Laidlaw is hosting a farewell for John and Ann Hitchen before they move to Alice Springs, Australia to live with family. We warmly invite colleagues and students of John’s, and friends of the College and Hitchen family, to join us for afternoon tea on Saturday 19 June at our Henderson Campus. Arrive from 2.00 pm, with an official farewell programme commencing at 3.00 pm. 

John has had a long association with our College. He was a student of the then Bible Training Institute in the early 1960s before taking on a pastoral role at Rutland Street Chapel in Christchurch. With his wife Ann, John served as Dean and Principal of Christian Leaders' Training College in Papua New Guinea. Returning to New Zealand in 1984, the Hitchens again served with Rutland St Chapel before John’s appointment as Dean of the Christchurch branch of BCNZ in 1987. He served as National Principal from 1990 to 1998. In recent years John has supervised students doing Postgraduate research, and he was appointed Principal Emeritus in 2019 in honour of his lifetime of service. John and Ann will be deeply missed by Laidlaw.  

All are welcome to join us as we thank, farewell, and pray for John and Ann.