For pastors in Victoria and right around the world, let me just come right out and state the very obvious… Things have changed dramatically in recent times! I know it’s not a new piece of news but it needs to be said.  And for pastors, there have been so many significant changes to the way we minister, that it is important to stop for a moment and acknowledge this.

You can most likely identify with the following…

• I have not been able to meet personally with the people I pastor
• I have had to learn new ways of communicating to the church, and to do it more often
• I have had to change the way I prepare for Sundays in order to adjust to online services
• I have seen what other pastor are doing online & there is the opportunity to compare like never before
• I have been at home more and my routines, disciplines and boundaries have needed to adjust
• I have had to work harder to collaborate and have had to make more decisions on my own
• I have started to think about what I need to do differently when the restrictions are lifted

These changes are real and have left many pastors feeling fatigued as a result of all the decisions they have had to make, emotionally drained as they feel like they are always trying to catch up, and physically tired as they wonder how long they can sustain this level of challenge. This is the reality for many pastors.

So now, perhaps more than ever, we need to hear anew the call of God’s word to us through the writer of the letter to the Hebrews…

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1)

While the events threatening to stop the recipients of the letter from persevering were persecution and the trials of life in their day, we face challenges and changes that can cause us to feel like we are unable to go on. But God wants us to persevere, to keep going, to run the race marked out for us.

Now is the time for pastors to have resilience more than ever. It’s the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, from challenges. Just like the “slinky” toy many of us had when we were growing up, resilient pastors spring back and resume their original form after stretching. They don’t give up, they endure, and they prevail in the midst of adversity. How can we ensure that we are resilient in these times?

Remember – God got you into this!

God has called you to run.

It is God who got you running this race. You believed the gospel, you responded by faith and began the journey as a follower of Jesus. You surrendered your life to him. And now you are a pastor and you are running this race. People are looking to you. God called you and has equipped you. You must persevere. Until God makes it clear you have completed the race, keep running.

You have a call and a sense of purpose, so remember that “the one who called you is faithful and he will do it.” (1 Thess. 5:24) It might just be the right time to retreat and spend a half or full day in prayer. On this day, why not reflect on how God called you initially into pastoral ministry, give thanks and praise for all that he has helped you through in the past, and ask God to help you, to strengthen you, to give you wisdom, to empower you and to fill you in the light of this current challenge. Remember that God’s grace is sufficient, and that when you are weak, you are strong in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 12:9-10). 

Remember – Comparison Kills

God’s has marked out the race for you.

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1)

As churches have started streaming their weekend services online, many pastors have had their very first opportunity for a long time to see what other churches are doing and to compare themselves with other pastors & churches. It’s possible to see the sermons other pastors are preaching, how they pray, how they lead. We can end up feeling all kinds of regret, inferiority and inadequacy. But the writer to the Hebrews says that we are all in a race, but it is one that he has marked out for each of us. We don’t run the race in the same way as someone else does. Run your own way in this race, the way marked out for you. Run with the unique gifts, skills and experiences he has given you. Craig Groeschel has said, “The fastest way to kill something special is to compare it with something else.” Don’t waste time comparing yourself or your church with others. If you keep looking around, you’ll run off course. Run your race with all that you have for God’s glory. Be yourself, everyone else is taken!

What are your strengths? Build on them. What gives you joy? Work toward those things. What are the unique needs in your church and your community? Ask God to help you meet them. The race is before you. Run your unique way. You have something special as a pastor to offer the people God has entrusted to you. We’re cheering for you!

Remember – Look to Jesus

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Look to the One who called you to run.

When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we can experience the fullness of God’s grace poured out on us. We may have failed, stumbled and fallen so far short of our hopes and expectations, but at the cross as we see Jesus, we can declare with boldness, “I am forgiven, I am accepted, I am redeemed, I am called.” This fills us with joy.

When we fix our eyes on Jesus we see his example of how to persevere. The cross of Christ reminds us of the terrible suffering Jesus faced which was not only experienced physically but also in taking upon himself the sin of the world. Still, the promise of future joy provided Jesus with the strength to suffer. We are called to help pastor flourishing churches. What a joy it will be to see lives changed and communities impacted. Keep your eyes on Jesus as you run and don’t give up!

Resilience Resources

We need resilient pastors who persevere in the face of great challenge. Now is the time to build your resilience. The BUV has great resources to help you and I want to point you to a number of them.

1. Rev David Devine has presented a Professional Standards Workshop that can be completed online for maintaining your accreditation. It is called Resilience for Pastoral Leaders and is very helpful.

2. Maintaining supportive relationships is a key to building resilience, and the most significant relationship that many pastors have is that with their spouse. That is why the Marriage Course is being offered to pastoral leaders with Rev Dr Bill and Julia Brown hosting the course. This course started last Wednesday (6th May) but if you are quick you can still join in and catch up on the first episode. Sign up here…

3. Pastoral Clusters are operating right across Victoria using ZOOM to connect, encourage and offer peer support. Contact your regional pastor for information about when the next one is happening near you.

4. I attended the online The Resilience Webinar hosted by Partners in Ministry with Mark Connor and Psychologist Dr Grant Bickerton as guest speakers, the full webinar is available here on demand. I found the webinar very helpful and would recommend it to you.
    
5. Life Therapies Victoria, an organisation founded by psychologists and members of New Community Ringwood Baptist Church, has a number of video and PDF resources on wellbeing and resilience – http://www.lifetherapiesvictoria.com.au
    

Together as Baptists on mission we can not only persevere through this time but I believe we can prevail. Remember that God got you into this, that comparison kills and that Jesus is the one to keep looking to at every step of our race. There will be great joy when we meet Jesus face to face one day and we celebrate together! 

Source: BUV News

For many years Wodonga & District Baptist Church has been recording their sermons in both audio and video and making them available online. Since the COVID-19 meeting restrictions, Senior Pastor David Hodgens and team, like many other churches, have been pre-recording their worship services and the congregation is encouraged to watch at the usual service time on a Sunday. Small groups are meeting online and other expressions of contact include sms, email and phone calls during the week so that the church community remains connected to one another.

One concern has been for those who do not have internet access, particularly in relation to Sunday services. This is where the local Christian radio station comes in! Albury Wodonga’s own listener-supported Christian radio station, 98.5FM The Light, is now broadcasting Wodonga Baptist’s service each Sunday at 10.30am. “This is just one of the many stories where we have seen God’s hand at work. This is a hard time for everyone, however, we continue to be encouraged by the high level of engagement and the stories we hear on a regular basis. God has his plans. We may not know what they are, but we can see he is in control” said Church Administrator, Steve Stokes.

Source: BUV News

As Baptist Pastors of the BUV, we are probably the first in the history of our Churches to lock the doors and tell people to keep away! We have all had to quickly to reinvent Church life with social distancing, closed Churches and online worship services. But the Gospel of Jesus has not been stifled at NBBC
or many of our other Churches.

1. ZOOM BIBLE STUDY – This term we started online ZOOM bible study groups based around the motto “For such a time as this” from Esther chapter 4. We chose 10 passages from the Bible that we felt God speaking directly into this time battling COVID19. We have found that we now have more people “attending” growth groups than we did before the crisis.

2. DAILY DEVOTIONS – In our network of congregation we have over 250 contacts reaching over 400 people on email. Each morning pastor Graeme sends out an encouraging devotion to comfort, strengthen and inspire our people in the Lord. These emails are being forwarded by our congregation to all quarters including work colleagues, families and locations to many parts of the world.

3. KIDS CHURCH ONLINE – We have a very inventive Kids Church team headed by Albert & Betty Wong who have sought new ways to help the children and parents continue in discipleship and growth during this time. This includes a regular section in the Sunday YouTube service, emailed Kids Church teaching activities, video presentations from some of our teachers and an Easter
competition for the children. The children were asked to present a craft or video depicting the true meaning of Easter. The entrants were amazing and a powerful demonstration of Easter. One of the vision goals of the Kids Church has been for parents, children and the Church to be partnering together and this event was one of the best examples of this cooperation yet!

Source: BUV News

When asked about his new role with Global Interaction Australia, Geoff Maddock prefers to offer an analogy rather than a title. He likens the role of State Director to that of connective tissue – connecting the movement of Victorian Baptist churches with international cross-cultural work. By extending the analogy, this is work that requires agility and connection – both of which have been forged in Geoff throughout his life.

‘Mission’ is Geoff’s passion and first love, and yet he is quick to admit that he wrestles with the term. Previous ideas about mission are being forced to adapt to the new world in which we find ourselves. With experts forecasting that most of the world’s populations will be living in cities by 2050, missional ideas limited to socio-economic groupings, or isolated geographies must be stretched and changed to adapt. “Mission is now from everywhere to everywhere. This definition frees us up to participate in mission wherever we are. There is no privileged location … As I step into this role with Global Interaction, I’m energised by the conviction that incarnational mission done well is the same across the street and across the world – two organisations but one missiology”

Having been brought up in Yackandandah, Victoria, Geoff moved to the USA to undertake his Masters in Intercultural Studies. However, his study was not limited to theological insights within classroom walls. In 1999, Geoff and his wife Sherry moved into an under-served African-American neighbourhood in Kentucky, while both still undertaking study. “We learned our missiology by doing it. The feedback of action and reflection in community fuelled a sharp learning curve.” Geoff realised that in his Kentucky neighbourhood, God was already present; already at work. The way neighbours loved one another, cared for their families and appreciated beauty were evidence of the presence of God in the community. “It is clear that God is close to the broken-hearted. There was also a lot of hurt [in the neighbourhood] because of the legacy of slavery. There were a lot of wounds still bleeding out.” For the Maddock family, at the heart of mission is being credible witnesses of shalom in the neighbourhood. “We should inhabit the kind of world that we tell people about – one of forgiveness, love, justice and welcome.”

After 18 years of loving and serving his neighbourhood, Geoff returned to Australia, bringing with him a lived-experience of mission that remains agile. His family moved from a community with an urban farm that fed the neighbours, to vertical living in Melbourne’s CBD, with no soil in sight. Their apartment building, owned by Collins St Baptist Church,  includes a ‘House of Hope’ which provides accommodation for asylum seekers at risk of homelessness. Geoff’s practice of mission across the world has been brought into Melbourne’s CBD, where mission is evidently from everywhere to everywhere.

It was not long before Geoff and his wife Sherry started a social enterprise, ‘Planted Places’, the first indoor garden in Melbourne’s CBD. Planted Places centres on closing the distance between people and plants. They have installed multiple gardens at Baptcare facilities where single men who are asylum seekers are housed. They have also been using The Green Room (Collins Street Baptist’s basement converted into an indoor garden) to connect with neighbours.

Geoff says, “Caring for even a small house plant transports us to our first human vocation – to tend and to keep. It restores us to the Creator’s design.” Those keeping plants in their homes are shown to benefit in many ways including improved mental health, lowered blood pressure and improved air quality.

During this COVID-19 crisis, Geoff and his wife Sherry continue to seek out people of peace in their neighbourhood. Without the clutter of one million people daily descending on the city, their neighbours are less obscured. However, the isolation experienced by many living in the city is a great challenge. Geoff and Sherry are currently in conversation with the City of Melbourne to identify people who are vulnerable in isolation – students, the single, older people and asylum seekers – and work out how to distribute plants to those cooped up.

Recently a collection of 75 easy-to-care-for indoor plants were distributed through Baptcare to the residences of people seeking asylum. Sherry says, “[The plants] did what we couldn’t, that is to become physically close companions in a time of isolation. Plants were received by families and children with joy. We heard reports of delight and ‘lit up faces.’ While also collecting weekly food supplies, men from Baptcare’s Sanctuary program were able to choose a plant and they did so with ‘great care.’ At this time of collective restriction and enforced isolation indoors, interior green space and plants as companions become essential. As essential as the clean air they bring.”

The current COVID-19 climate again calls Geoff and his family to adapt – to be agile and to connect with God and people. And in this mission, God is already present and at work. Geoff sees this presence in the forced Sabbath from busyness, which is creating conditions to hear God in a way that would otherwise be drowned out. “Part of what I see in Australia is that people are acknowledging how grateful they are to be here. Gratefulness is an antidote to anxiety. Gratitude opens the door to a generous God.”

From Yackandandah to Kentucky to Melbourne’s CBD, Geoff, along with his family, has needed to adapt to vastly different circumstances and surroundings. And yet the mission continues to be one that joins in where a loving God is already at work, while being a credible witness of shalom to the neighbourhood.

In announcing this new role, Geoff says, “I’m excited about the fact that God is already at work from Camberwell to Cambodia and from Traralgon to Thailand and we have the joyful opportunity to join in.”

To connect with Geoff Maddock, Global Interaction State Director (Vic and Tas), email: victas@globalinteraction.org.au

Source: BUV News

Fifteen years ago, God called our family out of Crossway Baptist into the spiritually dry northern suburbs of Melbourne. We had all sensed the call of God in various ways, including our three teenage children who gave up great schooling and friendships in order to plant ‘Crossway North Baptist Church’ in Craigieburn.

However, we fell in love with the North of Melbourne and its people. We saw God grow a healthy, vibrant, family orientated church in an area with hard spiritual soil. In what felt like the blink of an eye  and with a change of venue and name to ‘North Church’, in 2017 our Church plant celebrated its 10^th Anniversary.  After this milestone, Brett and I started to pray about what God would have next for us; either to continue with the Church we loved, or to move into a wider place in the North. We prayed and waited for further instructions. God was moving all the chess pieces behind the scenes and what unfolded over the next few years was a wonderful work of His Spirit and Olivine at Donnybrook has become part of a new story.

Hume Anglican Grammar Donnybrook commenced in Olivine as the first building on the estate and wonderfully our eldest daughter became the very first teacher employed there. Later in 2018, our second daughter applied and received the position of front desk receptionist and Assistant Principal’s P.A. at the new campus for 2019.

To add to the family connection, I was asked to be a casual Teacher’s Assistant to help with settling the students into Term 1 and also had the privilege of getting to know the staff and students on their very first day. It was exciting to be at the new campus, despite all the dust, dirt, and kangaroos. I found I did not want to leave when my time was finished, as the community had become like family.

I continued to discover school families and staff who were going to be living on the estate and this piqued my curiosity as to what God might be doing. At the same time my husband Brett commenced work full-time at the B.U.V. in the Mission Catalyst Team. I became challenged by God to resign as North Church Office Manager and trust Him for new things.

Within a couple of weeks, the chess pieces started coming together. Gayle Hill, Head of the BUV Mission Catalyst Team, approached me about a place-making position. She was seeking a candidate for Olivine Donnybrook and believed Brett and I would be a wonderful choice. This was timely and God-inspired as both Brett and I believed this was what God had been preparing us for. It would involve moving to the estate and living there as place-makers, loving, and committed to cultivating a flourishing community. As followers of Jesus and committed to the vision of the BUV to see both flourishing churches and flourishing communities this became my ‘ah ha’ moment!! With Brett’s role at the BUV, our partnership with Derek Bradshaw from Now and Not yet Cafe, a great relationship with the Mirvac developers and our families’ roles at Hume Anglican Grammar Donnybrook, it seemed as if everything was coming together.

So, what does this look like now for us? Brett and I are building a house at Olivine Donnybrook and will be moving there later this year. Olivine will be home to around 7,000 people. I will take on the role of ‘place-maker’ for the Estate and Brett will contribute with his skills, gifts, and passions and to also develop a community of faith. Mirvac are building a Café at the entrance to the Estate that will be run by the Now and Not Yet Café team, with a Café Manager also living in the Estate. Both these roles will sit under the Baptist Union of Victoria’s Grassroots Placemakers. There will be an adjoining Community Centre that I will be managing which is included as part of my community work. What does a pacemaker do? Our new tag line at Grassroots Place-makers is ‘Cultivating Flourishing Communities’. That is our role and our goal at Olivine, our community: Cultivating a physically, emotionally, mentally, socially and spiritually flourishing community!! We have a wonderful model in Aintree for this visionary work with Jonathan Ingram and his team. Please pray for us as we continue to see God leading and guiding us in this new endeavour.

Michelle Mitchell
Community Placemaker

Source: BUV News

Paul Huglin has been the Senior Pastor at West Preston Baptist Church for the past nine months. He and his wife Apryl were attracted to the church as they knew it had a heart for its community. Paul has previously served at Diamond Valley Baptist as the Associate Pastor for many years, but most recently as a Community Pastor serving as Chaplain to the local Shopping Centre. Apryl works with Baptcare as Chaplain in the Sanctuary program supporting Asylum Seekers. Recently, and despite the Coronavirus restrictions, an opportunity to align the church and Sanctuary has emerged.

“Asylum seekers are the most vulnerable group of people in our community” says Apryl. “They are unable to work and therefore draw an income, but they also do not receive any subsidies from the government. Some of them have absolutely no income and somehow must support their families”.

With the food bank shortages that are currently being experienced, even this avenue of support has become scarce, however, West Preston Baptist has been able to open their own food bank and provide monthly cooked meals to residents of Houses of Hope/Sanctuary. Apryl has also sourced companies that have been willing to donate to this very needed charity. Wholesalers and restaurants are now giving, and another encouraging outcome of this initiative is how it has renewed the church’s connection with its local community. Members of the church are regularly volunteering to assist in this new and significant project.

For more information as to how your church may assist this most vulnerable group of people please contact:

sanctuary@baptcare.org.au

baptcare.org.au/sanctuary

Phone: 13 BAPTCARE (13 22 78)

Source: BUV News

In response to JobKeeper, the following are some queries raised by churches:
 

1.  Exempt Benefits can form part of the $1,500?
Churches should treat their Exempt Benefits like normal. If your church has to top-up to $1,500 per fortnight and the normal practice is 50% taxable and 50% Exempt Benefits, then the split should be $750/$750. The church does not have to pay superannuation on the additional amount, above normal Stipend.
 

2.  ‘One in, all in’ principle: Once an employer decides to participate in the JobKeeper scheme and their eligible employees have agreed to be nominated by the employer, the employer must ensure that all of these eligible employees are covered by their participation in the scheme. This includes all eligible employees who are undertaking work for the employer or have been stood down. The employer cannot select which eligible employees will participate in the scheme.
 

3.  Single Touch Payroll (STP) is the means by which eligible employees are reported to the ATO.  If you use STP software and have not processed a pay run after flagging your eligible employees, you may need to process a nil pay run and do a STP submission (ensuring that no leave entitlements are accrued with this) so that these employees are reported to the ATO
 

4.  The Cash Flow Boost does not get included in the GST Turnover calculation
 

5.  Dedicated Bank Hotlines:  Treasurer (Josh Frydenberg) spoke with the ‘Big 4’ banks and they have agreed to establish dedicated Hotlines for employers to call in relation to accessing bridging finance.   Bank Hotline numbers are:

• Westpac – 1300 731 073
• NAB – 1800 562 533 (1800 JOBKEEPER)
• CBA – 13 26 07
• ANZ – 1800 571 123

Also, BFS is actively supporting all partner churches through COVID-19 and we would encourage you to contact Jeremy Peet on 0409 862 178 for any assistance.

6.  Monthly Reporting One of the requirements of the JobKeeper scheme is the monthly declaration of your entity’s prior month turnover, as well as the projected turnover for the next month. The ATO have made clear that these figures are not for the purposes of determining your eligibility for JobKeeper, but rather an indication of how your business is progressing. Once qualified, it goes for entire duration of the scheme.

As part of this reporting process, you will also be asked to confirm the number of employees that JobKeeper is being claimed for.

The monthly reporting form is now available through the Business Portal, and should be lodged as soon as possible.

Calendar of important dates coming up (For the first two JobKeeper fortnights)

For more specific and up to date information on how to Enrol, Identify and Declare, and key dates, please see https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/JobKeeper-guides/

Source: BUV News

The Baptist pastors who are out working in the Bushfire affected regions are amazing people.  Not only did they adjust their whole lives to take on assisting the local communities impacted by the bushfires, they have now had to swing back around to adjust their whole lives to keeping their own local congregations connected and inspired during the COVID-19 crisis. Amazing. Just when things were starting to show signs of life again the communities in these regions have taken another economic and social hit. Because of this, our role in staying involved and remaining connected into the future is even more critical.

Right from the moment the fires were threatening Corryong, Pastor Graeme van Brummelen was on the ground helping.  He and David Hodgens (Wodonga Baptist Church) played a significant role in running the evacuation centre. Immediately after the fires had cleared, Graeme was out gathering information from locals on what the immediate needs were.  Recognising the need that many had for some basic items, combined with the need the local shops had for business, getting a local voucher system up and running was a great start and this has been continuing through to this time.

Just before the COVID-19 lockdowns occurred, I took Chris Piper (our Bushfire Recovery Advisor) for a visit (as we also did to Gippsland, reported previously) and we spent a couple of days with Graeme.  The attached video highlights some of the activity from that trip but also talks about the long-term needs that are part of the recovery process.

We were privileged to visit some of those who had been affected – some didn’t mind being photographed or named, but for most the pain was still too raw to even ask.  However, what was abundantly clear was how much Graeme was being appreciated in the community.  His ability to connect as a pastor but also as a local (Graeme himself lost property and livestock as a result of the fires) has allowed people to feel safe talking to him about their pain and loss, but also about various options on how to take any next steps toward recovery.

We visited two couples who had each lost two houses. One of these couples had subsequently spent a couple of months living in a tent inside a shed that had been saved. Both couples (as well as others we met) spoke about how much they had appreciated engaging with Graeme and how important it was to have someone to talk to during this time. It was amazing to me how long we were at each place.  People obviously just wanted to be able to talk to those they knew would care.  Pictured here is one couple with Graeme as he hands them a Voucher Package.

All this activity has been made possible by the generosity of the Baptist Family in Victoria. In addition to the Voucher Packages, Graeme has been talking with local farmers about their current needs and the overwhelming response has been for assistance in buying seed (and some fodder) at this critical seasonal moment.  The fires not only burnt off all the grass but then the heavy rains that followed washed away a lot of the top soil (see the video). In this district, these funds have played a vital role in helping farmers with the next season in their farming calendar, without which would have undoubtedly led to ongoing losses as a result of the fires. There are of course numerous Scriptural references to planting seed and Graeme himself feels that this is significant at this time. Many of those who have received this gift share with him about what it has meant to receive it, but also many share about his personal support is playing such a significant role during this time.

Once again, Baptist Family, thanks for your support. Wherever Graeme gets a chance to talk he makes it clear that it is you who have made this support possible. Please continue to pray for Graeme and the other pastors in Gippsland (Michael Carlisle, Geoff Pegler, as well as all those working hard with them) who are not only working at continuing this great work, but also working at dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks again for all your support. God bless.

Peace and Hope in these times,

Andrew Naylor
BUV Partnership Development Pastor

Source: BUV News

I have been thinking, over the last few weeks, about the term ‘essential’. It has become part of our vernacular in a previously unseen way. I used to say ‘essential’ when I was speaking about getting something important or urgent like “It is essential I get chocolate today”. Now, the word has become synonymous with restrictions. Am I an essential worker? Is this task essential so I can leave the house?  We have been forced to consider every area of our life, every action that we take to determine if they are within the requirements and restrictions of the current time. It has impacted every area of our life in a way that has not been known before.  

By its definition essential means “absolutely necessary, extremely important.”

It got me thinking about the ways in which church is essential, particularly in the lead up to Easter when our Prime Minister indicated that ministers of religion were essential workers for the purpose of Easter services.

Is church essential?

According to McCrindle research the percentage of the Australian population who identify Christianity as their religion has declined over the last decade from 68% to 61.1%[1]. It should be noted that the number of people identifying as Christian does not necessarily translate into people attending church or being an active part of a faith community with National Church Life Survey data from 2011 suggesting that about 7% of the Australian population attend church on a Sunday[2].  On numbers alone, the data does not seem positive.

However, what the COVID-19 restrictions have shown us is an interesting dynamic, with research suggesting that many churches are reporting higher numbers of people linking in through online services than those who previously have attended church services. We have seen many encouraging and inspiring examples of churches adapting to the changing environment with the current situation providing many different opportunities for mission.  Carey Nieuwhof gives some great thoughts about how to press into the digital space for growing our churches.[3]

It still, though, doesn't answer the question about whether church is essential?

To me it is! As a member of a church community I love belonging to a faith community. They encourage me, challenge me to grow, support me when I am feeling wobbly – generally they are the hands and feet of Jesus to me.  Now I recognise that while there is the deeper ontological question about the essential nature of church, there is also the way in which the church is functionally essential for us today.

The essential nature of church is not just about how many people come through our doors but more importantly is being a flourishing community of believers who love God, love each other and love the world (or just our neighbourhood) around us.

Here are some suggestions to help your church prove itself to be essential at this time:

Loving God:

• Develop a church spotify list with your church most sung worship songs to help people sing along at home.
• Explore spiritual disciplines that you don’t normally use.
• Encourage people to pray in smaller groups online during the week
• Point people to a bible reading program.
• Encourage people to recognise God’s presence with them throughout their day.

Loving each other:

• Encourage your members to pray for five other people in your church each day and text them a word of encouragement.
• Suggest people meet online for lunch or dinner (smaller groups work better in this environment) and just hangout.
• Use online games for some fun interaction. There are some great Pictionary/card/game apps and websites.
• For families with kids, share schooling resources or organise appropriate help for each other.
• Drop off a meal on someone’s doorstep.

Loving our neighbourhoods:

• Check in with our neighbour to see if they are ok.
• Drop off a meal if you can.
• Watch a movie at the same time and chat via text or messenger during the movie.
• If you live next door to each other, have a coffee in your driveway with each other.
• Say hello to people that we pass when we are out for walks.
• Check in with local neighbourhood houses/centres to see if they need emergency food.

Being an essential church includes finding ways to deepen our love of God, each other and our neighbour. My guess is, if we encourage every single person in our church to do something in each of the three areas, we will have flourishing churches whether we are meeting in person or not.

Sources:

Source: BUV News

BUV Devotion Part 1/7

Remember Who You Are: The Church In An Unfamiliar World

by Rev David Devine
 

In my early 20s I was given a wonderful opportunity to travel and study overseas for five months. As I was departing to venture into a world of new challenges, opportunities and temptations beyond the secure familiarities of home, my dad offered me some wise advice: “Remember who you are.” It was a call to remain true to my heritage, beliefs and values – to still be `David Devine’ wherever I was.

Today the disruption caused by COVID-19 has cast us all into a different world beyond many of the secure familiarities of life as we have known it. This presents challenges, opportunities and temptations for individuals, families, nations – and churches. As churches venture into this disrupted world, it is good for us to remember who we are – remaining true to our identity, beliefs and values as we seek to continue living faithfully and fruitfully with God – still being the Church in our new contexts.

To encourage us in this, over coming weeks, members of the BUV’s Church Health & Capacity Building Team will offer short reflections on some biblical images of the Church.

Over the past 40 years or so, the most popular image of the Church has been: the Body of Christ (Rom 12:3-8; 1Cor 12:12-27; Eph 3:6, 5:21-33; Col 1:18, 24). This reminds us that the Church is not merely a social organisation; but an organic community in which we live and serve in relationship with Christ and one another. These relationships must remain central for us if we are to be the Church.

If the Apostle Paul was writing to Aussie Christians rather than Ephesians or Colossians, he might remind us that we are not to `run around like headless chooks’, reacting to our internal impulses or the latest sensation. The Body has a Head. The Church is to seek and follow the mind of Christ and to grow up into him – being shaped by the one who gives us life – becoming increasingly like him, not just individually, but in our life together. In a world disrupted by COVID-19, the Church is still to be directed by Christ.

Though isolated in our homes, we find ourselves immersed in an ocean of information – podcasts, videos, blogs, memes, webinars, breaking news. There’s an endless flow of ideas, facts and fluff that drives us to distraction and confusion – tossed back and forth by waves of fashion; blown here and there by every wind of opinion. In the face of this, let us remember that we are the Body of Christ. Let us give time to prayerfully listen to our Head and follow his lead, responding to the challenges and opportunities before us in ways that reflect and honour Christ.

Paul uses the Body image to remind us that following Christ’s lead is not a solo pursuit – we are in it together. In this time of social isolation, let us remember that through relationship with Christ, we are connected to one another. We belong to one body. The Church is diverse in ethnicity, social status, gender, and so on, yet united in Christ. We have different capacities to contribute, but we are all called to do what we can to love others and honour God.

In these days of isolation, let us keep pursuing ways to connect with one another, including reaching out to those who may be overlooked by others. Let us seek ways to use our God-given capacities to serve one another, sharing the love and truth of Christ. Let us remember and be true to who we are. We are the Body of Christ.

Questions for Personal and Group Reflection

1. What personal and congregational activities do you and your church have in place to foster relationship with God?
 

2. How does your church seek to discern the mind of Christ together?
 

3. How are you and your church acting to maintain contact with members of the body during these weeks of physical separation?
 

4. How does your church help people to discover what they are good at and empower them so that ministry is done by the many rather than the few? What are your gifts and how are you using them during this time?

Rev David Devine

Head of Church Health & Capacity Building

Source: BUV News