Two hundred and twenty Anglican bishops, clergy and lay people from throughout New Zealand and the Pacific are at Waitangi to thrash out the direction the church will take in the next couple of years.
Over the next three days, they will discuss its role in helping alleviate child poverty, and where it goes in its attitude towards same-sex marriage and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Anglicans.
Archbishop Philip Richardson said the synod will also decide on some concrete courses of action, such as whether to rid itself of funds earned from companies involved in fossil-fuel extraction.