The United Church of Tonga is a faith based Christian organisations with branches in New Zealand and Australia. The mission of the church is based on the great command to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and recruit members to His Kingdom.
Started in August 1977, the church has grown to include seven branches in New Zealand and five in Australia. The church began in Grey Lynn Auckland in response to the need for establishing a faith-based centre for the growing migrant Tongan population in Auckland. Tongans from different denominations and backgrounds came together and establish a church organization that was independent from the church structure in Tonga and that in New Zealand. While many Tongan church groups were starting to congregate together in Auckland the United Church of Tonga was the first to register in New Zealand.
The moto of the church is taken from the first verse of Psalm 23. “The Lord is my Shephard, I shall not be in want” and captures the pioneering hope shared by its founding members, many of whom did not have resident status and were the target of the dawn raids of the early 1970s.
The name of the church is the “United Church of Tonga”. The name reflects the collective nature of the organization and the fact that its founding members came from different denominations under a common banner of being an independent Tongan church in New Zealand.
The mission of the Church is to make all who choose members of His kingdom.
The United Church of Tonga is governed by a Trust board made up of Church Ministers, lay preachers and other executive officers. The United Church of Tonga Trust Board is a registered charitable trust registered with the charities commission.