ARISE Church

What ARISE Church does

ARISE Church is a multi-site Pentecostal Christian church operating 10 campuses across New Zealand, headquartered at the ARISE Centre in Petone, Lower Hutt. Founded in 2002 by Senior Pastors John and Gillian Cameron, the church serves a stated congregation of more than 10,000 members and delivers weekly worship services, Life Groups (home-based small groups), and digital engagement through its ARISE mobile app and online services. Its operational scope extends beyond worship into a portfolio of programmatic sub-brands: ARISE Care (community outreach including 31 breakfast clubs, refugee support, and emergency response), Arise Ministry Academy (a leadership-development program with a two-year full-time track and a $550 one-year online Night School, credentialed in partnership with Laidlaw College), Arise Youth (school years 9–13), Arise Young Adults (18–35), Legacy (marketplace/business leaders), Big Hearts at Christmas (annual food-box initiative in partnership with Christmas Box), and ARISE Storehouse (Porirua outreach hub).

The underlying technology stack is utilitarian rather than differentiated: a custom-built Flocks database on Google-hosted servers stores congregant records, donations, and pastoral-care interactions; Microsoft Office 365 covers productivity; Pushpay processes online giving; and Brushfire manages event registration. There is no proprietary platform, no API exposure, and no documented AI/ML capability. The church is registered under the Charities Act 2005 and is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Graeme R. Kirkwood, following a 2022 governance reset in which the founders stepped aside and an independent review (Pathfinding) and legal review (Duncan Cotterill) were commissioned. Revenue is generated almost entirely through voluntary tithes and designated giving, supplemented by Night School tuition and partnership-funded outreach; there are no disclosed financial figures.

Name

ARISE Church

Legal name

ARISE Church

Website

https://arisechurch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

ARISE Church is a multi-site Pentecostal church operating 10 campuses across New Zealand, serving over 10,000 members through weekly services, Life Groups, youth and young-adults ministries, community outreach (ARISE Care), and the Arise Ministry Academy leadership-training program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Services / Christian Church Ministry

NAICS

Religious Organizations (81311), Community Food Services (624210), Religious Organizations (8131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based Education & Formation (Seminaries, Religious Schools, Catechesis) (BPAGAJAD), Faith-Based Missions & Evangelism Organizations (Domestic & International) (BPAGAJAE), Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG)

Keywords

• Multi-site church services
• Christian worship services
• Life groups ministry
• Ministry training programs
• Community outreach programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Petone

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Tithes and Offerings: Voluntary contributions from congregation members based on biblical principle of tithing. Members give via Pushpay (debit/credit card), online banking, or during services. The church emphasizes cheerful giving and stewarding God's finances.
2. Designated Giving: Specific giving towards initiatives like ARISE Care, Big Hearts at Christmas, and other outreach programmes. Donors can direct their giving to specific causes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ARISE Church operates a multi-campus Christian church network delivering weekly worship services across 10 New Zealand campuses, complemented by Life Groups (small community groups), youth and young adult ministries, structured ministry training through Arise Ministry Academy, community outreach via ARISE Care, and business/marketplace ministry through Legacy. The church runs major annual events including The Gathering conference and Big Hearts at Christmas food box initiative, supported by digital tools including a custom Flocks database and the ARISE mobile app.

Product overview

ARISE Church operates as a multi-site church network with 10 campuses across New Zealand. The core offering consists of weekly worship services supplemented by ministries including ARISE Youth (school years 9-13), ARISE Young Adults, and Life Groups for community building. The organization runs ARISE Ministry Academy (offering The Academy and Night School programs in partnership with Laidlaw College), ARISE Care (community outreach including breakfast clubs and emergency response), Legacy (business/marketplace ministry), and The Gathering (annual conference). An ARISE App provides mobile connectivity. Big Hearts at Christmas is an annual food box initiative. The church uses Pushpay for online giving and Brushfire for event registration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ARISE Care: Community outreach ministry focusing on breakfast clubs, vulnerable women care, refugee support, emergency response, and charitable initiatives.
• Arise Ministry Academy
• Arise Youth
• Arise Young Adults
• Big Hearts at Christmas
• ARISE Storehouse
• Legacy

Products and services

• ARISE Church Sunday Worship Services Weekly worship services held across 10 campuses throughout New Zealand (Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Kapiti, Masterton, Palmerston North, Porirua, Selwyn, Wellington, Whangarei), featuring contemporary music, preaching, and children's programmes. Available to individuals, families, and the general public seeking Christian worship and community.
• ARISE App Mobile application available on iOS and Android providing congregation members and visitors with the latest ARISE Church news, updates, and information to stay connected with the church community.
• Arise Ministry Academy (The Academy and Night School) Ministry training programme consisting of The Academy (two-year full-time programme) and Night School (one-year part-time online course at $550 per person, or $900 buddy deal). Offered in partnership with Laidlaw College, students can earn Certificate in Christian Ministry or Diploma in Christian Studies. Night School provides two one-hour sessions per week covering theology, leadership and ministry practicals, and personal growth.
• Life Groups Small group gatherings held in homes throughout communities across New Zealand for Bible study, fellowship, and pastoral care. Searchable via the Life Group Finder tool, enabling participants to find a group that fits their location and life stage.
• The Gathering (Annual Conference) Annual multi-day conference event for all ages held at the ARISE Centre Wellington, featuring kids and intermediates programmes. Ticketed event managed through the Brushfire registration platform, drawing youth and intergenerational participants from across New Zealand.
• ARISE Care Community Outreach Community outreach ministry encompassing weekly breakfast clubs in low-decile schools (31 clubs serving 75,000 meals to 4,500 families), Serve Days (1,500+ annual volunteers), vulnerable women care, refugee support (86 Afghan refugees supported), emergency response, and the Big Hearts at Christmas initiative (2,500 food boxes valued at $175,000). Delivered in partnership with Red Cross New Zealand, Christmas Box, and other community organisations.
• Legacy Business and Marketplace Ministry Ministry focused on business leaders and marketplace Christians, providing quarterly events, lunches, webinars, emails, and devotional guides for stewarding faith in business across various New Zealand locations.
• Arise Youth Ministry Youth ministry for school years 9-13, featuring Friday night Wave Nights and life groups, led by National Youth Pastors Vic Bamford-Bryant and Ed Bamford-Bryant across New Zealand campuses. Includes summer camp programmes.
• Arise Young Adults Ministry Young adult ministry for ages 18-35, providing campus-based Bible studies, university campus groups, life groups, and one-on-one discipleship across New Zealand.
• Big Hearts at Christmas Annual Christmas initiative that packs and delivers food boxes ($75 worth of food per box, 2,500 boxes totalling $175,000) to families in need, run in partnership with Christmas Box across all 10 ARISE Church campuses in New Zealand.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10,000+ members across New Zealand
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• World VisioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024ARISE Church partners with World Vision in Malawi through the Area Development Programme (ADP). The church has been involved in the Lipiri ADP in Central Malawi for over 10 years and is now starting a new ADP in the Nyachipele region. Through sponsorship, the partnership aims to teach farmers new agricultural methods, build water systems, and provide training on mitigating natural disaster impacts on food security.
• Open Homes Foundation International (OHFI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with OHFI in Kolkata, India supports tuition centres in slum communities (Durgar Nargar, Dum Dum, Basanti, Sapui Para). These centres keep children safe from exploitation while parents work, providing daily meals, education, and care by teachers and social workers who also support families.
• A21coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerARISE partners with A21 to combat modern-day slavery in South East Asia, specifically Thailand and Cambodia. A21 works to reach, rescue, and restore victims of human trafficking.
• Christmas BoxcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual partnership for Big Hearts at Christmas initiative. Christmas Box works year-round with sponsors to provide food boxes containing $75 worth of food for families in need. ARISE coordinates packing and delivery through its 10 campuses across New Zealand.
• Red Cross New ZealandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Red Cross for refugee support, particularly Afghan refugees settling in New Zealand. ARISE provides welcome care packages with pantry items and household essentials. Red Cross also involved in distributing Christmas boxes and other emergency response efforts.
• Laidlaw CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner for Arise Ministry Academy. Laidlaw College is the largest interdenominational theological tertiary institute in Aotearoa New Zealand. They provide qualifications from certificate to doctoral level in theology, biblical studies, mission, ministry, counselling, and teacher education. Academy students can earn Certificate in Christian Ministry or Diploma in Christian Studies through this partnership.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Pushpay: Digital giving platform integrated with ARISE for tithes and offerings. Not a competitor but a key infrastructure partner — included as an adjacent ecosystem peer for context on ARISE's payment stack.

Direct peers

• Elevation Church: Multi-site contemporary church led by a single senior pastor across multiple physical locations, with comparable worship, teaching, and youth ministry emphasis. Similar brand-led multi-campus expansion playbook.
• Hillsong Church: Global multi-site Pentecostal/charismatic church network founded in Australia with a comparable contemporary worship, multi-campus, and leadership-development model. Closest theologically and operationally comparable peer to ARISE.
• Life.Church: One of the largest multi-site churches in the world with a strong digital infrastructure footprint (online giving, custom apps). ARISE's Flocks database and ARISE App mirror Life.Church's tech-led member engagement approach.
• North Point Ministries: Andy Stanley's multi-site church network and one of the original pioneers of the multi-site church model. Comparable operating model in scaling pastoral leadership and centralised teaching across distributed campuses.
• Saddleback Church: Large US multi-site church with extensive small-group (Life Group equivalent) ministry, community outreach, and leadership development programmes that parallel ARISE's Life Groups, ARISE Care, and Ministry Academy.

Broad incumbents

• Lakewood Church: One of the largest congregations in the US with a megachurch + multi-ministry model. Comparable scale and breadth of sub-ministries (outreach, education, youth) even though operating in a different geographic market.

Regional players

• Hope Church (New Zealand): NZ-based multi-site contemporary church network with comparable community outreach and youth programmes, operating in overlapping regions such as the North Island.
• City Impact Church: Another large New Zealand multi-site charismatic church operating in overlapping geographies. Closest direct domestic competitor for members, volunteers, and donors.
• C3 Church New Zealand: Australian-origin C3 movement with multiple NZ campuses and a comparable contemporary charismatic worship and leadership-development model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/arisechurch
• Facebookfacebook.com/ARISEchurchNZ
• Instagraminstagram.com/arisechurch
• Xx.com/arisechurch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/arise-church-nz

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ARISE Church