Joining us at the end of Term 1 was our new Chaplain, Jordan Henare. Jordan brings a fresh, dynamic perspective to this cherished role within the Kristin community, grounded in tikanga Māori and strong Christian values.  

 

Jordan is very familiar with the school and the area, as he describes, he is a “shore boy born and raised”, growing up mainly in Murrays Bay and attending high school just down the road at Rangitoto College.   

 

Jordan’s dream had always been to become a firefighter, so once he finished his schooling, he worked in the trades to train and prepare himself to become one, whilst also working as a caregiver for children with autism. Firefighting is notoriously difficult to enter, and at the time Jordan was trying, only seven spots were available among about 2000 applicants. In a cruel twist of fate, just when he was on the cusp of being successful, he broke his back in a work accident:

 

‘I was pretty sad about that. My mum asked me, “Why did you want to become a firefighter?” and I said, “Because I like the idea of saving lives.” She suggested I could try and do that in a different way, one that doesn’t require holding a fire hose. I asked what she meant, and she had circled a degree in youth development. That's where my passion for working with young people began. I remember thinking, “This is actually awesome, working with young people rules,”’ says Jordan.

 

Halfway through completing his Bachelor of Youth Development, Jordan moved to South Auckland, where he began working in the youth justice system at a residential care facility and also as a bouncer on the side: 

 

“Bouncing was much easier; it sounds funny, but I actually used to do it to relax,” says Jordan. 

 

Part of Jordan’s role was as a transporter, taking young people who had been locked up for the highest-level of crimes to their court or medical appointments, as well as working inside the facility. After being immersed in this environment for a few years, he became frustrated with the broader picture and decided to move into policy, which he did for a few more years. 

 

 

Jordan then pivoted and began working for Hato Hone St John, first with children's first aid and then with community engagement and also as a member of the major incident support team. As part of that role, Jordan was deployed to some very serious incidents, such as the 2023 mass shooting in the Auckland CBD, as well as the Auckland Anniversary Day floods and Cyclone Gabrielle, all in the same year: 

 

“After Cyclone Gabrielle, I was sent to the East Coast where my role was to teach a whole bunch of people first aid, give them first aid kits and send them out to help as many people as possible,” says Jordan. 

 

As well as his Bachelor's Degree, Jordan also holds a Master's in Professional Practice, where he studied his chaplaincy, and is currently studying to become a priest.  

 

Last year, Jordan and his wife Tylo moved to Whangaparoa to be closer to his parents and family, and after five years with St John, he decided to look for a new opportunity:

 

“I loved helping people with St John, but I had moved away from helping young people. When I saw the Chaplain role come up here, I was really interested. The students at Kristin are the leaders of tomorrow. We could have a future Prime Minister on our campus right now, so to be working here with these students is really exciting for me,” says Jordan. 

 

Jordan has his own philosophy on how he would like to positively impact our students in his role:

 

“I am not here to implement rituals or 500-year-old traditions; I am here to support students and teach them values that they wouldn't learn elsewhere. I want to implement Christian values in a way that honours everyone's beliefs. I want to take the actual values and teachings of the Bible, all that really good stuff like ‘love thy neighbour’, ‘respect those around you’, or ‘respect the environment’, and help to implement those values here in a way that doesn’t force our kids to be Christian,” explains Jordan.

 

 

With a proud Māori heritage, Jordan, whose legal name is Hōrano, is also keen to be involved in increasing te ao Māori and tikanga Māori around the school, and is already working with the Middle School Kapa Haka group:

 

“There are a few Māori students in the group, but the majority are not, which I think is really cool. I am Māori, but when I was at school I didn’t even want to do Kapa Haka!” laughs Jordan.   

 

Outside of work and his priest training, Jordan loves acting and singing and often takes to the stage, including this July, where he is playing a kiwi in the Old Macdonald’s Farm pantomime at the Pumphouse Theatre in Takapuna. 

 

Through Performing Arts, Jordan already had previous connections with some Kristin staff members, including singing barbershop with Justin Stoddard, being in an award-winning choir directed by David Squire, and having Janelle Pitout as a teacher who also directed him in two musicals. Jordan is also passionate about sports, having played football growing up and is a keen follower of Aston Villa and Auckland FC. 

 

“Yeah, I am all over the place. I can’t dance, though!” laughs Jordan. 

 

Everyone at Kristin is thrilled to have Jordan on our team. Make sure you say kia ora if you see him around campus, or drop by the Chapel for a kōrero. 

 

From Kaleidoscope Issue 75 – Read the full magazine online here