North Rocks Community Church

Each of you should use the Gifts of God you have received to serve others,

as faithful stewards of God’s Grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

Welcome to “the Gifts of God” where we will be celebrating what God has been doing in our church; where we will be inspired by what our church is planning to do next and be encouraged to think about how we can use the gifts of God that we have received in participating in God’s mission within and through our church.

Twelve months ago we put in a huge amount of work thinking through our understanding of God’s vision for our church through the very successful “Imagining Hope” program. Through different small and large group discussions which involved nearly 100 people from the church, we discerned that God was calling us to:

Serve Families with Young Children;

Reach out to Children and Youth in our church and community;

Support those serving in regional and international mission;

Find ways of connecting with and serving our local community; and

Serving each other within the church through the ministries such as worship, pastoral care etc.

The Imagining Hope program helped us to share this vision and to see how we could all be part of God’s mission through our participation, prayers and financial commitment. And the results have been incredible. People joined in – we had 153 names on our Imagining Hope Sign-up sheet – we have added 5 new mission focused teams plus a handful of smaller action based teams all working on a stack of new ideas. Over half the goals that we imagined might happen – have happened in the last twelve months … with others still being worked on and new ideas being thought up. And the financial support has been amazing. The response to the Imagining Hope program increased our giving by $30000 – allowing us to jump in and get things done … including the hiring of our new youth pastor. There is great energy and hope here at North Rocks as the result of Imagining Hope.

I am so thankful for the generosity of all the church in bringing the things we imagined into reality but we also need to give thanks and praise to God. God has gifted our church with many blessings. I guess the question for me is … what’s next? I hope that you get excited by this brochure as we share the story of the last twelve months at NRCC – celebrate what God has been doing, be inspired by what is next and once again consider your participation and the resourcing of God mission.

Minister - North Rocks Community Church September, 2013

Intentionally connect with families with under school age

children

Connecting with Youth and Children in our

church and community

Participation in God’s purposes for the local

community

Participation in God’s purposes regionally and internationally

God is calling us to serve, support and participate with those who are doing the “Great Commission” and “Great Commandment” regionally and internationally.

God is calling us to reach out and serve those who are in our local community of North Rocks and surrounding suburbs.

God is calling us to have an intentional focus on families with under school-aged children in our church and community, and attached with our preschool and playgroup.

God is calling us to have an intentional focus on children and youth in our church and community, including those who are connected through our youth groups, Young Rocks, bible studies and Scripture in schools.

People who are part of the faith community here at North Rocks Community

God is also calling us to serve and support all who are part of our faith community, from the youngest to the oldest, of all different stages of life and faith.

People we are called to serve...

Church Ministries / Activities

Since “Imagining Hope” we have: Revamped the crèche system during morning worship - rostered by

parents and others from the congregation Specifically planned activities for the 45mins after a Preschool service

to encourage parents to stay longer . These included the Kindifarm and sausage sizzle, party games and outside parachute games.

With the help of Linda and Jen - ran a church picnic Term 1 this year which was well attended by families.

Encouraged new leaders to allow BUGZ to go back to 8 week per term

God is calling us to have an intentional focus on families with under school-aged children in our church and community, and

those attached with our Preschool and playgroup.

What’s Next?

Intentionally Connecting with Families with young Children In term 4, 2013 to put together an “information pack” to include

information about the church and activities which are appropriate for families with young children eg Preschool, playgroup, cradle roll and Preschool services - to be ready for Term 1, 2014

Create a playgroup brochure to be ready Term 3 or 4, 2013 Create a database of Preschool and church kids (after cradle roll) - to send

birthday cards. Explore how we can acknowledge the milestone achievements of starting school (eg card and stationery items). Up and running in term 4, 2013

Have a stockpile of gifts to give to newborns from the church or Preschool community - ready for term 1, 2014

Build on connections in the Preschool service Continue to plan activities for Preschool families but also focus on

developing the relationship with parents.

Run some social activities for families with young children Organise a church picnic for Term 4, 2013 or Term 1, 2014 Run a social event as a “gift” to the Preschool - eg Preschool Disco.

Intentionally connect with families with under school age children

As a church we have budgeted to invest $56,000 over the next 12 months

into families with young children

This includes a portion of our ministry staff and office administrators’ time as well as resources and funding for the proposed new initiatives.

Are you passionate about reaching out to families with young children? Would you like to invest in this mission

area? Would you like to serve in this area?

Connecting through the Preschool Services One of the ideas we had was building upon the connections we have with the Preschool services and look for ways to encourage families to stay longer so that we can build relationship with the kids and families. We have achieved this by one time using a petting zoo and other times organising some kids friendly games. It has been amazing with most families happy to hang around because their kids are having so much fun.

It might sound like a small idea, but sometimes it is the little things that count. Last year when we had the petting zoo, one of the Preschool mothers got into a friendly conversation with a church couple – and later that month when she was faced with some difficulties in life, she turned to this church couple for support. She was so grateful for the help in her time of need she is now giving back to the church, doing some volunteer work in the office. A great outcome from a simple idea.

God is calling us to have an intentional focus on children and youth in our church and community through our Friday Night programs, Young Rocks, School Scripture, youth bible studies and

our

Since “Imagining Hope” we have: Appointed a new youth pastor, Katelyn, who is supporting the amazing

group of youth leaders as they serve the kids & youth and run activities. Added five new youth leaders to our team and have given them “on the

job” training Every one of our children and youth groups have grown in numbers! Grown faith in our young people through SABS and Youth Alpha

What’s Next?

Intentionally & Strategically growing faith in our kids & youth

Continue to explore way of growing our youth bible studies, to make sure that all young people and youth leaders are being supported and encouraged in their faith.

To involve more young people in planning & leading worship

To provide support, training and opportunities for young people to develop and lead our Sunday worship services

Become a church known for its excellence in Youth Leadership Development and Training.

To build upon our existing culture of developing our young people for leadership, but to take that to the next level i.e. formal training.

To care for and support all involved in youth leadership To have our youth leaders involved in a regional youth leadership course

in Term 2, 2014 - possibility even running such a course. To encourage our young people to begin to use their leadership skills, not

only within the church, but also regionally and internationally, through such events as the National Christian Youth Convention

Connecting with Youth and Children in our church and community.

To engage more with young people in our community. To explore opportunities to connect and build relationships with young

people through Muirfield high school and other community groups.

Encourage NiteRocks to attend Church Camp in 2014. Advertise Church Camp amongst NiteRocks. Give them reasons to

attend and take to time to recognise them as a key group of the church who we want to join us on camp.

Immersion experiences for Nudge and NiteRocks. To challenge and explore faith and social

issues through immersion experiences such as homelessness in the city etc.

As a church we have budgeted to invest $71,000 over the next 12

months into the children and youth of our church and community

Imagining Hope allowed us to employ a youth pastor for 24 hours per

week. To support our huge investment in volunteer hours into this area, we are aiming to run a significant youth leadership development scheme

at a cost of $4000 as well as investing in other new initiatives.

Are you passionate about reaching out to children and youth of our church and community? Would you like to

invest in this mission area? Would you like to serve here?

Growing Faith in Young People through SABS / Youth Alpha One of the Imagining Hope goals was to intentionally and strategically grow faith in our kids and youth … and we have made this a priority. Jess Chow and a dedicated group of leaders have been running SABS (Sunday Afternoon Bible Study) for the past 12 months with an awesome bunch of kids coming along. The great thing is that most of them are now coming along to NiteRocks – and we are seeing them grow in their faith. But we wanted to go to the next level … both in numbers and growing in faith, so we decided to bring back YouthAlpha … a simple, interactive program which covers the key elements of our faith. We now have more young people coming each week and it is just awesome to see them getting excited about Jesus.

God is calling us to reach out and serve those who are in our local community of North Rocks and surrounding suburbs.

Since “Imagining Hope” we have: Participated in the Hills Relay for Life - raising over $10,000 for cancer

research as well as raising our church’s profile in the community Held a community musical evening with Rachel Collis as a way of

connecting with our community as well as raising funds for Destiny Rescue.

With the help of Linda and Jen - ran a church picnic Term 1 this year Connected with youth from other local churches through the

combined youth service “Cumberland OneHeart”

What’s Next?

To build upon our existing community focused events such as Carols by Candlelight and be strategic about sharing the good news of Jesus and our church’s activities at such events

To produce and have at our key community events a variety of different media such as banners, business cards, magnets, brochures, helium balloons etc with either information about our church or simple gospel messages.

To explore ways of supporting and/or training our church members to relationally share the love of Jesus with others in our local community - to be there in times of need and to, if the opportunity arises, share how Jesus can transform people’s lives.

Look for ways to link into existing community events to promote our church’s activities and to share the love of Jesus.

Aim is to find two events over the next twelve months - most likely the Orange Blossom Fun Run and the Hills Relay for Life.

Participating in God’s purposes for our local community

North Rocks Community Church at the Cancer for Life Relay "I have always been conscious of being involved and helping in the local community and have participated in a variety of community events over the years, whether as an organiser, a volunteer, a "barbequer" or as a sponsor of participants.

Earlier this year (11 March actually), I was informed I had prostate cancer - what a shock for someone who had always been fit and healthy. Around the same time, Jane CJ and Jan Bird were promoting the Cancer Council's Relay for Life, which coincidently was to be held 2 days before my operation - I was well aware of the Relay as our kids had previously participated and we have sponsored them and other participants in the event. I immediately decided to actually be a participant myself this year, to support and raise the profile of cancer research as a member of our Church team.

I found it to be a tremendous community event, and felt a great sense of achievement after many, many laps into the wee small hours. I enjoyed many special times and conversations with other members of our congregation and members of the local community generally (as well as it proving to be a very successful fundraiser).

Ian Harrison

As a church we are hoping to invest $25,000 yearly into reaching out and

serving our local community.

Our church has always invested in serving our community through our ministry staff’s time as well as underwriting our large community events. Our dream is to continue to find ways in which our church can continue to

build strong relationships with people & groups in our community.

Are you passionate about reaching out and serving our local community? Would you like to invest in this mission

area? Would you like to serve here?

God is calling us to serve, support and participate with those who are doing the “Great Commission” and the “Great Commandment” regionally

As a church we are hoping to invest $18,500 yearly into regional and

international mission.

Are you passionate about supporting those serving in regional or international mission? Would you like to invest in

this mission area? Would you like to serve here?

Since “Imagining Hope” we have: Boosted our church’s financial support

to those serving in mission by $3,000 to $11,000. This includes $3,000 to both the Hammond and Callisters; $2,000 to both the Parkers and Stu Brownscombe at Muirfield and $1,000 to Matt & Claire Nash.

We have reviewed our current strategy for the initiating and sending of short term missionaries - including MIST training.

Supported Matt and Claire with their preparations to go to Sri Lanka

What’s Next? To support those in our congregation who are called from our congregation to serve in mission regionally and internationally

To look for ways into improve the “breadth” of communication between all groups within the church and those who are serving in mission.

Linking missionaries prayer letters on our webpage / Facebook page Explore linking up a missionary with a youth group or bible study

group within the church Regular sharing in the bulletin or upfront in worship

To commit to running a church-based mission trip within the next 3 years

Participating in God’s purposes Regionally and Internationally

God is also calling us to serve and support all who are part of our faith community, from the youngest to the oldest, of all different

eras of life and all stages of faith.

All who are part of the faith community here at North Rocks Community Church

Since “Imagining Hope” we have: Continued to provide high quality

worship - we are thankful for all those who contribute to the creativity, learning and engagement in our worship services.

Encouraged the next generation of “NiteRockers” Purchased a new keyboard/organ for the BUPA nursing home

fortnightly church service - which the oldies are loving.

NiteRocks Since Imagining Hope, NiteRocks has struggled with

numbers but it has been exciting to see the next generation of NiteRockers coming along. For the past twelve months we have been attempting to be more strategic in our teaching and preaching … exploring

themes such as our connection with God, dealing with distractions, and deepening our biblical understanding of who Jesus is.

Morning Worship Morning worship continues to be a lively,

creative and blessed time of worship. One of the developments which has happened since

Imagining Hope has been the encouragement of more young people into the morning worship band. Once a month our band swells in numbers with extra guitars,

flutes, trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and percussions. We are excited about the possibilities opening up in worship and we pray that worship

will continue to be alive, fresh and a powerful experience of God.

Since “Imagining Hope” we have: Run a successful church wide bible study

“Anticipating Pentecost” with a number of people joining bible study groups as a result

The production of a monthly reflection sheet to help people in their personal spiritual reflections and growth

Ran prayer and bible reading workshops

What’s Next? To encourage everyone to be involved in individual Bible study, and to share in small study groups.

To prepare two more church wide studies over the next 12 months - a group/individual study for Advent and a study in the first half of 2014

To encourage wider Christian reading, and theological thinking.

To produce a list of resources and courses useful for personal growth

To explore running the UCA Lay preachers course at NRCC in 2014

Explore how we can foster deeper reflection together on tough issues perhaps over ad-hoc shared meals.

Since “Imagining Hope” we have: Invited participants from “Gospel Story Telling

Workshop” to share with our morning worship and encouraged people to consider attending a future workshop.

What’s Next? Exploring resources - book, courses and phone apps - which are useful in

sharing the good news with others.

The motto that we have in the pastoral care team is “Walking together in prayer and care” and we aim to foster that culture

within the life of the church. It has been great to see the church live out this motto in

many practical ways over the past 12 months. Whilst we would never wish crisis

or tough times to come on anyone, it is good to see the church respond with care and

compassion to those who need it.

What’s Next? Pastoral Care Goals are: 1. To be a place where new people feel welcomed, comfortable and well

informed Produce an information sheet to be given to all new comers -

updated on a monthly basis Explore the idea of holding regular new comers lunches

2. To provide more opportunities for people to develop their sense of belonging

To review the bible studies and see if we can solve the issue of some people not having a group to be part of

Encourage people to attend social events that are part of our church community

To administer a roster/serving survey to provide opportunities for all people to be part of the serving ministry of the church

3. To continue to foster a culture of prayer within the people and the church Continue to explore the most effective and helpful way of offering prayer after morning worship Trial a time of specific prayer times when the need arises Look for ways that we can encourage more prayer in the bible studies

4. To encourage the growth of Pastoral

care through bible studies 5. To show love in action through our

pastoral response during crisis care

As a church we are hoping to invest $108,500 yearly into our church’s ministry and mission

This investment helps us to grow as a community in the six core functions of the church. It covers the cost of our ministry staff and facilities as well as a larger investment in programs and initiatives

which further God’s ministry and mission through our church.

Are you passionate about our church? Would you like to invest in the way that we encourage, support, teach, pray

and love each other? Would you like to serve here?

Since “Imagining Hope” we have: Fixed the back deck at the Manse and the front

veranda of the church

Repainted the Sunday School room and the Youth Pastor’s office

Replaced the front door at the manse

What’s Next? Fixing the window frame at the bush end of the church Office improvements Exploration of new toilet options for inside church building.

Since “Imagining Hope” we have: Purchased a new projector and cordless microphone for worship Replaced file sharing server computer in the office

What’s Next? Complete revamp of church website in Term 4, 2013 Solving Wi-Fi issues in some parts of the church property

Before “Imagining Hope” we were investing $245,000 into God’s mission

and ministry at NRCC

Over the next 12 months, we hope to invest $279,000 into God’s mission and

ministry at NRCC

Families with Young Children $53,000 Children & Youth $43,000 Local Community $31,500 Regional & International $15,500 Us - The Church $102,000 Total $245,000

We have acknowledged and celebrated the gifts that God has blessed us with and how people have shared their gift to further the mission and ministry of God. We encourage you to review your investment and how you can use your gifts to serve others. This includes

Sharing your gift of enthusiasm and focus We encourage you to get behind this mission plan, to support it, pray for it, enthusiastically tell others about it. Together we can do this!

Sharing your gifts of skills, time and participation We already have many people who generously volunteer their time to the ministry and mission of our church, but some of these dreams need an extra investment of people serving in areas that they are passionate about.

Sharing your gifts of finances The reality is that ministry and mission costs money, and the increase in financial giving will increase the impact of our ministry and mission.

Families with Young Children $56,500 Children & Youth $70,500 Local Community $25,000 Regional & International $18,500 Us - The Church $108,500 Total $279,000

Peter encourages us in 1 Peter 4:10 to “use the Gifts of God you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s Grace in its various forms”. In this brochure we have celebrated what God has been doing in our church since “Imagining Hope” and we have dreamed about what God might do next in our church and community. But for this vision to become a reality we need all of us to be willing to invest the Gifts that God has given us into this vision as we serve others. We encourage you to personally reflect on the dreams and ideas in this brochure and to respond in three ways:

Attend a “Gift of God Gathering” These gatherings will be an opportunity to hear the stories and

explore our church’s vision in a relaxed and interactive environment. Come along for good food, creative sharing and inspiring vision. “Gift of God” Gatherings will be held: Wednesday 18th September 9:30-11am (Morning Tea) 7:30-9pm (Dessert) Saturday 21st September 5-7pm (Light Dinner) Sunday 22nd September NiteRocks 7-8:15pm (Dessert)

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Fill in an Affirmation of Giving” Form

To allow us to move confidently into this new era of ministry and mission, we want you to think about your giving to the church and to fill in the “Gifts of God” Affirmation of Giving Form. This is critical to us knowing what our mission budget can be. This form will only been seen by the Treasurer and church office administrators. We ask if this form can be filled in by Sunday 13th October and returned to the church office.

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Update your E-giving

If you already give to the church electronically through either direct debit or direct payment, or you would like to start, we can show you how to update your E-giving through our step-by-step instruction sheet. Available now.

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North Rocks

Community Church

132 North Rocks Road, North Rocks. www.northrocks.org.au

Phone: 02 96832586 Email: office@northrocks.org.au