Presbytery Meeting 2pm Wednesday 14 May 2008
@ Kiama UC
Mission eNews Mission News is the monthly eNewsletter of the Illawarra Presbytery.
Each month we offer links to articles and resources related to a specific issue.
You can subscribe by providing your email address in the link below.
In the meantime you can read the latest edition here
After an incredibly long absence the Illawarra UCA Presbytery Mission Matters page is once again up and running. For those of you who remember the previous incarnation you will notice that we have a new logo - complete with a picture that, I think, gives some idea of the diversity of the Illawarra Presbytery. If you look carefully you can see the mountains that represent the Southern Highlands, beaches that show the coastal nature of many of our Congregations, farmland that reminds us not only of our past tradition, but also the ongoing importance of well-cared for land, industrial areas that signify the continuing presence of signifiacnt employment and community support, and somewhere in there you can see houses (in their many varieties) and, look really closely, Churches. What you can't see in this picture are people. But when we start to think about mission in its many and varied forms, it is people that really matter and that is where the Illawarra Presbytery is putting our energy.
You will also notice a new motto: Focused on Christ's mission - developing leadership - growing disciples. This reflects an intentional decision by the Illawarra Presbytery to refocus our energy and resources on supporting and enabling our Congregations and communities of faith to be effective in their mission to proclaim Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and to, in turn, be about growing life-long disciples. Our vision is to be a region in which communities of faith are moving towards health and wholeness, where lives are being transformed and where the "process" is reproduced in the expression of new communities of faith. This web site is one means of providing some practical resources for those who share the vision.
Please note, parts of this site are still "Under Re-Construction". Please come back frequently to see the progress being made.
Often
when we look at the Church it is just so easy to see nothing but "doom
and gloom". Now, we do need to be realistic and sometimes prophetic in
acknowledging that the Church, like every organisation in which human
beings live, has real and sometimes serious, problems. However, because
our God is faithful and longs to see His people grow we also have many,
many wonderful stories of hope. They may not necessarily seem like
much, but remember the old adage, "From small things, great things
grow".
Every year the Illawarra Presbytery provides grants to support congregations and faith communities in developing mission initiatives that will develop mission beyond local communities. In 2007 a grant was provided to the Moss Vale Congregation to help the further development of a Puppet Ministry. This ministry is mainly undertaken by young people and is beginning to receive invitations to other congregations (both UCA and other) throughout the region. Below is a photo that shows the puppets in action. Please continue to pray for this ministry.
In January 2008 a team of young people and adults from Nowra Uniting Church traveled to New Zealand to perform street ministry. The following video from YouTube shows some of what they undertook.
The Illawarra Presbytery is supporting the development of this ministry with financial support from our New Initiatives Seed Fund. In coming months you will hear more about this mission activity that literally is creating “Stories from the Street”
Got a story you want to tell? In particular, do you have a story about how you celebrated and ackowledged Easter this year? Or are you doing soemthing that connects you with your community?Please email your story and pictures if possible to: minister@illawarra.nsw.uca.org.au
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