OUR PURPOSE
Enough Support and Challenge for you to Risk a Better Future
Who Are We?
The Methodist Mission has been serving the Dunedin community since 1890. We are a social service agency of Te Hahi Weteriana O Aotearoa, the Methodist Church of New Zealand. The vision of the Methodist Mission is of a fair, safe, caring and sustainable society where every citizen is valued and respected and enjoys equal opportunity to lead a fulfilled life. We promote social justice through partnerships that strengthen families and build fair and safe communities. In partnership with the network of Methodist social services agencies throughout Aotearoa, it is a commitment to Creating Cycles of Hope®
The Methodist Mission is a registered Charitable Organisation under the governance of a Board of Trustees, and run by a Management Team headed by our Chief Executive, Laura Black. We have around 70 staff (equal to 41 full-time staff), and are currently based on 5 permanent sites within Dunedin, hiring facilities in Dunedin and Balclutha as needed, and able to use the Otago Polytechnic Community Learning Centre in South Dunedin for our clients.
We are accountable to the Conference of the Methodist Church, and between Conferences, the Methodist Mission reports to and participates in the work of WesleyCom, the standing committee on social services of the Methodist Church of NZ.
The Methodist Mission is funded through a mix of contracts, fees, grants, donations and investment income. In our last financial year, 8% of our income came from grants and donations, 16% from investments, 25% from fees paid by clients, and 51% from contracts with Government (Tertiary Education Commission, Ministry of Education, Corrections, Work & Income, and Child Youth and Family). We have an annual budget of around $2.5 million, and generally break even (making neither a deficit nor a surplus).
Our Logo
We use the airborne seed of the native New Zealand Clematis Paniculata, also called Puawhananga (“flower of the skies”) as our emblem; the Maori harbinger of spring, a traveller to far-off places, a climber that grows in harmony with host trees of the forest: a gentle, free, adventurous plant that represents our commitment to enough support and challenge for you to risk a better future.
Methodist Missions Aotearoa
The Methodist Mission is a proud member of the Methodist Missions Aotearoa, the social services agency of the Methodist Church of New Zealand, Te Haahi Weteriana O Aotearoa, which includes Methodist Mission Northern (LIFEWISE), Wesley Community Action (Wellington), the Christchurch Methodist Mission, and The Methodist Mission (Dunedin).
