VISION MEETING SHARING NEEDS. SETTING DIRECTION. BEGINNING PLANNING. To present every person in our community mature in Christ

Transcription

1 VISION MEETING SHARING NEEDS. SETTING DIRECTION. BEGINNING PLANNING. To present every person in our community mature in Christ 1

2 VISION OUR GUIDANCE: 21 His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master s happiness! (Matthew 25:21) OUR FOCUS AREAS: WH&S (David Smith) Building (Wardens) Children and Youth (Jason, Mike, and helpers) Sundays (Bruce, David and Raymond) Evangelism, growth and finances (Bruce) OUR PLANNING: Prayerfully committed to: Repairs, Renovations and Improvements Recruitment and training Relational Sunday Services Strategically focused on Families with young children Mandarin speakers Multi- Ethnic ministry Growth Groups Mission and Evangelism Increased training in: o Welcoming o Evangelism 2

3 W H & S WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY A few years ago the St. Philip s Parish was reviewed in relation to Work Health & Safety Risk Assessment As a result of this review a Parish Risk Assessment Schedule was formulated in accordance with the Sydney Diocese Risk Safety program. The main focus of this program is to highlight and then take action to minimise the element of risk to all persons, whether parishioners or not, who use the Church property and grounds. The main risk categories are:- People Movement, Emergency Evacuation, Fire, Electrical, Hazardous Substances, Plate Glass and Noise. A number of issues were highlighted in most of the above categories requiring review and fixing. Over the last couple of years a vast majority of these highlighted issues have been attended to and resolved. However, there are still other items of concern that require attention. The current major ones are:- CHURCH (outside) The area outside the front entrance, paving & paths, is a trip hazard owing to the lifting of pavers & path areas due to the pine trees root system. Council has previously rejected an application to have the trees removed. A new application would require a Heritage professional report plus an Arborist s report. Recommendation. One option would be to remove the pavers and paths and put in wider concrete paths beside the gardens. Then place seating around the trees. ***** We would appreciate any other ideas or recommendations as the above is only one thought. CHURCH (inside): Some excess furniture, mess regularly accumulating and untidy leads in band area. Recommendation: Remove excess non- required furniture. Add power points in band area to tidy up lead situation. WMH GENERAL: Tables, Chairs and Equipment often not left in their designated areas. Recommendation: Clear signs indicating where tables, chairs & equipment are to be placed. Partitions & Table Tennis tables kept separate at north west side of hall. WMH KITCHEN: Only kitchen items to be stored in the kitchen. Recommendation: Cupboards to be de- cluttered to allow proper storage of kitchen items only. Group cooking materials, including Tea, Coffee & Biscuits etc. to be condensed into one shared supply and storage area. The kitchen servery, benches & tops of equipment to be cleaned and clear of clutter and maintained this way by each group after use. WMH REFRIGERATORS: Recommendation: Food & drink is often left in the fridge past its use by date. Constant review of items stored in the refrigerators is necessary weekly. New seals are required in the large fridge in the WMH. CHAIRS: There are many old and unsafe chairs on site, which could become a risk issue. Recommendation. Remove the old and unsafe chairs and replace as necessary. 3

4 TABLES: The old heavy tables are a potential risk for people to lift and also to fall over if not stacked correctly. Children are at risk of tables falling when playing where the tables are stored. Recommendation. GENERAL CLEAN- UP Recommendation: All heavy tables throughout the site to be removed and 10 new lightweight tables to be purchased. De- cluttering is required of all unnecessary items. Areas such as Explorers & Friday Friends rooms, old hall storage room, WMH basement & Kitchen. All clutter & items seen as unnecessary, to be removed. Each of the different groups involved in these areas need to indicate what is required to keep and store correctly. Next working bee, items found not stored will be placed on the WMH stage for members to sift through and unwanted items thrown out. CUPBOARDS: The church has many old cupboards for storage around the property which are not fixed and could easily be pulled over if children climbed on them. Some are not used but have material in them that is not required any more. Recommendation: Remove all freestanding cupboards and install fixed cupboards where required, particularly for Sunday School & Friday Friends areas. Remove metal stationary cupboards from the Office and replace with built- in cupboards to give better working space. Re- organise other cupboards, especially the north end of the WMH, to accommodate Church & outside groups using our facilities. Note: LIGHTING: We have received a Grant that includes money to install cupboards at the back of the WMH stage. Portable lighting regularly used to light outdoor areas for Youth Group on Friday nights plus other Church activities throughout the year. Recommendation: Install twin external flood lights (light switch) on northern end of WMH plus more suitable lighting (sensor) for the front of the Church to illuminate these areas. FOOTPATHS: Various footpaths in Church grounds are lifting causing a trip hazard. Yellow paint applied to highlight but not considered to be adequate. FIRE EXTINGUISHERS: BASIC PRINCIPLES: Some areas need addressing CO2 Extinguishers needed Church & WMH. We all need to be diligent about how areas are left. The five principles we need to keep in mind are :- De- clutter, Dispose, Organise, Make safe and Maintain. All groups, whether Church groups or outside groups using the Church property, have an obligation to maintain the Church property and to ensure all items and areas used are returned to their rightful place and state. Should you have ideas or recommendations about any of the above items, or even an item not mentioned, please feel free to speak to our Senior Minister or one of the Wardens. 4

5 BUILDINGS CHURCH, OLD HALL, SUNDAY SCHOOL ROOMS, WAR MEMORIAL HALL, GROUNDS, HOUSING 1. CHURCH WORKS Sub floor clearing (building spoil and rubble as well as redundant electrical cabling), ventilating, pier and footing replacement, and floor relaying. Carpeting. Painting and rendering. Repair to sagging roof over music storage area. Other ceiling repairs to crying room and entry porch. This is a heritage- listed building, as is the Rectory. These are the only two heritage buildings on the site. TIMEFRAME: Now 2. WAR MEMORIAL HALL WORKS No major building work required. Preparation required for main area as second worship area (during Church building work, and for new Mandarin Service). Grant funds received for new blinds, flooring, handrails and storage cupboards. Ongoing maintenance work necessary for drainage and other. TIMEFRAME: Now 3. SUNDAY SCHOOL ROOMS No major works required at this time, although roofing and guttering need attention in near future as will pointing of brickwork. TIMEFRAME: Mid term (1-5 years) 4. OLD HALL Serious issues with the north east foundations, as well as other issues regarding the footings and general state of walls, windows, and flooring. Need to assess viability of hall as an ongoing increasing expense, or the development of a new structure in the near future. TIMEFRAME: Long term (5-10 years) 5. GROUNDS Attention needed to several issues noted in the WH&S report: o Paths some need repair or replacement. o Fencing required for child safety. o Lighting currently assessing lighting needs for evening groups on site. o Trees continually assessing many of the trees that are old, sick or problematic in some way. Parish Council is currently in the process of establishing a working group for the development of a site master plan. This will enable us to stage required works over the next 10 years, with minimal redundant spending. 5

6 TIMEFRAME: Mid term (1-3 years) 6. CURATAGE (CLANWILLIAM STREET) Significant attention needed to this property urgently. The following are currently being considered and assessed by parish Council: o New bathroom. o New laundry with second shower. o New kitchen and flooring, with a redesigned layout. o Replacement of existing garage. o Replacement of some fencing. o Painting and re- carpeting (in near future). The expected costs of this work is over $100,000. These are urgent matters considering we currently have a young family living there. TIMEFRAME: Now 7. RECTORY Before the arrival of the new Rector, the Diocese advised our parish of recommended improvements to the existing Rectory, for its immediate and long- term use. Plans are currently before Ryde Council for the extension of the rear of the Rectory which will include: o New kitchen. o 2nd bathroom. o Separate family dining and lounge area. The design is to provide a separate living area for the Rectory family, and privacy especially for children. The expected costs are currently estimated at around $200,000. TIMEFRAME: Now plans currently under consideration with Ryde Council. Please support and pray for parish Council as they try to work under God to resolve these issues 6

7 CHILDREN AND YOUTH SUNDAYS, SPARK, WOT, SLAM, FRIDAY FRIENDS, SRE SUNDAYS: EXPLORER S, PK S, D- TEAMS During 2014 we had about 25 kids regularly attending the children s ministry on a Sunday morning and about youth attended D- Teams on a Sunday afternoon before the Sunday Night Church Service. A youth D- Team now also runs in conjunction with the English Family Service being led by our Year 13 student, James Ogilvie. A Sunday school also accompanies the Chinese Morning Service and although small in 2014 has seen strong growth in Our vision for the future is to combine the resources of this growing ministry and run a combined children s ministry for both English and Mandarin congregations at 9:30am. See Sunday ministry vision for further information. Some of the ongoing challenges for Sunday children s and youth ministry are leadership development and training, and seeing new families FRIDAY S: FRIDAY FRIENDS, SPARK, SLAM, WOT Friday Friends continues to meet each Friday morning during school terms and in 2015 there is approximately 20 kids and adults who gather together. The ongoing challenges for Friday Friends include: language/communication issues, leadership development, building and WHS issues. SPARK meets Friday afternoon s during school term and currently have contact with over 70 children and see on average about 25 children each week with a leadership team of 5 young adults. The ongoing challenges for SPARK are growing and training the leadership team, and age structure of group (K- 5). SLAM (yr6-8) and WOT (yr 9-12) meets Friday evenings during school term and we currently have contact with over 150 high school students in our community and see on average around 60 students each Friday with a leadership team of 14 young adults. Our annual Full On Summer Camp also sees on average about 60 students and a leadership team of 40 adults. The ongoing challenges for SLAM/WOT are leadership training and development, competing with coaching colleges, transitioning students into D- Teams and Sunday Services. SRE: EASTWOOD PUBLIC, EPPING BOYS, MARSDEN HIGH We continue to have the opportunity to teach Anglican Scripture in Eastwood Public across all the grades and have had a good reputation in the school for many years. The ongoing challenges to primary school scripture are making the most of the short time we have, and transitioning students to SPARK and Sunday children s ministries. High School Scripture at Epping and Marsden High School s is Protestant and supported by many churches in the area therefore has its limitations in particularly drawing students to a particular church. But having a local church presence in the school keeps the opportunity to build relationships with the students and partner with other like minded churches. 7

8 SUNDAYS 8AM, 9:30AM, 9:30AM, 11AM, 6:30PM REACHING OUR MISSION THROUGH SUNDAY SERVICES: We meet together on Sundays to worship God. When we come together, it is as an expression of our love for God and our love for each other. Together, we identify as the body of Christ as we worship through song, confession, prayer, hospitality, and the ministry of the Word. We should always remember the words of Hebrews 10:24-25 in regard to our worship: 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching. We encourage each other as the day is drawing near. For this reason, Sunday worship is so important for us as a Christian community. But the church is bigger than just us. We are a missional church, seeking to welcome brothers and sisters from all over the world, but also to welcome those seeking to know Jesus an important way of showing our love for those in our community. Each Sunday, walking through our doors there are Christians we know, Christians we don t know, and people seeking to know Jesus. And we meet to worship God together. So, for our Church community, and for the wide and diverse community of Eastwood, we must consider how we express our love for God and for each other in our worship. We must be faithful and biblical in all that we do. This is foundational for our worship. It is part of our Anglican history and our evangelical heritage. This means we are lead by God s Word in our prayers, our music, our preaching in every aspect of our service and in every way that we serve. But how do we best communicate biblical and faithful worship in this part of the world? It is worth considering if our faithful and biblical gospel- focused worship services are: 1. Relevant 2. Distinct 3. Consistent 1. RELEVANT: I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. 1 Corinthians 14:18-19 To be relevant means that we do not sell- out our Christian culture. Rather, we present the gospel in a way that also makes sense to the people in our community. This means thinking carefully about the words we use (such as our liturgies), the styles we adopt (such as our music) and the people who are joining us to worship God in our community (older, younger, families, youth, etc). We need to carefully consider the different cultures in Eastwood, the languages spoken, and other demographics such as age and stage of life, family needs and religious backgrounds. As a church, we are not seeking only to relate to Christians who are already saved. We are seeking to relate to 8

9 Christians moving into the area, to people who may have moved away from the faith, to non- believers, to people of other faiths, and to people of other cultures and other languages. To be relevant means aiming to present the truth of the Gospel in a way that speaks to ALL people in our community. However, this cannot always be achieved in a single style of service. Hence we have a need for our Sunday services to be DISTINCT: To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 Being distinct is missional. This means that we recognise that whilst it would be nice for us to have just one single worship service for all people, all ages, all stages of life it is not always practical or possible. People are at different levels of maturity in their faith. Developing distinct services helps us to have clear goals with respect to areas such as: Age based ministries (e.g. Sunday School, crèche, ) Service format (e.g. kids talk, interviews, supper and morning tea, question time ) Style (formal, informal, liturgy use, music direction, communion method ) Approach (advertising, invitational events, ministry teams ) Language and culture groups (English, easy English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, traditional, modern, etc) Knowing who we are specifically seeking to reach, as distinct Sunday service communities, enables us to deliberately develop and target our services, rather than trying to connect with everyone who happens to be in the service. Often, trying to connect with everyone can result in connecting authentically with very few. Being distinct does not mean that we leave people out, but that we simply aim, as a Church, to connect with our community through distinct worship services. In a diverse Parish like Eastwood, the distinct cultural and language needs are one of the most important areas to address. Reaching people with a non- English speaking background, for example, needs to be a high priority. And although our different services may be distinct, we also want to be distinct as a whole Church to be distinctly a church where anyone, at any service, will be welcomed with genuine gospel generosity and hospitality. Then, if our services are relevant and distinct, the final step is to seek to keep services CONSISTENT: 26What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 1 Corinthians 14:26 9

10 Being consistent provides us with order in our services. As with many things in our community these days, expectations play a large part in how people belong and connect. For example, a church where the sermons are always 20 minutes long may struggle if a sermon goes for 40 minutes. But if the church is used to 40 minute sermons, it s no problem. If people expect a 1- hour service, but the service is constantly running overtime by minutes each week, this could cause problems for people with babies and feeding times, with members who have medical concerns, or simply with people who have plans for the rest of their day. Consistency in worship provides a caring and considerate culture. Not only is this true with the length of our services, but also with the tone of the service, the use of liturgy, the style of music, the provision of children s ministry everything that makes the service distinct must also be considered in the way we show consistency in our services. Training leaders, bible readers, musicians, pray- ers, preachers, morning tea and supper helpers these areas all need consistency if we are to keep our services distinct. If we invite our friend, our family, our neighbour along can we tell them what to expect? Or will it be completely different when we turn up from one Sunday to the next? In other words, can our members be confident in being missional when it comes to our services? And as we seek to be consistent within each Sunday service, we also aim to be consistent across all services with what is basic to a loving Church a consistently warm welcome, loving pastoral care, solid biblical preaching, leading, music and prayers a church where everyone serves with a desire to do our very best for God, consistently, every week. WHAT REALLY MATTERS: We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God s people the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God s grace. Colossians 1:6 If we are to be a church of mission, we must be prepared to hold firmly to the gospel, yet love the people of our world enough to share that gospel in a way that they might come to truly know and understand God s grace as we do. Developing Sunday services which are gospel centred, but are also relevant, distinct and consistent, is a way to show our love to each other, and to the people of our world. To reach them where they are at. But at the same time, to serve each other well. Service times, languages, styles, liturgy all of these are important parts of our services as we seek to reach our mission goal. Our Church is a family. We are dynamic and organic by nature. As a community seeking to grow in maturity in Christ, we are individuals who have found an identity together in Jesus. And so we must move together. Worship on Sundays needs to reflect team thinking. We want our communities to reflect team thinking, team actions, team loving and team serving. 10

11 Therefore, the following is suggested for future Sunday services at St Philip s Anglican Church, with the aim of beginning from term 4: 8am Traditional Prayer Book (English) with some modern considerations. No children s program. 9:30am Family Service (English) for all ages, but with particular care and attention to those with young children, since this is the only English speaking service with children s programs. The children s program is combined with the new Mandarin Family service children s program. 9:30am Family Service (Mandarin) a new service, meeting in the War Memorial Hall, for those who speak Mandarin. Looking to especially connect with younger families, combining with the English service children s program (in English). 11:00am Chinese Service (Cantonese with Mandarin translation) maintaining the strong Chinese ministry in this service for Cantonese speakers, but also providing the continued translation option for Mandarin speakers. No children s program. 6:30pm Modern Evening Worship (English) continuing the existing vibrant evening service which spans across many ages, with a unique way of connecting in a modern way. No children s program. 11

12 EVANGELISM, GROWTH AND FINANCES GIVE. TRAIN. SERVE. GO OUR MISSION AND VISION: To present every person in our community mature in Christ. Prayerfully considering: Financial giving GIVE Every person matters to God. No matter how much or little we are able to give, God cares about our hearts of giving.(1 Timothy 6:18) o 4 main ways to give: Direct to church Special projects Missions Bequests Ministry training TRAIN Every person matters to God. He wants us all to grow in our faith. (2 Peter 3:18) o Every member training: Every member Evangelism Every member Welcoming o Growth Groups o External Studies PTC, DipTh, etc. o Theological College Moore, Youthworks, SMBC, etc. Serving opportunities SERVE Every person matters to God and he has gifted us all differently (1 Corinthians 12:12) o Every member serves. Outward looking hearts GO Every person matters to God. (1 Timothy 2:4) o Every ministry is an opportunity. o The Parish of Eastwood is 12,000 people who need the gospel. VISION (2020): UNDER GOD, WE DESIRE TO SEE OUR CHURCH GROW BY 8% EACH YEAR, FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS. Sundays: 492 people by % per year) 12