Family and household projections to 2031

From Statistics NZ

The latest subnational family and household projections provide an indication of possible future changes in the number and composition of families and households.

Highlights of the latest release project that:

• All 16 of New Zealand's regions will have more couple-without-children families and one-person households in 2031 than in 2006.*

• There will be a continued decline in average household size for all regions and territorial authorities, between 2006 and 2031.

• The Auckland region will account for almost half (48 percent) of the national growth in the number of households by 2031.

*‘Couple-without-children’ include:

(a) couples who will never have children,
(b) couples who will have children in the future,
(c) couples whose children have left the parental home.

Note that first projection, that all 16 regions will have more one-person households.....but we keep focusing our ministry on families, married couples, youth, children.

Photo, David Salafia

PS: This year is Census Year - in just a month's time. It's a date I was looking forward to, in many ways, when all the 2006 Census figures that were becoming increasingly unuseful would be replaced. And now my role here as Research and Resource Assistant is coming to an end....pooh! :)

Fresh take on the Christmas story

Just before Christmas arrives, check out this great little video of the Christmas story from St Paul’s Anglican Church, in Auckland, New Zealand.



Thanks to Bosco Peter's Liturgy site for making us aware of this.

Conferences and fundraising

I've been at the Practical/Pastoral Theology Conference here in Dunedin for most of the last couple of days; hence the lack of posts on this blog. Plus, last Friday I was out of the office for yet another reason for most of the day. It all cuts into my blogging time!

There'll be another Conference here in Dunedin in November of 2011; that may not please North Islanders...but hey! we have to have some events in this part of the world. And anyway, the weather has been absolutely glorious over the last few days, and lunchtimes, and tea breaks were spent basking in the sunshine while discussing erudite matters (and in my case, not so erudite).

All that by way of introduction to another conference that's taking place in the next couple of weeks, in four North Island towns/cities. (And also in response to the Working Well survey in which the majority of those replying said they wanted future conferences to be held in Auckland. Doesn't Auckland get enough stuff already?)

Brett Knowles in Napier suggested that the Ask Without Fear conference might be worth a look. It's about fundraising, and ways to do, and is being run by Marc A. Pitman, the author of a book with the same name as the conference. (You can read or skim the book online, if you're of a mind, at Google.)

Churches are always in need of more cash than they seem to have, and often, to their surprise, there are people out there just waiting to be asked to donate (not necessarily your church members, who probably already give readily) but people who you may not think of in connection with your church. I've seen this happen, to the tune of NZ$500,000, just in the last couple of years. It is possible.

Here's a link to the group that's running the conferences in NZ. Exult: practical resources for community groups.

NZ's Population Grows in all regions

Some stats about population out today from Statistics NZ.

Auckland's population grew faster in the June 2010 year than any of the other 15 regions in the country. It has has now been New Zealand's fastest-growing region for the last nine June years. In the June 2010 year, Auckland's population grew by 23,300 (1.6 percent) and it was the only region with a growth rate above the 1.2 percent national average.

Natural increase (excess of births over deaths) made the main contribution to the Auckland region's population growth, accounting for 69 percent of growth in the June 2010 year.

"Auckland region's population has a relatively young age structure, with high proportions in the child-bearing ages," acting Population Statistics manager Kimberly Cullen said. "This results in a high number of births and gives the region built-in momentum for future growth."

New Zealand's 15 other regions all recorded population increases in the June 2010 year. Population growth rates ranged from 0.4 percent (West Coast) to 1.2 percent (Waikato and Canterbury).

"New Zealand experienced a rise in net migration in the June 2010 year because of fewer people leaving the country on a permanent or long-term basis," Ms Cullen said. "The rise in net migration, together with a high level of natural increase, has bolstered population growth in most of New Zealand's regions."

Most territorial authority areas (cities and districts) experienced population growth in the June 2010 year. Of New Zealand's 73 territorial authority areas, 68 had population increases, compared with 64 in 2009 and 59 in 2008.

Of the territorial authority areas, the Selwyn and Queenstown-Lakes districts had the highest growth rates in the June 2010 year (both up 2.5 percent). Other territorial authority areas with high growth rates included Manukau city and Rodney district (both up 1.9 percent), and Waitakere city (up 1.8 percent).

Alan Roxburgh

I seem to have been remiss in not advertising Alan Roxburgh's visit to New Zealand.

He'll be in Dunedin from the 29th November to the 2nd December. For more details on this, check out the Leith Valley Presbyterian website or the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership news page.

Alan will also be in Auckland on the 26th and 27th November. He is presenting an Open Lecture: 'Where are we as church in contemporary Western Culture and what needs to happen?' on the 26th at 7 pm at Somervell Presbyterian Church, and is presenting a Missional Transitioning Consultation for Northern and Kaimai Presbyteries on the Saturday.

Incidentally, the spelling of his name above is correct; the spelling on the Knox website and on the advertising is not and may have been confused with John Roxborogh, formerly a lecturer at Knox College. John's name is spelt in the same way as the township of Roxburgh, in Otago, New Zealand.

Prostitution in New Zealand

As usual, it seems, New Zealand has followed a trend only to find that everyone else is starting to change their mind....

Family First NZ says that the Auckland police admission that underage prostitution is on the increase in the city is yet more evidence that the National government must immediately repeal the flawed prostitution law. “This latest review has found girls as young as 12 prostituting themselves in central Auckland, and a similar investigation in South Auckland in 2008 found 16 teenagers aged between 13 and 16 prostituting themselves on the streets of South Auckland,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“Politicians who voted for this ideologically flawed bill which decriminalised prostitution should hang their heads in shame as they have normalized the behaviour amongst at-risk teenagers. They have also condemned more men and women to this destructive industry. Prostitution is not the oldest profession – it is the oldest oppression.

And in an interesting reversal of a trend:

Bulgaria is only the latest European country to shift its approach to prostitution. Finland last year made it illegal to buy sex from women brought in by traffickers, and Norway is on the verge of imposing an outright ban on purchasing sex. Even in Amsterdam, the city government has proposed shutting down more than a quarter of the famed storefront brothels in the red-light district. And in the Czech Republic and the three Baltic republics, attempts at legalization similar to the Bulgarian one have been turned back.

Building Community

After nearly a decade of work, Mike Riddell's book, The Insatiable Moon, is finally being filmed in Ponsonby.
It's been a long journey which Mike has written about in various places, including the earlier parts of the blog relating to the film's coming to birth.
Being a person myself who is often involved in stage productions, whether musical or theatrical, and knowing how communities are formed during the rehearsal and performance times, it was interesting to read the following in the post dated November 19th.

At the core of the process is the willingness for all involved to trust each other's abilities. It's a great exercise in temporary community building. Author Scott Peck wrote about communities that they require the relinquishment of the temptation to control others. Ironically, in the highly structured chain of command of filmmaking, this is as true as anywhere else.

Every person brings something special and unique to the process, without which the entire enterprise would fail. The secret is a deep trusting and respect of those around us as we work in highly pressured situations. It allows the love to flow, and the wonder to be captured.

Neighbours (nah, not the soap)

Saturday 17 October 2009 is Auckland’s first Neighbours Day but similar days are already happening in other places around the world. In Australia it took a tragedy to get people turning their streets into neighbourhoods. In Europe, Neighbours Day started with the residents of one just area of Paris - ten years later and it has spread to 29 countries.

There are some great stories of what it was like to grow up in Auckland as a child on the NZ site from a bunch of well-known Aucklanders (they call them 'celebrities' but I don't think NZ really does 'celebrities;' we all know each other too well).

Just in case you don't know what a neighbour is (I mean, the bloke in the New Testament had to ask, didn't he?) here's what's on the Aussie site. Plainly they needed a dictionary definition to help....

Neighbour = neighbor n. 1. someone who lives near another.

2. a person or thing that is near another.

3. a fellow being subject to the obligations of humanity.

courtesy Macquarie Dictionary

Okay, you go into your house through the door on the right; your neighbour (see above) goes in and out that door that's obscured by the tree.

And another announcement: Brian McLaren in NZ

World Vision and Laidlaw College Present: Brian McLaren - Where Faith meets the World

Tuesday 13 October, 7.30pm
Laidlaw College, Lincoln Road, Henderson

In a time where everyone is talking about global crisis, Brian McLaren is also talking about Jesus and his message for us and our situation. Brian offers a framework where he explores the societal systems we live in: prosperity, equity and security systems.

Instead of functioning in perfect harmony, guided by God, these systems have become misaligned and no longer function as they should. They have become destructive, and this is the problem Jesus came to address. Brian describes these dysfunctions as:

1. Prosperity Crisis – Our pursuit of prosperity is unsustainable ecologically. We demand more resources and produce more waste than our planet can handle.
2. Equity Crisis – A minority of the world’s population is experiencing great prosperity, while a majority is not. This growing gap between rich and poor adds to the pain of poverty and acute sense of injustice.
3. Security Crisis – As the environment experiences greater stress and puts limits on economic growth, the poor suffer disproportionately. Their suffering in turn fuels mass migration, petty and organised crime, war and terrorism. The rich respond by investing more and more of their income in weapons and armies and police, leaving the poor even more isolated and angry.
4. Spirituality Crisis – Our religious systems fail to provide inspiration and the moral will to address these crises. Too often, they legitimise counterproductive responses, or they distract people from constructive action by preoccupying them with other matters.

Having thought long and hard about the world’s problems, Brian says, “ Our plethora of critical global problems (is real)….(but) the fourth crisis is the lynchpin or leverage point through which we can reverse the first three.”

The message of Jesus offers a revolution of hope for our planet and the poor.

This is where mission meets the reality of the world

"We'd better listen to Brian McLaren if we want to bring the reality of Christ into the world as it is and the church as it now is." Dallas Willard Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern California in Los Angeles

More info on Brian at www.brianmclaren.net, or contact mark.pierson@worldvision.org.nz

This will be Brian McLaren's only public meeting in New Zealand.

STAANZ Conference

After much debate about dates and venues, Nicola Hoggard Creegan from Auckland, and Hugh Bowron from Christchurch, have decided to organise a STAANZ (Systematic Theology Association in Aotearoa New Zealand) conference in Auckland on November 19/20. Venue is to be the heart of Ponsonby, at Ponsonby Baptist Church Hall - so they can enjoy the cafes for lunch and dinner.

The theme for the conference will be eschatology and pneumatology. Nicola and Hugh would be happy for you to circulate this information to other theologians, and also to graduate students who might be interested.

So far, the following people have already promised papers:

Hugh Bowron "Holy Spirit in the Work of Walter Kasper"

Martin Sutherland "Completing Barth? Helmut Thielicke the Spirit"

Myk Habets "Infant Salvation?"

Linda Paterson, Antony Glading, and Judith Brown have also promised papers.

Please send paper proposals to:
Nicola Hoggard Creegan at nicolahc@laidlaw.ac.nz or
Hugh Bowron hugh.bowron@xtra.co.nz

Proposals should be sent if possible before the end of September. A programme will be circulated by early November at the latest.

More from Baronness Cox

Back on the 4th March, 2009, we posted an item about the visit of Baronness Cox to New Zealand. While she was here, Baroness Cox gave two lectures, one in Auckland and one in Christchurch. The Auckland lecture was to be recorded and put online, but apparently isn't available yet. (We'll try and keep tabs on when it comes online.)

In the meantime, if you want to see Baronness Cox talking, you can see a clip from the Breakfast programme that appeared on the 25th March this year, in which the Baronness talks to Paul Henry about modern-day slavery. The clip seemed to me a bit fiddly to get up and running, but maybe I'm having a bad day. Suffice to say, it can be viewed - with perseverance - once the brief ANZ Bank ad has flitted by.