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Directions 2011

Ministry direction for the coming year and beyond

Our vision is to be a growing and loving international community glorify God by bringing people together in the Lord Jesus.

Our mission is to preach Christ so that His people are saved; His people grow; and His people are prepared for service.

Many are the plans                                             

Every year that passes seems to go quicker than the one before it. It doesn't matter what I seem to do I always seem to get to the end of the year with a lot of things undone that I had planned to do and other things not as far along as I thought they would have been. There are also those things that were not planned for or expected that just have come up during the year and surprised me. For me this is another reminder of the old proverb, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21).

The Lord's work continues to go on for the gospel is growing and bearing fruit in our world. This year we have seen people coming to faith in the Lords Jesus being added to the body of Christ. We have seen people growing up in Christ and being equipped for service. Our particular plans and strategies don't necessarily always work out quite the way we think they will. I think we all thought our property development project would have been much further along than it actually is. But the good news is as long as we keep preaching the gospel and living in a manner worthy of it we know that what we are doing is the Lord's purpose and it will prevail.

Yours in Christ
Philip Calman
(Senior Pastor)

Plans that are progressing                                           

In 2011 we have some plans and strategies that will be continuing to progress.

Developing our facilities

Over the last decade our congregation has grown and we have found that the building has some real limitations. We believe that these limitations need to be addressed to meet the needs of our ministry today and into the future. Earlier this year the church approved the proposal to lodge a DA with Willoughby Council to address the following identified needs:

  • More space for children's activities on Sundays 
  • A safe place for children to gather and play.
  • Greater functionality from the foyer.
  • Increased accessibility to staff offices.
  • The lack of storage space for various ministries.
The building strategy involves looking at the development of the courtyard, building an additional room on the hall, the extension of the foyer and alterations to the cottage to provide for offices and rooms for children's ministries.

Next year, God willing, we hope to begin this development that will meet the needs of ministry at Chatswood Baptist Church today and into the future.

Ministry 1-2-1

One of the other things that will continue to progress next year is our one to one ministry. We want to encourage more people to consider meeting together in pairs to read the Bible, talk about life and pray. This year a number of men and women have been doing this but in 2011 we are planning to encourage and equip others to be investing themselves in this ministry. Our aim is to see people discipled and also equipped for ministry through meeting together and sharing the Word of God and their lives with each other. 

New initiatives                                     

In 2011 we are planning a number of new ministry initiatives.

Refocusing our Growth Groups

As a church we aim to encourage everyone to be growing in faith and love. This happens as we speak in truth and in love to one another. Over the years an important aspect of this has been our small groups. Unfortunately of late these groups have not grown to match the number of people coming on a Sunday. In 2011 we plan to refocus our small groups in order that they might more effectively encourage and strengthen the people attending Chatswood Baptist Church. In 2011 our strategy is to:

  • Train new leaders and create some new groups.

  • Encourage a culture within our church community where belonging to a small group is normative. We need to do more to integrate new people into our small groups.

  • Refocus our small groups to be communities and not just meetings. We want to encourage people to be sharing their lives with one another as well as sharing the Word of God.

  • Create a number of locality based groups that will make it easier for people to meet up with one another and to reach out to others where they live.

2011 will see a renewed emphasis on our growth group ministry. We hope this will result in these groups being more effective at encouraging and strengthening people so that by speaking the truth in love we grow up in our faith in the Lord Jesus and grow together in love.

Encouraging healthy marriages

A new initiative for 2011 is the development of a ministry that will seek to encourage and support married couples to work at and maintain a healthy marriage. Of course,  being in a small group and regularly hearing the Word of God with others, and being supported and encouraged by other believers who know and care for you will be a major part of this. However, we do need to think more about what can be done to help and next year the senior pastor is hoping to develop a number of seminars to encourage couples to develop the understanding and skills needed to keep on loving and growing together.