What is it all about?

The Residential Fellowship is a six-month full-time study programme based in Auckland for people who desire a deeper understanding of God, the world, and themselves, and who want to serve and lead in their communities with vibrant faith and wisdom.

Guided by a world-class team, Fellows are given an opportunity to explore the question: How do I live wisely in 21st-century Aotearoa, New Zealand? The Residential Fellowship provides a unique context to wrestle with this question and discover transformative and life-giving answers that enable effective engagement with the complexities of our world.

Living together, Fellows form a learning community around the table and in the classroom, held together through rhythms of prayer and worship that are central to their life together. The Fellowship cultivates personal formation and, for many, deep and long-lasting friendships.

The Fellowship is for young adults (20-30 years old) who are committed to deepening their faith, who have a capacity for leadership and service, and who have demonstrated academic ability. We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds, communities, and churches, who are committed to learning alongside others, knowing and loving God, and asking how their lives can serve Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Modular Structure

The Fellowship is organised into four modules, which hold together different curriculum elements. These include residential life, classroom teaching, Venn Summer Conference, field trips and haerenga, work placements, and time for rest and reflection.

In Module I, incoming Fellows are introduced to the goals and big questions of the programme, welcomed into the rhythms of residential life, and inducted into the learning context. New friendships are formed around the dinner table and in the classroom as the new learning community is established. In these early weeks, the four initial teaching streams address Christian doctrine, historic understandings of personhood and community, a story of the gospel in Aotearoa, and Christian rhythms and practices. These work together to unearth key questions and concerns in pursuit of the wise life.

Beginning with Venn Summer Conference, Module II builds on the learning of Module I by considering the person and work of Jesus Christ, the nature and wellbeing of the political community, and further reflection on the rhythms and practices of the Christian life. In addition, Fellows continue to grow their understanding of the relationship between Christianity and Te Tiriti o Waitangi by visiting significant sites and considering the implications for their lives both now and in the future.

Module III provides Fellows with an opportunity to reflect on their learning from Modules I and II, through both classroom teaching and hands on experience. Each Fellow spends five weeks engaged in a work placement project that is designed to develop areas of vocational interest and Fellow’s capacity for service. In the classroom, Fellows explore a theology of work and what it means for their lives.

In Module IV, Fellows return to the classroom to grapple with what it means to live wisely within their families, workplaces, churches, and communities. Fellows are encouraged to reflect on the whole learning journey, how they have grown, and what this means for serving and leading in life beyond the Residential Fellowship.

The Classroom

The classroom teaching consists of different streams within the four modules. In these streams, Fellows engage with the disciplines of theology, biblical studies, history, philosophy, political philosophy, public policy, literature, and the arts.

The teaching programme is nested within the wider setting of residential life and the rhythms and practices of the Venn community. Learning and personal formation happens within a highly relational context. The small classes of up to twelve Fellows allow for free enquiry, discussion, and creative expression. Learning is active. Fellows are encouraged to interact with teaching staff and with one another to form their own views.

The various curriculum elements help Fellows develop their own answer to the guiding question of the Fellowship: How do I live wisely in twenty-first century Aotearoa, New Zealand?

Practical Details

The Residential Fellowship runs from November through to May.

2025/26 Dates

Sunday 16 November, 2025—Friday 29 May, 2026

2026/27 Dates

Scheduled to begin mid-November 2026, dates TBC. Get in touch to register your interest.

The programme is full-time and fully residential—Fellows live together, participating wholly in the day-to-day running of the home. The programme consists of four modules plus Venn Summer Conference. Classes run from 8:30am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday. In addition, Monday and Thursday nights at the residences are reserved for hosting and evening discussions.

Several trips are also built into the Fellowship, including a retreat to start of the programme, Venn Summer Conference in early January, a haerenga to Waitangi, and a weekend retreat during Module III.

Please note, Module III ‘placements’ are decided through a process of discussion between staff, Fellows, and placement providers.

FAQs

You may have a few more questions about the Residential Fellowship. Check out the FAQs to see if they are answered there, or feel free to get in touch with us.

READ FAQS HERE >>

Application Process

The application process has three stages:

1. Written Application

Submitted online. The application form is the first step in the application process. Upon submission, a member of the Venn team will be in touch to let you know your application has been received.

2. Interview

Selected applicants will be invited for an interview. This is a good time for you to ask any questions you might have in person, and for us to find out more about you.

3. Formal Offer

Successful applicants will be offered a place on the Fellowship.

Application Timeline

We recognise that some applicants require early notice of their acceptance in order to apply for leave from work or study. To meet this need, we have two application rounds, followed by rolling applications.

Round 1 applications (closed 15 June)

Round 2 applications (closed 3 August)

Round 3 applications (closes 14 September)

We will be in touch about an interview by 19 September, and you’ll know if your application has been successful by early October if not sooner.

Rolling applications will open if space allows.

A Fellow’s Reflection

Jonny Reid is from Christchurch and works for a charitable organisation that supports youth. In 2024, Jonny graduated from the Residential Fellowship. Here, he shares some of his reflections from his time.

I had been working as an accountant for several years when it dawned on me that I needed a change. I enjoyed the collegiality and challenge of my work, yet I’d been aware of a growing desire to do something different, something that would grow my faith. But I couldn’t find anything that caught my attention enough to stir me to action. I’d already spent many years studying, so going back to tertiary study was out of the question.

In early 2021, I attended Venn Summer Conference for the first time. I’d known about Venn for many years, but was astounded at, and deeply encouraged by, the depth and quality of teaching over the week. The Venn team were hospitable and had a knack of asking questions that you couldn’t answer without first pausing to ponder your response, and so fruitful discussion abounded. I figured that if Summer Conference was a weeklong taster of what the Fellowship was like, it would tick all the boxes for me.

However, it was harder to commit than I thought. The prospect of leaving my home in Christchurch and going without an income for several months made me hesitant. I had many, many discussions with the Venn team, friends and family and agonised for 18 months over countless ‘what-if’ scenarios. Eventually, I realised everyone was saying the same thing – go! I came to see that I had a rare opportunity to step away from my career for a period to contemplate and live out my faith within a supportive community.

The Fellowship itself was a delightful combination of expectation and surprise. I expected to be challenged to think about personhood, who God is and the role of the church – and I was. However, what formed me the most were the aspects that came as a surprise. I was challenged to see my faith as more than merely intellectual, but as exquisitely and intrinsically relational. As a result, I came to see prayer in a much healthier, richer way than I had going into the Fellowship. On one occasion, while looking at Holy Week, we were asked to reflect on some questions while looking at a piece of art depicting the discussion between Jesus and Pilate, where Pilate asks “What is truth?”. I did not think I could behold a piece of art for hours, but I couldn’t take my eyes off it. My gaze was drawn to the juxtaposition and contrast of the two, one resplendent and the other bedraggled. Unexpectedly, it spoke of something deeper I couldn’t express in words.

I was also surprised at how my perspective on work changed. My Module III placement was with a local charity in Christchurch, which was quite different from the corporate hustle and bustle I was accustomed to. However, at a deeper level it allowed me to see my job as but one aspect of who we are created to be. While I knew this at a head level prior to the Fellowship, being on placement gave me the time and space to practice living it out in a way that would have been difficult to otherwise.

The beauty of residential life is that you are not alone in your journey, and you get to experience the highs and lows of life with others. You live together, you learn together, you pray together, and you serve each other, just to name but a few aspects. This is not without its challenges, but through it I saw glimpses of the kingdom in the way that we supported each other or came together as a team to accomplish a task. As someone who dislikes being vulnerable, the familiarity of residential life allowed me to share about myself and my faith in a way that I couldn’t have beforehand.

When I started, I was told that the end of the Fellowship is often the start of something new. Since finishing, I can now see how true that is. The Fellowship has equipped me to live out my faith more fully. It has given me a frame of reference that I can draw on, and a more profound understanding of what a life of faith is. I have a stronger foundation now from which I can build and grow.