About a month ago at Village, we made some exciting decisions. We voted to:
1 – Take Mitch Eidse on as a pastor at Village Church.
2 – Increase Nat Carse to a full-time trainee position.
3 – Keep Deon & Jayesh on for a second year as trainees.
4 – Increase our giving to do all of the above.
At the time we spoke about a number of things needing to happen to finalise all this, so here’s a reminder and an update.
For Mitch’s position, we were applying for a grant from the Presbyterian Church that would pay 60%, 40%, 20% of his wage over the next 3 years respectively. Mitch has gone through all the interviews, and we’ve submitted the paperwork for this application, so we’re just awaiting that decision which will be made at the end of November.
For Nat, we’ve submitted the paperwork for him to be accepted into the Ministry Trainee Network (MTN), and will hear back from that at the end of November as well after he heads in for an interview.
For the budget, we agreed to take on the increase in budget of $41k, moving the VC budget from $164k for 2013 to $205k for 2014. On the night we spoke about this being an increase of around $12 per giving unit (could be family, couple, individual) at Village. As we’re part of the overall MPC budget, the rest of MPC needed to ok and include this in the full budget. That all went through smoothly at the congregational meeting back at MPC on 27 October.
As we head into 2014, here are some things to pray for and some things to consider.
Pray for the subsidy for Mitch that there’d be a positive response. We’ve done everything we can, so we just wait on the Presbyterian Church to make a decision. We’re not the only application, so just pray for wisdom for them as they consider them all.
Pray also for visas for Mitch & Steph. They need an offer of employment to get the visa, and at the moment that depends on the grant. And we’re never quite sure how long the visa’s take to go through, so pray that it’d all go smoothly.
Pray & consider for our finances as well. Those at the meeting committed to giving an extra $12 extra a week. Some are going to be able to increase their giving by more than $12 per week, and some far less than that. But we’d love everyone to pray about where they’re at, what the challenge is, and then invest in the future of Village Church in whatever capacity they can.
Thanks for your patience with this process, and thanks for your generosity of spirit in engaging with and being a part of all the changes. Over the next couple of weeks, we (Derek, Deon, Jayesh & Mitch) are going to be sitting down and kicking around a few ideas for 2014 as we keep working out how best to help you grow to be like Jesus, and reach those around you who don’t know him yet. Stay tuned for some of the things we’re hoping to do as a community in 2014.
Derek
