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Christianity inNew Zealand dates to the arrival ofmissionaries from theChurch Missionary Society who were welcomed onto the beach at Rangihoua Bay in December 1814. It soon became the predominant belief amongst the indigenous people, with over half ofMāori regularly attendingchurch services within the first 30 years. Christianity remains New Zealand's largest religious group, but no one denomination is dominant and there is no officialstate church. According to the2018 census 38.17% of the population identified asChristian.^[1] The largest Christian groups areCatholic,Anglican, andPresbyterian. Christian organisations are the leading non-government providers of social services in New Zealand.^[2][3]

The first Christianservice conducted in New Zealand waters was probably to be carried out by FatherPaul-Antoine Léonard de Villefeix, the Dominican chaplain on the shipSaint Jean Baptiste commanded by the French navigator and explorerJean-François-Marie de Surville. Villefeix was the first Christian minister to set foot in New Zealand, and probably saidMass on board the ship near Whatuwhiwhi inDoubtless Bay on Christmas Day in 1769. He is reported to have also led prayers for the sick the previous day and to have conducted Christian burials.^[4][5]

New Zealand's religious history after the arrival of Europeans saw substantialmissionary activity, with Māori generallyconverting to Christianity voluntarily (compareforced conversions elsewhere in the world).^[6] TheAnglicanChurch Missionary Society (CMS) sent missionaries to settle in New Zealand. Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society (chaplain inNew South Wales) officiated at its first service on Christmas Day in 1814, at Oihi Bay, a small cove inRangihoua Bay in theBay of Islands, at the invitation of chiefsTe Pahi andRuatara, considered to have been the first preaching of the gospel in New Zealand.^[7][8] The CMS founded its first mission at Rangihoua Bay in the Bay of Islands in 1814 and over the next decade established farms and schools in the area. In June 1823 Wesleydale, the firstWesleyan Methodist mission in New Zealand, was established atKaeo, nearWhangaroa Harbour.^[9]

The first book published in theMāori language wasA Korao no New Zealand; or, the New Zealander's First Book, published by CMS missionerThomas Kendall in 1815. In 1817Tītore and Tui (also known as Tuhi or Tupaea (1797?–1824)) sailed to England.^[10] They visitedProfessor Samuel Lee atCambridge University and assisted him in the preparation of a grammar and vocabulary of Māori. Kendall travelled to London in 1820 withHongi Hika andWaikato (a lower rankingNgāpuhi chief) during which time work was done with Professor Samuel Lee, which resulted in theFirst Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand Language (1820).^[11][12]

In 1823,Rev Henry Williams became the leader of the CMS mission in New Zealand. He settled atPaihia, across the bay fromKororāreka (nowadays Russell); then described as "the hell-hole of the South Pacific" because of the abuse of alcohol and prostitution that was the consequence of the sealing ships andwhaling ships that visited Kororāreka.^[13] Williams concentrated on thesalvation of souls.^[14] The first baptism occurred in 1825, although it was another 5 years before the second baptism.^[15] Schools were established, which addressed religious instruction, reading and writing and practical skills. Williams also stopped the CMS trading muskets for food.^[16] Māori eventually came to see that the ban on muskets was the only way to bring an end to thetribal wars.^[17]

Williams organised the CMS missionaries into a systematic study of theMāori language and soon started translating the Bible into Māori.^[18][19] In July 1827William Colenso printed the first Māori Bible, comprising three chapters of Genesis, the 20th chapter of Exodus, the first chapter of the Gospel of St John, 30 verses of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St Matthew, the Lord's Prayer and some hymns.^[20][21] It was the first book printed in New Zealand and his 1837 Māori New Testament was the first indigenous language translation of the Bible published in the southern hemisphere.^[22] Demand for the Māori New Testament, and for the Prayer Book that followed, grew exponentially, as did Christian Māorileadership and public Christian services, with 33,000 Māori soon attending regularly. Literacy and understanding the Bible increasedmana and social and economic benefits, decreased the practices of slavery and intertribal violence, and increased peace and respect for all people in Māori society, including women.^[23]

Henry Williams played an important role in the translation of theTreaty of Waitangi in 1840. In August 1839 CaptainWilliam Hobson was given instructions by theColonial Office to take the constitutional steps needed to establish a British colony in New Zealand. Hobson was sworn in asLieutenant-Governor in Sydney on 14 January, finally arriving in the Bay of Islands on 29 January 1840. The Colonial Office did not provide Hobson with a draft treaty, so he wasforced to write his own treaty with the help of his secretary, James Freeman, and British ResidentJames Busby.^[24] The entire treaty was prepared in four days.^[25] Realising that a treaty in English could be neither understood, debated or agreed to by Māori, Hobson instructed Williams, who worked with his sonEdward, who was also proficient in the Māori language, to translate the document into Māori and this was done overnight on 4 February.^[26][27] Williams was also involved in explaining the treaty to Māori leaders, firstly at the meetings with William Hobson at Waitangi, but later also when he travelled to Port Nicholson, Queen Charlotte's Sound, Kapiti, Waikanae and Otaki to persuade Māori chiefs to sign the treaty.^[28]

In 1845, 64,000 Māori were attending church services, over half of the estimated population of 110,000.^[29] By then, there was probably a higher proportion of Māori attending Church in New Zealand than British people in the United Kingdom.^[30] TheNew Zealand Anglican Church,te Hāhi Mihinare (the missionary church), was, and is, the largest Māori denomination. Māori made Christianity their own and spread it throughout the country often before European missionaries arrived.^[30][31]

Jean Baptiste Pompallier was the firstCatholic bishop to come to New Zealand, arriving in 1838. With a number ofMarist Brothers, Pompallier organised the Catholic Church throughout the country.^[32]George Augustus Selwyn became the first AnglicanBishop of New Zealand in 1841.^[8] Selwyn was criticised by the CMS for being ineffective in training and ordaining New Zealand teachers, deacons and priests—especially Māori. It would be 11 years until the first Māori deacon,Rota Waitoa, would be ordained by the Bishop atSt Paul's, Auckland, and 24 years before he ordained a Māori priest.^[33] The first Māori bishop in New Zealand's history wasFrederick Bennett, who was consecrated AnglicanBishop of Aotearoa, in 1928.^[34] The first Catholic Māori priest, FatherWiremu Te Āwhitu was ordained in 1944,^[35] and the first Māori bishop, BishopMax Mariu was ordained in 1988.^[36]

TheSisters of Mercy arrived in Auckland in 1850 and were the first order of religious sisters to come to New Zealand and began to work in health care and education.^[37] At the direction ofMary MacKillop (St Mary of the Cross), theSisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart arrived in New Zealand and established schools. In 1892,Suzanne Aubert established theSisters of Compassion—the first Catholic order established in New Zealand for women.^[38] The Anglican Church in New Zealand recognises her as a saintly person and in 1997 the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference agreed to support the "Introduction of the Cause of Suzanne Aubert", to begin the process of consideration for hercanonisation as a saint by the Catholic Church.^[39]

In 1892 theNew Zealand Church Missionary Society (NZCMS) formed in aNelson church hall and the first New Zealand missionaries were sent overseas soon after.^[40]

Although there was some hostility between Catholic and Protestants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, this declined towards the end of the 20th century.^[41]

The proportion of New Zealanders who identify as Christian is declining—accounting for around 38% of responses to the2018 census, whereas in the 1991 census it stood at around three-quarters.^[42] Christian groups are experiencing mixed trends. Anglicanism and Presbyterianism are both losing adherents at a rapid rate, while smaller Protestant groups andnon-denominational churches are growing.^[43]

"Anglican" is the largest single Christian religious affiliation in New Zealand, according to the2018 census, which recorded 314,913 adherents in New Zealand. "Roman Catholic" recorded 295,743. When all"catholic" religious affiliations are added together they total 473,145 people. By the2023 census Anglicanism had further declined relative to Catholicism.

Denominational affiliation[1][44][42]	2018		2013		2006		2001		Trend (%)
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	2001–13
Total Christian	1,793,970	38.17	1,858,977	47.65	2,027,418	54.16	2,043,843	58.92	-11.27
Christian (Not Further Defined)	310,143	6.6	216,177	5.54	186,234	4.97	192,165	5.54
Protestant (& Protestant affiliations)	846,000	17.43	1,093,065	28.01	1,286,196	34.35	1,324,353	38.17
Anglican	314,913	6.70	459,771	11.79	554,925	14.82	584,793	16.86
Presbyterian,Congregational andReformed	244,701	5.20	330,516	8.47	400,839	10.71	431,139	12.43
Methodist	72,183	1.5	102,879	2.64	121,806	3.25	120,546	3.48
Evangelical,Born Again andFundamentalist	65,283	1.38	15,381	0.39	13,836	0.37	11,016	0.32
Pentecostal	53,874	0.67	74,256	1.90	79,155	2.11	67,182	1.94
Adventist	18,510	0.39	17,085	0.44	16,191	0.43	14,868	0.43
Baptist	38,043	0.8	54,345	1.39	56,913	1.52	51,423	1.48
Brethren	14,160	0.30	18,624	0.48	19,617	0.52	20,397	0.59
Protestant (not further defined) & non denominational	9561	0.20	4,998	0.13	3,954	0.11	2,787	0.08
Salvation Army	7929	0.16	9,162	0.23	11,493	0.31	12,618	0.36
Asian Christian	5101	0.2	132	<0.01	195	0.01	195	0.01
Uniting/Union Church andEcumenical	3693	0.07	999	0.03	1,419	0.04	1,389	0.04
Lutheran	3585	0.07	3,903	0.10	4,476	0.12	4,314	0.12
Church of Christ and Associated Churches of Christ	3258	0.06	2,145	0.05	2,991	0.08	3,270	0.09
Total Māori Christian	56,157	1.19	54,180	1.36	65,550	1.75	63,597	1.83	-0.47
Rātana	43,821	0.93	40,353	1.03	50,565	1.35	48,975	1.41
Ringatū	12,336	0.26	13,272	0.34	16,419	0.44	15,291	0.44
Māori Christian (not further defined)			222	0.01	219	0.01	237	0.01
Other Māori Christian			333	0.01	360	0.01	426	0.01
Catholic (& Catholic affiliations)	473,145	10.02	492,105	12.61	508,437	13.58	485,637	14.00
Orthodox (& Orthodox affiliations)	15,450	0.29	13,806	0.35	13,194	0.35	9,576	0.28
Other Christian affiliations	82,978	1.83	63,504	1.53	66,861	1.79	62,886	1.81
Latter-day Saints	54,123	1.15	40,728	1.04	43,539	1.16	39,915	1.15
Jehovah's Witnesses	20,061	0.42	17,931	0.46	17,910	0.48	17,829	0.51
Other Christian	-	-	3,714	0.10	3,798	0.10	3,558	0.10
Total population	4,699,755		4,242,048		4,027,947		3,737,277

(Note: All figures are for the census usually resident population.
Percentages are based on number of responses rather than total population. These are nominal.
The 2011 census was cancelled due to the2011 Christchurch earthquake
In all censuses, up to four responses were collected.)

The number of Christians in New Zealand varies slightly across different parts of the country—as of the 2006 census,^{[needs update]} the number of Christians in eachterritorial authority ranged from a low of 43.7% (in Kawerau) to a high of 63.4% (in Ashburton).^[45] In general, the tendency is for rural areas, particularly in the lower South Island, to have somewhat higher numbers of Christians, and urban areas to have lower numbers—of the sixteen designatedCities of New Zealand, fifteen have a smaller proportion of Christians than the country as a whole (the exception being Invercargill).^[45] The average proportion of Christians in the sixteen cities is 50.2%.^{[45][needs update]}

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St. Patrick's (Catholic) Cathedral inAuckland

St Paul's (Anglican) Cathedral inWellington

First Church of Otago (Presbyterian) inDunedin

Catholicism, associated mostly with New Zealanders ofIrish descent, is the most evenly distributed of the three main denominations, although it still has noticeable strengths in south and centralTaranaki, on theWest Coast, and inKaikōura. It is also the largest denomination inAuckland andWellington, although not by a great extent. The territorial authorities with the highest proportion of Catholics are Kaikōura (where they are 18.4% of the total population), Westland (18.3%), and Grey (17.8%). The territorial authorities with the lowest proportion of Catholics are Tasman (8.1%), Clutha (8.7%), and Western Bay of Plenty (8.7%).^{[needs update?]}

Anglicanism, associated mostly with New Zealanders ofEnglish descent, is common in most parts of the country, but is strongest inCanterbury (the city ofChristchurch having been founded as an Anglican settlement) and on the North Island's East Coast. It is the largest denomination in most parts of rural New Zealand, the main exception being the lower South Island. Theterritorial authorities with the highest proportion of Anglicans are Gisborne (where they are 27.4% of the total population), Wairoa (27.1%), and Hurunui (24.9%). The territorial authorities with the lowest proportion of Anglicans are Invercargill (7.7%), Manukau (8.3%), and Clutha (8.5%).^{[needs update?]}

Presbyterianism, associated mostly with New Zealanders ofScottish descent, is strong in the lower South Island—the city ofDunedin was founded as a Presbyterian settlement, and many of the early settlers in the region were Scottish Presbyterians.^{[citation needed]} Elsewhere, however, Presbyterians are usually outnumbered by both Anglicans and Catholics, making Presbyterianism the most geographically concentrated of the three main denominations. The territorial authorities with the highest proportion of Presbyterians are Gore (where they are 30.9% of the total population), Clutha (30.7%), and Southland (29.8%). The territorial authorities with the lowest proportion of Presbyterians are Far North (4.4%), Kaipara (6.2%), and Wellington (6.7%).^{[needs update?]}

Pentecostalism and non-denominational churches are amongst the largest denominations according to the 2018 census. Examples of these churches are Life Church in Auckland, Curate Church in Mount Maunganui, Arise in Wellington and Harmony Church in Christchurch.

Christian organisations in New Zealand are heavily involved in community activities including education; health services; chaplaincy to prisons, rest homes and hospitals;social justice andhuman rights advocacy.^[46] Approximately 11% of New Zealand students attend Catholic schools;^[47] the Anglican Church administers a number of schools;^[48] and schools administered by members of theNew Zealand Association for Christian Schools educated 13,000 students in 2009.^[49]

Thearchitectural landscape of New Zealand has been affected by Christianity and the prominence of churches in cities, towns and the countryside attests to its historical importance in New Zealand.^[50] Notable Cathedrals include the AnglicanHoly Trinity Cathedral, Auckland,ChristChurch Cathedral, Christchurch andSaint Paul's Cathedral, Wellington and the CatholicSt Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland,Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington,Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch,St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin.^{[citation needed]}

• 
  Modernist Futuna Chapel in Wellington
• 
  The Gothic Revival façade of Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Dunedin
• 
  Holy Trinity Cathedral inParnell, Auckland
• 
  Saint Dunstan's Church, a listed building inClyde, Central Otago

TheChristian festivals ofChristmas andEaster are marked bypublic holidays in New Zealand.^[51] Christmas Day, 25 December, falls during theSouthern Hemisphere Summer allowing open aircarolling and barbecues in the sun. Nevertheless, various Northern hemisphere traditions have continued in New Zealand—including roast dinners andChristmas trees, with thepōhutukawa regarded as New Zealand's iconic Christmas tree.^[52][53]

Christian andMāori choral traditions have been blended in New Zealand to produce a distinct contribution toChristian music, including the popular hymnsWhakaria Mai and Tama Ngakau Marie.^[54][55]

New Zealand once hosted the largest Christian music festival in the Southern Hemisphere,Parachute Music Festival, however in 2014, the music festival was cancelled due to financial difficulties.^[56] Large Christian Easter events still occur. Eastercamp, a Christian youth event in South Island, draws 3500 youths from over 50 youth groups and churches.^[57]

New Zealand has many media organisations and personalities.Frank Ritchie, is a New Zealand radio broadcaster, Media Chaplain, and ordained Christian Minister who is a Sunday evening radio host onNewstalk ZB.^[58]

Rhema Media is aChristian media organisation inNew Zealand. It ownsradio networksRhema,Life FM andStar, andtelevision stationShine TV.

Christianity has never had official status as a national religion in New Zealand, and a poll in 2007 found 58% of people were opposed to official status being granted.^[59] Despite this, each sitting day of theNew Zealand Parliament opens with a Christian prayer.^[60][61] In contrast toEngland, where the Anglican Church is theofficially established church, in New Zealand theAnglican Church has no special status, although it often officiates at civic events such asAnzac Day.

Most New Zealanders consider politicians' religious beliefs to be a private matter.^[62] Many New Zealand prime ministers have been professing Christians, includingJim Bolger,David Lange,Robert Muldoon,Walter Nash,Keith Holyoake,Michael Joseph Savage andChristopher Luxon.^{[63][64][65][66][67][68]} Prime ministersHelen Clark,John Key andJacinda Ardern identified asagnostic during their time in office.^[69][70][71]

Christian political parties have never gained significant support and have often been characterised by controversy. Many of these are now defunct, such as theChristian Democrat Party, theChristian Heritage Party (which collapsed after leaderGraham Capill was convicted as a child sex offender),^[72]Destiny New Zealand,The Family Party, and theNew Zealand Pacific Party (whose leaderTaito Phillip Field was convicted on bribery and corruption charges).^[73] TheExclusive Brethren gained public notoriety during the2005 election for distributing anti-Labour pamphlets, which former National Party leaderDon Brash later admitted to knowledge of.^[74]

The two main political parties,Labour andNational, are not affiliated with any religion, although religious groups have at times played a significant role (e.g. theRātana movement and Labour^[75]). Politicians are often involved in public dialogue with religious groups.^[76][77]

• National Statement on Religious Diversity
• Religion in New Zealand
• Christmas in New Zealand

• Ahdar, Rex (2003).God and Government: The New Zealand Experience. Dunedin: University of Otago Press.
• Davidson, Allan K. (2004).Christianity in Aotearoa : a history of church and society in New Zealand (3rd ed.). Wellington: Education For Ministry.ISBN 0-476-00229-X.
• Davidson, Allan K.; Lineham, Peter J. (1989).Transplanted Christianity: Documents Illustrating Aspects of New Zealand Church History (2nd ed.). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.
• Harper, Tobia, "'Amen, Amen!'"New Zealand Journal of History (2008) 42#2 pp 133–153. Studies the impact of Christianity on New Zealand society in the 1920s
• Hoverd, William James (2008)."No Longer a Christian Country? – Religious Demographic Change in New Zealand 1966–2006"(PDF).New Zealand Sociology.23 (1). Royal Society of New Zealand. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 24 May 2010. Retrieved29 October 2009.

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• Interdenominational Christianity –Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
• New Zealand topics –Christianity Today

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