ELECTORAL COLLEGE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rev. Vianney Douglas is an experienced educator, church leader, and community advocate who is dedicated to serving God, Te Hāhi Mihinare o Aotearoa, and Māori
communities with more than thirty years of leadership experience across education, public service, Māori land trust, governance, and ministry.

Vianney began her service to Te Hāhi Mihinare as a Sunday School teacher in Wharekahika (Hicks Bay) thirty years ago under the guidance of Nēni Rev. Raunikau Stainton. She now serves as Priest in Charge of All Saints, Tauranga Moana, and contributes to a range of church governance and mission bodies, including the Anglican Missions Board, Te Rūnanganui o Te Pīhopa o Aotearoa, General Synod, and Te Manawa o Te Wheke Amorangi Whāiti.

She has also served on conservation, health, housing, and community sporting and development boards, reflecting her longstanding commitment to governance and community service.

Vianney is currently employed as Manager, Integrated Services for the Ministry of Education in Tauranga, leading education, curriculum, and learning support services.

In this role, she works with school principals, boards and other agencies where the expectations of government, community and whānau must be considered and
balanced with the diverse needs of the students.

This often requires managing conflict and differing expectations which she has been able to manage successfully.

Vianney’s career has also included leadership roles as principal, teacher, policy analyst, environmental resource manager, and corporate services manager. A
substantial amount of her teaching took place in small rural communities teaching in Kura Kaupapa Māori. These roles demonstrate her broad range of experience and her strong focus on culturally responsive services for Māori.

Vianney has a life-long commitment to learning. She holds a Master of Educational Leadership with First Class Honours, a Bachelor of Social Work, teaching and
postgraduate qualifications, and in 2025 completed a Diploma for Graduates in Christian Thought and History through the University of Otago.

Vianney is passionate about examining the relationship between Māori tikanga and whakaaro and how these worldviews deepen understanding of the life, ministry, and ongoing relevance of Jesus Christ in contemporary Māori contexts.

Vianney attributes her ability to serve her ministry and complete her studies due to the gift of her husband and his unconditional support for her.

Rev. Vianney Douglas offers her capabilities, strengths and experience in response to God’s call to serve. She is committed to servant leadership that nurtures communities to flourish, strengthens the mission of the Church, and supports future generations.

Robert’s whakapapa connects him to Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa and Tainui. He grew up in Taupo, immersed in his Tuwharetoa mother’s staunch Catholic faith, into which he was baptised, and connected to his father’s Te Arawa whakapapa in the Anglican church in Ohinemutu and Whakarewarewa.

His strong connection to Rotorua, Taupō and the central North Island has been an important foundation for his ministry and understanding of vocation.

His academic achievements reflect a lifelong commitment to learning and leadership. He was Dux of
Tongariro High School in 1974, completed a Bachelor of Engineering through the University of Auckland in 1980 with the honour of a Ngarimu VC Scholarship, and gained a Master of Management (Hons) through the University of Waikato in 1987. His commitment to theological education continued throughout his ministry, culminating in a Doctor of Ministry in 2024 through the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley (USA).

Robert’s contribution to Māori Anglican leadership formally began when he was ordained Deacon in 1996 and Priest in 1997. At this time he began his role as Kaihautū (Principal and Dean of Studies) of Te Tāpapa o Te Manawa o Te Wheke under Archbishop Whakahuihui Vercoe.

Through this work he contributed to the formation of Māori Anglican leaders and supported a theological environment where Māori language, tikanga, culture and Christian faith could be integrated.

His commitment not only to tertiary but also primary and secondary education was also evidenced in his founding of the Lake Taupo Christian School in 1993 and continued work as chair of the Trust Board.

Robert also served Chief Executive Officer of the Anglican Missions Board (AMB) 2003-2020. In this
role he led the overseas mission work of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia and developed relationships with churches and mission partners in over forty countries across the Anglican Communion.

During his leadership, Anglican Missions supported theological education, community development, humanitarian assistance, disaster response and health and mission initiatives throughout the Pacific and beyond.

Robert placed particular emphasis on
partnership, local leadership and sustainable community development, as well as local and global Indigenous partnership and mission.

More locally he supported the institution of the Tikanga Māori Missions Council under the AMB to resource Māori led Mission initiatives including those in Australia and the Anglican Indigenous Network (AIN).

More recently Robert has been back home in Taupo working with his Iwi both as Minita-a-Iwi and as
Chair of the Tuwharetoa Health Board.

Robert lives with his wife Rachel. Together they have four children and eight mokopuna.

Robert has served as the Vicar of Taupo since 2022 and has been in diocesan leadership as Vicar General of the Diocese of Waiapu since 2024.

His life and extensive career have brought together the disciplines of Engineering, Management, Governance, Theology, Tikanga and Matauranga Maori and church leadership. These experiences have enabled him to contribute both strategically and pastorally to the life of the Anglican Church locally, nationally and throughout the world.

His continuing connection with Taupō and Rotorua reflects the importance of place, whanau and whakapapa within his life and ministry and has grounded his broader work in strengthening Tino Rangatiratanga – in all its fullness – within the Church and extending Te Pihopatanga’s relationships throughout the Anglican Communion.

He currently serves as Kaihautü — Director Strategic Māori Partnerships at Waipä District Council and as a Crown-appointed member of the Social Security Appeal Authority.

He has previously served as Te Rangatiki — Chief of Staff and Private Secretary to the Kiingitanga, Archdeacon to the Kiingitanga and Chaplain by Royal Warrant, Manutaki — Director of Mission and Education, Waikato Māori Missioner and Interim Amorangi Manager.

His ministry and leadership have spanned parish life, theological education, governance, iwi leadership, public service and executive management.

He is the Kaahui Ariki representative on Te Arataura, the tribal executive of Waikato Tainui, of which he is also the deputy chair. He is a member of Pūhara Mana Tangata – the Chief Ombudsman’s Māori Advisory Board. He sits on the board of a number of Trusts, including the General Church Trust Board (Deputy Chair), Community Waikato Trust (Chair), Te Manawa o Te Wheke Trust Board, Pikitu Marae, Hamilton Christian Night Shelter and is a member of General Synod Te Hīnota Whānui.

He holds a Bachelor of Theology and a Diploma of Anglican Studies and is working towards a Master of Business Administration, which he expects to complete in 2027.

“The Hui Amorangi has formed and shaped me over many years. Many of my teachers, who have now gone, were with us here in times gone by. I am offering myself in service to the place that has always been my home: Te Manawa o Te Wheke.”