6 Things Worth Knowing Right Now
Once in a while I use this Church News moment to pass on a collection of things that I think are worth you knowing right now. The What’s On page on the website is the place to go for most information but just sometimes there are a collection of other things that don’t quite fit there that I would like you to know.
So here we go, 6 things worth knowing right now about our church.
1. This week we welcomed our new Director of Operations, Rob Wicks. Rob comes to us with a wealth of experience in governance and management inside the Anglican Church and is looking forward to helping us keep building towards 3,000 wholehearted disciples of Jesus. As Rob arrived we farewelled and thanked Sarah Craig who has done a mountain of work in the role in an interim capacity. While caring for the admin team and engaging in a plethora of issues, Sarah has implemented our new Food Policy, managed changes in the carpark and our small asbestos problem. Thank you Sarah for being such a blessing to us in this season.
2. We are currently advertising for a new Magnification Director. This person in this role has oversight of all our church gatherings and, among other things, manages music and AV and the teams that run it all, while keeping an eye on technology and compliance. We have had some applications but I would cherish your prayers for wisdom and a good appointment soon.
3. Tash, Nicky and I are heading to Dubbo on 20–22 March with a fantastic team of people to take part in the Bathurst Diocese Conference. We would love your prayers as we teach children and adults, participate in church at Dubbo Anglican and travel back and forth. It’s great to have mission partners we can practically serve as a church.
4. Our AGM is on March 29 at 2pm. We have been shouting out this date for a while because we do hope to be able to reveal some of the progress on our building masterplan. It’s all pretty exciting but also hard, detailed work. We will be electing wardens, parish councillors, nominators and synod representatives this year and more information will be out about it all soon. Everyone is welcome to come but only people who call Christ Church their church, and are over 18, are welcome to vote or speak at the meeting. A reminder that if you are seeking nomination as a parish council member or warden you must have completed the Safe Ministry Course before the meeting.
5. Easter is only just around the corner and this year our Easter theme is Devoted to the Cross. A father and a son come together to save the world through the cross. Sinners who look back and find forgiveness at the cross. A world that needs to hear the message of the cross. A church devoted to preaching the message of the cross. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, the message of the cross is [...] to us who are being saved, the power of God. This year we won’t be having the Maundy Thursday service but will gather on Good Friday at 8.30am & 10am and on Easter Sunday at normal church times. We will have flyers out soon to deliver and would love you to take a bundle so we can invite our area to church this Easter.
6. Finally I wanted to give you some advance notice that Nicky and I will be taking some long service leave in Term 2. We will be away from April 13 to July 8 and during that time Gerard O’Brien will be locum Senior Minister. We have appointed some additional staff to support the team during this period but your prayers are most welcome as they work together in my absence. I have full confidence the staff will thrive and be thankful during this period of time.
Well, that’s it for now. As always, if you have any questions, please do ask.
