Increasingly known as the support centre, our small national office in Auckland has dual roles: a commitment to resourcing and assisting our Baptist faith communities and regional Baptist Associations as we collaborate on gospel renewal to people and places; as well as being the base for our National Leader and their team who offer leadership in the following areas:
Operations and finance
Providing support with a variety of church and faith community administrative, operational and finance matters, such as employment and terms of call of church staff, property, accounting, compliance, insurance and legal issues. This work is led by the Operations and Finance Director. See the Administration section of this website for more information.
Te Pouarataki mō te hīkoi (Treaty guide)
Working in partnership with our National Leader providing a Māori perspective and leadership to the Support Centre in order to best fulfil our commitment to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. As we continue our Treaty journey together, Te Pouarataki mō the hikoi (Treaty guide) is a significant role as we work towards a greater level of partnership with and participation from Māori within our Support Centre and the ministry and mission of our movement.
Leadership co-ordination
For nearly a century leadership training and development has been an important part of resourcing Baptist churches in New Zealand and investing in our future. New Zealand Baptists have a variety of leadership development and training areas and these are co-ordinated on behalf of the 250 faith communities through the role of the Leadership Co-ordination Director at the support office. Find out more at the Leadership Hub.
Strategic projects
From time to time particular focus is directed towards areas that need high levels of attention to detail and the co-ordination of external expertise. Leadership in this area is provided through the support office and National Leader’s team. An example of this is the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions.
Communication
Working with the National Leader and alongside the Regional Leaders, our small comms team works to effectively develop and co-ordinate the national communications and media strategy for the Baptist Churches of New Zealand. The Baptist NZ app is the best way to keep up with articles, news and stories, podcasts and videos from and for the 40,000 people who identify as Baptist in New Zealand. Contact details for the Communications Director are on the Contact page. Download our app here.
Social impact
This facet of our leadership team is yet to be developed – watch this space!