Last Sunday we welcomed Craig Watson from Diverse Church NZ who not only gave an inspiring reflection on Radical Hospitality, he also unveiled our new rainbow bench. This beautiful bench has been gifted to Durham Street Methodist Church in recognition of our contribution to hosting the Awaken Conference in March. It will be a permanent … Continued
The 2023 Awaken – Maranga Mai conference brought three days of colour, fun, workshops, worship and great kai to Aldersgate Centre last weekend! Huge thanks to all the volunteers who made the conference such a success.
The Durham Street congregation is very excited to be hosting the annual Awaken – Maranga Mai Conference for queer people of faith at Aldersgate Centre as part of Pride Week Otautahi 2023. It will be the first time this conference has been held in South Island and we look forward to meeting participants from across … Continued
Work is underway on an exciting new and colourful window that will evoke a hopeful and inclusive message from The Chapel at Aldersgate to the busy Durham Street frontage. Symbols and images in the window’s design have been deliberately chosen to speak to people from a variety of faith backgrounds and none, filling three giant … Continued
Durham Street Methodist has been recognised as an Affirming Church by Diverse Church – NZ’s rainbow Christian network. You can check out their listing of Affirming Churches. According to Diverse Church NZ’s criteria, an Affirming church is one that accepts people into their community regardless of their gender identity or sexuality, including same-sex couples; they … Continued
Following the terrible attacks on the Christchurch mosques on 15 March, Durham Street Methodists, Community & Public Health, and Social Equity & Well-being Network (SEWN) called a lunchtime meeting, Being Unbreakable, to debrief, regroup and share ideas to consider how the sense of love and connectedness in our city could be supported to continue and … Continued
Unlike the attached link, suggesting Mike Pence was horrified to discover a unisex toilet in his own house, this post is not Fake News. It was a no-brainer for us to put unisex facilities in Aldersgate – our new church and community facility. Not only are they more welcoming for gender diverse folk, but they are … Continued
A lunchtime meeting was held on Monday 6 May, at Community and Public Health, to debrief, regroup, and share ideas and support for a future more inclusive Christchurch following the terror attack of 15 March. “This terrorist sought to tear our nation apart with an evil ideology that has torn the world apart. But instead we have … Continued
The Next Steps Expo 2019, held on Monday 15 April, was about offering school-leavers with disabilities and their parents/carers information on the options for community activities and resources available to them in Canterbury. Durham St Methodists were represented at the Expo for the first time by our team of Ben, Darryn, Philo and Sue and … Continued