The Deacon Trust vision:

• To see mental health issues better understood and catered for at community, church and fellowship levels.
  

• To educate and facilitate the church body in its ability to recognise, minister to, and take a role in the prevention of mental illness in the community.

• The Church, as a combined body, is by far the biggest not-for-profit organisation in western society. In a 2018 survey conducted by Te Raranga it was found that approximately 75,000 people attend church in Christchurch on a regular basis. With 265 churches in the City and its environs, the number of buildings and associated facilities is immense; its amenities and services reach across the city. The power of a Church working in unison was powerfully demonstrated in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquakes.

• The intention of the current education and counselling initiative is again to draw the Church together in a united front, building on the work currently being done by Church and secular organisations in the mental health environment. Its key focus is to facilitate the restoration of sound mental health in the community as a whole: the intention is to mobilise the Church to act as a vehicle for this.