Welcome to Christian World Service

Christian World Service (CWS) – seventy-six years of making sure people have water, food, and justice.

Our Work

Fund groups tackling poverty and injustice

Help people build decent livelihoods in their own communities

Respond to humanitarian emergencies

Increase people’s understanding in Aotearoa New Zealand of the challenges people face around the world

Campaign against the causes of global poverty and injustice

Who we are

Christian World Service began in December 1945 when the National Council of Churches made its first Christmas Appeal for overseas relief in post-war Greece.  CWS is the justice, aid and development agency of our partner churches:  Anglican Church of New Zealand and Polynesia, Methodist Church of New Zealand, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, Christian Churches New Zealand and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).  It supports local communities build sustainable lives and have a say in matters that affect them.  CWS assists people living in conflict zones and after disaster strikes.  CWS advocates for action on poverty, peace and justice. It respects and responds to needs, regardless of race or religion.

Our Ethos

Our starting point as a Christian agency is our faith in the God of Life.  We believe the provision and enjoyment of the basic necessities for living a decent, just and humane life is the will of God for all humankind.  We believe that a profession of faith in the God of Life, revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, requires the rejection of those conditions, structures and systems which perpetuate human hunger, poverty and injustice.  All human beings have the right to a livelihood that ensures justice, human dignity and environmental integrity.

From Partnership and Letting Go – A theological rationale for the work of CWS 

CWS Memberships