OUR VISION

 

 The Parish of Fendalton began in 1876 and our predecessors have been a wonderful witness. We build on the heritage they have left to us and honour the past. Every generation of the church is called to be faithful to the Gospel and to announce it afresh. In our day, today, we have created Teams to be responsible for the core areas of church life; announcing the Gospel to people in our community in 2005.

The Teams are also planning for the future - asking what do we need in place for our parish to be effective witnesses of the Gospel tomorrow? The Teams work towards our parish vision - for everyone to be

growing on the journey of faith

 

The core areas of church life are

Worship, Relationships, Education & Ministry, Service, Developing our Buildings

Worship: God calls every generation of Christians to worship. This is our primary calling. We offer a wide variety of service styles to meet a range of ages and needs.

Therefore

" we seek to offer an entry point to worship for everyone; " we offer a breadth of services including modern New Zealand Prayer Book services, all-age worship, children's services, youth services, teaching services, Celtic and Taizé services and the traditional Book of Common Prayer (1662); " we offer a range of musical styles - traditional church organ, to violin leading us to quiet peace, to the lively worship of our youth band.

 

Relationships: People ache to belong, to have friends and a place where they can just "be". God calls people to friendship and community - we live out our faith in relationship to one another. Our relationships reflect the intimacy and community of the Trinity, and the reconciliation offered by Jesus.

Therefore
" we aim to build a community of love:
" we aim to offer a high standard of pastoral care through the fellowship of homegroups, regular visiting and home communions;
" we seek to look after each other in practical ways, for example, providing meals and transport;
" we aim to welcome everyone, so that people can find a spiritual home among us.

Education & Ministry: Our world is knowledge based. Education is the life breath of nations, communities and children. Even today we still ask basic questions about ourselves, "Who am I? What am I here for?" The answer lies in God, in whom we become fully human - "Our hearts are restless until we rest in God" said St Augustine. Our Baptismal call tells us who we are - loved children of God, called to serve God and one another. God draws us into this knowledge, through Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We receive the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit to worship, to learn and to minister.

Therefore
" we invite people to explore who God is, to ask questions about faith, to ask "If I believe this, what does it mean in my life day by day?"
" we invite all ages to grow spiritually through children's and youth programmes, homegroups, conferences, and the Cursillo programme;
" we encourage people to find answers in relationship with Jesus Christ and in ministry to others, and, to grow in Christian discipleship and to be active in ministry in church;
" we encourage all to engage with society and the world: to minister in the world as Christ's Body, as his hands, eyes, and ears.

 

Service: The world has grown smaller through the speed of travel, telephones, TV, and the Internet. We are conscious, immediately, of conflict, terrorism, and famine. Jesus told a timeless story of a Good Samaritan. Our love must not stop at our near neighbour, for all are our neighbours.

Therefore
" we should be known for our commitment to mission and social justice:
" we give each year from the parish income to local organizations such as the City Mission where we particularly run the Hand-in-Hand project for new Mums; we give to mission projects overseas supported through the Anglican Missions Board and agencies like the Church Missionary Society and Christian World Service;
" we also organize a reading scheme in some local Primary Schools, and teach Bible-in-Schools

Buildings: Communities have built places of worship for centuries. These have become holy places. But we can never make a physical home for God as if we could box God in! God makes a home in us, and we make a home in which our community may meet and worship - church buildings. This is the base from which we go out to work and serve in Christ's name. For many years, young and old have come to this parish, churches and halls - for nourishment, refreshment, friendships and a sense of belonging. Our buildings are a means of serving God and announcing the Gospel, the good news of Jesus, to as many people as possible.

Therefore
* our buildings, open to the entire community, must work for and serve us; * we need to keep asking "How suitable are our buildings for ministry today?"
" we constantly review our buildings, just as we do our homes, and acknowledge that buildings are not unalterable or untouchable but living homes, developing and evolving as we grow.

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