The Venerable Zhane Tiopira Tāhau is one of 27 leaders selected in the latest cohort of Trinity Leadership Fellows.
Archdeacon Zhane, one of the youngest priests serving in Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa, was chosen from nearly 500 applicants representing a wide range of nations, professions and faith traditions.
His Fellowship is a continuation of the flourishing relationship between Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa and Trinity Church Wall Street that creates opportunities for both hāhi to share gifts, learn from one another and strengthen their work in mission and ministry.
“I am deeply grateful for Archbishop Don’s leadership and the relationships he continues to strengthen across the worldwide Church,” Archdeacon Zhane said.
For Te Pīhopatanga, it provides an opportunity to share the witness of Māori Anglican ministry while drawing on Trinity’s experience in leadership development and community-focused mission.
“This opportunity is not simply about one person travelling to New York. It reflects a much wider partnership grounded in shared faith and a commitment to the flourishing of our communities.”
It is hoped the Fellowship will deepen these connections and create future opportunities for clergy, rangatahi, kura and communities across Te Pīhopatanga.
Faithful leadership for a changing world
Trinity Church Wall Street is a historic Anglican parish in Lower Manhattan with a global commitment to leadership formation and strengthening faith communities.
Since 2022, the Trinity Leadership Fellows programme has brought together emerging leaders whose faith calls them to address injustice, heal division and serve their communities. Open to both ordained and lay leaders from diverse traditions, the programme is grounded in the belief that leadership is ultimately a form of service.
“This is what makes the Trinity Fellowship so meaningful,” Archdeacon Zhane said.
“It is not leadership for position or status, but leadership grounded in faith, shaped through relationships and directed towards the flourishing of people.”
Carrying the kaupapa of Te Pīhopatanga
Ordained at 23, Archdeacon Zhane serves in the Takitimu Rohe among the marae and communities of Heretaunga and as Archdeacon of Ngā Kura Mihinare, providing pastoral and spiritual leadership to Te Aute College and Hukarere Māori Girls’ College.
His ministry is focused on the flourishing of Māori communities through faith, education and service. The Fellowship will support his work in the ongoing renewal of Ngā Kura Mihinare as places where rangatahi are formed in whakapono, character, service and leadership.
“I hope to return with practical tools, deeper relationships and a renewed vision for our ministry,” he said.
“My greatest hope is that this relationship will open doors for others, particularly our rangatahi. I want them to know that they belong within the worldwide Church and that their whakapapa, whakapono and leadership are gifts not only to Aotearoa, but to all of God’s world.”
His participation in the Fellowship provides an opportunity to carry the story and kaupapa of Te Pīhopatanga into a global community while bringing home new relationships, knowledge and opportunities for shared ministry.
A global community of service
The 2026 cohort reflects the many ways faith can inspire leadership. Among the fellows are leaders working in fields including mental health, theology, Indigenous ministry, migrant support, disability advocacy and community recovery.
Archdeacon Zhane brings to this global fellowship the experience and mātauranga of Te Hāhi Mihinare, Ngā Kura Mihinare and Māori communities.
“We have much to learn from this extraordinary group of leaders, but we also have much to contribute,” he said.
“I will carry with me the whakapono of our people, the story of Te Hāhi Mihinare and the leadership traditions that have sustained our communities for generations.”
The fellows are gathering in New York this week to begin a two-year journey of prayer, learning and fellowship alongside mentors, teachers, clergy and Trinity Church leadership.