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MTheol, LLB, BA
Katene is of Ngāti Hau and Te Aupouri descent. Formerly a practising barrister and solicitor, he attended St John’s College as an ordinand and graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Theology Degree in 2002, and a Master of Theology Degree in 2007. He was ordained to the Diaconate in 2002, and the priesthood in 2003.
Katene served as a worker priest in the Whangarei Māori Anglican pastorate for several years, while continuing a legal practice as a community law centre lawyer in service to the local community. He subsequently served as a military chaplain in the New Zealand Defence Force. After leaving chaplaincy, Katene served for a time in locum ministry in the Diocese of the Northern Territory, Australia before returning to Aotearoa New Zealand.
His academic interests emphasise how theological lenses may be applied for real world application in order to do Christ’s ministry in the world. His focus is in the area of moral and practical theology, contextual theologies; currently researching Māori and indigenous theological approaches to leadership and leadership development for Māori religious communities.
PhD, DSD, MHA, MBS, DCOpth DDPH, MTheol, BTheol,
With a background in Health Services in Samoa and Fiji, Frank was encouraged to further his academic career in through his studies in Theology with a focus on issues affecting Pacific Island communities. On completing his PhD, he was appointed to the College in 2010 and took up the position of Dean, Tikanga Polynesia in 2011. In this role, he provides theological education, training in ministry formation, pastoral and managerial leadership for students in Tikanga Polynesia.
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MPhil (Hons), PGCertEd, BA, B.AppTheol
Originally from the Waikato, Mark grew up in Tamaki Makaurau. He has recently returned to the north after seven years in the capital and is enjoying the warmer weather.
Mark is married to Bridget and they have three children and usually a few extras. They are a part of Urban Vision and are living out their calling with this missional tribe in Mt Roskill.
Mark is an educator with over 15 years’ experience working in Tertiary, Special Ed., Youth Development and faith-based contexts. He is also ordained and has previously served as Priest Assistant in the Parish of Wellington South.
Mark is passionate about helping people finding their vocation and making positive, Jesus-shaped contributions in their communities.
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Rev’d Te Hira Paenga
MA (Hons), PGDipTheo (Dist),
PGDip Int & Trans Mao, Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo, BEd, BMPA, GradDipTheo
Ko ōna kāwai nō Te Taitokerau nō Ngāti Hine, Te Kahu o Torongare, Ngāti Rangi, Te Māhurehure, Ngāti Rāhiri, Ngāi Tawake, Te Matarahurahu, Ngāpuhi. Ki te Rāwhiti ko ōna hapū ko Ngāti Konohi, Ngāti Rangi, Te Whānau a Ruataupare ki Tūpāroa, me Ngāti Kahungunu.
While Te Hira has whakapapa to various iwi and hapū, he spent the first 33 years of his life in Tāmakimakaurau at Hoani Waititi graduating as a Raukura alumni of the Kura Kaupapa Māori schooling system. Te Hira went on to earn tertiary and postgraduate degrees from the University of Auckland, University of Waikato, Auckland College of Education, Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo, The College of Saint John the Evangelist, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and is currently completing his PhD in Theology through the University of Otago with a focus on theology and kapahaka (Māori performing arts).
Te Hira comes from a teaching background and has held roles as HoD Māori, Assistant and Deputy Principal at Te Wharekura Māori o Hoani Waititi, Hato Pētera, Te Aute College and most recently Ōpōtiki College. Te Hira’s ministry started in 2010 as Deacon - Assistant Curate of Tātai Hono - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre by Te Pīhopa o Te Taitokerau and ordained into the priesthood in 2018 under Te Manawa o Te Wheke. For the past four years Te Hira has served as a parish priest within Te Whakatōhea, Te Whānau a Apanui and Hīona-St Stephens.
As Ahorangi Tikanga Māori, Te Hira aspires to advance theology from a kaupapa Māori perspective and contribute to the growth of theology and ministry through promoting tino rangatiratanga (self-determination), mana ōrite (equity) and mana motuhake (social justice) for Aotearoa and all indigenous peoples of the world. Te Hira loves to share his passion for te reo, tikanga, kapahaka and ministry.
MANUKURA / PRINCIPAL
Rev’d Katene Eruera
Rev’d Dr Frank Smith
Rev'd Mark Barnard
TIKANGA PASIFIKA DEAN
TIKANGA PĀKEHĀ DEAN
(Acting)
TIKANGA MĀORI DEAN
PhD, MTh, BTh
Don joined St John’s in 2015 as the inaugural Sir Paul Reeves Lecturer in Biblical Studies. The role is two pronged, firstly, it supports St John’s partnerships with other tertiary providers. Currently this involves teaching and supervision in the University of Otago Theology programme. Secondly, Don contributes to St John’s teaching and research programme. He supervises and supports postgraduate research and convenes conferences on Three Tikanga Church issues along with contributing his own research.
Don is passionate about deepening student’s knowledge and understanding of the Bible. He believes that skilled reading of the Bible and a wide knowledge of its contents provides a deep well for resourcing Christian ministry. Don has academic interests in issues of biblical interpretation, including social scientific approaches to biblical studies and particularly to the Hebrew Bible. His doctoral work examined the social, political and cultural reasons for the ban on outsider marriages in Persian era Judah recorded in Ezra 9-10. He is also interested in issues related to Aotearoa New Zealand and the South Pacific, such as, post-colonialism and climate change. His current research includes reception history, theology in a three tikanga context and the impact of Maori and Pasifika worldviews on biblical interpretation.
Don has been involved in theological education for over 30 years, teaching in traditional and distance learning environments. He is married to Bronwyn, a teacher, and they have one adult daughter. He tries to keep a level of fitness by regular workouts and enjoys the outdoors through mountain biking and tramping.
Don is interested in postgraduate supervision of
· Social scientific, post-colonial and reception history approaches to the Bible
· Persian era biblical texts
· Maori and Pasifika worldviews and biblical interpretation
· Contextual theology in the Three Tikanga Church
MCouns (Hons), BD, BEd, DipTchg
Director of Academic Programmes
Starting his working life as an actor with Covenant Players, Richard then trained as a primary school teacher and later moved to Auckland to complete a Bachelor of Divinity. He was ordained as a minister and served in an interdenominational church in Auckland before undertaking mission work with families in YWAM. From there he completed Masters study in counselling and developed a private practice in counselling, supervision and spiritual direction. Since then he has spent 20 years at Bethlehem Tertiary Institute in Tauranga writing and leading degrees in counselling and in social work, launching their online delivery and developing programmes in Tonga. His interest is in working with teams to design and develop new programmes and projects has also led the development of several innovative faith-community experiments. He offers spiritual direction conversations and grows bonsais when he’s not walking and travelling with his wife Caroline.
PhD, MA, STTC, Grad Dip Theology, BA
Eseta taught for 12 years in various Secondary Schools around Fiji and also in an Anglican School, a Hindu School, Catholic co-ed boarding School and a Methodist School. She has tutored at the University of the South Pacific through DFL, mentored and tutored students at the University of Auckland. Her subject of interest is Identity, Leadership and Discipleship. She was appointed in 2013 as Tokoni for Tikanga Polynesia and Chaplain in 2014. She is currently Tokoni for all 3 Tikanga and offers student-learning support to students across the different institutions that students in residence at St Johns are enrolled in.
PhD, MA (Hons), BTheol, DipSocServices
Moeawa is an experienced programme designer and co-ordinator, undergraduate and postgraduate academic supervisor and administrator. She has a background in Anglicanism, Practical Theology, Christian Thought, Treaty, and Maori and Indigenous Theologies. Moeawa has extensive experience as a mentor for Maori students in tertiary educational environments. She has been a kaimanaaki in the ‘E Hine’ programme based on wairuatanga atua wahine to assist Maori women offenders reintegrate well back into society. As a current member of the international commission ARCIC III, Moeawa brings her experience working with a group of international Anglican and Catholic theological scholars.
Richard Cook
Rev’d Dr Eseta Mateiviti-Tulavu
Dr. Don Moffat
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PhD, BTheol. (Hons), Dip. Eng. Civil
Tom joined St John’s in 2021 as Lecturer in Theology. Previously, he was Lecturer and Programme Director for the Restorative Justice Programme at Victoria University of Wellington. Having completed his PhD from the University of Otago,
Tom went on to publish his first book, Communities of Restoration: Ecclesial Ethics and Restorative Justice (Bloomsbury/ T&T Clark, 2017). His research examined how the church’s understanding of the justice of God has been influential in ideas and practices around crime and punishment, focusing particularly on the emergence of restorative justice in the Anabaptist tradition. Along with teaching and research, Tom has worked on a number of collaborative projects related to restorative and criminal justice.
Tom joins the St John’s faculty to teach in the areas of systematic theology and theological ethics. He is interested in supervising and mentoring students in a broad range of theological subjects, including issues surrounding crime and restoration, Christian nonviolence and peacemaking, decolonisation, and disability.
Tom shares life with his wife, Cat, a community enabler and specialist teacher by training, as well as their three kids and a few pets.
MA (Hons)
Victor teaches Te Reo Māori at Levels 5 and 6 to support the inclusion of Māori language and culture in ordination training programmes. Victor has a teaching background in secondary schools and at the University of Auckland in the English and Maori Studies Departments. He was raised in Te Reo Maori in Hokianga and is principally of Ngapuhi and Te Rarawa descent. He is currently researching ways in which people think about syncretism in Aotearoa and the colonial background to some of this thinking.
PhD Simon Fraser, MMS(Dist.), BMS, GradDipComm, DipTchg, Waikato
Paul is from Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngā Puhi & Whanganui and was raised in Taumarunui.
Paul joined the College as a Kaiako/Lecturer in 2019. From January 2020 until July 2021 Paul was the Acting Dean, Tikanga Māori (Te Ahorangi). His current position is Research Fellow and Kaiako/Lecturer.
Prior to coming to the College, Paul worked for two years with Bishop Muru Walters as Kaihautu Awhi Whanau, Social Justice Educator within Te Hui Amorangi ki te Upoko o te Ika. Before that he was EA to Bishop John Gray within Te Hui Amorangi ki te Waipounamu, then General Manager for the Amorangi until the end of 2016.
Previous work has included a role in social justice for the 3-Tikanga Anglican Church, a member of the Inter-church Bioethics Council (ICBC), as well as member of various Amorangi, Pihopatanga & 3-Tikanga Anglican Church Committees. He has been a Steering Group Member of the Anglican Indigenous Network (AIN) since 2017, and Secretary since 2019.
Paul completed a PhD at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver in 2003 and spent 10+ years as a kaupapa Māori health researcher since then.
Paul’s interest is in encouraging and fostering the development of kaupapa Māori and Indigenous research, with a special focus on Māori and Indigenous theological research, as well as supporting the development of 3-Tikanga research within the College and wider Anglican Church.
Rev'd Dr Joe McGarry
PhD, MATH, MACH, BA
Joe earned Master of Arts degrees in Theology as well as Church History in Boston, Massachusetts. His doctoral studies at the University of Aberdeen was on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology of formation in Christ. Ordained priest in the Anglican church in 2017 he served as the Anglican Studies Coordinator for the diocese of Wellington and Priest Assistant at Wellington Cathedral. Joe lectures in church history, theology, and preaching and is also a senior research fellow of Laidlaw College currently investigating discipleship and moral reasoning in the New Testament and early church.
Joe is deeply passionate about everyday discipleship, its various shapes through history, Joe is also passionate about equipping priests for ministry and mentoring those called to an academic vocation for the church. He shares life with his wife Katrina and is based in Wellington.