2023-04-23 Co-Priest in Charge AGM report (Rev Richard Apperley)

Looking back and grounding in scripture

When we had our AGM last year Rebecca and I were fresh into things and didn’t have a lot to report. It feels like we’ve been really active as a parish since then, punching well above our weight. But before we pat ourselves on the back, let’s draw back to scripture.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he asks:

1 Corinthians 4:7 (NRSV)

What do you have that you did not receive?

The answer? Nothing.

So then, Paul asks:

1 Corinthians 4:7 (NRSV)

Of what then can you boast?

Answer: Nothing.

Everything we have is a gift from God. In the words of one of my new favourite theologians, Chad Bird,

The Father created us, giving us eyes and ears and hearts and brains. He cares for our bodies by clothing and feeding us. He protects us from dangers. He gives us family and friends. Why? Because he delights to give, to nurture, to love us.

Is it right to feel proud of what we’ve done as a parish? Yes! Yes and amen! But, coming back to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians - Paul writes

1 Corinthians 15:10 M:BCL

But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I’m not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven’t I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn’t amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it.

But just as the two travellers on the road to Emmaus in our gospel reading this morning didn’t recognise immediately that Jesus was present with them, it’s all too easy for us to lose sight of Jesus in our midst, challenging us, encouraging us, and calling us on.

Everything we do as individuals, as families, and as a parish, is because God has been so gracious to give us his work to do.

And it feels like God has given us a lot to do as a parish! This is not an exhaustive list, but since our AGM last year we have:

organised a Newlands spring clean

held a Christmas BBQ for the Batchelor St flats community

hosted board games afternoons and a Christmas crafternoon tea

installed a community pataka

met for discussion and fellowship at PINTS

unpacked God’s word at the Friday study group

attended Synod, Diocesan training days, and family camps

worshipped outside at forest church

organised the uniform sale

continued to run the veggie co-op

organised and ran a phenomenal garage sale

built closer links with our Tikanga Māori partners, Nga Hau e Wha marae, Newlands Primary, St John’s Johnsonville, the Batchelor St flats, Wellington City Council etc etc etc

and the backbone of it all, we have met regularly to worship, to celebrate, to mourn, and to pray.

One year in

This time last year we were off the back of spending time hearing from God and forming our new parish mission and vision. One year in, it’s a good time to reflect on these, to remind ourselves, to ask what we could be doing better, and most importantly to continue seeking where God is already at work before us.

Our tagline of being and building community in the name of Jesus plays out in three ways to form our vision, using the UP / IN / OUT triangle - that is, through our relationship with God, our relationship with each other, and our relationship with the wider community.

Vision

UP: We are a community of Jesus’ disciples

IN: We love each other

OUT: We love the people of Newlands-Paparārangi

During our visioning exercise last year we also identified five key values that we try to weave through everything we do:

Values

We are people who worship

We are intergenerational

We position our lives to be disciples on mission

We seek connection with each other and with our community

We are generous and responsible with our resources

You can see these playing out in a number of activities and events that we have been involved with. Here are just two examples to highlight how our values played out through them:

Newlands Big Spring Clean

The Newlands Big Spring clean is a great example of our values weaving together in a beautiful way.

It was intergenerational - all ages were working, talking, and laughing together - not only while we were picking up rubbish, but while we shared kai in the park afterwards.

It was missional - we were out and about as a faith community in the name of Jesus serving others and making a difference to our local environment.

It built connection with others - we worked closely with Ngā Hau e Whā o Paparārangi to plan and run the event - as well as building links with members of the community, including local politicians.

We were generous and responsible with resources - we sought sponsorship, community support, and demonstrated kaitiakitanga of creation.

People who worship - we did pray as we planned, and before we started, but what more can we do in this space next time? Could we do some teaching and learning about the theology of creation?

This not the only event like this that hit these goals - the garage sale, uniform sale, and Christmas BBQ are also great examples.

Lent and Easter journey 2023

Our Lent and Easter journey this year also had our five values weaved through it. Through our worship, scripture and learning we retold and enacted the story, with an intergenerational focus, backed up by prayer, inviting and welcoming people in, and even a little bit of generous mission thrown in on Shrove Tuesday as we enjoyed sharing our pancakes with our brothers and sisters from the Batchelor St flats.

Looking ahead

At the start of the year we felt that we are being called to be Deeper and Wider as a community this year - deeper in our faith, and wider with our connections, being Christ’s hands and feet, and sharing the good news.

We started the year back in church with a four week teaching series on Jesus - it’s always good to recenter ourselves on the reason we exist as a community. Then through the Lent and Easter journey we witnessed to Him afresh.

We are now moving in to a four week season of house church - gathering, much as the early church did after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, in houses to share the gospel and talk about our faith. This feels like an exciting opportunity for us as a community, and again ties in closely with the vision and values we set as a community last year.

We are aiming for house church to hit every single one of our values:

We are a people who worship - our gatherings will follow a familiar pattern, but with a particular focus on digging into scripture, particularly focussing on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians

We position our lives to be disciples on mission - we are actively building teams of hosts, leaders, and mentors for these gatherings, are experimenting, and shaping the services in a way that will hopefully have an impact on our whole life

We are intergenerational - we are hopeful that there will be amazing conversations across generations, as well as plenty of spiritual food for people of all ages

We seek connection with each other and our community - we are pretty phenomenal as a church community at the way we connect with each other, but being in smaller gatherings gives us the chance to go even deeper with each other, as well as providing a space where we will pray and encourage you to invite people to come along and try it out.

We are generous and responsible with our resources - we are so grateful to the people who are hosting and leading these services - and we will be encouraging you to work together to bring food to share after the services together.

We know that this may feel scary or uncomfortable for some of our congregation - but we urge you to come along with open hearts and minds, and see what the Spirit is doing through this season.

Safar

After we have gathered back in church for Pentecost Sunday, we will also be launching Safar. Safar is a simple discipleship resource that emerged from the fast growth of the Iranian church and the increasing need for new believers to be discipled. It is based on our call to be and make disciples, and provides a roadmap for Christians to disciple new believers.

Churches around the world have used this resource, and have seen an increase in the number of new believers who matured in faith, engaged in the life of the church, and played their part in reaching others – leading to further growth.

One of the themes that came up over and over again as we worked through the vision series is that a lot of us want to share our faith, but don’t quite know how. As we start Safar we will be encouraging you to find time every week or two to catch up with a friend from church for coffee or lunch and work through the guided conversations, scripture reading, and prayer. Let’s practice sharing our faith together so that we can feel equipped to share it with others.

Are you hungry?

At our Easter Sunday service we asked “are you hungry?” Are you hungry for more of Jesus? More encounters with him? A deeper relationship with him?

Or maybe, in the words of Jesus from Eugene Peterson’s translation of Matthew’s gospel:

Matthew 11:28–30 (M:BCL)

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me... Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

At 9am every Wednesday morning a few of us gather in the lighthouse to read scripture and pray for each other, our church community, the people of our suburb and city, and for God’s kingdom to break through in Newlands. It sounds simple, but it is such a profound way to fill that hunger we have inside. We feel a deep call to increase our prayer life as a parish. There is a thirst and a hunger at work in the church for more intimacy with Jesus, and signs of genuine refreshment and revival at work. We can have that here too: it is God’s will that we bear fruit as we abide in him. So here is our encouragement to you regarding our Wednesday morning prayer times: please join us in prayer. Would you consider rearranging your diaries to join us, even just for a season until Pentecost. If you work, why not consider starting a little later that day? If you can’t be there in person, then maybe you could devote time on Wednesday mornings to pray in particular for the growth of the church in Newlands. Let’s step out in faith and see what adventures God has in store for us.

In everything we do this year, may we remember that Jesus is our life, our source, and our hope.

In the words of that beautiful song, yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Amen.