Island Bay Presbyterian Church

About our Minister

 The current minister here at IBPC is Rev. Nathan Parry. He is married to Amber Parry Strong, a  research dietician and PhD student. Together they are the proud parents of a daughter called Anwyn, born Nov 2008.

 Nathan grew up in Papakura in South Auckland, attending his local Presbyterian Church from the age of 3 to 25. He studied at Auckland University for 6 years, first doing a BA in Anthropology. This raised many questions for him about faith and life, and so he continued on and did a Bachelor of Theology majoring in the New Testament through Carey Baptist College and Mt St Mary’s Catholic Seminary.

 Upon completing these degrees he felt a call to serve God as a minister, but realised that all the faith challenges to that point in his life had been purely academic. He had never stepped outside his faith community and put his beliefs into practice in the “real” world. So, he ventured off on a 3½ year OE, teaching English as a second language.

 He spent some time in the UK before moving to the Czech Republic. His last year abroad was spent teaching primary school children in Korea. On returning, his faith though greatly changed was still intact, and he felt ready to follow the call to full-time ministry. He was accepted by the Presbyterian church and in 2004 began his training in Dunedin.
 IBPC is his first calling as a minister, beginning at the end of Feb 2006.

  Nathan comes from a charismatic, evangelical background. These days he is more drawn to the Celtic church and the mystics with their quiet, reflective, community-oriented approach to God. He still has an interest in anthropology and the interface between culture and faith. He is also passionate about how the way of Jesus can challenge and enrich our at times mundane daily lives, as well as helping provide answers to pressing global issues of our age.

 On a personal level, Nathan enjoys fair trade coffee, Kiwi wine, vegetable gardening, films, tramping, board games, chatting, and reading. He is in and out of his office from Monday to Thursday, his office number is 383-8699.

 Check out a selection of his sermons here.

 For a list of Christian books he would recommend click here.