To help prepare our heads and hearts for our upcoming series in 2 Corinthians, watch Philip briefly share how we can understand 2 Corinthians and how it speaks to us today.
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At the start of the year we ran an event called Village Boot Camp. It was an opportunity for us to think through the Sunday gathering, why we do what we do, and how we do it – as well as providing some hands-on training for certain areas of serving at church.
As Village continues to grow, we thought it best to try to capture what was discussed at Boot Camp and in conversation with one another who attended. What follows is our best attempt to provide a Style Guide for how we lead and participate in the formal part of our Sunday gathering. It’s not perfect, but it’s designed in part to capture and implement the “feel” of Village Church, as well as providing us all with a biblical foundation for our gathered worship.
So if you’re someone who’s involved in music, MCing, preaching, praying or reading the Bible up the front – or you’re just curious as to what sort of biblical conviction or thought process goes into shaping our order of service – then please download our Sunday Serving Guide (by clicking this link) and have a read!
If you’d like to send an electronic invite to your friends or loved ones for our Easter services, you can download one by right-clicking on the image below and selecting “save link as…”: 
Last week Village Church introduced a new song written by our own David Cook. We recorded Dave & Bron teaching this new song to our congregation which you can listen to below!
Broken and Bold
You gave us sight
You opened up our eyes
And showed us the way
You gave us life
You pulled us from the fire
Our destinies changed
We’re bold because we know of your grace
Broken cause we know that we’re lost without you
Caught up in your wonderful ways
Like beggars we are on our knees
Like warriors we cry victory
Victory
You showed us love
You promise you’re enough
We’re never alone
You lift us high
You’ve seated us with Christ
Right there at your throne
CHORUS
There comes a day
Your son will come again
Perfection revealed
And we who say
‘We trust in Jesus name’
You’ll dry all our tears
CHORUS X2
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At Village Church we’re convinced that God’s love for us is shown most clearly in Jesus. And on Easter weekend, we’re clearly reminded of what that love looks like. That’s why we’re going to be taking some time out of our week to remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We’d love for you to join us. Here are a few ways you can:
Good Friday // April 14, 2017 // 9:00am
On Good Friday we’ll be meeting together to hear real stories from people in our community whose lives have been changed because of the love of Jesus Christ. Come from 9am for free hot crossed buns and coffee, with the service starting at 9:30am.
Easter Sunday // April 16, 2017 // 9:00am & 5:00pm
On Easter Sunday we’ll be meeting together to celebrate the hope we have because of the resurrection of Jesus. Hope in the face of pain, struggling, and the doubts and uncertainties of life. All people from all walks of life are welcome. The 9am Sunday service will have a creche and kids program.
It’s all happening at QUT Kelvin Grove’s N-Block in lecture room N515 (see map below)
If you’ve got questions about anything, or would like more details, please feel free to email us below.
[mapsmarker marker=”1″]Over the past year there have been plenty of things to give thanks for at Village Church. The growth of our Internationals community; the starting of playgroup within Kelvin Grove; the opportunity for Nat to run church in the detention centre; the development of the kids ministry team under Lauren and as we head into Christmas the Carols are shaping up to connect and share the Gospel with even more of our local community than ever before.
So while we want to talk about the exciting things that have been and are happening, we need to stop to acknowledge that there are also some hard things going on (the search for a new lead pastor), and that the next 6 months are going to be a time of significant change but also opportunity. It’s going to be painful for some and provide uncertainty for many, so at this time it’s worth us – even while we celebrate and remember the good things God is doing – recognising the hard things for what they are, talking about them as a Church community, and seeing the opportunities to serve in different ways.
Below is a quick update on where the search is at, and what the next few months is going to look like for us all. (Click tabs to expand on each section.)
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There were three things we looked at during our congregational meeting.
1) Finances
Overall in regular giving this year we’re behind budget. Not a huge concern, but something we want to bring to the attention of Village Church regulars. You can see on the graph below:
If Village Church is your home church and you’re not already giving, consider how you can support the work of the Gospel through Village Church. More information can be found at vc.org.au/giving
2) Finding a new Pastor
According to Steve Mason, we’ve been looking for someone to “replace Derek… though we don’t want to say it like that,”. We’re talking to a number of people at the moment, and will be placing formal ads soon. A large part of the work at the moment is talking to people through known relational avenues who might be good for the job. It’s an ongoing process and we’ll keep people updated as developments progress.
3) Morning Service
When we planted in 2009 there were two children: Derek’s sons. In God’s kindness there are something like around 30 children in the Village community. It’s been on our minds (and a few of the parents’) for a few years that a church service ending at 6:30 might be difficult for parents and their young children to attend. We know that some people are very keen, some people are happy for it to happen but not to join, some think it’s unwise. At the moment we just want to raise the issue to see how people are feeling – whether it’s not an issue or whether it’s a seriously pressing issue. Ultimately the reason to plant in the morning is to have more opportunities for people to hear the Gospel and grow, but there are always pragmatics to consider around that. And because we want to decide as a community, we’re just testing the waters to see how people are feeling.
Questions asked from the floor (Sorry if your question got missed!):
Why now? Isn’t the priority to find a pastor before we plant?
Absolutely that’s the priority. But we want to just make sure that the person coming in to Village will have something to come in to.
Can’t people find another church if they desperately want a morning service?
Yes, but that’s less than ideal. We want people to be committed to the Gospel, and under that, committed to each others lives. So it’d be better if instead of people heading off because they couldn’t handle the timeslot, that we had a conversation as a community about how we move forward.
How do we let you know how much we do or do not want a morning service to happen?
We’ll be putting out a survey. Stay tuned. It’ll help us know where you’re at. We’ll then present those results back to you, summarized.
What will it look like?
If we did it soon, it would look the same but at 9:30am. Most likely.
We planted with two elders from the MPC pool and haven’t changed that—will there be any change in eldership or anything?
We are thinking about that currently. We want to make sure that in transition between pastors there’s a good, broad base of leadership at Village, so we’ll be coming back to you soon with where we land on that. It’s an important issue.
What will the extra costs be for having an extra congregation?
Tim Kuswadi steps to the mic An extra congregation will cost a little bit more – not double, but more. We will definitely do a financial report to look into that.
What if we don’t find someone by the end of the year?
There is the possibility of Village Church going for a brief time without a minister, but Derek was away on holidays recently, and Village didn’t burn in to the ground. Because we’re part of the wider MPC network we have support there. It’ll be hard, but we’re blessed with lots of capable people.
How are we looking for the new guy? Are we going through people we know, or are we putting an ad on Seek.com, or—?
Two avenues. First, we’re going through people we know. There are places at Bible Colleges, such as Moore, to advertise roles like this. Also, we have a list of about thirty people whom we’re contacting to register their interest, first and foremost. Secondly, we’ll be publicly advertising through a few avenues to put the word out there and see what we get – places like Christian magazines, websites etc. That’s happening soon.
Over the past couple of years we’ve floated the idea of a morning service a number of times in a number of different forms. We considered a morning service in Kelvin Grove, Southbank, New Farm and most recently partnering with St Paul’s in Spring Hill. For various reasons these didn’t eventuate or we didn’t feel the time was right.
With some big upcoming changes, and where Village is at, the staff and elders have become convinced that the starting of a morning service in the near future is something that needs serious consideration. So we’re going to have an informal congregational meeting after church on 12 July to outline the proposal, answer your questions, then ask you to think and pray about it. We’ll get back together two weeks after that (26 July) to vote on whether we move forward.
The idea of a morning service is neither new nor radical, but because of other circumstances we’re looking to move quickly. To help you think it through, here’s the thinking of the leadership. If you’ve got other questions, feel free to email us, or come along to the meeting on 12 July.
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Krosswerdz
Since the end of 2014 is approaching, I though I would summarize Krosswerdz (Sth East Qld) year in a few short paragraphs.
This year saw a shift in focus as KW decided that we function most efficiently as a Para-church ministry. This means that we work ‘along side’ the church rather then acting ‘as a’ church. Our vision is for people to hear the Gospel and for them to be surrounded by a positive ‘God-loving’ network. Our end goal is for them to be planted in a Church where they are greatly surrounded by Christians who can help support them in their walk.
The following are events we held this year:
Mitchelton Presbyterian Church Krosswerdz Service
Salvo’s Fortitude Valley Krosswerdz Service
Salvo’s Forest Lake Krosswerdz Service
Brisbane Youth Detention Centre Krosswerdz Service x 2 (Around 75 kids each time)
Keperra Retirement Village (That’s right, my Nan hooked me up) – Shared about Jesus and Hip-Hop
Kruger Parade Baptist Church Youth Group
Mitchelton Presbyterian Youth
Dalby Presbyterian Youth
Inala Multicultural Baptist Outreach
Redbank Plains High School
Annerley Church of Christ Service
Forest Lake Baptist Church Combined Multi-Cultural Day
Goodna Salvation Army – Youth Week Performances
‘Rockup for Uprock’ Fundraiser
QTC College – Share with the ‘Ministry in a Youth Setting’ class
UPROCK Sydney trip
When you look at it, that’s quite a big year of events and relationship building. When Warren and myself got together recently to talk KW we decided it was time to plant something dedicated to Brisbane North.
This leads me to 2015.
Last Tuesday I had a meeting with Youth Outreach Services in Fortitude Valley and this Tuesday I’m meeting with Adam from ‘Cup From Above’ to talk about possible opportunities for the future. I would love for Brisbane North to have what we are running currently at Forest Lake. Our vision is to create an area where people feel safe to come and record their stories, a place where they will be surrounded by positive role models. This could grow into an opportunity for a Bible study and a bridge to KW services and outreaches where they can meet more and more people whose lives have been transformed by Jesus.
Secondly (popping back to the South Side) by the Grace of God alone, we have been asked to run a 6-week program in the Brisbane Youth Detention Center. This program will use Hip-Hop as a way of discussing faith and life with the young people. Please pray that God helps me to write up something that is relevant to the young people’s lives. A clear Gospel message that shines a light of hope despite some of the incredibly tough circumstances that they might find themselves in.
VILLAGE CHURCH!!! Thank you so much for supporting me in my traineeship the past few years. Thank you for the prayer and thank you for the servant hearted approach to KW.
I want to finish on this. When I walked into the Youth Detention center to share with 70 people about how Jesus transformed Zacchaeus’s life , I was nervous. I was nervous because I constantly doubt my skills in being about to share such a message. But it was then that I was encouraged by how great our God is. It was then that I was reminded that God is in control of all things and that I want to do this because of what he has done for me through Jesus. It was then that I remembered that the spirit is at work to cover all my needs. And it was also then that I was reminded of my Village family who has my back as a brother in Christ. That day I imagined all of us walking in there. I was well provided for. Praise God. How good!!!
Some of this you’ll probably know, but here’s an update for those who are interested what we the team does with it’s time. Read More
