CHRISTCHURCH - Building The Church For Today And Tomorrow Conference 2022

We're very pleased to be re-launching the Church and Charities Conference this year; Building The Church For Today And Tomorrow.

When the event was run in 2017 we received a huge amount of positive feedback from people who were hungry to engage in informed conversations about the future of the church. We all know that churches and Christian charities are often under-resourced, and Christian Savings is passionate about providing quality material and robust discussion to enable the sector to flourish.
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This year we will be structuring the day to provide insights into some of the key issues leaders of Churches are facing. We want to bring the theme of good governance to centre stage. The sustained execution of meaningful mission is determined by the quality of an organisation’s governance. Our speakers will be addressing key areas within the theme of governance, providing listeners with high-quality insights into what ‘good’ looks like at a governance level.

Then in the evening, a separate session (or continuing on for those who want to remain) will be a masterclass which will offer very practical guidance and case studies on governance. You can mix and match or attend both. We hope that some leaders who cannot attend a full-day session might be able to join the evening masterclass (such as Elders or Deacons of Churches).

Topics include finance, strategy, liability, mission creep and the big challenges that may be on the horizon for the Christian sector. This conference is targeted at leaders, trustees, directors, officers and elders of churches and Christian charities who want to ensure they are governing well.

This year we’re also excited to be hosting a separate evening class, delivering the “101 on Governance”. This is an introductory session designed for the many volunteers who want to learn (or revisit) the basics of governance. We have decided to host this in the evening with dinner so that those who can’t make the day conference can still benefit.

WITH GUEST SPEAKERS

CHRIS CLARKE
Chris Clarke has over 25 years of leadership experience (14 years as CEO) locally and globally in public policy, health care, humanitarian development and the philanthropic sectors. He is the CEO of Wilberforce Foundation and Executive Chair of the Arrow Leadership programme. Previously he was CEO of World Vision New Zealand and CEO of Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. He has also worked for World Health Organisation (Europe), NHS (Wales), and several health sector roles in New Zealand.

Chris holds law and commerce degrees from Canterbury University and, since 2009, has been the inaugural Praxis Visiting Scholar at Green Templeton College, Oxford University.

DANIELLE DIPROSE
Danielle is a Chartered Accountant with a mission to provide innovative advisory and compliance services to the faith-based, for-purpose sector. Giving them the support to allow them to succeed in fulfilling their mission, her clients include churches, camps, philanthropic trusts, and for-purpose ministries here in Aotearoa.

She has over 20 years of experience supporting our sector in voluntary and employed roles, with a recent season as the National Administrator for Christian Community Churches of New Zealand (CCCNZ). In this role, she was involved in the early stages of the start-up organisation operationally, as well as implementing support and systems to assist churches, camps, and ministries in the church movement.

Danielle is a board member of Pathways College of Bible and Mission and Arrow Leadership New Zealand, as well as previous church and for-purpose board roles.

Danielle holds a Business degree, is a Chartered Accountant, and has a Graduate Certificate in Christian Studies from Fuller. She is currently completing a Master of Faith-Based Leadership and Management at Otago with a research focus on looking at a theological response to abundance in faith-based, for-purpose organisations in Aotearoa.

REV. FRANCIS (FRANK) RITCHIE
Frank is the lead chaplain for Media Chaplaincy New Zealand. He is an ordained Wesleyan Methodist minister and leads a small church in Hamilton. Frank has a history in radio broadcasting and can be heard every Sunday night on Newstalk ZB and Rhema Media’s stations from time to time. He highly values the place of the media in society, and many in the industry have trusted him enough to sit down and have confidential conversations about life and work.

STEVEN MOE
Steven Moe is a partner at Parry Field Lawyers based in Christchurch and works in corporate law and governance providing advice to companies, charities and social enterprises. He has 20 years of experience as a lawyer and is on six boards including Christian Savings. He is also the Chair of Community Finance, which has raised more than $100 million for social housing. He is a member of the Charities Services sector group, the Edmund Hillary Fellowship, the XRB Advisory Panel and hosts ‘Board Matters’ a podcast on governance for the Institute of Directors and also Seeds - a podcast with 300+ long-form conversations on governance, leadership and entrepreneurship. Steven is also a facilitator on the IOD’s Company Directors Course.

CHRIS BETHWAITE
Pastor Chris Bethwaite is an ordained minister with The Elim Church of New Zealand and currently serves as their National Administrator. The role sees him responsible for the smooth running of the Elim movement throughout New Zealand. 

Chris also chairs the Interchurch Bureau, an ecumenical group that monitors changes in government policy, legislation, regulation or common law that may have a compliance focus or affect the business operations of the churches. They also advocate to central and local Government on behalf of churches, to ensure that the needs of churches are taken into account.

Throughout his life he has been involved in various church and youth ministries. Chris believes strongly in using the gifts God has blessed him with to serve the Church. 

AARON HARDY
Aaron grew up in Papaioea (Palmerston North) and to the kaitiaki of Papaioea, Ngāti Rangitane, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Raukawa he is most grateful. Aaron leads a church in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) with his wife Te Ata (Ngati Māhanga) and their three children.

Aaron is a pākehā who is deeply passionate about the honest telling of history in Aotearoa. He has been committed to a land-centric faith journey that seeks to partner with God’s pre-existing, pre-colonial story. He believes that when the spirit of reconciliation is a posture, it points us towards much injustice in Aotearoa and beckons us towards healing, humility, history, and listening. Te Rautini has engaged in some of that storytelling through music. This is embodied in their last two albums, ‘Kia Kaha’ and ‘Haeata' of which Aaron was involved. He loves Ihu Karaiti with all of his heart. He loves the church. He loves the land and believes deeply in the long story of God’s redemptive purposes.