocese’ sections of our website to see what is available in your area.
Our purpose
The Anglican Diocese of Christchurch is a regional jurisdiction within the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.
We exist to serve the people in our region by working towards the Global Anglican Communion’s five marks of mission:
- To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
- To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
- To respond to human need by loving service
- To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation
- To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth
Within this mission, our Diocese has three strategic priorities that guide our work:
- Young Leaders: Raise up; encourage; educate; appoint and enable young people as leaders in our Diocese.
- Christ-Centred Mission: Christ is both our centre and the One we serve. We become Christ-like by furthering the Kingdom and further the Kingdom by becoming Christ-like.
- Faithful Stewardship: Of the Christian faith; environment; Diocesan properties and finances; time; talent and our heritage. Stewardship of the Christian faith includes how we offer theological education.
Where we work
Our Diocese serves the central portion of the South Island which includes the Canterbury and Westland regions along with the Chatham Islands.
How we are structured
The operational structure of our Diocese is comprised of three independent bodies: ‘Anglican Diocese of Christchurch,’ ‘Anglican Care,’ and ‘Church Property Trustees.’ Each body is governed by an independent board.
‘The Anglican Diocese of Christchurch’ is the ministry body of the Diocese which encompasses the parishes, ministry programmes and services, clergy and ministry staff.
Anglican Care is the social services and social justice body of the Diocese. Anglican Care is governed by a Trust Board and managed under a dual leadership structure with an Anglican Missioner and a City Missioner. There are currently 4 main areas of work being the Christchurch City Mission, Anglican Advocacy, Anglican Community Development and Anglican Care, South Canterbury. Anglican Care is currently in the process of exiting from the provision of residential aged care services.
The Church Property Trustees own and manage all of the property and investments of the Diocese.
The ‘Anglican Centre’ is a partnership between these bodies which supplies administrative and operational support services such as accounting, human resources, health and safety and communications to each body.
Together, these entities work to serve the spiritual and practical needs of the people of Canterbury, Westland and the Chatham Islands.