A BIT ABOUT US
OUR STORY
The Church in the Pacific Islands began in 1797 (LMS), and 165 years later, the Church needed reminding of its fundamental message that Jesus Christ is the only way back to God. In the 1960s, the South Pacific Evangelical Fellowship in Wetaskiwin Alberta Canada saw this need and sent out missionaries worldwide. One of the missionaries who came to the Pacific was Herb Risto. He visited Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and the Cook Islands showing Christian films. However, there were challenges on those islands. He and his wife Winifred finally settled on Russell Street Ponsonby in Auckland, New Zealand, 1966 to begin their work with Pacific Islanders. Ponsonby had a growing Pacific Island population at the time. Mr. Don Tori and Mr. Edwin Pilisi joined the Risto's to run Sunday School classes and youth group meetings. The Risto moved to a larger property at Picton Street Ponsonby, which means they could also hold Sunday Worship services. A steady number of people attended these meetings, and in 1978, these people bought land at 31 Anglesea Street Ponsonby and started building a larger worship facility.
On June 8, 1981, at a special meeting, the group's name was the Pacific Gospel Mission, and the name of the Trust Board was the Pacific Gospel Mission Trust Board (PGMTB). One of the objectives of the PGMTB is to permit the Church to use, occupy, and enjoy any land and premises held by the Trust Board as a place for the public worship of God under the direction of the Church, instruction of children and adults, and the promotion of such other religious or philanthropic purposes, or the residence of the Pastor or such other persons as the said Church may from time to time decide. On December 10, 1983, the church facility was completed and dedicated to the Lord, thanks to the generosity of members like Murare Ponini and friends such as Mr. Claude Maindonal and Owen Hinton. Pastor Edwin Pilisi led the work from the early 1980s until 2003 when he resigned. Pastor Taunga Tumu assisted him during the 1980s.
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In 2006, along with his wife Tabitha, Reverend Mata Tumu-Makara was ordained as the Pastor of the PGM Church. Rev. Tumu-Makara's academic credentials included a Diploma of Christian Studies from Pathways College of Bible and Mission, a bachelor's degree from the Bible College of New Zealand, and a Master of Theology from Laidlaw-Carey College. He wrote the Constitution of the PGM Church, Terms of Call for Minister, the Property Handbook, Safety and Protection Among Youth and Children, training materials for church membership, baptism, communion, discipleship, marriage counselling, and other Christian disciplines. Besides his church responsibilities, Rev. Mata serves in the community, including serving as the chairman of the Cook Islands Religious Advisory Council of New Zealand and sitting on various Boards. Rev. Mata and Tabitha continue to lead the PGM Church to this day.
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On May 11, 2013, the PGM Church entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to recognize the Auckland Nukuroa Enua Community as part and partial of its ministries. This recognition was emotional and well-deserved because the Nukuroa Community has supported the church. The Nukuroa Community regularly has programs at the church facility and a Cook Islands church service on the last Sunday of every month.
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Saturday, January 24, 2015, was the opening celebration of the completion of the Refectory. This project began in 2006 following the agreement by the church members to renovate the basement of the Church. Mama Ake Pavai made the first donation to this project. Among the many people who attended were eight church ministers with their churches, the three representatives of the three churches from Papeete Tahiti, and the Cook Islands Consulate General.
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PGM Church is still faithful in helping people come back to God, believers baptized, and people maturing in their relationship with Christ. PGM Church is committed to seeing many more people come back to God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to equip them to live as citizens of God in their everyday lives. Feel free to join us in one of our weekly activities, and we look forward to seeing you here.
WHAT WE BELIEVE?
Below is a snapshot of our general beliefs and how they are aligned with the Word of God (Bible or Scriptures) to show the essential fundamentals of our faith.
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The 66 books of the Bible are the written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant throughout. Every word is accurate in all the original autographs, and it is the supreme authority for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.
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The final guide to the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself.
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We affirm the existence of a triune God or one God in three distinct persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is self-existent, eternal, unchanging, omnipotent, omnipresent, holy, righteous, and loving. God created the universe from nothing and rules over all His creation sovereignly, including both human and spiritual beings.
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Jesus Christ is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is the perfect deity, and true humanity is united in one person forever.
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Jesus lived a sinless life and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men/women by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone.
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Jesus rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and people, continually makes intercession for His own.
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Humans are created in the image of God. He/she sinned by disobeying God; thus, he/she is separated from his/her Creator.
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Humans are born with a sinful nature. Our works can never merit salvation, but we receive salvation as a gift by faith in Christ. Humans are made right to God by faith in Christ and are born anew into His kingdom.
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The salvation of people is wholly a work of God's free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. Christ paid for people's sins, and therefore, God gave His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation and thereby justified them in His sight.
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The first command a believer must submit to obey is publicly identifying oneself with Christ by baptism. Baptism is an outward testimony of an inward surrender and must follow a profession of faith.
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The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and apply Christ's saving work to people. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually indwells them from the moment of spiritual birth, and seals them until the day of redemption. God's Holy Spirit works within the believer to produce Christ-like characteristics (fruits of the Spirit) and to conform each believer to the image of Christ.
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Every believer is to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us so that each believer will not fulfil the lust of the flesh but bear fruit to God's glory.
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Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, composed of all believers, living and dead, who joined Him through saving faith.
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God encourages His people to assemble regularly for worship, participation around the communion table, edification through the Scriptures, and mutual encouragement.
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At physical death, the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing.
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At physical death, the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment and condemnation.
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Jesus Christ will come again to the earth - personally, visibly, and bodily- to bring to completion God's eternal plan.
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The Lord Jesus Christ commanded all believers to proclaim the Gospel worldwide and disciple every man and woman. Each believer plays a role in reaching the world and ministering as part of the body of Christ.
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OUR VALUES
We value prayer, bible study, and preaching of the Gospel.
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We value integrity, excellence, holiness, humility, and courage and are willing to give of ourselves.
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We value unity in truth. All PGM members must agree with and accept the PGM Statement of Faith in their personal lives and ministry.
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We value different cultures and are determined to express our Christianity through our cultures.
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We value the relationship with God and are committed to being fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
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We value relationships with others and are committed to being genuine, honest, and compassionate, always recognizing that people matter to God.
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We value our ministries and are committed to always being professional, showing honesty, integrity, and good stewardship of resources, time, and gifting.
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We are committed to being dependent on the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel accurately and boldly.
How we Operate
Working together for the glory of God
Documents
Our church is in central Auckland. The minister, elders, deacons, and the members run the church following the rules laid down in the Constitution of the PGM Church. The church may call a full- or part-time minister or use lay leaders to preach and teach scripture; see the Term of Call for Ministers.
