When Ceridwyn Parr began her role with the Anglican Women's Studies Centre back in 2019, she never imagined how much the job would change from the role she'd applied for.

"We basically had one year of normal life, and then Covid hit and changed everything. AWSC had always been about women getting together in person, but the hui just kept on getting cancelled."

Virtual Theology chats were the answer, and as well as catapulting her into a new world of IT skills, Ceridwyn says the regular Zoom forums have both enlivened the network and offered the chance for more Anglican women to take part. 

"The Virtual Theology chats have brought women together to hear the voices of other women who've achieved great things in our Church: all of them are women who in some way are at the forefront of theological development and leadership both in the church and in the wider community".

"It has been a great space to invite outstanding women into and give them a voice to reach a larger audience."

Ceri says the Virtual theology format has also provided a valuable forum for women to interact with experts in a safe space, and every session has welcomed women never involved in the network before.

"It has become a valuable research space too. One speaker formulating her master's thesis topic asked women at her Virtual Theology chat to offer their perspectives, across tikanga, and she took that on as part of the direction she should take."

"Videos from the chats on Youtube, plus a lively website and monthly paperless newsletter have increased our online media presence."

Ceridwyn says it's always a challenge to achieve what AWSC does on a limited budget, but lately she's pleased some younger women have stepped up as speakers and network leaders.

For example, AWSC Council member Bridie Marsden Boyd from All Souls' Church in Christchurch shared her experience with "Faith Discussions with Brunch" a new way of meeting as Christians that reshaped church in response to young adults' needs. That in turn set off new ideas for Samoan women looking to enliven youth ministry in a culture where Sunday is already all about church.

Ceridwyn has also seen the AWSC gatherings broaden from a focus on academic presentations, to a wider mix of practical ministry skills, worship, Bible study, and shared activities designed to create space for relationship building.

Part of the building relationships approach has been a move to hold regional women's "pop-up" hui, like the three tikanga gathering led by Rev Te Ata Roy and Rev Natalie Milliken in Otepoti Dunedin late last year, a three day Hui in Apia in 2023, and the regional hui at St Francis Auckland held in February 2025.

The AWSC has also shifted gear on how it funds women into leadership spaces. That sees the Council prioritising a greater number of smaller scale learning opportunities for a greater number of women: including things like toastmaster's public speaking courses, writers' workshops, or in Tonga a children's ministry training programme.

From Ceridwyn's perspective, the biggest issue for women in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia in 2025 is still the basic problem of equity. 

"The obvious one in all of the tikanga is the lack of women in leadership. We have only three women in the house of bishops: Bishop Waitohiariki Quayle, Bishop Anashuya Fletcher and Bishop Anne van Gend. That's three out of 16, and that's nowhere near the 50/50 goal." 

Ceri says women in the AWSC have identified that one of the ongoing problems is data, so a next priority will be to help the Church (once again) track where and why the odds are not improving for women as they move into the highest levels of Anglican leadership.

On the other hand, she says there's an ongoing need to actively support women into senior leadership.

"Its about the pathways. In the UK there are pathways, there are women who are identified as potential future bishops, and they are mentored and walked alongside so that they can move into those roles. That makes sure that they are in a good position to provide leadership when the opportunity arises."

With funding to AWSC cut back somewhat this year, the AWSC still aims to keep its three-tikanga network empowered and in touch. And despite the cost of in-person gatherings, AWSC knows they are still the best way to connect and support women across the tikanga.

"The women involved in these gatherings are incredible, but they're busy. They all have families, they all work, they all run the church, they are concerned for their families, they are concerned for their countries."

"So being together long enough and in each other's contexts makes such a difference. Often the difficult conversations only begin to happen on the third day – once trust has built up." 

"We bring so many different ways to communicate: different uses of humour, or silence, or words, or use of different words that mean different things. It's so valuable in understanding each other as human beings and understanding each other's issues from each other's perspectives to spend time together."

To find the AWSC online go to the:

·  Anglican Women's Studies Centre website

· Anglican Women's Studies Centre on Youtube