May 2019 marks 200 years since Methodist missionary Samuel Leigh made his first visit to Aotearoa. To commemorate this historic event a Bicentenary conference has been organised to take stock of the origins and impact of Leigh’s legacy on our shores.

The Symposium will examine the British background that shaped the missionary movement out of which Leigh came and the Māori world the Wesleyan missionaries encountered. Attention will be given to Leigh’s pioneering work in Australia and his journeys and missionary efforts in New Zealand. The considerable significance of the Māori contribution to the process of evangelism will be recognised with some reflection as to the nature of conversion among them. The roles played by both the Wesleyan missionaries and their wives will also be examined.

Other topics are indicated in the programme. The Symposium will end with a directed engagement with the questions What Now? What Next?

(NB: This unique opportunity to learn about the history of Wesleyan and Methodist missions in NZ will be replacing our annual theological symposium ‘The Stream’ in 2019. The Stream will return in 2020.)

For more information and registration details Methodism in Aotearoa – Origins and Impact