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LifeChurch and Terry Street Bible Chapel Partnership

After much prayer and planning, LifeChurch Avondale moved to the Terry Street Bible Chapel buildings in Blockhouse Bay on Sunday, 6 April, and celebrated their official launch service on Sunday, 4 May. Pastoral leader Charles Rivers writes: “It’s been great to fellowship and build relationship with the Terry Street Bible Chapel team there.” ...

Canterbury: Training the Next Generation of Bible Teachers

Each month this year, a group from Riccarton Community Church and Rutland St Church meet for a Preaching Development course in Christchurch, led by Matt Meek (Riccarton) and Lance Robinson (Rutland St). The course aims to equip the next generation of Bible teachers for their contexts—whether that’s teaching children, leading youth ministries, or preaching to the whole church....

The message of reconciliation

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorAra, i roto te Atua i a te Karaiti e hohou ana i ta te ao rongo ki a ia, kore ake e whakairia ki a ratou o ratou he; a kua tukua mai ki a matou te kupu mo te houhanga rongo.Sa ‘iā Keriso le Atua, ‘ua fa‘aleleia e ia le lalolagi ‘iā te ia. ‘Ua lē ta‘ua e ia a latou agasala ‘iā te i latou, ‘ua tu‘uina mai fo‘i ‘iā te i tatou le ‘upu o le fa‘aleleiga.That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins ag...

PastorLink Morning Tea in Palmerston North

On Tuesday, 29 April, 10 CCCNZ pastors and ministry staff from the Manawatū region gathered for morning tea at Kingston Community Church (KCC). Churches present were Feilding Bible Chapel, Church on Vogel, Crossroads Church, and KCC....

Baptisms at The Embassy @ North Beach

The Embassy @ North Beach celebrated Jesus' resurrection with three baptisms and a shared lunch on Easter Sunday. We praise God for Kathy, Joe, and Gabby, who have decided to make their faith public. ...

Churches working together to share the gospel in Papua New Guinea

A group of 12 people from Tāmaki Community Church (TCC), Manawarū Bible Chapel and Northgate Community Church recently travelled to Papua New Guinea (PNG) for two and a half weeks to support Sam and Hannah, who were recently commissioned by TCC to serve there as mission partners with GC3, Global Connections in Mission....

The Power of Jesus' Resurrection

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorMehemea hoki kahore a te Karaiti i ara, maumau noa ta matou kauwhau, maumau noa to koutou whakapono.ma ‘āfai fo‘i ‘ua lē toe fa‘atūina mai Keriso, po ‘ua lē aogā la matou tala‘i atu, po ‘ua leai fo‘i se aogā o lo ‘outou fa‘atuatua.And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 1 Corinthians 15:14Where I grew up, I’d often see cars in driveways on blocks without wheels, with the hood up and no engin...

Important Announcement from the CCCNZ Board

The CCCNZ Board has officially accepted a letter of resignation from CCCNZ Ambassador Mark Grace. Mark will step down from his role with the CCCNZ Service Trust on Friday, 6 February 2026. Mark took up the role in late 2015 in preparation for the February 2016 Roadshows. Since the earliest days of CCCNZ, Mark has felt that the Lord wanted him to serve in this role for 10 years.Mark writes: “Serving God amongst this movement of churches has been a deep privilege. Outside of ...

Easter Events Around the Churches

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorWhen I think of the Easter Camps, conferences, and events, I’m filled with gratitude for all the volunteer time and effort that made each one possible. Due to space and time constraints, I couldn’t include every story, but here are a few snapshots....

The Death of Jesus

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorA, no ka tae ki te ono o nga haora, ka pouri a runga o te whenua katoa, taea noatia te iwa o nga haora. A i te iwa o nga haora ka karanga a Ihu, he nui te reo, ka mea, Eroi, Eroi, rama hapakatani? ko te tikanga tenei ina whakamaoritia, E toku Atua, e toku Atua, he aha koe i whakarere ai i ahau?O le itūlā e sefulu ma le lua i le aoauli na pogisā ai le nu‘u uma se‘ia o‘o i le itūlā e tolu. O le itūlā fo‘i e tolu na ‘alaga leo tele ai Iesu, “Eloi, E...

Come and Know Me

“Why wouldn’t we write about the very thing that changed our lives?” When husband and wife team Aaron and Emma Falconer (The Orchard Church) began a songwriting project in 2014 they were motivated by their love for Jesus and their desire to focus on the life-changing gospel message. “We headed to Dallas Theological Seminary in 2019 to gain a better grounding in God’s Word”. Their time in Texas led them to further develop the project and re-write many of ...

Baptisms at Northcross Church

It's exciting and encouraging to hear of more and more baptisms all around New Zealand. Last Sunday, three young men were baptised at Northcross Church in Auckland....

Preaching Development

In February, we wrapped up a rewarding four-week preaching development training session.Beginning late last year, over 20 participants from seven churches across the Waikato gathered to improve their preaching abilities. (You can read more here.)Under the guidance of Justin Thompson from Manawarū Bible Chapel and Nick Goodwin from Raleigh Street Christian Centre, they explored key elements of sermon development, preparation, and delivery.The diverse group...

Servant-hearted leadership and passion for theology

Marina Shannon is Youth Pastor at Orewa Community Church (OCC), and at last year’s CCCNZ Auckland Regional Summit she brought along Martin Vorster (pictured) from the youth group. Martin was able to chat with Scholarships Enabler Liz Hodge at the Summit, and in 2025 he began studying toward a Diploma in Christian Studies at Pathways Bible College, supported with an internship gift from Lichfield Lands.The course means Martin is involved in a su...

Baptism at Church on Vogel

Last Sunday of March, Anika (pictured below) was baptised at Church on Vogel in Palmerston North....

Taking the high road

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorAe ra, e tohe ana ahau ki a koutou, kia kaua ahau ina tae atu e maro ki te whakaputa i te maia, pera me taku e mea nei kia maia ki etahi, e whakaaro nei ki a matou, ano ko ta matou whakahere no te kikokiko.‘Ou te ‘ai‘oi atu ‘iā te ‘outou, ‘ina ‘ia lē fa‘amalosia lo‘u tautala atu ma le lototele pe a ‘ou i ai ‘iā te ‘outou, i le fa‘aali atu o le fa‘amalosi ‘ou te iloa e tatau ‘ona fa‘amalosi atu ai i nisi, o ē o lo‘o manatu o l...

The Lord's commendation

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorIn 2 Corinthians 10, Paul defends his ministry against a group of antagonistic leaders in the Corinthian church. In his letter, he will ironically call this group ‘super apostles’ and expose them for what they are: false apostles and deceitful workers.His main argument becomes clear in verse 18. “For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”While making his case, Paul says in verse 12:“We d...

Willow Park joins Te Maru

On Tuesday 40 people gathered at Eastern Beach in Auckland to celebrate the integration of Willow Park Christian Camp into the Te Maru whānau....

Risk & Liability Workshops in Southland

Earlier this week Jan De Lange, CCCNZ National Advisor, along with Tim Hodge, CCCNZ South Island Regional Enabler, ran two Risk & Liability workshops in Invercargill. These sessions addressed the changing Charity Services legislation and explored the four legal structures available for churches, weighing the pros and cons of each to help elders, deacons, and trustees consider appropriate responses for their own local churches.It was wonderful to see leaders from Gore Christian...

Working together to invite seniors into community

Mangonui Bible Chapel and Cooper’s Beach Youth Camp are working together to reach seniors in their local community. Every month a team comes together to run Brighter Days, a ministry inviting older people to join them at the campsite for a day of activities, food and friendship....

Feilding Bible Chapel Church Camp

We had an incredible weekend at the Feilding Bible Chapel (FBC) family camp last weekend at Foxton Bible Camp. Rob Morton from the Tim Course in Christchurch spoke from 1 Peter, showing how Peter encourages believers to endure suffering with the hope of future glory. It was so cool to see so many of the church family serving each other across the Sunday service and meals. ...

Waikato & Bay of Plenty Summit

We loved being amongst 100+ people from 17 Waikato and Bay of Plenty churches on Saturday at the CCCNZ Regional Summit, held at Tōtara Springs Christian Centre in Matamata....

Onslow Community Church Camp

Onslow Community Church enjoyed an encouraging time together at their church camp over the past weekend at Foxton Bible Camp.Pastor Peter Rhodes-Robinson writes:“We were thrilled to have Kerry & Aliza Rickard (Kingston Community Church) and Ray & Glenys Cooper (York Street Chapel) with us for the weekend. Kerry shared a series of messages from Colossians 3:1-17 linking into our 2025 teaching theme of “Living Hope” (1 Peter 1:3). Kerry’s sessions were followed by all-age discussio...

Prime Time Conference

Last weekend, 42 people gathered at Lakeland Park Camp (Queenstown) for the 2025 Prime Time Conference, aimed at those aged over 50 from our wider movement.It was great to see people coming from various churches within the CCCNZ/Open Brethren Heritage movement, including Manawarū Bible Chapel (Waikato), Bryndwr Chapel (Christchurch), Orwell Street Church (Oamaru), Cornerstone International Bible Church (Dunedin), Edendale Christian Fellowsh...

Being Equipped to Equip Others

Lydia Ellis (right) has been serving as Women’s Worker with Emmett Street Community Church in Christchurch for the past 18 months, with the primary role of evangelism and discipleship among the women in the church and wider community. The church meets in one of the most socioeconomically challenged areas in New Zealand and has observed that a distinctive feature of their community is its strong matriarchal nature, where women often take on the responsibility of raising fami...