Oceania

USPG & Oceania

The vast geography of Oceania includes the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia; The Anglican Church of Melanesia; of Papua New Guinea and of Australia.

As its name indicates the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is made up of three equal elements or cultural streams, known as the Three Tikanga: Hāhi Mihinare ki Aotearoa, or Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa (Maori Anglican Church); Tikanga Pasefika (Polynesian Anglican Church); Tikanga Pakeha (Pakeha Anglican Church – i.e. of European descent)

The Anglican Church of Melanesia includes the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia where many of the population are Christian. The Church is home to four religious orders including The Melanesian Brotherhood, the largest Anglican religious order in the world.

The first missionaries the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) sent to Australia arrived in New South Wales in 1793. Between 1835 and 1841, the SPG’s presence in this region grew considerably. Nowadays, USPG’s work in the region is primarily defined by a shared pursuit of climate justice and contextual theology.

Oceania Regional Advisory Committee (ORAC)

We are part of ORAC alongside the archbishops of Oceania and other agencies including the Anglican Board of Mission – Australia and the Melanesian Mission. Together, we collaborate and put our faith into action on issues such as disaster resilience and response; environmental protection as well as gender justice and safeguarding.

Theology

Gender-based violence has long been a critical issue among a number of churches in Oceania and gender justice has been highlighted by church leaders as a priority area for missional activity.

There are also ongoing conversations with the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Brazil, the Philippines and Canada on the topic of Indigenous theologies as these are all contexts where the rights of Indigenous people groups are particularly pertinent.

Climate Justice

We provide a platform for voices from the Pacific to share their experiences of climate change and to inspire the wider Anglican Communion to respond. This may be through our study courses, our FeAST network or at big events like Greenbelt festival.

FeAST

Find out more about FeAST - a fellowship of global Anglican theological exchange, mutual learning, and collaboration.

Regions

Find out where we work.

Get Involved

From speaking to fundraising, find out how to put your faith into action.

At Greenbelt in 2017, USPG invited the then Archbishop Winston Halapua of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia to be a keynote speaker. Archbishop Winston delivered hard-hitting messages about climate change, drawing from experience of seeing islands in Polynesia disappearing under rising sea levels.