News

Board Update - 30 July
2025-07-30

Kia ora church,

We are halfway through 2025. It has been an incredible year so far, and we are encouraged by what God is doing in each campus. Across Arise, attendance is up from last year, there is great stability across the campuses, and there has been a significant jump in people choosing to serve on Team.

Thank you for partnering with us in this year’s offering and the areas of our church that it will support. We look forward to announcing the total pledged amount during the next Team Night on August 17th.

Here are some important updates from the Board:

Review Advisory Committee Update A Board representative met with the Review Advisory Committee earlier this year to update on progress and receive feedback. Our focus continues on the establishment of eldership in each campus. Campus pastors have now been commissioned to move forward and prayerfully coordinate this as they are ready to do so. Porirua have already commissioned Elders and we are excited to see the outcomes of this.

The Arise Board and leadership team will have their first in-person hui with the Spiritual Advisory Panel in August. We are looking forward to our time together.

The next RAC focus for the board is to look at who we are called to be in modelling cultural unity as a church. The initial phase will involve assembling a small focus group with Arise Church members to establish our biblical mandate in this area.

Financial Update We have now completed our annual financial audits. This is a requirement as a registered charity, and also a great opportunity to update our church on how your giving is being used. We have created a summary report of the 2024 Arise Church Financial Statements.

We have experienced a challenging year for our finances, which has led to some very difficult decisions, including reducing the number of roles in our staffing team. Our staff team and volunteers continue to do an incredible job stewarding our current resources, and we are believing to see a strong turnaround here.

Here is our summarised Financial Report:

https://arise-external-file-sharing.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/CSSFI+Report-2025_+V2.pdf

The full report is available on the Charities Registry and on our website.

Trustee Updates We are pleased to welcome Jessica Fowler as a new trustee. Jessica has been a member of Arise for 16 years, who along with her husband Cameron, were members of the Wellington campus before moving to Christchurch. They have three children.

Jessica was on staff at Arise from 2011 to 2018. She has many years of proven expertise in communications and will be a vital asset to our team. Welcome to the Board, Jessica.

The board voted to extend Rick Teal’s term on the board for a further 3 years. He will continue to be our Board Chair. This brings significant stability and focus to our team. We are grateful for his continued service to the board and the church, and we look forward to all that we can achieve going forward.

Arise Care Subcommittee The Board launched a new Arise Care subcommittee earlier this year. We see the incredible value Arise Care brings to the community and for the Kingdom, and we want to support the great work being done. The subcommittee is meeting to help increase the mission, visibility, and impact of Arise Care in our communities. As you know, Arise Care is a priority in this year’s offering. We are encouraged by what God is doing and will continue to do through Arise Care.

Thank you for your continued commitment and investment in Arise Church. Together, we are believing and building towards a healthier church.

If you have any questions, you can reach us at board@arisechurch.com.

Ngā mihi nui, The Arise Church Board