If you were to peer through the windows of the Trinity Mount Barker office on a Friday night, what you find might not fit with what you expect to see in a church office! GiG (Growing in God) our youth group for school years 7 – 11 meets in the office every Friday during school term for Bible study surrounded with food, games, sport and plenty of time for relationship-building. When we started our church we ran a combined youth and young adults group, then last year we started this separate youth group. From around 6 members just over a year ago, the group has grown to over 30 kids and leaders on a Friday evening. It’s a bit hard to imagine that many people in the meeting room of the office!
We thrilled to have so many young people both within our church family and also connecting with us from outside. The topic for this term has been the Apostle Paul’s letter to Romans, so our young people aren’t just sitting back and taking it easy! Studying Romans has been a real stretch for many and has challenged these young ones to think carefully about their faith the Scriptures.
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.
School Chaplains have been in the news a bit recently because of the ongoing High Court challenge to the Commonwealth’s National School Chaplaincy Program. Around 2000 chaplains (called Christian Pastoral Support Workers in SA) are employed in state schools across the country, with many funded, at least in part, through the Federal scheme. In 2009 a survey conducted across the nation found that 98 per cent of school principals who had a chaplain in their school wanted government funding for school chaplaincy to continue.
While the outcome of the High Court challenge to the constitutionality of the Commonwealth program is still unknown, it seems to me that it would be a great pity for the work of our chaplains, particularly those in our local schools, to be overshadowed by the legal wrangling.
This weekend our youth group (years 6 - 11) has taken on the challenge of World Vision’s 40 hour famine. For 40 hours, each member has chosen something to give up, ranging from food, furniture or even technology, in an effort to raise money and help fight hunger in the world. You can imagine the commitment and dedication it takes to give one of these up!
The 40 Hour Famine funds projects that fight hunger in:
East Timor
Nepal
Cambodia
Laos
Tanzania
Kenya
and helps World Vision to respond to emergencies and other needs around the world, including the current famine relief campaign in East Africa.
These projects are working to increase reliable access to food and clean water; develop livelihoods through micro-enterprise development and training; and invest in agricultural education and development.
We would appreciate your financial support - please think about sponsoring our group. Speak to Jessica Sanders or Andy Buchan, or visit http://40hf.com/tmbyouthand donate online.
Even as we approach the first anniversary of the launch of our church, there are still new beginnings occurring! This weekend two exciting new ministries are being launched. Friday night will see the commencement of our new youth group for students in school years 6 – 11 with somewhere in the order of 15 teenagers and leaders crammed into the office for “Pizza and Prayer.” Developing our ministry to this age group has been identified as a major priority for us as a church, which is why we asked Andy Buchan to join the staff team as a Minister in Training to invest in the lives of these young members. Youth group will continue every Friday during school term. More information is available here, or you can collect a flyer with dates and other important information from the Welcome Table on Sunday.
Recently, the Trinity Mount Barker Leadership Team approved the implementation of ChildSafe as part of our commitment to creating safe environments for children and young people. We are blessed with a large number of children and youth in our church community – sometimes as many as 40% of Sunday attendees are in Crèche, Minis or Kids’ Church! If we needed a reminder of how significant this ministry is in our church, the National Church Life Survey provides it: over 70% of people who identify themselves as Christians say they became followers of Christ before 20 years of age.
Over the coming weeks the various protocols and processes of ChildSafe will be implemented across our church. Perhaps the first major step for those involved in ministry to children and youth will be the “appointment” of all volunteers to their ministry areas by the Leadership Team. People who are currently serving in these areas have been appointed in a variety of different ways, including many who have been approved for ministry with children under the Anglican system at Trinity Hills or Trinity City. Asking all these volunteers (plus staff, like me!) to go through the ChildSafe application and appointment process means everyone will be “on the same page” in terms of expectations and roles. The new appointment process includes submission of a National Police Certificate and also recommendations from two referees. All appointments of volunteers for youth and children’s ministry will need to be renewed every three years
Over at the SMH there are some great comments on sex in our culture from two great observers of our culture.
Dr Pat Weerakoon and Melinda Tankard Reist were addressing a conference in Melbourne. Dr Pat's message, as quoted by the Herald, was that "non-religious people expected the church to be fearful, ignorant, defensive, repressed and hypocritical with only one message about sex: don't do it ... while a biblical understanding of sex was deeply positive: 'do it - God made us for it.'"
Melinda Tankard Reist's comments focussed on the "pornified" world that young girls live in. She encouraged parents to take action when they see, for example, overtly sexual and offensive T-shirts for sale in shops, intended to turn young girls into sex objects.
There are a couple of really exciting things happening around Trinity that I'd like to commend to your prayers.
A number of years ago Trinity developed the Why? evangelistic course as a way of introducing people to Jesus as he is presented in the Scriptures.Why? gives participants the opportunity to work towards answers to some of life’s really significant questions; Why Jesus? Why did Jesus die? Why did he rise from the dead? Why trust the Bible? and Why Believe? Over the years, in God’s kindness, many people have come to faith in Christ as the Scriptures are opened and explained at Why?
Last Sunday saw the first of the five week Why? series run in Strathalbyn.Over 40 people came to be challenged on the question, “Why Jesus?” This Sunday (14th March) Why? continues with the question “Why did Jesus die?” and we hope that those who were challenged last week will come again and that God will being new people along.Please pray with us, that the message of Christ will ring out over the coming weeks, culminating with “Why Believe?” on Easter Day.Ask that God will bring people along to hear his message of reconciliation and forgiveness and that those people leading and taking part will commend the gospel well.Please pray also that we will be an encouragement to the other churches in Strathalbyn, particularly the Church of Christ, who are working with us in presenting Why?
Recently, the Trinity Mount Barker Leadership Team approved the implementation of ChildSafe as part of our commitment to creating safe environments for children and young people. We are blessed with a large number of children and youth in our church community – sometimes as many as 40% of Sunday attendees are in Crèche, Minis or Kids’ Church! If we needed a reminder of how significant this ministry is in our church, the National Church Life Survey provides it: over 70% of people who identify themselves as Christians say they became followers of Christ before 20 years of age.
