Hosted under the theme, 'One Mission, One Ocean, One Vaka,' the 200+ person General Synod Te Hīnota Whānui 2026 will convene in Tonga this weekend to talanoa, wānanga and set directions for Anglican ministry and mission in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia over the next two years.

Talanoa sessions will form the heart of the 2026 Synod, providing opportunity for delegates to hear the stories of ministry and mission realities that reveal the needs of the whole Church going forward. Key mission areas for talanoa in 2026 include ministry education and equity, and the call to care for creation with a focus on fostering oceanic health and building resilience to climate change.

New directions for the Church’s work across the three tikanga are likely to arise out of the three themed talanoa gatherings during the Synod. Further agenda items continue work begun in 2024 on disability ministry, archives and liturgical updates, while new proposals for Te Hīnota Whanui 2026 look to update liturgical practice, safeguarding processes and clergy management across bishoprics.

The Diocese of Polynesia has released a prayer for the whole Church to offer as the Synod prepares to move its shared mission forward over the next two years.

The prayer from the Diocese of Polynesia hosts follows below.

PRAYER FOR THE 67TH GENERAL SYNOD TE HINOTA WHANUI

Loving and embracing God, Creator of the great ocean, the islands, and the lands we call home. We thank You for our ancestors and missionaries, for the journeys that guided them through the years and the challenges they faced. 

Through Your grace, You have brought us together in this time as one Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. 

You have woven us together in Christ as Tikanga Māori, Tikanga Pākehā, and Tikanga Pasifika enriched by cultures, languages, songs, stories and traditions.

Draw us closer to You in our 67th General Synod. By Your Holy Spirit, help us to honour the gifts of our differences, not as barriers to our journey, but as blessings that witness to the unity of Your Church. 

Grant us wisdom and peace, and empower us to discern together.

Keep alive within us the vision You have given: One Mission, One Vaka/Waka, One Ocean. May we remember that we are called not for ourselves, but for the sake of Your Kingdom.

We place our Church, our Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, Lay Leaders, our communities, and our future into Your loving hands. Guide our waka, keep us united as one people, journeying across one ocean toward the future You are preparing.

We ask all this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who calls us into one Body, one hope, and one mission. Amen