It has been a very good year from my perspective. We managed to avoid some of the "new minsiter" pitfalls and were able to get busy building on the solid foundation of many years of good work at St John's.
I am a young person to be the minister of St John's. Sometimes people remind me of that! But mostly I feel accepted and encouraged by the overwhelming sense of committment to this church community I find in many of it's members. Hopefully what I lack in Wisdom, I make up for in Passion and Energy. More important than being accepted at St John's, I have found the staff compliment at St John's to be a passionate and committed group of people and I believe that in 2006 we really did some excellent team-building work. As a staff, with a few new people coming on board, we are ready to take on the challenges of this new year.
We are ready to begin to clarify (again - because this is an ongoing work that needs to be re-thought regularly) the Mission goals and Objectives of our church community. When we ask "Why does St John's exist?" and "Why is it situated in Central?" and "What is it that God is busy doing in and through the St John's Community?" do we know the answers? Your Society Stewards (the senior team of leaders in our church) along with staff have been doing some prayerful reflection on what words we will use to describe the kind of church we want to be. This year the conversation must spread wider across the whole of the church. We believe that every person that sees themselves as a part of St John's needs to be a part of the conversation and - most importantly - identify themselves with the Values of our community. The Leadership Team are committed to spending the first part of 2007 encouraging a broad and far-reaching conversation about the meaning of being St John's at this time in history. We need to speak about the Bible, about Poverty, Worship and Community. We need to speak about the Gospel and what it means to Follow Jesus in 2007. We (staff) have some questions for you as members of this church... and we hope that you will bring some of your questions to the conversation!
But we need to do more than just talk! Otherwise we will get caught up in nice-sounding theoritical talk that means little on it's own. The Leadership Team will be itching to move beyond this important conversation about Values, to the application phase. Let's spend the best part of 2007 asking ourselves "What is my Next Step?" Some people who have recently joined the St John's family may ask themselves "What is the Next Step in belonging to St John's?" Someone who has worshipped regularly for many years at St John's may ask themselves "What is the Next Step in my spiritual journey?"
One thing that has become increasingly clear to me is that there is no place I'd rather be. Elaine and Ruben and ???? and I are thrilled to be living in Port Elizabeth. I love working with Peter and Felicia and Violet and Atholie (and the others, of course). I think that the Society Stewards are a good team of spiritually mature members of St John's who love this church and want what's best for it. I love the work I'm doing, even in the difficult weeks. I sense that I'm at the right place - there's no church I'd rather be a part of! In short, I love being a part of St John's. I know that many of you do too! Someone mentioned to me last week that this week he will have been a members of St John's for 60 years!!!! If you love being a part of St John's, then we have something in common. And that bodes well for the coming year!
Best wishes to you and yours in this new year.
happy new year to u and family.the marshalls are expanding.i know we have done a lot in 2006 and 2007 awaits.im checking out for some new kingdoms signs.a did u know fact!9 years and timmos 40!!!!
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