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Sunday 18 August 2013

How Are We Tracking? - Survey Results



Somebody once wisely said, “If you aim at nothing that’s exactly what you’ll hit.”


A year or so ago now our staff and parish council put together a number of goals for us to work towards over the next few years to keep us focussed on the main game.


We knew that we had 2 major priorities in line with our vision to “Introduce Jesus and Change Lives”- that of helping our members to grow in their faith and to reach out with the good news that Jesus is our rescuer. 


To that end we came up with some goals based around the results of the National Church Life Survey (NCLS) that we took part in back in 2011.


The good news is that we’ve been making some progress and we ought to give thanks to God for it.


One of the most encouraging areas is in the growth of the percentage of people who say that they have “experienced much growth through our church in the past 12 months.”  There has been a significant 9% increase over the NCLS back in 2011.  Furthermore 98% of all those surveyed said that they had grown spiritually in the past 12 months. Praise God!


We’ve also seen growth in the number of our members who are inviting people to church [4% increase] and growth in the numbers of those involved with some sort of ministry leadership [7-8% increase]. 


We have maintained our level of growth group membership and this is the only area of the survey where we haven’t moved forward. 


Another pleasing aspect is that of those who have joined us in the past 2 years 28% weren’t attending another church before they joined. Although we are happy to welcome people who are transferring from another church - maybe out of our area - the real kingdom growth is with those who are coming to church for the first time or after a long gap. There is much rejoicing in heaven over that!


In the past two and half years we have grown by 25% and now average 677 people in church each week. As to our finances we have now had a couple of months of reaching our budget and although we still have a shortfall to make up things are looking much better.


All in all this is all great cause for thanksgiving to God for answering our prayers and honouring our commitment to Him. We are getting on with our mission together.



Bruce Dingwall

Senior Minister

Monday 12 August 2013

Living Out Your Faith


One of the great things about being on staff here at Menai Anglican Church is that you get to hear some great stories about people living out their faith by introducing Jesus and changing lives.

I received an email during the week from Peter Jarvis who comes to our 10am service and got permission to share it with you for your encouragement.

“Morning Bruce, Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed yesterday’s message from James.
It was really ‘on the money’ and contained loads of practical examples that both Gail and I discussed on our way to a family function yesterday.

I can’t wait to discuss it with the guys from Bible Study tonight.

I am currently talking to two younger women about my faith and what they their views are about God, eternity and faith etc.

One lady (about 44 years old) is a high ranking Union leader who has hard-line socialistic views. The other has worked in DOC's and is now in the education system. Her views are more humanistic.

Both are cynical about what they refer to as ‘the church’ and have a very worldly perception of Christianity.  

The Union lady came to me recently and complained about a business owner (who claimed to be a Christian), who treated his workers pretty badly. I gave her some practical extracts from the bible to discuss with this Boss that would hopefully make him think about his actions toward his staff. I mentioned that I’d be happy to have a chat with him if she thought it might help. 

She has also helped me find work for a young Brother who was out of work so I know she has a kind spirit and a warm heart.

I think your sermon from James would be a great ‘eye opener’ for both these women and provide another way for me to start up the conversation with them again.

I recently sent them the article (from Southern Cross) that outlined a Christian perspective to the asylum seekers topic. Both ladies were impressed and found it interesting.

I’m hoping to do the same with your sermon from Sunday by downloading it and giving it to them both. The lady who heads up the Union will definitely relate to James’s forthright instruction on how we are to treat ‘everyone’ equally."

It’s great to hear of the members of Menai Anglican Church sharing their faith in a gentle, confident and forthright way. I love the idea of passing on articles that might challenge and enlighten people. Thanks Peter for the encouragement and the challenge!

Bruce Dingwall
Senior Minister