New Life Churches, formerly known as New Life Churches International, is a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

church movement in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

History

Early influences date from the 1940s when a series of meetings conducted by overseas 'Bethel Temple' missionaries resulted in the planting of congregations in New Zealand and Australia. Some of its early leaders, among them Peter Morrow, attended a

Bible college A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute or theological seminary, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christianity, Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for C ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1951. Further evangelistic campaigns and training occurred after 1957 and throughout the 1960s. In 1960, meetings began in

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

that led to the establishment of Timaru New Life Centre. Also, many evangelistic campaigns took place throughout New Zealand. The first missionaries were sent overseas in this period. Peter Morrow began work in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

in 1962 as the pastor of the church there, which was then known as the Christchurch Revival Fellowship. By 1964, thirteen "indigenous" churches had been established in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. A number of congregations were planted in the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

over the same period. Bible schools were established in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and Christchurch. In 1975, Auckland pastor Shaun Kearney (an associate of the then ICNZ) was influential in setting up the Associated Pentecostal Churches of New Zealand, a pan-Pentecostal fellowship of church groups. In 1978 the Christchurch Revival Fellowship renamed itself the New Life Centre Christchurch, later becoming City New Life Church and now known as Majestic Church. This church functioned as the administrative offices of the New Life Centers of New Zealand for many years in the late 1980s and 1990s but is now an independent fellowship having left the New Life Churches movement. In 1987, twenty associate pastors of ICNZ left the renamed New Life Churches group, in reluctance to embrace the new governmental structure chosen at the 1987 ICNZ conference. These pastors eventually formed a new association named South Pacific Fellowship, and endeavored to maintain the less structured fellowship they had known prior to 1987. The name 'New Life Churches' was adopted during the 1988 ICNZ Conference and a structure of national governance, including elected apostles and regional leaders, was agreed upon. The first apostles chosen by the 1987 conference were Rob Wheeler, a New Zealand

Evangelist Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...

and Peter Morrow, an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n evangelist. Both these men had been leading figures in the former ICNZ, and pioneers in spreading the Latter Rain Revival in New Zealand. Many member churches became involved heavily in social conservative political activism against the ratification of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted ...

in 1984, the establishment of Lyndhurst Hospital (a free-standing abortion clinic) in Christchurch, and passage of the

Homosexual Law Reform Act The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 is a New Zealand Act of Parliament that broadly legalised consensual sexual practices between men as well as consensual anal sex regardless of partners' gender. It removed the provisions of the Crimes Act 19 ...

in 1986. They had also earlier been involved in the establishment of the

Coalition of Concerned Citizens A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

in 1974 and the Save Our Homes Campaign in 1977. The New Life Churches are now an international movement with affiliates in Australia,

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. In keeping with Pentecostal Congregationalist philosophy, individual churches in the NLCNZ are autonomous and not governed by the central organization.

Bibliography

*Brett Knowles:'' New Life: The New Life Churches of New Zealand: 1942-1979'', 3rd edition: Lexington, Kentucky: Emeth Press: 2015: *For New Zealand Pentecostalism as a whole: Brett Knowles:'' Transforming Pentecostalism: The Changing Face of New Zealand Pentecostalism, 1920-2010'': Lexington, Kentucky: Emeth Press: 2014: *David Collins: The Latter Rain Revival - The New Zealand Story. 2021 Little King Books. ISBN 978-0-473-57338-6

References

{{reflist

External links

New Life Churches - (official website)

New Life Fellowship Association - (official website)
* The Latter Rain Revival: The New Zealand Story https://amzn.asia/d/hZb5OVT Pentecostalism in New Zealand Pentecostal denominations in Oceania Christian organizations established in 1960 Finished Work Pentecostals 1960 establishments in New Zealand

History

Bibliography

See also

References

External links