We welcome The Very Rev’d Alister Hendery who was licensed as the Acting Dean of Waiapu Cathedral on 13 May by Archdeacon Alan Burnett 

Some parishioners gathered in the Aotearoa Chapel to welcome Alister in his new role  and he has lead his first services.  He is looking forward to getting to know people in the parish and the wider community that connects with the Cathedral.

Alister is no stranger to the Cathedral – his ministry began in Waiapu Cathedral in 1980 when Bishop Manu Bennett ordained him as a transitional deacon, and a year later, he was ordained by Bishop Ralph Matthews as a priest.

“So, to be asked to serve in this role for a time, reminds me of T. S. Eliot’s words about arriving ‘where we started / And know the place for the first time’,” he says.

Over the years Alister has served in a wide variety of parish, diocesan, and community ministries, with a special focus on serving faith communities that are experiencing change. While this work has taken place across several dioceses in Aotearoa New Zealand, he considers Waiapu Diocese to be his home.

As a priest, and as a follower of Jesus, Alister’s focus is on love: “God’s love for us… and our love for one another”.

“A Māori proverb encapsulates my priority:  He aha te mea nui? He tangata. He tangata. He tangata. What is the most important thing? It is people, it is people, it is people.”

The Rev’d Dr Deborah Broome, Waiapu’s Ministry Educator, has also taken on a role as Priest Associate at the Cathedral.