Mrs Jocelyn Armstrong, KSO, of Auckland, for services to interfaith communities
Jocelyn Armstrong was General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, which linked all mainstream churches other than the Catholic Church. She led the organisation’s transformation into the Conference of Churches of New Zealand, including the Catholic Church. She was a foundational member of the Auckland Interfaith Council. She helped to maintain cohesion amongst religious leaders to prepare the inaugural National Statement on Religious Diversity published by the Human Rights Commission. She was the Honorary Executive Director of the Religious Diversity Centre, providing messaging on celebrating New Zealand’s diversity of its religious groups. She helped the Auckland Council prepare the handbook ‘Guide for Disaster Resilience for Religious Communities’. Mrs Armstrong contributed to Hui E! – Community Aotearoa, created to link thousands of communities and voluntary sector groups throughout New Zealand.