Ministry Formation Team

About the Ministry Formation Team

The Ministry Formation Team supports ministry to and with people of all ages and stages across the diocese.

‘Formation’ describes the various aspects of training and education that together form people for their particular ministries as disciples of Jesus Christ and as baptised members of the Church, the Body of Christ. This formation is for all involved in ministry – whether lay or ordained.

The team is led by the diocesan Ministry Educator, The Reverend Sarah Moss, and team members coordinate specialist ministry formation in the following areas:

Lay Training
Children and Families Ministry
Intergenerational Ministry
Youth
Young Adults

The team is made up of:

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Sarah Moss - Diocesan Ministry Educator

Sarah Moss

Diocesan Ministry Educator

Sarah’s area of responsibility is the formation, training, and continuing education of laity and clergy. As part of this, she leads the Ministry Formation Team. Sarah’s interest is the integration of theology and practice; how our daily lives are formed and informed by what we believe about God, ourselves, and others. She is particularly motivated to support people as they discover how they might flourish and become ‘most fully themselves’ as followers of Christ.

Angela Blundell - Intergenerational Ministry Facilitator

Angela Blundell

Intergenerational Ministry Facilitator

Angela has a background in psychology, history, health science, and theology and has been in ministry for over 25 years with babies and parents, children, youth, young adults and older people. Angela believes Intergenerational Ministry reflects the best about being church and being Anglican. Founded on values of inclusion, participation, and faith formation in community, it is a space of grace and welcome, of mutual serving, sharing and loving together. Angela also coordinates intergenerational worship at St Mary by the Sea in Torbay where her husband Dion, is the vicar. Angela can talk with you and your leadership team and provide opportunities to connect with others on the same journey, as well as curating and creating worship resources. If you are interested in exploring intergenerational ministry, have questions or just want to chat about how you can meaningfully include different generations in your church, please get in touch.

Steph Brook - Diocesan Youth Facilitator

Steph Brook

Diocesan Youth Facilitator

Steph has a degree in youth development and over 18 years’ experience serving in mostly Anglican contexts. She loves walking with young people and their leaders as they mature and ‘own’ their Christian faith, and enjoys encouraging connections between generations and communities. She is passionate about our youth leaders being well trained and supported in their ministries and believes there is a space for the expertise of youth pastors within the dynamic of being intergenerational in our faith communities. AYM runs combined youth events such as camps, sports events and worship. We are developing leadership communities of practice for late teens to mature in faith and leadership. Steph is always keen to connect with ministry units. “Hit me up and let’s grab a coffee,” she says.

Jennifer Siew - Ministry Formation Team Administrator

Jennifer Siew

Ministry Formation Team Administrator

Coming from a legal and banking background, Jennifer has also worked in church administration and brings all this experience to her current role. Apart from providing administrative support to the team on projects as varied as Boundaries in Ministry training through to retreats, Jennifer also looks after finance – tracking budgets, invoices and payments.

Karen Spoelstra - Lay Ministry Developer

Karen Spoelstra

Lay Ministry Developer

Karen Spoelstra is passionate about empowering and equipping lay leaders in the church, wider community and workplace. She has a background in youth ministry and leadership in missional groups such as Laidlaw College, Scripture Union and TSCF. She has a Bachelor of Theology majoring in Biblical Studies. She is married to Chris with whom she enjoys going on adventures. Karen is in the process of building ‘learning communities’ of lay leaders in the areas of governance, pastoral care, worship leading and preaching. In 2023, she relaunched Stratum, our diocesan formation programme for lay leaders. All enquiries, ideas and input are most welcome!

Sarah West - Chaplain to Young Adults

Sarah West

Chaplain to Young Adults

Sarah facilitates The Community of Ordinary Saints and ADJust (Diocese of Auckland Young Anglicans for Social Justice). Sarah has a keen interest in how the contemplative and sacramental rhythms of the church are being carried into an ‘ancient new’ expression of faith, particularly for those in young adulthood. Having begun her theological studies with many questions in her late teens, Sarah’s happy place is still delving into the big questions of faith and life around a table and mugs of hot coffee. If there are any isolated young adults in your ministry unit that could use some extra support or connection across the diocesan community, Sarah would love to meet them!