 IN THIS ISSUE
Update from NLT & National Office
National Office Christmas Hours
CCNZ Facebook page
Riasing Godly Leaders ... George Langford
Missional Endeavour Grants
Kiwilink Zimbabwe ... Chris Baigent
The Wider Church ... Lyndsay Jacobs
A Tribute to Nessie Sweetman ... Onehunga Co-operating Parish
Situations Vacant
UPDATE FROM THE NLT & NATIONAL OFFICE
Welcome to the final CCNZ newsletter for 2010. What a great year it has been for CCNZ. Church attendances throughout our Movement are growing, Missional Endeavours within our churches are on the increase and for the first time in the Movements history the National Office has a place to call home.
The NLT last met back in November and it was another productive meeting. This was the last meeting for the year and the team will be back together again in early March for the first meeting for 2011. It was great to be able to all meet in the Board Room of the National Office and to see the progress that has been made since the beginning of 2010.
It was decided at the NLT meeting that a conference would not be held in 2011. Instead we will be holding Leadership Summit from 4th - 6th August 2011 (these dates are tentative and are subject to change) with conference to take place in March of 2012 (Leadershp Summit will be held in March from thereon). More details on Leadership Summit 2011 will be available in the New Year.
George, Pauline and Linda would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and input to the Movement and the local churches throughout the year and wish you all Christmas Blessings for the holiday season. We pray you will be refreshed over this time and look forward to all that God has planned for 2011.
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NATIONAL OFFICE CHRISTMAS HOURS
The National Office will be closed from midday on Thursday 23rd December and will re-open again on Thursday 20th January. If you have any needs over this time please email us on
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(emails to this address will be cleared regularly).
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CCNZ FACEBOOK PAGE
CCNZ now has its own Facebook page. You can join us on Facebook by becoming a Fan of our Facebook page here. Be sure to check it out for regular 'Coffee with George' slots. It is also a great place where you can share any updates of whats happening in your church and it allows you to interact with other members. So let’s join and share knowledge, resources and relationship as we continue to build our Movement.
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RAISING GODLY LEADERS
Raising leaders is critical to church life and to the life of our movement, but it’s not just about leadership, it’s about Godly leadership. Leaders must be able to move people to God and onto Gods agenda not their own. Leaders need to grow in a spiritual capacity, showing the fruit of their personal walk with God. How are we developing people that have this integrity and fruitfulness in their lives? They are the ones who can bring Godly influence; it’s about character and then giftedness. Giftedness without character brings all sorts of issues. I’m reminded of my training Pastor who continually quoted “it’s your attitude not your aptitude that determines your altitude”. That’s a great one liner, with a whole lot of truth. Having our heart right, our attitudes right and showing Christ in us is way more important than gifting for leaders. Those are the things that keep leaders leading people to God and leading for the long-haul. Pioneering Leaders will bring breakthrough and will need to hold their ground, which takes character.
May God bless you this Christmas and have a great start to the New Year.
George Langford
National Director
MISSIONAL ENDEAVOUR GRANTS
What are Missional Endeavours?
Missional Endeavours are church initiatives that bring people closer to Christ and add to the church.
CCNZ’s intention is to have Missional Endeavours happening in every church within our movement of churches. These can be expressed in many different forms and styles but will all have the common theme of raising the God awareness in people who don’t yet know Jesus and call him Lord.
When planning a Missional Endeavour ask yourself ...
- Is the heart of this Endeavour to bring people into the Kingdom of God?
- How is the Gospel part of it?
CCNZ is dedicated to seeing the gospel impact each community within New Zealand and to help our people who are in great need of an encounter with the living God. To encourage this to happen more the NLT and the CEPTB has put together a fund that will give increased incentive and assistance to allow our churches to make this possible.
We are offering ..... Thirty $500 grants annually. Below are the conditions and criteria that must be met to allow churches to be eligible for the available grants.
The $500 grant must go into your building maintenance fund (to meet CEPTB conditions) then the equivalent money from this fund can be released and put towards your Missional Endeavor.
Your properties must have titles registered with CEPTB.
Applications must be received by the National Office by 31st March annually.
Your application needs to show that your new Missional Endeavour is up and running along with a full description of what you are undertaking and the expected outcomes.
Each new Missional Endeavour is eligible and there is no limit per church.
This grant will only be for new Missional Endeavours.
The potential to impact New Zealand through new Missional Endeavours is huge and we are looking forward to hearing your stories of advancement into your mission field of New Zealand.
Remember … applications must be with the National Office by 31st March 2011 to be eligible.
KIWILINK ZIMBABWE
Kiwilink Zimbabwe is moving into a new and exciting phase with various people now taking ownership of aspects of the work. In particular, Paul & Judith Todd, dairy farmers from the Rai Valley near Nelson, have become intimately involved with the KCV orphanage through their work establishing a Dairy Farm. Annesbrook through Pastor Brent Liebezeit's leading is becoming more intimately involved with ministry in Zimbabwe. Others are becoming closely involved with the TIGO program. This allows me the opportunity to move on to new initiatives.
All work done in Zimbabwe is under the Church of Christ umbrella and we are keen to ensure that the Lord and His church receives the credit for any work done. Several new boreholes have been drilled in a barren resettlement area and when we visited in November, we were able to direct the expressions of gratitude to our Lord who has motivated donors on the other side of the world. We are grateful for the more than $60,000 that has been provided through various donors during 2010 in support of the borehole work. The church in Zimbabwe however, is in good heart and each month the Pastors reports refer to new preaching points that have been established.
The HIV/AIDS crisis continue to ravage sub-saharan Africa and as we lay hold of the teaching in James 1:27 '... to look after widows and orphans in the distress', we are proactively seeking ways to improve the programs that we have in place. We commonly find elderly grandmothers who are left with up to 10 grandchildren whose parents, the children of the grandmothers have died. We often find children as young as 10 years caring for younger siblings. Food supplies and education costs are two major issues faced by these groups.
Education will be our focus for 2011. There are a lot of needy children who due to the cost of school fees, uniforms and stationery, are struggling to get through even primary school yet education as Nelson Mandela says is 'the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world'.
Pray for Zimbabwe particularly for rain over the next three month growing season. With elections likely mid-year, 2011 will be a difficult time.
Further information on the work of Kiwilink Zimbabwe can be found at www.kiwilink.org.
Chris Baigent
KIWILINK ZIMBABWE
THE WIDER CHURCH
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Share the Care is the theme for the 65th Christian World Service Appeal. Angela McMorran, our representative on the CWS Council, chaired the annual meetings on October 20th. A strong focus was aligning CWS organisation to strengthen CWS ties with congregations and all supporters. Remember, your gifts go straight through partner churches to those needing support. www.christmasappeal.org.nz
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Dr Gary Holloway, Executive Director of World Convention, the ministry networking Christian Churches globally, will be visiting New Zealand May 23-30 following a visit to our Australian Churches. Visits to Christchurch and Nelson are planned. The 18th World Convention (Christian - Churches of Christ - Disciples of Christ) meets August 1-5, 2012 in Goiania, Brazil. This will be a young and exciting gathering.. Are you game to attend?!
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Whangarei. Rev Peter Williamson concludes his ministry at St Johns and Raumunga Cooperating Parish, Whangarei in January. Rev Dr Epeli Taungapeau and Andrianne will be welcomed on February 4th The induction service is at 5 pm. Rev Barry Tetley, Whangarei Uniting Church (St James parish) is retiring but will continue on half time supply ministry. St Paul’s CP is seeking an appointment.
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Remember the next Forum of the Uniting Congregations of Aotearoa New Zealand in your 2011 planning. It is in Motueka, Nelson, 1-4 October (not Sept as in last issue) with the theme Beyond the Walls. Members of all congregations (not just cooperative ventures) are warmly welcomed. Campsites, power, cabins & motels all available. (The first 2011 UCANZ Standing Committee meeting is March 22-23. Let me know if you want to refer matters.)
Lyndsay Jacobs
CCNZ Cooperative Ventures Coordinator
A TRIBUTE TO NESSIE SWEETMAN (1928-2010) from Onehunga Co-operating Parish
After a long life of outstanding service to the church and community,Nessie Sweetman passed away on Saturday 4th December. Her funeral service was held at Grey Street Church yesterday. She will be greatly missed. Nessie came to the Onehunga Co-operating Parish from the Onehunga Church of Christ where she had been an enthusiastic and faithful Sunday School teacher, long-time Church Secretary and fully involved in every aspect of church life. Married to (the late) Murray, their home in Hillsborough was a place of unrivalled hospitality, welcoming friends from around the world and NZ for decades. Much loved mother of John, Jennie and Philippa, she spent her whole life demonstrating warm and positive Christianity at its very best. Her involvement in church activities was vast and wide-ranging. She often joked that she had been the secretary of every church and community group you could imagine. Her very active involvement included work in the church at local, regional, national and international levels. Within the Churches of Christ and ecumenically, she was constantly sought after as a friendly person who always committed herself wholeheartedly to whatever she did. For many years she was the personal secretary to the Epsom Girls’ Grammar School Headmistress. When the International World Convention of the Churches of Christ was held in Auckland, Murray and Nessie were the principal organisers, earning for them a well deserved reputation for efficiency, innovation and attention to detail in a very demanding role. The Christian Healthcare Trust was established in 1962, and Murray was the founder chairman (Ken Hope was the founder manager) and Nessie was always fully involved in the support and secretarial services necessary for that endeavour, which quickly expanded from quite modest beginnings. Nessie was a founding member of the Onehunga Co-operating Parish Church Council and the first Parish Administrator. The OCP “Lunch Club” was her idea, and her reports were always signed as “encourager”. She was also a valued stalwart of the Parish Council, serving with great distinction as a trusted and committed representative from the very first meetings in 1976. Her work with the Motor Neurone Disease Assn was legendary. Murray and Nessie established a scholarship in 1982 in memory of their daughter Philippa who had died tragically young, just after she had graduated from Otago University. Nessie was never afraid of hard work, and always fulfilled her numerous tasks with great humour, humility and utter reliability. We offer our prayers and sincere condolences to her family (Gloria, Colin and the late Heather) and many friends, as we all mourn the loss of a wonderful and practical Christian friend. “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:23).
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SITUATIONS VACANT
BETHANY PARK CHRISTIAN CAMP at Kaiteriteri, Nelson has the following vacancies for Christian Camps and School groups;
Christian Camp Director
Office administrator
Catering Staff & cooks
Full time and Part time casuals required.
Please supply your CV and other relevant information to:
Yvonne Moore, 19 Jeffries Road, Brightwater, Nelson, 7091, or email
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.
An understanding of Christian camping is appreciated.
CONNECTIONS, TRENTHAM – Pastor / Senior Leader
Connections is a small, vibrant church seeking a fulltime pastor to take them into the next phase of growth. This revitalised church is seeking someone with skill in growing leaders and developing missional activities. There is also the opportunity to lead the church into a new facility.
For further information and a job description please contact:
Frances Lapslie, Operations Manager
Ph 04 528 0980, or email
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