Focus on children

On the CWM website, there is a post about Jill Kayser and her work with Kids Friendly.

She says"A new year prompts one to take stock of the past year and plan for the future. Our church is undergoing change. The formation of new 'super presbyteries' creates opportunities for identifying new ways of being."

Ms Kayser said the launch of the Kaimai Presbytery in September included a range of workshops to promote mission - including mission relating to children.

She said: "When the Rev Lance Thomas invited me to contribute to the launch, he explained that the church wanted to start off as it plans to carry on and that mission with young people is key to the success of their churches.

He said we should make 2010 the time to 'do whatever it takes' to reach and serve young people and incorporate them into our communities of faith."

On top of their work with individual churches, the Kids Friendly team have also been encouraging churches within the presbytery to watch their "Next Generation" DVD - a film that features children challenging churches to make a difference to their youth programme.

And Here's the 500th Post as Promised

500 posts on this blog....we began on March 12th, 2008. Not too bad an effort...

This 500th post presents a press release from the South Canterbury Presbytery. It's of particular interest to National Mission Office, as we've been involved in this process for a few years....

The four Presbyterian congregations in Timaru voted on Sunday to dissolve their current congregations and form one new congregation. Trinity, St Paul’s and St Stephen’s voted to proceed, with 85%, 97% and 94% of those present in favor. Chalmers voted 61% in favor. The Chalmers figure is less than the 66% majority required by the PCANZ (Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand) for significant decisions.

The Presbytery of South Canterbury will be asked by the leaders of Trinity, St Paul’s and St Stephen’s to proceed with the dissolution of their congregations and the establishment of one new congregation.

A task group has been set up by the Presbytery to investigate the proposal. They will hear why the churches have taken this decision, and listen to objections and endorsements from church members. Presbytery will also have to consider whether the amalgamation can proceed with only three churches, as discussions and planning over several years have been made on the basis of combining all four congregations.