Awaken 2023

Awaken: Maranga Mai is coming to Ōtautahi's Pride Week. Come and gather together from 17-19 March 2023 at Durham St Methodist Church. Awaken: Maranga Mai brings together LGBTTQIA+ Christians and allies to form a supportive community, encouraging and empowering people in their faith. Our key spearkers are Karl Hand (he/him), the founding pastor of Crave Church, an MCC congregation in Gadigal country (Sydney, Australia); and Steff Fenton Steff Fenton (they/them), co-pastor and co-founder of New City Church, an inclusive community exploring faith in new and engaging ways. Steff is an advocate, speaker and writer, who shares the intersections of being trans and Christian. This will be a great time to connect with whānau, worship together, engage with workshops, hear from our keynote speakers and enjoy our manākitanga.

Diverse Church's mission is to connect with those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, takatāpui, intersex, non-binary, pansexual, queer and questioning, ace spectrum and allies, who also hold a Christian faith. Sexuality, Gender Identity and Spirituality are three parts of person’s identity that are equally important. We believe that all these parts of a person's life deserve to be celebrated and a connection to a faith group or church is one important way to connect with community.

If you are a LGBTQ+ person of faith who is interested in attending Awaken, we want you here and we don't want finances to keep anyone away. Please contact us at awaken@diversechurch.co.nz and let us see how we can get you to conference.

At 9:30am on Friday 17 March, outside the regular conference programme, we have the opportunity to work with the Human Rights Commission, co-designing resources for churches regarding the recent passing of the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022. Please see our website for more information.