KEY POINTS:
Many within the Anglican Church are disillusioned over the appointment of foreigners ahead of "home-grown leaders" to two of its most senior posts.
The church leadership says the appointments of Canadian Victoria Matthews and American David Rice as bishops in two of the largest New Zealand dioceses - Christchurch and Waiapu respectively - came about through a thorough, democratic process and not as part of a trend.
But critics believe the selections are disaffecting both those aspiring to leadership and those in the church pews when there are strong New Zealand candidates available.
"What is it about New Zealand culture that overlooks the local with the good track record, in favour of someone who knows sweet little," says a Canterbury archdeacon, Mike Hawke.
"When you have someone coming from a completely different culture they are going to have to spend time immersing themselves in New Zealand culture and I'm not sure we have got that much time."
David Rice may have lived in New Zealand for about 13 years since moving from the United States, but he was chosen ahead of a New Zealander who had worked in the same parish for the past 20 years and was responsible for building a multimillion-dollar church, Archdeacon Hawke said.
Christchurch priest Malcolm Falloon said the issue had polarised the church.
"There are [New Zealand-born] leaders there, both liberal and conservative, who could have done the job.
I think it is a failure of the church in honouring our home-grown leaders."
The appointments of overseas-born bishops had also "raised eyebrows" among parishioners.
Having not come up through the "grass-roots" in New Zealand, it was very difficult for people like Victoria Matthews to understand the unique cultures, Mr Falloon said.
For example, foreigners asked to engage with Maori culture through the church either totally rejected it as "a distraction from the gospel" or became "sycophantic towards it".
The Archbishop of the New Zealand diocese, David Moxon, said the two bishops were selected by synods of about 200 lay people and priests in each region.
The synods would have carefully considered the implications of choosing a foreign-born option over a local.
"They must have believed the person would grow into the role, or bring something they needed," Archbishop Moxon said.
He was unconcerned about potential effects of the two appointments, saying: "I don't expect we will be [selecting foreigners] all the time".
Bishop Matthews, whose appointment has also been controversial because of her apparent support for same-sex marriages, declined to speak to the Weekend Herald.
But Bishop Rice said he now considered New Zealand to be as much his home as the United States.
"I don't think it's an indictment against the New Zealand church in any way."
PRELATES WITH ACCENTS
American David Rice has been selected as bishop to lead the Waiapu diocese, which stretches down the North Island's east coast from Tauranga to Woodville.
Canadian Victoria Matthews has been chosen to serve as bishop leading the Christchurch diocese.
The Anglican Church has 14 bishops in New Zealand and seven individual dioceses spread throughout the country.
