Church At The Park
10-11am: Songs, Prayer, Bible Message ("Reactions To Jesus")
11:30am: Fellowship Lunch (free)
For directions, see map:
2 September: Worship Services Begin
Meeting at: Beaumont Hills Public School, The Parkway, Beaumont Hills
Time: 10-11am
Featuring:
Sunday School for primary-age children
Hymns and songs
Bible message: "The Hero Who Serves" (Mark chapter 1)
Morning tea after the service
This is our first service and we've
decided on a low-key approach rather than a "grand
opening." We expect community interest to grow as we
continue outreach efforts. Most of all, our desire is
for God to be glorified in our music and message.
Thank you for your support and prayers. This is just
the beginning!
Ben
Big Push
Preparing for September
Elisabeth
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So When Are You Going To Start?
1. Planning - starting a church involves much more than providing worship services! For example: what is our vision for ministry in the Hills District? What are our ministry priorities? How shall we implement our plans? Rather than assume we know these answers, we've taken time to walk through them as a team. We continue to do so.
2. Relationships - we have a great ministry team with a range of abilities. Since the first meeting in January, God is reinforcing team unity and cohesion. At the same time, we are praying for others to join us in this special preparation phase, while we gather more contacts in the community.
3. Training - Lord willing, we plan to have key church ministries in place by August. Those ministries require initial skilling, which we need to coordinate.
A 2003 survey of US church planters showed a recurring response: it takes time to start a new church! The process of planning, building relationships, and preparation is long and detailed. Here is our proposed basic timeframe for starting the church from 2007-2008. (click image to download)
As we prepare, we acknowledge that
God ultimately builds His church according to His
time.
If you have expressed interest in providing help
(i.e. with outreach, children's ministries, worship
music, or finances), we appreciate your support!
Please continue to pray and we will be in touch with
you soon.
If you are interested in attending worship services
in August, you are welcome! But if possible, we'd
like to get acquainted first. Joining a new church is
a significant
commitment and we want
to be "on the same page" in regard to vision, values
and practices. We continue to meet weekly over a meal
or a cuppa, where you'd be welcome.
So...when are you going to contact us?
Ben
Preliminary Doctrinal Statement Available
Ben
Why Rouse Hill?
1. Growth area: Sydney continues to attract the majority of new immigrants, with around 800 new residents each week. The Baulkham Hills Shire is one of the larger and fastest growing regions of western Sydney and the state government has planned extensive development for the area, including over 60,000 new homes and a commercial centre in Rouse Hill.
2. Demographics: about a third of the Shire's population was born overseas and the most common language other than English is Cantonese. The median resident's age is mid-thirties. The workforce is generally highly educated. The two largest religious groups are Roman Catholics and Anglicans.
3. Existing churches: the Hills District features numerous churches and religious groups, including the influential Hillsong Church. However, recent religious surveys indicate that Australian churches are struggling in today's culture. Only one in four Christians surveyed believe the Bible should be taken literally. 85% of those surveyed felt their faith had grown in the past year--but only one in five credited this to their local church! About 50% of Christian teens surveyed were open to other religious viewpoints; 1 in 3 did not profess to hold strong beliefs.
4. Distance to Fellowship Baptist Church: believing that healthy churches reproduce, we sought for an area outside Blacktown yet close enough for Fellowship members to regularly assist the branch church. The Rouse Hill area meets that criterion.
5. Prayer and consultation: during our search, we continually asked God for wisdom and guidance and we consulted at length with pastors and ministry workers in various denominations. All of them encouraged us to consider outreach in the Hills, citing growing needs for evangelism and discipleship. God permitting, we will pursue opportunities to build His church here.