Justin Charles Hopkins Duckworth (born 1968) is a New Zealand Anglican bishop. Since 2012, he has been the Anglican

Bishop of Wellington ThDiocese of Wellingtonis one of the thirteen dioceses and ''hui amorangi'' (Māori bishoprics) of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The diocese covers the area between the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand up to ...

, and since 2024 he has been the senior bishop of Tikanga

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

in the

Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, formerly the Church of the Province of New Zealand, is a Anglican province, province of the Anglican Communion serving New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. Since 1992 ...

and thus one of three co-equal

primates Primates is an order of mammals, which is further divided into the strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and lorisids; and the haplorhines, which include tarsiers and simians ( monkeys and apes). Primates arose 74–63 ...

of the church.

Early life and education

Justin Duckworth was raised in

Stokes Valley Stokes Valley, a major suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in the North Island of New Zealand, lies at the edge of the city, seven kilometres northeast of the city centre. It occupies the valley of a small tributary of the Hutt River, called Sto ...

, New Zealand. His parents, Claire and Les Duckworth, separated when he was ten years old. His mother was an art teacher. Duckworth joined a Christian youth group,

Youth for Christ Youth For Christ (YFC) is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people, whose main purpose is evangelism among teenagers. It began informally in New York City in 1940, when Jack Wyrtzen held evangelical Protestant rallies for teenager ...

, as a teenager and was baptized at age 15. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Victoria University, then went on to earn advanced degrees in philosophy and theology. He also completed a master's degree in development studies at

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

Urban Vision

Duckworth worked with youth while studying. After graduating from Victoria, he married Jenny Boland, whom he had met in the Youth for Christ group. Together, they ran a home for teenage girls in Newtown, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. After seven years, they moved to Upper Cuba street in Wellington, where Duckworth engaged in street ministry, reaching out to sex workers, the homeless and other marginalized persons. The Duckworths began creating a community called Urban Vision. The community established communal homes in poor or disadvantaged parts of Wellington, where residents lived together in a cooperative model. The movement developed into a new religious communal order, a modern interpretation of the ancient monastic tradition within Christianity. The Duckworths eventually established a contemporary monastery for the Urban Vision community, Ngatiawa, located in the valley of

Reikorangi Reikorangi is a rural locality on the Kāpiti Coast in New Zealand's North Island. It is inland, behind Waikanae in the Akatarawa Valley of the Tararua Ranges. The Ngatiawa River and Reikorangi Stream both meet the Waikanae River Waika ...

, where they lived for ten years. The community holds prayer services three times a day, and shares communal meals. In 2012, there were approximately 20 people living in the monastery on a regular basis and about one thousand visitors in a year.

Ordained ministry

Duckworth was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 2005. His work was not centered on parish ministry, but on building a contemporary communal order and monastery. He did not serve as priest in a local church. His nomination as bishop in 2012 was surprising to some in the church, because his ministry was unconventional. Nevertheless, the selection was ratified by the House of Bishops and the General Synod. Duckworth was consecrated a bishopACANZP Lectionary, 2019
(p. 145) and installed on 30 June 2012. The service was held in the Anglican Cathedral in Wellington, and was attended by more than 1200 people. He succeeded

Tom Brown Tom Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Brown (satirist) (1662–1704), English satirical writer *Tom Brown (trombonist) (1888–1958), American jazz trombonist and bandleader *Tom Brown (actor) (1913–1990), American film and televi ...

, who served as the diocesean bishop in Wellington from 1998 to 2012. In 2024, Duckworth was elected senior bishop of Tikanga Pākehā and took on the title of archbishop and primate.

Personal life

The Duckworths have three grown-up children. Justin and Jenny moved to

Whanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganui is ...

in 2018, to be closer to the Anglican churches in the northern part of the diocese of Wellington. Duckworth is known for his dreadlocks, and for often traveling barefoot.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duckworth, Justin Charles Hopkins 1968 births Living people Anglican bishops of Wellington Primates of New Zealand 21st-century Anglican archbishops in New Zealand People from Lower Hutt