Jay Matenga is a Māori theologian of missions practice who is the Director of the World Evangelical Alliance’s Global Witness department and Executive Director of the Mission Commission, which sits within the Global Witness department. Jay is also the leader of Missions Interlink NZ, the association of missions and outreach organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand. Before serving missions alliances, Jay spent 15 years leading a missions agency, recruiting and caring for New Zealanders in cross-cultural service.

Prior to becoming Executive Director, Jay was a Mission Commission Associate from 2007, participating in a decade-long global research project investigating the reasons why people become involved in missions. Findings from this large multi-regional project were condensed in the 2016 book, Mission In Motion: Speaking Frankly of Mobilization (William Carey Publishing), which Jay co-authored.

Jay has studied missions practice utilising post-modern and decolonial frameworks and is developing a biblically-faithful theology for a new era of missions that is less beholden to the Eurocentric theological consensus. Drawing on his indigenous heritage, Jay believes that reciprocal mutuality is the way forward for our participation in God’s mission, which includes individuals, their families, their societies and their habitats. He is in the process of writing a book in this subject, but in the meantime his thoughts are published as blogposts on his website: jaymatenga.com. Transcripts from oral presentations and other material is also available on Jay’s website for free download in the articles section.