OUR MISSION
Love God, love others.
OUR PRIORITIES
CULTIVATE AUTHENTIC FAITH
- Provide clear, practical Biblical teaching
- Encourage intentional spiritual practices e.g. prayer, Bible reading, silence
- Create a culture of grace that allows space for honesty, doubt, struggle and failure
- Encourage the identification and use of people’s spiritual gifts
- Focus on a lifestyle that reflects a kingdom mentality
BUILD GREAT COMMUNITY
- Be welcoming, friendly and hospitable
- Honour the Treaty/te Tiriti o Waitangi
- Grow in being a multi-cultural community
- Provide opportunities for meaningful relationships
- Respond to practical needs
- Have fun together
BE INTERGENERATIONAL
- Intentionally encourage and facilitate relationships across age groups
- Involve all ages in core faith practices like communion, baptism and worship
- Value the contributions of all ages and abilities.
EQUIP FOR MISSION
- Equip everyone to talk about Jesus and the gospel message
- Create opportunities to explore faith
- Encourage people to look beyond their geographical and cultural boundaries
- Support mission work overseas with people, prayer, funds and sharing of information
SERVE OUR CITY
- Work closely with other churches
- Support and help those in need, e.g. Woodchucks, Grace Meals
- Support projects in the wider community and region
- Continue to develop the Serve Our City project
WHat We Believe
The church believes in:
- The Bible as the inspired Word of God and its final authority in all matters of faith and practice
- The pre-existence, eternal deity and true humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ
- The atonement made on the cross by our Lord for the sin of the world
- Salvation, by grace, through faith in Christ alone
- The person of the Holy Spirit as the one who sanctifies and who sets apart, empowers andimparts spiritual gifts to the church
- Membership of the church is for those who have received salvation
- The immersion of believers as the only form of baptism practised in the church according to our understanding of Scripture
Our Name
The name —Te Hāhi Iriiri ki te Taurapa— has come after seeking input from the National Baptist Treaty advisor and local iwi. It is not a direct translation, but resonates with Māori. The literal translation is ‘The church Baptist at the stern’. While the word for the church building is whare karakia (house of prayer), the word for church (i.e. the people) is hāhi. (It is a shame we don’t have this distinction in English.) Iriiri means Baptist or baptism. Taurapa means stern post (of a waka/canoe). There are two reasons for using Taurapa: both its powerful resonance for Māori and the fact that Waihopai (the name for Invercargill) is only one of four runanga (tribal boards or councils) in the region; the others being Oraka, Aparima and Awarua.
For Ngai Tahu (the southern tribe), the South Island is often called Te Waka a Māui (Māui’s waka), while the North Island is Te Ika a Māui (Māui’s fish). Officially, Te Ika a Māui is the name of the North Island, while Te Waipounamu (water greenstone) is the name of the South Island; however, many from Ngai Tahu use the alternative, Te Waka a Māui.
So for Māori, saying ‘the Baptist church at the stern post’ is a strong reference to a regional church at the bottom of the South Island: Te Hāhi Iriiri ki te Taurapa.