Trinity Mount Barker

This Sunday will be an exciting day in the life of our church as we launch our vision for ministry for 2012 and beyond.  This doesn't necessarily mean we’re announcing plans to start anything new and different (although we are!). Rather it means that today is the day when we especially want to pause and give thanks to God for the things that he has done for us in his Son, Jesus, and also for the things that he has done amongst us in the last 12 months.

This time last year, as a church, we decided to take advantage of two new opportunities;  taking Andy Buchan on as a Minister in Training with a focus on youth and renting office space in Mount Barker.  In God’s kindness, through both these steps we’ve seen exactly the kind of fruit that we hoped and prayed for, but probably even beyond what we expected!  Our youth ministry has grown from a combined youth and young adults group to two separate groups with a need to start another group and to find a larger hall to meet in.  Our office has become a great ministry support place and is used for a Bible study or youth group five nights each week. We are really thankful to God for the generosity of his people here at Trinity, which has enabled us to take these steps in ministry together.

Of course, looking back over the last 12 months, leads us to looking forward and planning for what, under God, our ministry might look like in the next year.  The most significant new development is the launch of our Kids’ Club which is planned for Term 1 2012.  Having already mentioned something of the significant growth we’ve seen in our children’s and youth ministry thus far, I am really excited about this new opportunity to engage local kids in school years 4 – 6 with the gospel of Jesus.  The other significant step in the next 12 months is actually just a few weeks away, and that’s our Carols by Glowstick event on December 17.  Our hope and prayer is that this event will be a major point of contact for lots of people in our community with our church and with the gospel of Jesus and we look forward to seeing the fruit of this in the coming year.

Please collect a copy of the Our Vision for Ministry document on Sunday.  Please give thanks to God with us and please consider how you might partner with us as we seek the rapid spread of the message of Jesus in our region in 2012 and beyond.