May 2012

PASTORS E-NEWSLETTER

MAY 2012

Hi fellow Pastors!

Following the last e-newsletter I received a number of responses discussing the issue of managing change in our congregations and our roles as change agents. One article you may like to read from one of our pastors which can be found on Mike Robinson’s website called “The Challenge of Change” which can be found here.

PERSEVERANCE IN MINISTRY

When I read the stories in the Scriptures of God’s great ministry leaders in both the Old and New Testaments I’m often struck, amongst other things, by their perseverance. Many faced great opposition both from within and outside of God’s people, yet hung in there as they understood the call God had made upon their lives. That is not to suggest that we should remain whenever we are part of a toxic situation or the times that we feel abused but I do wonder whether there are occasions when maybe we bail prematurely while God calls us to remain resilient in difficult circumstances or seasons. Difficult seasons are always going to be part of the normal cycle of ministry. Sometimes it is an indicator of Christian character and maturity to persevere and know that God will not abandon us in such times.

A recent short article in Faith and Leadership succinctly touches on this issue of perseverance. Though it reflects an American sporting analogy, I think most of us can identify with Jones’ and McNutt’s reflections. The article, L. Gregory Jones and Benjamin McNutt: Seeking leaders who persevere begins with reference to the recently released film Moneyball. With no money and the loss of his best players, Oakland A’s (baseball team) general manager Billy Beane discovers a young analyst, Peter Brand, who teaches him to evaluate ballplayers differently. “People are overlooked for a variety of biased reasons and perceived flaws,” Brand tells him. “Age, appearance, personality.” While the article is addressed to Pastoral Search Committees, it has some relevance to us pastors.

MARRIAGE CELEBRANTS REFRESHER COURSES UPDATES

This is a further reminder that those who desire to retain their marriage celebrant’s registration as a Baptist celebrant beyond this year will need to have completed a refresher course sometime during the past 4 years or in 2012. Below is a list of training days still available in 2012.

 

• Fri June 1, 9 – 11am at Baptist Ministry Centre Epping
• Sat June 23, 1.30 ‐ 4.00pm at Griffith Baptist Church (part of Catalyst 12 program) – note change of venue
• Fri July 20, 9 – 11am at Baptist Ministry Centre Epping (part of a full training day for new celebrants) – note this is an additional training day
• Fri Sept 14, 10.00 – 12noon at Blacktown Baptist
• Mon Oct 22, 9.00 – 11.00am at Molring College (part of a full training day for new celebrants)

REVIVE

Recently about 100 pastors gathered at Morling College for the launch for this year’s Revive. It was great to catch up and hear what God is doing amongst us in various places around NSW and ACT. It was an opportunity to gather together as part of our wider Baptist family to also be encouraged and inspired about how we might further be involved in our annual Baptist gathering of Revive. Part of the morning consisted of watching an interview by Brendan Handel with Matthew Barnett over skype. You will find some recordings of the day on the BU facebook page.

A package including a DVD with the skype interview, other short promos for churches, and flyers were distributed as well as some material from a few of the key sponsors of Revive. Over the next couple of weeks copies of these will be sent out to all pastors and churches who were not able to meet with us at the launch. I encourage you to make use of these so that you and your congregation may be inspired and encouraged to be with us in August.

THE FUTURE OF CHURCH IN RURAL NSW

One of our colleagues, John Armstrong from the Yeoval Church, has been doing some ongoing research on ministry within rural contexts in NSW. As part of that research he surveyed members of rural Baptist congregational members and church leaders to ascertain their perceptions and understandings. This was a follow-up to his survey of pastors in 2009. A summary of his conclusions from this survey can be found at www.msd.org.au/resources. Some of you may find this a helpful summary to share with your leadership as a way of stimulating discussion about what might be evident in your local context. I would encourage such discussions not to focus on ‘woe is me’ but rather on ways you may meet the challenges and opportunities of changing circumstances.

END OF GREED

Another colleague, Scott Higgins from Baptist World Aid Australia , is about to release a new preaching and bible study series resource for churches on ethical consumption. Titled ‘The End of Greed’ it looks at the impact of consumerism on our relationship with God, generosity, workers in the developing world making the goods we consume, the environment and the animals. You can find all the details at www.endofgreed.com. I think this is a very helpful resource for our churches to tackle an issue that we often leave to the side. As Pastors we are often prepared to speak up about some aspects of society and the world that entrap us while neglecting other areas. Consumptionism is one of the areas where so many of our congregations have conformed to the ways of the world. This resource could be quite helpful in reminding us all of the consequences of not allowing God’s Spirit to transform this part of our lives amongst others.

 HEALING
Another resource that may be very useful is a piece that Scott Higgins has written in his blog on healing – http://scottjhiggins.com/?p=1551. These are very much Scott’s theological reflections on his personal journey which I think many of us will relate to.

DEVELOPMENTS IN WORKING WITH CHILDREN’S CHECKS

To better protect children and young people in New South Wales, the NSW Commission for Children and Young People will introduce a new Working With Children Check later this year. While I understand that some may feel that this is yet another governmental imposition, I can assure you from our own dealings with this commission and a few of our churches, there is a need for us to be increasingly diligent in ensuring we are proactive in implementing best practice in the care and protection of children whether it is a government requirement or not.

Under the new system:

• A Working With Children Check will last for five years and be valid for paid or volunteer child related work.

• Paid and volunteer workers will need a valid clearance to start a new child related role.

• Employers must check that all new paid staff and volunteers have valid clearances before engaging them to work with children.

• Workers staying in the same roles in the same organisation will be phased into the new Working With Children Check over a five year period.

It is anticipated the new check will begin late in 2012. Until then the existing Working With Children Check will operate. The Commission for Children and Young People will offer extensive resources to support the introduction of the new Working With Children Check, including a dedicated website.

YOUTH & YOUNG ADULTS RETREAT

Most of you would have recently received the following email from Steve Dixon, the MSD Director of Youth and Youth Adults. Steve has been very active since coming into the role seeking to support and build into the development of our local church youth and young adult pastors and leaders. Can I strongly urge you to encourage and support your youth and young adult workers to make it to this retreat. I’m sure they and the church’s youth and young adult ministries will be greatly blessed as a result.

“Life is busy. Ministry is busy. Good busy. But busy.” That is what i’ve heard from youth and young adult workers over the past 4 months. As a pastor i know that you are well aware of this reality – both for yourself and also for those who serve in the youth and young adult ministry at your church. Without times of refreshment and realignment to the desires of God our ministry becomes stale and ineffective. One of the ways we can stay spiritually fresh is through prioritising times to meet with God and His people where we are not responsible for the well being and direction of others. Our Youth and Young Adult Pastors Retreat is one of these opportunities and is also a key way in that we go about our mission at Baptist Youth Ministry of supporting, encouraging and resourcing the youth and young adult work in NSW and ACT.

We trust that you will encourage those who head up the youth and young adult ministry in your church to join us in June at our annual Youth and Young Adult Pastors Retreat. This year we will be exploring the theme of “Was. Is. Always.” We will be returning to the fundamental character of God and will be providing and facilitating times of reflections, contemplation, discussion and prayer along these lines. Our recently adopted Baptist Association values will also be prominent throughout our retreat time: in particular being Relationally Committed and People Empowering. Please check out on our website the Retreat Flyer <http://mailouts.mikecutter.com/t/r-l-dukjkuy-gxjrhikj-s/> with details of the time away – registrations close 24th May 2012. We hope that the retreat is not only a blessing to all who gather but also one of the way we see a continued increase in the longevity of youth and young adult workers in their roles serving the local church.

PLAYTIME MISSION TO ADULTS

One of the key missional activities that many of our churches have engaged in over the years has been playtime or playgroups. However, not all of our ministry leaders in this area have been able to fully grasp the opportunity such groups provide to share the good news of Jesus with the parents of these children who attend.

Yvette Wynne who heads up our Playtime Ministries has produced a very useful video for church leaders, in which her own pastor Jonathan Shanks from Caringbah Baptist tells how people in their community are discovering Jesus and joining the church through Playtime ministries. Check out the video and show it to your leadership team. It will help them understand how you see playtime as so much more than just a mothers get together, and why you are so passionate about it.

Go to www.msd.org.au/playtime to view the video and as you watch it, pray that many more church leaders will catch the vision for a playtime team that holistically serves parents in their community, totally backed by the church.

OVERSEAS SABBATICALS or MINISTRY EXCHANGES

Occasionally MSD has been contacted by one or two of our pastors or from pastors from overseas about the possibility of doing an exchange, particularly as part of a sabbatical. Other than alerting pastors of this possibility through this newsletter or providing some contact addresses overseas we don’t have the resources to actively pursue this on behalf of people. A Baptist pastor in Canada has set up a web-based contact to help facilitate these kinds of sabbaticals for other pastors following his own positive experience (nationally and internationally, denominationally and interdenominationally). If you think it might be of interest to you, please have a look at his website at www.PastorSwap.org.

If you also have an article or link that you would like to share with your colleagues in ministry, please pass it on so that I can include it in further newsletters.

Ken Clendinning
Director of MSD
kclendinning@baptistnsw.asn.au