Connection and Care – Stewart Perry
It’s February already!! Not too long now and we’ll be heading into our Lenten journey together. We are working on some exciting opportunities for our community to really lean into the Lenten experience. Stay tuned! (Lent starts on the 2nd of March by the way.)
It has been an unusual January for me. Almost everything I’d hoped for it to be has NOT come to pass… I was hoping for 2 weeks holiday which would include a visit from my school friends… neither happened due to the ‘Omicron wave’… I was hoping to play a bit more golf but I’ve played less due to the enormous amount of rain we’ve had which always seems to coincide with my day off or the time I’ve organised to play golf and I am not one to enjoy golf in all weather conditions…
I was hoping that our in person church attendance would grow in January but again because of the Omicron Wave that did not happen…
While ever we are focused on what didn’t or can’t happen we find it harder to see what can & did happen. In many respects January was an amazing month, especially for a sports fan like me. Australia won the Ashes, both the Men and Women, we have a sports person as the Australian of the year and who can go past Ash Barty in the tennis!
Similarly it has been like that in our church life this January. While physical numbers have dropped, as they have in every church that I’m aware of, we’ve seen a number of new people connect. In the past people would come to church for the first time and generally be on a journey in choosing from one of many options on the Gold Coast to find the one that suits best. Now many of the people who come for the first time have already done their investigation online and have ‘been’ to church with us online before coming physically. When they come they are close to making the decision, if not already, to join our church. Also during January our online numbers have increased significantly which is amazing.
You might remember me making a comment some time ago (that I stole from another church by the way) that we were going aspire to be 100% online and 100% in person. In January, in seems like that strategy was bearing significant fruit. Not that we’ve got it all together or can’t improve in any way but our intention seems to be in the right direction as we position ourselves and our church to be available to God in this season.
One of the things that has definitely been more challenging in this season and particularly in January has been connection and care.
It’s not that this is anything new for church life but it is something that has been complicated by what’s going on in the world around us and the response by many, to limit the ways they connect. The way we connect with others has a direct relationship to our availability and ability to care for others and for others to care for us.
In the month ahead we are going to try and invest, as much as we are able, in these 2 things: connection and care. As we are continuing to aspire to be 100% online and 100% in person, this will have outworking in both areas.
While we will be trying to initiate a few particular things in the coming months, there’s at least as much power in the unintentional and incidental ways we connect and care.
Can I ask that you join me and add to your prayer focus for the month ahead these 2 things: connection and care. This is not just something the staff are going to try to do better. It is something the church should be known for and yes even, yes especially our church.
Blessings
Stewart