After a 13-year ministry at First Church, Dunedin, as senior minister, Rev Dr Tokerau Joseph returned with his family to Auckland, where he was raised, to be our Minister for Mairangi Bay Presbyterian Church.
Rev Joseph has now been the Minister at Mairangi and Castor Bay Presbyterian Church, for the last 10 year.
Dr Joseph was born in Rarotonga.
His parents were Otiikore Joseph from Manihiki and Joyce Joseph from Rakahanga (Nee Henderson—related to Malcolm and Raewyn of our parish).
He came with his family to New Zealand in 1969, living in Grey Lynn, then South Auckland, before moving to Dunedin to train and then serve as a Minister.
His PhD research was on exploration of ethnic relations in the congregations of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand.
His research found that, although churches often profess to represent a range of ethnicities and cultures, that is rarely the case.
He suspects this is because it simply requires less effort to be with a familiar cultural group. Mairangi-Castor Bays Presbyterian will continue to extend our horizons!
