Divine Renovation transforms Christchurch cathedral parish

By CathNews New Zealand

August 28th, 2026

Fr Simon Eccleton (Hannah Thorne Photography/Catholic Cathedral Parish, Ōtautahi-Christchurch/Facebook)

The Mass count at St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral in Christchurch has increased by 50 per cent since 2022 and a Divine Renovation approach is being seen as a significant factor in parish renewal.

The parish in the Christchurch CBD recently added a seventh Sunday Mass, celebrated in te reo Māori. Administrator Fr Simon Eccleton said there is now little room to add further Masses to the weekend schedule, while the parish car park has also reached capacity.

Financial giving has changed, too. In the six years since the amalgamation that formed the new Cathedral parish in Christchurch, its second collection at weekend Masses increased by nearly 87 per cent over a five-year period.

The reception of the sacraments has seen a significant increase, too. In 2020, the parish recorded one catechumen and five candidates alongside 18 child baptisms. Already in 2026, the parish has recorded 12 catechumens and 11 candidates, in addition to 52 child baptisms.

Behind those numbers, however, Fr Eccleton sees something deeper.

“A big discovery for me was that all this work is absolutely and completely founded on the priest, SLT (senior leadership team), admin staff and pastoral workers being receptive to a personal conversion to Christ and his Church. This must come first,” he said.

Some years ago, Fr Eccleton began reading Divine Renovation and eventually entered coaching. He gathered a group of parishioners who shared a desire for evangelisation.

“We started to study together, to pray together and to dream together. In time, this grew into our first Senior Leadership Team. This was a seismic shift for me.”

Changing a leadership structure was one thing; changing a parish culture was another, though.

Fr Eccleton is candid that the process was slow and, for some parishioners, painful. Familiar ways of doing things carried a certain comfort, even when the parish itself was declining.

The parish began patiently communicating a new vision through articles in the Sunday newsletter, videos, homilies and conversations with small groups. The goal was not to reject what had come before, but to help people imagine where God might now be leading them.

FULL STORY

“We have never been more alive”: A Story from New Zealand (Divine Renovation)