Back in 2022, Bishop of Waiapu Andrew Hedge invited Carl Tinnion to bring his fresh perspective and missional energy into the eastern North Island diocese, inspired by Tod Bolsinger's 2018 book entitled 'Canoeing the Mountains'. 

'Canoeing the Mountains' tells the story of two 19th-century European Americans, Merriweather Lewis and William Clark, who navigated the north-west passage through the Rocky Mountains led by Sacagawea, an indigenous Lemhi Shoshone woman. 

The book's metaphor for setting out in new endeavours begins just after Lewis and Clark were mandated by the US President to forge a new path to the Pacific coast, map indigenous people's lands and set up a trade route.  

They set off believing that after the first mountain, a river would quickly carry them all the way to the Pacific coast. So they hauled their canoe up and over the mountain, bearing its weight for ease of paddling on the other side.  But arriving at the summit, they found no river at all and instead saw only more mountains to climb. 

"In essence, the vehicle that they knew well and had planned to use, would not help them anymore as they travelled into the future. This challenge is the same one that the church faces today." says Carl.

 And he says that's not only the Anglican Church, but the church universal. 

"The models we have known, the methodology, songs, forms and even our leadership ethos no longer seem to be working for us."  

Carl arrived in Aotearoa as an Englishman with a strong track history in mission. He'd spent thirty years working for youth missionary organisation YWAM, and more than 15 years linked in mission with the Anglican Fresh Expressions movement in the UK. 

"[Coming here] I found that my praxis in European and South East Asian contexts didn't easily transplant to New Zealand. However, as I have pondered on this challenge, I have found that a number of the Kingdom-shaped principles for ministry and mission I have learnt are, in fact universal, and with a little creativity, they can be contextualised to any place." 

Carl reckons numbers are declining across the Christian churches in places like Aotearoa New Zealand and the UK, and like Lewis and Clark, church leaders are finding themselves at the top of a mountain they have struggled to climb, only to find more mountains.

"We are looking at the canoe that has served us so well up until this point, and realising that we need to find new ‘ways’ to move forward."

"I found the same problem as a missionary Englishman from another world entirely, trying to find my way in this new landscape. This was true culturally and ecclesiastically, ...and also in trying to adjust to this brave new post-Covid world."  

Carl Tinnion has a background in visual arts and says that he's been blessed, or maybe cursed, with a high dose of curiosity and a love of experimentation and risk.

"This has worked well for me in life, and it has also got me into a fair amount of trouble!" 

Often what's worked for Carl in Waiapu has been bringing a fresh point of view, and asking the right questions to help churches bring their own ministry ideas to life.

"I asked ‘why do we do that’ quite a few times… I wasn't trying to be difficult, I genuinely wanted to know."   

"I also viewed my local church as a laboratory for experimentation and risk taking.  My vicar Rev Nigel Dixon (at Holy Trinity Tauranga) generously made space for me to paint on a big blank canvas."

 "Along with Bishop Andrew, they both covered me while I tried to work out what the right paths might be. We need leaders like these to support the discovery of new ways of being and doing."

Carl is first to admit that his ministry faced plenty of trial and error, but the fruits of encouraging churches and their leaders to take that next step into something new led to a flurry of missional activity.

During his time working for the diocese, Carl backed a church as it launched a community café in Tauranga, which led into new Christmas, Easter and Midwinter festivals, as well as a café style church that he ran with a team on Sunday nights. 

Carl relaunched the Alpha programme (encouraging others to restart), helped support new family-shaped ministries, and trialled a Spanish-speaking worship night. 

With an ESOL group, Carl launched an international food festival, and supported Rev Linda King in Whakatane and her parishioner Ross Anderson as he opened a surf church.

Carl says mission learning goes both ways. As he supported Taupo vicar Rev Robert Kereopa to launch his new breakfast club 'Kai Tāima' for people in temporary housing of late, he received gifts in return.

"Rev Robert was very kind and patient in teaching me how to pronounce Te Reo, as well as sharing some of the basics of Te Ao Māori."

Carl also launched a 24-7 prayer room for young people, and joined a group to set up city-wide ecumenical worship nights called ‘Behold’. He stepped up for Holy Trinity parishioner Jess Rose as she launched a biblically-led health and well-being hub in Tauranga and for Sandie McNeill as he started a men’s breakfast. 

Another favourite was the short term missions programme for teenagers he worked on with Woodford House chaplain Rev Raewyn Hedge. Known as ‘Waves,’ that programme has now grown into a short-term youth mission partnership with NZCMS and Anglican Missions.

Any small beginnings have the chance to grow if people will take a faithful risk, says Carl.

"It's a bit like sowing lots of different seeds in some really fertile soil and seeing which ones will take. Not everything works out, and it can be chaotic and perhaps messy to outside eyes, but the long term fruit can be profound."

In late 2024 Carl brought his artistic and missional sides together to make an outdoor "Forest Cathedral" installed at the annual inter-denominational Evangelical Christian gathering "Festival One." 

With a makeshift altar and banners hung in trees, Carl and Rev Keri-Ann Hokianga from Te Takiwā o Manukau welcomed Christians of every tradition to join in a Page 476 Eucharist from the 'New Zealand Prayer Book' in English and Te Reo Māori each morning. 

“Not only is Reverend Hokianga an amazingly talented person to work with, but we saw growing numbers of people coming to the services that had never encountered Anglican forms before."

"There's a real hunger for the contemplative and reconnecting to tradition and ancient spirituality amongst young people today." says Carl. 

Carl thinks this will be a major part of the Church's future, as non-Anglicans are drawn to a more sacramental worldview. 

Carl credits the open welcome he received from everyone he worked with in the diocese to draw out new expressions of mission, and especially Bishop Andrew Hedge, who took a chance with him and made room for him in the wider church family, leading into his ordination 18 months ago. 

"New leadership pathways must also be a part of our future as the church, but it's risky and it takes courage."

Rev. Carl Tinnion is now Assistant priest with a fresh expressions mandate at St John’s Anglican Church in Te Puke and is working part time as a new national Mission Catalyst for NZCMS.