Ekalesia Maungarei

Address

Church Venue: 80A Tripoli Road, Panmure, Auckland, New Zealand

Office Bearers

Minister: Rev. Charles Pange
Assistant Minister: Moeroa Tuainekore
Secretary: Metuakore Pareiti
Treasurer: Teremoana Raveora
Representative to CICC General Assembly: Vaiaere Vaevae

Membership

  • 2 Elders
  • 10 Deacons
  • 2 Assistant Deacons
  • 50 regular adult members
  • 40 regular Sunday School students
  • 20 regular youth members
  • An estimated 30 others

History

The first Maungarei church service was held at Panmure Library, on Sunday 1 December 1996, at 3.30pm in the “Maungarei Room.” A total of 22 people attended this service, and the message was delivered by Reverend Joe Atirai. Two months later the venue for the Church services changed to a near-by school known as the “Tamaki Intermediate School.” The Ekalesia was ordained in August 1997 by the late Rev. Tekere Pereeti, the CICC President at the time. This therefore was the time when the Ekalesia officially became a branch of the CICC.

Administration

Management in the church comprises the Minister as chairperson for all meetings except departmental ones. The overall administrator is the Secretary, assisted by the Assistant Secretary. The Treasurer looks after the church’s finances and reports regularly to church meetings. The church adheres to the terms and conditions of the CICC Manual and policies as approved by the general assembly for its efficient management.

Departments & working committees

There are 4 main departments in the Maungarei branch; Deacons Meeting, Sunday School, Women’s Fellowship, and Christian Youth. There are 2 working committees; the Planning Committee and the Health Committee. The departments have their own regular programmes and activities which, except for the Deacons’ meeting, are linked to those at the national level.

Meetings

All departments hold regular individual meetings to monitor the progress of their own programmes. The parish as a whole has a combined meeting at the end of every 3 months. In these quarterly meetings, developments in each of the departments are reported, as well as reports from the Minister, Secretary, Treasurer, and the Deacon’s group. Irregular meetings are also convened as and when the need arises.

Protocol

Religion is very much a way of life for most Cook Islanders irrespective of their denomination. Church-goers cherish this a lot and portray it in the way they dress and attend services. On communion Sundays, men wear white suits and women wear white dresses.

Special apparel is also worn during special services. On normal Sunday services, church goers usually wear their best clothes. Informal/casual wear is not the norm and not encouraged.

During the actual services, the following are observed:
  • Quietness at all times unless part-taking in the hymns
  • No cameras & videos are to be used inside the church, except for special functions (e.g. wedding) which must be arranged beforehand
  • Casual wear (singlets, shorts, etc.) is not preferred.

After the services, feel free to chat with the Minister and members.

Sermons

The CICC follows the Scripture Union Bible Reading Plan which sets out daily scripture readings. It is quite common for all services to be based on the day’s reading. Sermons are conducted in the local language (Cook Is Maori), unless visitors are present in which case the Minister makes a brief translation of his message in English. No other foreign language is used. Sermons are prepared and presented by the Minister, Deacons and fully ordained members of the church who are talented, through practice and training, to undertake such task.

Whilst in the past only men are allowed to conduct services, women after attaining set standards, criteria and ranks, have recently been allowed to make presentations. Certain types of services and sermons are earmarked for Ministers, Deacons and ordinary members only.

Regular Church Services

Normal church services are as follows:
Sunday morning: 11.00am


Other/special services include the following:
  • Oroa (communion): 1st Sunday of each month
  • Pentecost: As per calendar
  • Teretere Apii Sabati: 3rd Sunday of May & Nov
  • Teretere Mapu: 3rd Sunday of Feb & Aug
  • Youth rally: 2/3 per year on set dates
  • Easter: As per calendar
  • Christmas/New Year: As per calendar
  • Mothers/Fathers Day: As per calendar
  • Children’s Day March

Order of Sunday Main Service

The order of the main service (11.00am Sundays) is as follows:

  1. Invocation
  2. Sunday School hymn (imene Apii Sabati)
  3. Prayer of confession/Lord’s prayer
  4. Bible reading
  5. Traditional hymn (imene tuki)
  6. Bible reading
  7. Prayer of thanksgiving/intercession
  8. Traditional hymn (imene tuki)
  9. Notices and announcements
  10. Offering and its dedication
  11. Sermon
  12. Sunday School hymn (imene Apii Sabati)
  13. Vesper

A normal service of the above order runs for about an hour, with the actual sermon taking from 15 – 25 minutes. Variations of the above order happen during special services. Functions and ceremonies are also held in the church, for example baptism, marriage, bereavement service.

Seating

Seating is arranged in 2 rows partly to coincide with the 2 suburbs covered by the Ekalesia; Panmure and Glen Innes. Visitors may sit anywhere.

Other Information

The Maungarei church is a member of both the Auckland CICC and New Zealand CICC Councils and participates in all programmes and activities organized by these councils. Furthermore, it complies with the resolutions passed by the CICC General Assembly. It has 1 property: the minister’s residence. The church aims to one day have its own church building and hall.

Contact for more Information

Minister: Rev. Charles Pange
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Secretary: Metuakore Pareiti
Ph: 021 545 871