The Anglican Church's General Synod Standing Committee has approved the establishment of Te Ara Aroha Rainbow Takatāpui Allies Network (TAARTAN) as a community within the structures of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia under Canon XXXVIII.

This the first time the Anglican Church in these islands has formally recognised a Rainbow Takatāpui Allies Network as a Christian community within its governing structures.

TAARTAN is now the first church-wide Rainbow advocacy network to be recognised within the statutes of any mainline Christian denomination in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Bishop of Auckland Ross Bay welcomed the formation of Te Ara Aroha and has agreed to take up the role of its Bishop Protector, ready to support and guide to its members as requested.  

Bishop Ross hopes TAARTAN will share in the "experience of grace" he has seen between Anglicans with different theological integrities on the subject of human sexuality.

"My hope and prayer as part of this development is that it will be another building block in helping our Church to listen well to one another as we find our way forward into God’s future for us together."

TAARTAN steering group member Geremy Hema presented the Network's constitution to the Anglican Church's General Synod Standing Committee in late 2025, expressing hope that all Anglicans might see themselves reflected in its aims of full inclusion.

"This is a whare where the door will always be open." he said.

TAARTAN's stated purpose is to "spiritually sustain and nourish Takatāpui, LGBTQIA+, MVPFAFF+ persons through a broad network for whakawhanaungatanga (intentional being together as family) and mutual Christian Fellowship."

TAARTAN forms as a community under the Church's 2018 statute that enabled assenting bishops in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia to authorise priests in assenting parishes to bless rainbow couples already in same-sex civil unions or secular marriages.

In 2019 the first such community (The Community of St Mark) was formed by Anglicans committed to a traditional interpretation of biblical texts that determines sexual relationships must take place only within heterosexual marriage.

Today, ten out of twelve Dioceses and Hui Amorangi led by Anglican bishops in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia allow for blessings of Rainbow couples within the Church's Canons, with the Diocese of Nelson and the Diocese of Polynesia opting for the former status quo of exclusively blessing marriages of women with men.

But while blessings of Rainbow couples can be authorised in the majority of Anglican Dioceses and Hui Amorangi, this Church's canons still maintain that Christian marriage is defined as between a man and a woman.

That's one area where members of Te Ara Aroha see the goal of a fully inclusive church is still unmet. But for now, the network's primary aim is to move the whole church towards being a safer and more welcoming home for all, right out to the parish level.

"This is flying a flag so that Takatāpui Anglicans within this church can know there is a network that exists for them, to provide a place for them, but also to advocate on their behalf." said TAARTAN steering group member Etienne Wain.

"We want to resource people all around Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia to have local expressions of being Rainbow and Takatāpui Anglican. And if that doesn't exist where you are, or if it does already exist there, great, we want to resource and connect you and those local expressions together."

Frances Brown from Taranaki's Cathedral of St Mary is keen to advocate for full affirmation of gender and sexual minorities within the structures of the church, including access to sacramental rites such as marriage and ordination.

"As well as this being the right thing to do, the Aotearoa New Zealand Faith and Belief research from a few years ago showed that the church's treatment of the Rainbow community was a reason people were leaving the church – because they didn't see it aligning with their values." she said.

"I would like to see this network bring the energy to move the Church towards marriage equality." she said.

As well as building community and advocating for Rainbow people in the Anglican Church, Te Ara Aroha focuses on research and advocacy for Rainbow people outside the Anglican Church, including for Rainbow survivors of abuse or exclusion.

Anglican individuals, groups and ministry units are welcome to affiliate with Te Ara Aroha Rainbow Takatāpui Allies Network through a form on the network's website. 

To affiliate as an Anglican church or ministry unit, the canon requires a two-thirds majority assent in a General Meeting. Anglican-linked organisations are also welcome to affiliate as associate members.

For more information about Te Ara Aroha Rainbow Takatāpui Allies Network (TAARTAN) go to: https://www.tearaaroha.net.nz/

*Glossary of terms

Takatāpui: “A traditional Māori word that traditionally means ‘intimate friend of the same sex’. It has since been embraced to encompass all tangata Māori who identify with diverse genders, sexualities or variations of sex characteristics.
LGBTQIA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trangender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, etc.
MVPFAFF+: Polynesian 'third genders' including: Mahu, Vakasalewalewa, Palopa, Fa’afafine, Akava’ine, Fakaleiti or Leiti, Fakafifine
Whare: dwelling, house
Whanaungatanga: upholding one another as kindred