Talk:Anglican Diocese of Nelson

New Zealand's only evangelical diocese?
The page used to say that Nelson was NZ's only evangelical diocese and this was flagged with (citation needed). It is beyond doubt that Nelson is an evangelical diocese: for example:
 * “Nelson,” he says, “is unique. It is, very strongly, an evangelical diocese. We believe in Biblical orthodoxy...

but although there is some evidence to suggest it - see below -, I'm reluctant to perpetuate the page's claim that Nelson is the only NZ evangelical diocese.
 * I want to honour and affirm that. I also want to do that in a way that doesn’t isolate us. I want to be in warm communion with the other Anglican Bishops of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia – while saying, at the same time: ‘This is the truth that we hold to in this diocese.’ Bishop Derek has done this with so much grace, and I hope I can do the same.”

Quotations from the press release on his appointment, currently on the Diocesan home page at http://www.nelsonanglican.org.nz/index.aspx Ringbark 07:39, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

What an odd statement. Presumably EVERY diocese is "evangelical" in the sense that evangelisation is part of the Christian mission. But Nelson certainly has a strong culture of evangelical worship and theology, in part because of its strong historical and political links to the Dioceses of Sydney. This robust conservatism has resulted in the diocese being viewed (like Sydney) as something of a law unto itself in parts of the ACANZP; it is the only New Zealand diocese to be actively involved in the "Global South" movement, and is the home of Bishopdale, a ferociously conservative theological college. All of this is quite at odds with the fairly moderate, mainstream-to-liberal Anglicanism that tends to prevail in the ACANZP. So perhaps it is fair to say that Nelson is the only "evangelical diocese" in this sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.111.220.6 (talk) 09:52, 3 August 2008 (UTC)