Christ Church, Kiama has one minister in the SES, another in the local rugby team, and they’re both published in the local paper. With a bit of help from an ex-Bulldogs CEO, the parish is keen to be at the centre of their community.
Described as ‘coastal but country’, by assistant minister Shane Rogerson, the parish of Kiama has clearly defined boundaries. “You can literally go up the mountain and look at the parish. There’s a cliff to the south, a river to the north, the mountains to the west and the ocean to the east,” he says.
The ministry team at Christ Church are pursuing strategies to bring more Kiama residents into the church community and into relationship with Christ. This is made clear through the church’s vision statement – ‘To glorify God by knowing Christ better, growing in love as a church, and making Christ known in the community’.
“It has been a focal point for deciding what our priorities are,” says Rector, the Rev Steve Fagan. “It summarises our concerns as to what we do in our activities and is an implicit attitude in the church.”
Making headlines
“You can tap into channels more easily than in Sydney’s suburbia,” Mr Fagan says. “Shane and I have easy access to the local newspaper. Even if [the editors] don’t agree with our stance or comments, we do get an opportunity to put things forward.”
‘Lay pastoring’
The ‘Lay Pastoring’ ministry has been successful in nurturing loving Christian relationships in the church and making the Bible and prayer the foundation of these relationships.
A lay pastor follows the PACE principle – prayer, availability, contact and example – which encourages them to be a complete witness and support to those they minister to.
The parish also contains 20 growth groups, or Bible studies, which Mr Rogerson describes as ‘the engine room’ of the church. “I am impressed with the percentage of people who are in growth groups. About 60 to 70 per cent of the 230-plus congregation are in them.”
Men’s and Women’s ministry
The women’s ministry team have held nights for encouragement and evangelism. Activities such as a ‘Pamper Yourself’ night, and a ‘Chocolate and Stress’ night are some of the creative ideas used at the church.
A men’s evangelistic dinner was held at the Kiama League’s Club in June with guest speaker, former NRL Bulldogs CEO, Steve Mortimer. “Steve testified to his faith in Christ, growing as a Christian and the difference God has made in his life. We had 218 people there,” Mr Fagan said. “The gospel was clearly put before people, we had a good night of fellowship for Christian men, and we followed up the non-Christians who attended.”
Creative gospel outreach
“As a church we need to be recognising the changing culture in which we live, while remaining faithful to the unchanging gospel,” Mr Fagan says. “Helping that unchanging gospel to connect meaningfully with our culture requires us to be very creative.”
Christ Church will run the ‘Hot Potato’ series in term three. “The talks will feature Christian responses to questions non-Christians ask,” Mr Rogerson says. “We will have five evangelistic weekends in a row. We’ll even have hot potatoes for people to eat during the break in the service.”
