The Board of General Superintendents approved a motion in its December 2 meeting to merge the Australia Northern Pacific and Western Australia districts.

The new district's proposed name is the Australia North and West District.

The mission of the new Phase 2 district, which has a population of almost 7.5 million people, will be "to develop a network of healthy, interdependent, sustainable, holiness, local churches in the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition that make Christlike disciples throughout Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia."

The district designed a decentralised missional structure to meet the challenges of overseeing such a large area, which stretches more than 3,600 kilometres (2,240 miles) from east to west. The new structure includes distributing the traditional district superintendent's functions to a four-person superintendency team. At the unanimous request of the district's new combined leadership team, General Superintendent David A. Busic was invited to appoint those elected by the 18 members of the combined District Advisory councils.

The newly appointed leadership team is as follows:

Missional superintendent 
Bruce Allder is currently principal and lecturer in liturgy, theology, and practice at Nazarene Theological College-Brisbane (since January 1999) and district superintendent of the Western Australia District (since 2006). A graduate of the University of South Australia (1976), NTC-Brisbane (1980), Nazarene Theological Seminary (1986), and Griffith University (2006), Allder was ordained in Adelaide in January 1987. Allder served as a youth pastor in Inala and as a pastor in Springhill, Kansas, USA, and Birrong before serving as district superintendent of the Australia Southern District (1994-1999), field strategy coordinator of the Australia-New Zealand Field (1999-2010), and interim D.S. of the Australia Northern Pacific District in 2001. The son of retired Nazarene pastor George and Flo Allder, Bruce married Jacque Dudley, a teacher's aide and administration assistant at a special education unit in a public school, in 1976. The Allders are the parents of the late Belinda, Nazarene missionary to South East Asia; Timothy; and Mitchell.

Missional team facilitator
Tim Burton has served as lead pastor of Dianella Church of the Nazarene, a growing multicultural congregation in Perth, since 2006. Burton is a member of the District Advisory Board and Nazarene Youth International president for Western Australia, as well as a member of the NTC-Brisbane Board of Trustees and the National Board for the Church of the Nazarene in Australia. A 1989 graduate of NTC-Brisbane, Burton was ordained in Sydney in January 1997 after serving as an associate pastor at the Strathmore Park Church of the Nazarene in Wellington, New Zealand, and at the Capalaba Community Church of the Nazarene in Brisbane. He also pastored the Gawler Church of the Nazarene in South Australia. The son of the late New Zealand pioneer Phil Burton and his wife, Beryl, Tim is married to Aroha Winika, a nurse. The Burtons have two daughters, Rachel and Abi.

Pastor/Church coordinator
Emmy Hearn is currently a district manager and Queensland learning & development lead for Starbucks Coffee Company. She has been responsible for managing the operations of 10 stores in Queensland since 2013. Hearn's new responsibilities include strategic consulting on succession planning, leadership development, traineeships, and recruiting. A 1987 graduate of NTC-Brisbane, Hearn also studied at Macquarie University and the University of Queensland. She is married to Roland Hearn, registrar and dean of students at NTC-Brisbane and lead pastor of the NewStart RiverCity Church of the Nazarene, a church plant in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. The Hearns previously pastored churches in Biloela and Maryborough and pioneered the NewStart church in Frisco, Texas, USA. They have four children: Kaylah, Jonathan, Braden, and Tylah.

District business administrator
Steve Walsh became lead pastor of the Capalaba Community Church of the Nazarene, a growing multicultural congregation in Brisbane, in 2004. Walsh also serves as district secretary and as a member of the Missional Leadership Team of the Australia Northern Pacific District, as well as a member of the Australia National Board and the NTC-Brisbane Board of Trustees. A graduate of NTC-Brisbane (1981 and 1983) and Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary (1992), Walsh was ordained in January 1987 after serving as an associate pastor at the Wantirna Church in Melbourne and as the pastor of the Northmead church in Sydney. Walsh served as a lecturer for 12 years at NTC-Brisbane, APNTS, Melanesia Nazarene Bible College in Papua New Guinea, and in Zhejiang, China. Walsh served almost 12 years as the chairman of the APNTS Board of Trustees and four years as a member of the Global NYI Council, representing the Asia-Pacific Region. Married since 1982 to Fiona Fulton, a state government administration officer, the Walshes also pastored churches in the Philippines and Brisbane, including planting a multicultural church in Brisbane.

"We congratulate these that have been appointed and pray that the Holy Spirit will guide them as a team as we move together into the future," said John E. Moore, Australia-New Zealand field strategy coordinator.

Allder, who will be inducted as the first missional superintendent at the inaugural district assembly to be held simultaneously on 10 January in both Perth and Brisbane, will continue to serve as NTC-Brisbane principal until January 2015 or until a new principal is elected.

Regional Director Mark Louw and the Asia-Pacific Region congratulates the Australia-New Zealand Field on this move and look forward to the Kingdom impact of the days and years ahead.
--Church of the Nazarene Asia-Pacific Region