A special evening service will be held in Hastings for Archbishop David Moxon, who leaves New Zealand next month to become the chief Anglican representative to the Catholic Church in Rome.



Archbishop Moxon, 61, was appointed curate at St Luke's in Havelock North in 1978 and remained there as vicar until 1981.



The chairman of 

Ngati Kahungunu Iwi, Ngahiwi Tomoana, says Archbishop David's wife, Tureiti, is a well-known Hawke's Bay woman of Ngati Pahauwera (Mohaka district) descent.

A special evening service will be held at Waipatu Marae on April 17 to recognise the couple's connection with Hawke's Bay and Archbishop David's posting to Rome.



"It's a big honour to have Archbishop Moxon here and we're inviting people to attend the evening service.
," Mr Tomoana says.

"It's also a very special occasion for Ngati Pahauwera and the wider Hawke's Bay community."



Archbishop Daid has led the Pakeha wing of the Anglican Church in these islands since 2006 and has been Bishop of Waikato since 1993,

He says the move to Rome is "a huge responsibility"



"People took the initiative in suggesting it some time ago. I have had to wrestle with it.



"I do feel now that this is a genuine call on my life and that I ought to give it 120 per cent."



Tureiti will stay in Hamilton in the immediate future because of her role as director of Te Kohao Health, which has recently opened a $4 million health centre at Hamilton's Kirikiriroa Marae.



"Fortunately, the job in Rome has given me generous home leave and we expect to be a global whanau," Archbishop David says.



The couple's four adult children are all starting to think about overseas experience and are "very excited at having a European base".