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The Practice of Wayfinding
Connect with others across Aotearoa who are exploring new ways of being church and participating in God’s mission. Each session includes:
- Facilitated conversations with a host and guest speaker
- Small group reflection and discussion
When: 3rd Tuesday of each month (Next event: 16th September 2025)
Time: 7.30pm – 8.45pm
Where: Online (Zoom)
This month we continue our series of story-telling – taking time to go deeper into what people are noticing about Gods activity around Aotearoa, and their responses. On September 16th we welcome Mark Pierson for a chat.
Mark is the husband of Robyn, father of four, and grandfather of three. He is passionate about the local church as a community that can sustain people in their following of Christ in their worlds and enable them to flourish as human beings in a relationship with the Trinitarian community of God. He describes himself as a “garden-variety pastor.”
Alongside pastoring (mostly Baptist) churches Mark founded the Mainstage Music and Arts Festival that became Parachute Festival and now Festival One. He also founded The International Guild of Tea Liturgists, Cityside Baptist Church, and Rhythms of Grace Church.
He wrote or co-wrote “The Prodigal Project: journey into the emerging church”, “Fractals: alternative resources for worship in the emerging culture, and “The Art of Curating Worship: reframing the role of worship leader”. He was the New Zealand outpost of the UK-led “alternative worship movement” with The Parallel Universe.
As well as curating art and art-installation based worship most weeks for his church community, he also curates larger scale works at festivals and conferences. (Using up to 30 tonnes of sand, 30 000 litres of water, many square metres of lawn and uncountable rolls of frost cloth.)
Mark loves teas and has developed “Tea & Be” rituals, including a Communion, for connecting people to each other and to God. He has built a tea house in his back yard. Much of his pastoral care happens in this context.
Mark is currently Lead Pastor and Curator with the small interdenominational church community of Rhythms of Grace in Auckland (under Holy Trinity Cathedral) and offers Tea & Be sessions online and in person around the world. His current squeeze is thinking and dreaming about how immersive spaces (digital and analogue) for worship might engage with the needs of people in contemporary culture inside and outside of churches.
Most importantly, Mark is beloved of God.
These conversations will not simply be about the activity of groups around the country, but explore deeper into why they do what they do, the ecosystem they sense God inviting them to foster, and their reflecting on what has happened. Plus, and maybe more importantly, we will explore how God is forming these Wayfinders. Our hope is that you can take these principles to help you in your own context.