What Is the Church Council:

It is a group of people with the spiritual gift of leadership, elected by the members of the church to work together as a leadership team.

A description from Constitution and Regulations 2012:

The Church Council shall give priority in its life to building up the Congregation in faith and love, sustaining members in hope, and leading the Congregation to a fuller participation in Christ’s mission in the world.

The Church Council shall have regard to the principle that in accordance with the call and gifts of the Spirit each member shall have a part in the ministry of the Church, and that government of the Church will be “entrusted to representatives, men and women, bearing gifts and graces with which God has endowed them for the building up of the Church”

(Basis of Union Para. 15).

What is the role of the Church Council?

- To seek the vision God has for this church and to keep the church working to live it out

- To lead the church in carrying out our mission

- To set the direction of the church

- To work together as a team

- To encourage one another and the church to do what God calls us to

- To discern the movement of God’s Spirit in understanding the vision and mission God has for us in this church

- To help church members be accountable to the values and core beliefs of the church

- To assist in strategic planning

Who are the members of the Church Council?

– Chairman

Paul Ewer

John Ruck – Treasurer

Rod Hoare

Lyn Crosby

Beth Ortlepp

Cherylie McConnell

Peter Lawrie

Stuart Martyn

Dylan Agnew

Our Church Council members would welcome you to contact them should your require their assistance or support.

OUR CORE BELIEFS ARE:

There is one God, revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Mark 12: 29)

Jesus Christ, Son of God, who took on our humanity, is the crucified, risen Lord. He lives and reigns for ever and calls all people into a personal relationship and to follow him in faithful obedience. Faith is awakened, enlightened and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 16: 15-16)

Although created in the image of God, humankind has become estranged from God and from God’s ways. Salvation from sin is by God’s freely given love and favour alone through faith in God’s reconciling act in the death of Christ on a cross. (Romans 3: 23-24, 5: 6-8, 6: 23)

The Bible is the unique testimony of humankind’s encounter with God, in which we hear God speak, and by which our faith and obedience are nourished and regulated. (John 20: 30-31)

The church is a body of which Christ is the head. It is a worldwide fellowship of believers, a pilgrim people on the way towards the promised goal of the Kingdom of God. The local congregation, carrying out its life of worship, witness and service, is the embodiment in one place of this universal church. (Romans 12: 4-5)

The church by its very nature is called into mission in which every Christian is called to participate. The mission includes the call to personal faith, ministry of healing, deeds of kindness, and addressing injustice. Such mission is expressed both locally and globally. (Micah 6: 8)

Baptism is the sign of new life in Jesus Christ. We are baptised into union with Christ and called to his ministry in the world. We baptise those who confess the Christian faith, and/or their children who are presented for baptism and for whose instruction and nourishment in the faith the Church takes responsibility. (Acts 2: 37-38, 16: 31-34)

In Holy Communion we celebrate Christ’s death and his continuing presence. We have communion with our saviour, grow together in Christ, are strengthened for our participation in the mission of Christ in the world and, giving praise and thanks, rejoice in the foretaste of the coming Kingdom of God. (Matthew 26: 26-29)

The Spirit of God equips the church by supplying diverse gifts, and empowers believers to continue the ministry of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12: 1-11)

In God’s timing, Jesus Christ will come again to bring about the fulfilment of all things within God’s purposes. (Matthew 25: 1-13)