Ministers Desk 29th September 2013

Decision making takes place in many places in the life of our congregation.  Church Council is not the only group through which power, authority and leadership are exercised.  Decisions are made by the congregation as a whole and also leadership teams of groups, committees and individuals.  This proposal does not affect any of these groups or individuals and their ongoing mission. 

 

The proposal is directed toward the way Church Council operates.  Currently a group of 14 people meet monthly to make decisions that affect the whole congregation.  Their decision making is long term, medium term and short term.  Problems arise from this.  Many people find it difficult to think of both long term strategy and short term management.  Some need detail and specificity, others prefer concepts and ideas.  There is also the problem that the immediate and urgent crowds out longer term considerations.  Therefore it is proposed that the Church Council effectively be divided into two groups.  A Church Council to focus on spiritual oversight and a Ministry Coordination Team to concentrate on short term management.  The intention is to allow people to serve in leadership according to their gifts, personality and passion and for both of these important aspects of congregation life to be given proper attention. 

 

The proposed Church Council will consist entirely of Elders.  The Chair, Secretary and Treasurer will be Elders, but will be directly elected by the congregation into these roles.  As has been our past practice, the Chair and Secretary of Church Council will also be Chair and Secretary of the congregation.  The Ministry Coordination Team will consist of Team Leaders who head up areas of congregation life.  As it now stands this Team would consist of the Ministry Team (3 positions, including the current vacancy) and Team Leaders for Exalt, Explore, Pastoral Care, Group and Community Life and Strategic Mapping.  In addition there are vacant positions for Team Leaders for Embody, Engage and Support and Resources who would also be part of the Ministry Coordination Team. 

 

The separate Elders and Church Council meetings will no longer occur.  The Elders currently meet monthly, with every second meeting dedicated to prayer for the life of the congregation.  The alternate meeting involves the Elders reviewing the life of the congregation.  The Elders have no decision making authority.  They act solely as a group of wise, insightful, Spirit filled leaders with a passion to see God’s church at Emmanuel thrive. 

 

Whilst I talk about power and decision making, ultimately the head of the church is Jesus Christ.  Colossians 1:18 says, “Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body.

He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead.  So he is first in everything.”  All that we do is at the inspiration of his Spirit and is for the glory of God.  Leadership and governance in the church is not about accumulating power and imposing our way on things.  It is exercised by prayerful discernment, minds transformed by the Holy Spirit, humble and obedient hearts and people who are committed to constantly grow in their discipleship. 

 

Grace and peace

 

David Fender

Ministers Desk 22nd September 2013

The call of discipleship is to follow Jesus with all that we are and have.  This includes our money.  In fact it is often hardest for people to follow Jesus with their money.  That’s why Jesus spoke about money more than he spoke about any other issue.  We speak about money a lot less than Jesus.  But once a year we take time in our church to reconsider our financial discipleship.  That time is now.  We each are being asked to reconsider how much we invest in the work of God through this congregation.  In doing this I ask you to prayerfully consider your financial investment in the work of God through this congregation.  As you do this consider the following biblical principles about giving.

 

1.      Give first to God.  Constantly, in everything we are called to give to God our first and our best.  Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God first above all others.  In the Old Testament the Israelites were commanded to give the first and best of their flocks and crops as an offering.  Giving first to God ensures that we don’t short change God by meeting our own needs first and then giving God what’s left over.

2.      Give as a proportion of your income.  In the New Testament Paul writes about the principle of proportionate giving.  In the Old Testament God indicates that he sees a tenth (a tithe) of our income is a suitable amount.  If you are not yet giving a tithe, the step up chart included in your stewardship letter may help.  It could be a big step from giving the proportion that you’re giving now to giving 10%.  To make the transition use the chart to identify the proportion you’re giving now and then add 1% to that for this year.  Then next year you can repeat the process, until you reach 10%.

3.      If you are not yet using direct debit, consider the use of that.  Direct debit allows us to constantly honour God with our giving, not just on those Sundays when we attend and give.  It is beneficial to our Treasurer in guaranteeing a steady income stream from which to budget and meet payments.  It reduces the work load and reduces the personal safety risk of those who count and bank the cash offerings each week.

4.      After you have considered the amount of your pledge record this on the pledge form included with your stewardship letter and return to the church by Sunday 29 September.  A high rate of return of these forms gives our Treasurer an accurate indication of income for the coming year so that he can frame our budget.  This is good and wise stewardship, because our expenditure is dependent on our income.

5.      Honour God by giving to him, through Emmanuel Uniting, with joy and thankfulness.  Giving our tithes and offerings is a further way in which we praise God and respond to his blessings in our lives.  In the same way that we get joy out of giving presents to others, we should get pleasure from giving our tithes and offerings.  The pleasure of honouring God, the joy of expressing our love and the delight of knowing that we have given a tangible sign of our love for the one who has loved us completely.

 

Please continue to invest in the work of God’s church, Emmanuel, through your tithes and offerings. 

 

Grace and peace

 

David Fender

 

Ministers Desk 15th September 2013

Deuteronomy 14:22-27 gives the Israelites instructions regarding the giving of the tithe (the 10% offering of their income).  In giving this instruction God realises that it might be difficult for them to transport their tithe, which would have consisted of grain, oil and livestock, from their home to the Temple because they had be blessed with a large crop.  So God gives an alternative to transporting the physical tithe.  He instructs that they may convert their crop into money. 

 

As I was praying and reflecting about stewardship this passage stuck out for me.  We would never think of bringing our livestock or crops to church and offering that as an offering.  (By the way, if you do think this, please don’t act on it, I don’t want to look after any animals).  We have moved beyond that type of agricultural society.  Money is now the primary means by which we engage in financial transactions.  I also thought that for many of us the use of cash is becoming less common.  The rise of EFTPOS, internet banking and apps on our smartphones means that we use cash less in our daily lives. 

 

The instruction in Deuteronomy is a recognition that practical necessities impact on our worship of God.  For a number of years the church has been able to offer the use of direct debit facilities for our tithes and offerings.  This is a reflection that our society is becoming less cash based and that often it can be an inconvenience to have cash available on Sunday.  Direct debit also acknowledges that for some in our congregation a tithe of their income is a substantial amount of money.  Incomes have risen the principle of proportionate giving means that our actual offering has also risen.  We don’t normally make large financial transactions in cash. 

 

Direct debits are also convenient for the volunteers in our church who handle money.  After each service a dwindling number of people count the cash offering.  Early in the week another volunteer counts the total offering and banks it.  There is an expense of time in this and a security risk in storing and transporting this money.  Direct debits are done electronically and reduce the weekly workload of our volunteers.

 

Already about 50% of our congregation give through direct debit.  This year as you think about your stewardship pledge, please consider the use of direct debit.  Wendy and I have used this for years and find it a practical response to God’s goodness in our lives.  In the stewardship letter you received is a direct debit request form.  The front page explains more about how it works.  In addition please speak to Barry Jardine (3353 4551) for more information. 

 

Some people maintain the practice of placing cash in the offering bag because they believe in the spiritual practice of making their offering during worship.  Whatever we offer to God, whether it be time, talent or treasure is holy only because of our relationship with God and our willingness to acknowledge his lordship over our lives and to respond to his grace.  When our heart is in the right place with God our offerings are a spiritual act of worship whether they take place physically in a worship service or electronically across the internet.

 

Grace and peace

David Fender

Ministers Desk 8th September 2013

One of our congregation’s Core Values is Fervent Prayer.  Here we say that “we value praying together and individually, recognising prayer as essential to life and our relationship with God.”  Paul writes in Colossians 4:2 “keep on praying and guard your prayers with thanksgiving.”  In stating that this is a core value we state that we value a life filled with prayer in which we communicate with God.  But the fervent adjective tells us that this life of prayer is marked by intensity and great zeal.

 

Fervent prayer is not necessarily characterised by any physical signs, such as speaking out loud or the volume of prayer or even physical posture.  Fervent prayer can be silent or aloud, offered standing, sitting or kneeling.  These considerations do not matter.  Rather, fervent prayer is putting our whole self, all of our attention, our mind, our will and our emotions on God. 

 

As we do that we remind ourselves of the heart and character of God.  In Matthew 15:22-28 the Canaanite woman desperately wanted her daughter to be delivered from demon possession.  When Jesus refused her request she still persisted in asking, because she understood the heart and character of Jesus.  In response Jesus healed her daughter and commended her saying “woman, you have great faith.”  Fervent prayer is faith-filled prayer.

 

Fervent prayer also seeks to put ourselves in the will of God.  It doesn’t seek to manipulate God.  On the night on which Jesus was betrayed Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed fervently.  The result was that when the time came for him to be arrested, tried and executed he was able to do this with courage and conviction.  On the other hand, the disciples who had slept ran away at the first sign of trouble.  They faced these troubles in their own strength and from their own perspective, Jesus faced them in God’s strength and understanding.

 

On Monday night the Elders considered this core value and where it is active in our congregation.  We recognised that in many instances it is something that is not directly observable, since it takes place privately in people’s homes.  However, through comment that people make and their willingness to ask for and to offer to pray we can be confident that fervent prayer is an integral part of our congregation.

 

The Elders encourage us to continue to pray fervently by making prayer an regular part of each day.  When we pray we should Adore God, Confess our sin, Thank him and offer Supplication for the needs of others.  As we pray we should be listening to God as well as speaking to him.  We are also encouraged to build our church as a community of pray by requesting pray through the care cards and praying for the prayer requests that are listed in the notice sheet.  Being part of a prayer network also helps us to be committed to praying for the life of this congregation.

 

Thank you for the prayers that you offer constantly.

 

Grace and peace

David Fender