action plan

Do you know how to give your life fully to God?

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This Sunday is a combined service as we are going to be gathering afterwards for our Annual Meeting of Parishioners. If you are a voting parishioner and did not vote last week please make it a priority immediately after the service. Voting must be completed before the start of the AMP which is scheduled for 10:45 am

One of the items for prayer in our monthly Focus has been that people would discover their purpose and sense of place within our community and beyond. The teachings of the bible make it clear that as we follow Jesus individually we do so in community. Communities function like a body, different parts with differing roles and yet working together for a greater expression of life in all its fullness. This life is one of seasons and so we pick up and lay down differing roles within the community as we travel together. That is healthy and allows for rest and restoration as well as fresh energy for new challenges.

I am grateful that so many of you offer yourselves in differing forms of service. Our AMP report gives a flavor of this. As we consider our new Parish Council it is worth noting with thanks the contributions of those who have served over the past year. Trevor, Margaret, Kerry, Chris and Ian are not nominating for council this year and so we thank you for all that you brought in 2017. Debbie, Joe, Alf, Cathie and Suzanne thank you for last year and being willing to nominate for this year.

We took time on October 29th to go through our Vision for the next season with a number of speakers contributing and explaining what is happening.  Most of this stands. We covered Anglican governance including the new statutory guidance; Mission Action Planning and published our review; reflected again on the centrality of prayer to everything we are doing-seeking God’s face-we heard about Godly Play and the possibility of developing our community life on Wednesday evenings.

Closely related to seeking God’s face, we are called to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and from that heart give ourselves fully to God’s purposes for our lives. Will you do so this year? Do you know how to discern this? Come and talk to me if you are unsure.

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

How we give

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Obviously there are many ways Christians can give, however when it comes to our mission and action plans there are two major ways these are funded.

Thanksgiving

It has become part of the St Nicholas culture over the years to take up a one off additional offering usually linked to specific projects requiring funding. Last year through the generosity of our community we were able to fund the new crèche room , the new awnings outside and some additional resources for our children’s ministry. This year the Parish Council have asked that we bring our thanksgiving offering to help fund the renovation of the historic church and provide some funds towards the railings that we are now in discussion with the Shire about. We need around $25 K for this. We will speak of why we think it is worth doing this at the info/vision meeting next week. It links with all our thinking about developing our site for mission. Any funds beyond  $25k will be allocated to the beginning of a rectory/ site  development fund and  resourcing youth interns.  The thanksgiving envelope (given in last weeks church service) was provided for you to either place a cheque or cash  or a pledge that will be given through direct transfer. These can be given on the 29th or over the next 2 weeks.

Proportional Giving Forms

These are provided to assist you in prayerfully considering your ongoing giving over the next year. There is no obligation or expectation for you to return the form. That was purely to assist you in your own thinking and commitment.  However like all Anglican parishes we are essentially self funding and our financial resources are directed to enabling our local mission and purpose including ministry at All Saint’s.  Currently we cannot appeal to National Australia or beyond for financial assistance in this!

Vision and information October 29th following a single service at 9 am 

Suzanne, myself and several others will be sharing information regarding changes in Anglican governance and our vision for ministry and community life over the next year. Please do come and take part in this time together. There will be opportunities for questions and discussion.  We are blessed to have good things to talk about and the freedom to be witnesses for Jesus in this place.

Shalom Jamie

Mission and Action

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Churches share a lot of similarities with all living things, one of which is movement and change. This week I will briefly  address two items from our Mission Action Plan ( see last week’s newsletter/blog hard copies available in church building for reading) both of which demonstrate this living dynamic community we call church.

Using our site for mission

Followers of Jesus have been meeting in or around our current location for some time. The Congregationalists were first to use what we call the historic church in the 19th century. After  varied  use, including a place to dry possum skins, the Anglican church took it on in 1914. Running forward to the sixties Australind was linked into a wide geographical parish from Carey Park , Eaton, Picton and here. Eventually with a growing congregation St Nicholas became a parish in its own right, a new building was proposed , a rectory was built with the garage serving as a communal hall, an op shop was transported over from St Elizabeth’s Carey park . Further developments of life and community occurred and further building occurred leaving us with our current site plant.

Once again we are in a time of change. Over the course of the year the Parish Council has been exploring mission options for our site. We believe the historic church can be used missionally as a source of blessing to our wider community. It can be a point of reference and interaction. We can invite our schools and wider community to explore the social history represented through the building and through this our faith in Jesus. It can be a place of prayer and blessing.

The Parish Council has spent time considering how to use the rectory in response to several factors. The Murray’s personal circumstances have changed which raised the possibility of us moving out of the rectory. Following discussion with the Council and archdeacon, I can now tell you that God Willing this will happen in the later part of 2018.  This is in alignment with the diocese who, finances permitting, are working towards clergy no longer being onsite. This policy change has come about due to new licensing rules for clergy and governance around Safe Church as well as the changing communication and shapes of ministry. Furthermore we have to plan for future growth. We already have a need for more space for our children’s ministry and future ministries. This allows us several options to explore.

Understanding Anglican governance: synod and parish council

Synod 2017 was a grace filled gathering full of movement and change.  Decisions made have given us a new clarity and basis for mission and ministry. ( I will publish a separate summary of key changes in legislation, full copies are available on the diocesan website)  This will directly affect our Annual Meeting of Parishioners and the process of electing our Parish Council as well as the oversight of all our ministries. It is important that we learn about this part of our shared life together, especially our younger families and new or already Christians joining us from other traditions. Learning about these things is one part of our Action Plan for the next year. However it is new for us all and part of the journey we share together across the diocese in community with one another and Jesus.

Shalom

Jamie