Wesley Community Action

Our Beginnings

The Methodist Movement was formed by John Wesley (1703 - 1791.) Wesley was an Anglican cleric who had become increasingly concerned that the Church was out of touch with the needs of the majority of people during Britain's industrial age. Wesley encouraged open air preaching and lay preachers to take the Word out of the Church and into the world. In his words ' Gods grace ' was "free in all, and free for all."

In 1743 Wesley drew up a set of 'Rules' that established the basis of the Methodist Church.

Rule 1: "By doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind...'

Rule 2: "By doing good of every possible sort, and as far as possible, to all....."

In the Methodist ethos, the 'Word' and the 'Deed' have always been linked together. The Methodist Church was always been involved in social justice issues beginning with those topical in the 1800's such as prison reform and the abolition of slavery. Social justice work continues today in Wesley Community Action.

The first Wesleyan Missionaries came to Aoteoroa, New Zealand in 1822, and later in 1840 Anglican and Methodist Missionaries played an important role in facilitating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

In 1872 the Wesleyan Education Trust set up a school in Wellington for poor children. This was the first community action, sparked by compassion that contributed to positive change in the young Wellingtonians. For the last 134 + years, these three words, Community , Compassion and Change , have steered the work of Wesley Community Action or Wesley Wellington Mission as it was known.

Our Work

Under the umbrella of the Methodist Church, Wesley Community Action has quietly gone about its task of helping create just and caring communities. We now work in communities from Otaki, to Porirua, Wainuiomata, Hutt Valley and Wellington. We work with children and young people, families and old people.

Reflecting our Methodist roots Wesley Community Action is ...

Passionate about social change – we can’t separate helping needy individuals from wider social, political and economic transformation. Biased – we believe all people are valued and have a bias towards those with the least voice or power. We believe the Treaty of Waitangi is important and has the potential to positively shape the lives of all New Zealanders now and in the future. Practical – we get stuck in where we see a need, you could call it 'mission driven'. Grounded – we know our limitations, we laugh a lot, we enjoy what we do, we are optimistic.

How we work – A focus of strengths

We believe it is very important to know how we do our work - because this is what makes the difference.

Key for us is our 'strength-based approach'. This challenges the conventional 'charity' model, as we acknowledge the strengths and values inherent in all the people we work alongside. Our job is to partner with them as they meet their challenges, heal and reconnect. We are committed to structures and models which support this approach in every aspect of our work.

With this basis we aim …

to be respectful of people;
to establish authentic relationships;
to work along side people;
We strive to be professional in all we do;
to being optimistic, even when the going gets tough, and;
to have fun.

We are keen to partner with other agencies that share the vision of justice, peace and sustainability.

While this is easy to explain, it is challenging to put into practice. But that’s the great thing about working for Wesley – we are always learning and striving to do our work better!