vision

AMP 2018/19 – Get Involved! Step 3: Get in the Know!

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This weekend we are releasing our Annual Meeting of Parishioners Report for 2018/19. Thus we humbly introduce to you:

Step 3: Get in the Know!

Inside the Report you will discover a collection of submissions from our Ministry Team Leaders (MTLs) and church leadership sharing their reflections of 2018 and their ministry goals for 2019. (If you would like a copy please get in touch with the church office here.)

Did you know…?

The who, what, when, where, why and how of our many ministries here at St Nic’s Minster? You’ll find some amazing facts and information about our community life in this report. Read it – and get in the know!

FYI the only thing you won’t find in the report is the financials (income, expenditure and budget stuff) – they can only be done at the end of the year so they will be released separately in time for Part 2 (Finances & Budget) of the AMP Feb 24th 2019.

Hang a sec, I have a question…?

We like questions- they’re great for learning stuff! Unanswered questions are not so great. That’s why we love it if you submit your questions before the AMP. That way we can ensure your question gets answered. And who knows? Maybe someone else would really benefit from hearing your question answered!

So please, if possible, submit your questions by Nov 22nd!

Stay tuned for Step 4: Get in on the Action!

1 minute prayer

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This week I thought I would share with you a quick and easy 1 minute prayer based on our vision framework for our community life here at St Nic’s.

Lord,
Clothe me with the power of Your Holy Spirit so that today I may
Bless abundantly in Your Name,
Belong wholeheartedly to the Body of Christ,
Believe increasingly in Your Word,
Behave with integrity for Your sake, and
Become Good News for Your glory.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

How will you follow Jesus in 2018?

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As we prepare to begin another year it is a good time to reflect. I am asking some  questions . What kind of community are we going to be? What kind of community does God see us becoming?

We are a gathered community of people who meet on Sundays and in small groups through the week. We are gathered because of Jesus and many of us would say we are His disciples. How then should we live? How do we follow Him?  How do we love one another well? What does that look like? How do we handle conflict well? What does it mean to be people walking in step with His Spirit?

We have articulated some thoughts on this already:

We are a community growing in being a blessing. We understand that God has so richly blessed us and invites us to offer blessing wherever we find ourselves.

We understand that belonging to a community is good for all of us as God says many times in scripture and secular psychologists now articulate clearly. Belonging allows for blessings to flow in many directions.

What we believe about ourselves influences our actions ( Behave) I am loved by God therefore I don’t have to perform to win his approval, for example. I work from grace not work for grace.

As we live this out day by day we are becoming, God willing, the human God intended and the community that brings Him glory.

Are you someone determined to follow Jesus in 2018 in this community? I am.

Shalom Jamie

We are the Body of Christ

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This week we are celebrating our life together and giving thanks to God for all the blessings he brings to us through our shared life in community. As part of that we have the opportunity to bring an additional offering for specific projects that the parish council believes we should progress. We have had the opportunity to reflect on our giving over the next year. To what are we giving regularly? After our service we will be hearing about some of the different aspects of our ministry and life together including diocesan changes in legislation, leadership development, our children’s ministry and future hopes for youth ministry, our site development for mission, our op shop ministry and other aspects of our Mission Action Plan.

All of this flows from one simple premise. God loves us and through Jesus is inviting everyone to be reconciled to Him, one another and to creation. We are called to be a community that reflects God and His love. We are known as the body of Christ, we are his hands and feet in Australind along with the other local churches.

As Paul wrote to the Corinthians

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  2 Cor 5: 17-20

Shalom

Jamie

Check out our new Historic Church Page

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Here at St Nicholas part of our vision is to Bless.  One such potential blessing is our Historic Church.  In the past it has been a great blessing to many in their pathway to faith – Baptisms, dedications, confirmations, weddings and in our communion together.  In the future we hope and pray this will again be the case.  I have noticed that on the internet there is not a huge amount of information published surrounding our wonderful historic church – therefore an additional page has been added to our website here: https://www.stnicholasaustralind.org.au/historic-church/ it is under our ABOUT menu. 

 

The information has been reproduced from Maidee Smith’s extensive research and writings, but like all local history is a constant work in progress as we are always in a moment of history.  If you have anything that would add value to the page – information or photograph please email it to stnicholasminster@gmail.com or I can help you scan it.  I pray that the Historic Church Page will be a blessing to tourists and those researching our area, that by coming to our website they may see the community that we have built together and in turn seek their own pathway to Faith in Jesus. 

Blessings

Karen

Parish Council Planning and Progress – Seeking God's Face

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Last Saturday the Parish Council met to review our planning and progress over the past year and to consider next steps in our ministry together. Suzanne Saunders and I prepared an action plan review based on our planning from last year which addressed  all elements of our life together . It was an encouraging process  as we noted positive progress in so many areas.

We considered our context for mission and noted that we were perfectly aligned to the diocesan vision for mission which is

To see each of our Parishes and Anglican Communities transformed into ministering communities in Mission, where every member is valued and recognises that by virtue of their baptism, they have an important ministry to perform as a part of the Body of Christ, the Church.

To see each of our Parishes and Anglican Communities develop strategies that will enable the Holy Spirit to empower them to engage more effectively in the mission and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ: and so aid the growth of His Church and people throughout the Diocese.

The overall framework for our discussion was Mission. The areas we reviewed were Seeking God’s Face in prayer, leadership development, our current church community and pastoral care and nurture, preparing our church to welcome new members, small multiplying groups, youth ministry, children’s ministry, Sunday services, Safe church, ministry beyond our home base, communication within and without the parish, pathways in faith including baptism, dedication and confirmation, worship team development. Over the past year we have worked steadily on developing our admin including establishing a personnel committee, a site management team and clear job descriptions for both paid and volunteer positions and an annual review process.  With recent developments in our diocese we have also identified a need to inform and educate our church members so that we have a good understanding of our Anglican structures and wider governance such as synod, statutes and the roles of bishop, clergy and parish councils.

We finished our morning together considering how we might use our site missionally including the future use of the historic church building and the rectory.

Thank you for praying for the day as noted in our July Focus. I believe the fruitful and positive experience together was the fruit of this prayer cover.  We are considering how we might better communicate some of these things to the parish on a more regular basis. If you have any suggestions please speak to Suzanne Saunders or Karen Dennison in the first instance. We already have some ideas! Lastly thank you to the Parish Council for giving up time to meet, to pray and to plan together.

Shalom

Jamie

Our Church Framework – Belong

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The next part of our framework for community is Belong.  We experience a sense of growing Belonging in God’s family through small groups, Sunday gatherings and many social and service opportunities.  We want to invite people into our lives together as they explore trust in Jesus.  We recognise this is a process for all of us.

The Good News is that through Jesus, God invites each person to be reconciled to Him and to be adopted into His family.  In His family we share new relationships with others.  We want to welcome all who are interested in exploring this Good News.