Emily Sit, Director for Misson and Evangelisation, explores how the Hope and Renewal Summit ignited a movement of faith, leadership, and mission across Aotearoa.
I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
Luke 12:49
In early October, more than five hundred people from across Aotearoa gathered in Palmerston North for the Hope and Renewal Summit. Priests and parishioners, educators and leaders, young and old alike came carrying a shared longing that the Holy Spirit might stir hope in our hearts and renew the flame of faith within our communities.
As one bishop reflected afterwards, what was most striking was the people themselves, their prayer, their joy, their desire for renewal. That desire is the work of grace. It is the Spirit whispering again the ancient promise of Ezekiel 37: “I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.”
Kindled, Not Contained
From the beginning, the Summit was never intended to be an end in itself. It was conceived as a catalyst, a spark to be tended, shared, and fuelled. The true fruit lies not in the event but in what follows: the conversations that continue, the prayer that deepens, and the collaborations that grow.
Participants were encouraged to return home carrying the flame, to gather their parish teams, pray together, share what they experienced, and discern what renewal might look like in their own communities. Renewal happens when the fire spreads, when those who have encountered Christ help others encounter Him too.
Already, stories are emerging: parish teams hosting post-Summit gatherings, new leadership teams forming, and stirrings of hope about when the next Summit might be. Across the country, participants are speaking of renewed purpose and fresh courage:
“It gave me a clear sense of what God is asking of us now.”
“I went back to my parish determined to help our people climb the mountain together.”
“For the first time in years, I believe change is possible.”
“I came home with new hope for our Church and for my grandchildren’s faith.”
We pray that the fire kindled in Palmerston North is beginning to take root across Aotearoa, quietly transforming hearts and communities.
Renewal for the Sake of the World
The heartbeat of the Summit was an encounter with Christ, not only the Risen Lord who lives among us, but the Crucified and Risen Saviour who reveals the Father’s love and calls each person to repentance, renewal, and new life in the Spirit.
This is the first proclamation, the Kerygma, that must continually resound in the life of the Church. As Pope Francis writes in Evangelii Gaudium (§164):
“…the first proclamation must ring out over and over: ‘Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.’ … It is first in a qualitative sense because it is the principal proclamation, the one which we must hear again and again in different ways.”
Renewal is not for our comfort or our numbers but for the sake of others. When hearts are set aflame, parishes become places where the Gospel is lived in families, workplaces, schools, and public witness, in serving the poor, seeking justice, and building communities of mercy.
To sustain this, the Mission Hub initiative has been launched to help disciples build a culture of prayer, leadership, and mission. Started by a small group of like-minded lay faithful, stirred by their lived experience of working in parishes and leading mission, the Mission Hub idea grew from a shared desire to connect with others who carried the same passion for renewal.
These Hubs are spaces where clergy, school leaders, and lay disciples can pray together, share experiences, and support one another, helping the Church live outwardly and ensuring that renewal reaches the peripheries.
All are invited to the first Mission Hub Online Gathering, a monthly opportunity to connect, pray, and share in the spirit of renewal spreading across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Monday, 10 November | 🕖 7:00 – 8:15 pm on Zoom 👉 Register here
Leadership and Co-Responsibility
A renewed Church also needs renewed patterns of leadership. The Summit highlighted purpose-built leadership teams not as substitutes for pastoral councils, but as catalysts that help priests and lay leaders discern together and lead from communion, not isolation.
True co-responsibility is not merely administrative; it is spiritual. It calls all the baptised to discern, listen, and act together for the mission of Christ. This rhythm of shared discernment is profoundly synodal, walking together, each bringing gifts and insight for the good of the whole Body.
It is important to be clear that synodality does not mean that every decision of the Church must bend to popular opinion or that authority is replaced by majority vote. The Church is not a democracy; she is a Body, structured sacramentally, where Christ continues to shepherd His people through the ministry of bishops and priests (cf. Lumen Gentium 20). The participation of the laity does not undermine this authority; rather, it enriches it. Pope Benedict XVI reminded the Church that the laity are not simply “collaborators” of the clergy but truly “co-responsible for the Church’s being and action” (Address to the Diocese of Rome, 2009).
At the same time, authority in the Church is never meant to be exercised in isolation. The Spirit speaks through the faith of the People of God, inviting pastors to listen deeply and discern prayerfully. As Pope Francis says, “Synodality is not about taking opinion polls, but about listening to the Spirit in the faith of the People of God” (Address Commemorating 50 Years of the Synod of Bishops, 2015). In this way, the life of the Church becomes a living conversation between shepherds and people, a communion that listens before it decides and prays before it acts.
This moment in the Church carries a real and fruitful tension between the rootedness of Catholic Tradition, with its sacramental life, apostolic authority, and orthodoxy, and the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit, calling us to renewal, conversion, and missionary zeal. It is not a matter of choosing one over the other, but of living the both-and of our faith: fidelity and freedom, structure and Spirit, contemplation and mission.
From Summit to Mission
The Hope and Renewal Summit was never meant to be a single moment of enthusiasm. It was a beginning, a moment of grace through which God reminded us that His Church is alive, that His Spirit still breathes new life, and that His fire is meant to spread.
We know that not everyone was able to be there in person, yet we trust that the Spirit drew together those whom the Lord desired for that weekend. The hope now is that those who were blessed to attend will carry what they received back to their parishes, schools, and communities, sharing the fire of renewal through their witness, prayer, and service.
As we move forward, may the words of Ezekiel become our prayer:
“Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
And may the fire that Christ came to kindle find ready hearts in us, hearts that burn with hope, with love for His Church in New Zealand, and with renewed zeal for His mission in the world.