9 Things to Know
From time to time I like to be able to update you on a whole series of things - so here we go!
1. Tom and Brie Pattison welcomed Ava into the world 2 weeks ago. It was great to see their delighted (and slightly weary) faces in church on Sunday. Please pray for them (and all parents) that they may raise Ava to know and trust the Lord Jesus with prayerful and intentional care.
2. We have farewelled Fiona Bywaters from our front office team. Fiona has been a wonderful front face for our church, often helping couples to sort out wedding arrangements (among other things), and a hard worker in accounts and administration behind the scenes. Thanks Fiona for being a part of the team — we will miss you!
3. On Monday night we finalised the Parish Council for 2023 when we elected a new member. So I am delighted to be able to share with you the full Council:
Wardens — Ross Bowden, James Clifton, William Hood
Parish Council — Sarah Abraham, Susan Beattie, Euan Campbell, Peter Chitty, Roslyn Hinchliffe, Michael Hung, Lachlan Mitchell, Rani Warren-Gash
Please pray that we may serve our church well and particularly as we gather for our offsite planning day on May 27.
4. At Parish Council on Monday night, approval was given to install air-conditioning in the Upper Hall. This will be a major project that will bring much joy to all those who use the space (especially our children and youth) in winter and summer. Thanks to Stephen Day who continues to work tirelessly to keep our property up to date and in shape.
5. This Sunday, John Lovell (Executive Director of CMS) will be visiting us. He will be at each service to encourage us to engage with CMS (Church Missionary Society) and to consider missionary service. He will also be sharing lunch with our ENTRUST network (a group for those actively considering full-time ministry). Feel free to join us for lunch - more information is available here.
6. On Sunday 11 June we will be holding an evacuation drill at several of our services including Mornings. This takes place every couple of years and is good practice as we seek to take our WHS responsibilities seriously. You may want to prepare your children for that day, particularly noting that it will be a very controlled and calm experience (as we hope it would be in case of the real thing)!
7. Our annual tax deductible SRE Appeal is coming up again in June. Now would be a great time to consider what you are able to give as we seek to raise $100,000 to fund this important work. We have already raised more than $97,000 as part of our MTS Appeal for this year and I am so very thankful for your generosity in supporting the work here at Christ Church and beyond.
8. Our mid-year Let’s Talk series this July will be focussed on Work. We spend so much of our time working (either paid or unpaid) and yet so little of our time thinking about why we do it, how we do it or God’s view of it. This promises to be a revealing and important series which will include a midweek night on 5 July where we will go deeper into the complexity of being a Christian at work in a woke world.
9. Those who read the Herald will have seen an expose on pornography over the last few weeks. Research is confirming what commonsense tells us - the impact of our world’s shifting moral framework is having enormous ramifications on the lives of young people, marriages and workplaces. I wanted to flag that in the second half of the year we will be running a brand new course for those wanting to escape the influence of or an addiction to pornography. Look out for details in July.
As always, make sure you keep up with what is happening by visiting the What’s On page of the website and if you have any questions reach out to your Growth Group Leader or a member of our Staff Team.
