Stories of 2020
2020 has been a year of uncertainty and change - but in it all God is at work. We caught up with members of our church family to see that ways that God has been at work in their lives this year.
Stu's Story
How long have you been at Church@thepeak?
12 years! We launched Church@thepeak Easter Sunday 2008 in the library with a core team of 12 adults and 15 kids. Some of the core team are still with us – praise God!
What have you found challenging this year?
The biggest challenge has been the uncertainty before us and trying to work out how to lead church through it all. At the beginning of the pandemic things were changing every week, and with the recent outbreaks in Melbourne and Sydney we are beginning to experience that again.
It makes it hard to plan ahead, particularly with regard to whether or not to restart church, what processes and procedures we need to have in place, as well as trying to work out whether it’s better to meet face to face with restrictions, or meet online. There are pro’s and con’s to both.
What are you thankful for in this time?
I am thankful for so many things from this time. I am thankful for the opportunities we have had as a church to reach out to and invite new people to church. Who would have thought we would have more visitors and more people doing Christianity Explored and Life of Jesus than ever before? I am thankful for the people God has gifted our church with who have been serving us in new and creative ways – especially those helping out with our technology, social media and website, pastoral care, and kids’ ministry.
I am thankful for God’s mercy that most of our people kept their jobs despite the lockdowns and closures, or were supported through JobKeeper. And I am thankful that our church family is continuing to ‘not give up meeting together’ (Heb 10:25) both on Sundays and for growth group. It would be very easy to give up because church isn’t the same, or Zoom is too hard, or a bunch of other reasons. But God is sustaining us through it, and people are encouraging one another to keep persevering in our faith and fixing our eyes on Jesus.
What opportunities can you see from this time?
The are lots of opportunities that have come about because of coronavirus. The most obvious is the missional opportunity to invite people to church online. We have had 79 visitors attend church this year, 55 (70%) have come since we have been doing church online. This is fantastic, and is a huge opportunity we ought to continue to leverage and not give up on.
The second is the opportunity to bring forward the start of our second service. With church meetings currently limited to 100 people onsite, we will need to run a second service in order to include and welcome people for our Sunday gatherings (whenever that maybe). This is exciting and will create more opportunities for mission, outreach, and growth. The other opportunity is to use this time to recruit, train up, and empower our people for discipleship. This is particularly important for families with children who are missing out on Kids’ Church, and our youth.
What is your prayer for our church community?
My prayer for our community is that God would use this time to wake people from their spiritual lethargy and deadness (Eph 2:1), to see their mortality and inability to control their lives (like we foolishly think we can), and to see the hope, comfort, and peace there is in the gospel. I pray that as people’s foundations of health, financial security, and comfort are rocked, that God would use this time to draw people to himself, and into eternal life.
12 years! We launched Church@thepeak Easter Sunday 2008 in the library with a core team of 12 adults and 15 kids. Some of the core team are still with us – praise God!
What have you found challenging this year?
The biggest challenge has been the uncertainty before us and trying to work out how to lead church through it all. At the beginning of the pandemic things were changing every week, and with the recent outbreaks in Melbourne and Sydney we are beginning to experience that again.
It makes it hard to plan ahead, particularly with regard to whether or not to restart church, what processes and procedures we need to have in place, as well as trying to work out whether it’s better to meet face to face with restrictions, or meet online. There are pro’s and con’s to both.
What are you thankful for in this time?
I am thankful for so many things from this time. I am thankful for the opportunities we have had as a church to reach out to and invite new people to church. Who would have thought we would have more visitors and more people doing Christianity Explored and Life of Jesus than ever before? I am thankful for the people God has gifted our church with who have been serving us in new and creative ways – especially those helping out with our technology, social media and website, pastoral care, and kids’ ministry.
I am thankful for God’s mercy that most of our people kept their jobs despite the lockdowns and closures, or were supported through JobKeeper. And I am thankful that our church family is continuing to ‘not give up meeting together’ (Heb 10:25) both on Sundays and for growth group. It would be very easy to give up because church isn’t the same, or Zoom is too hard, or a bunch of other reasons. But God is sustaining us through it, and people are encouraging one another to keep persevering in our faith and fixing our eyes on Jesus.
What opportunities can you see from this time?
The are lots of opportunities that have come about because of coronavirus. The most obvious is the missional opportunity to invite people to church online. We have had 79 visitors attend church this year, 55 (70%) have come since we have been doing church online. This is fantastic, and is a huge opportunity we ought to continue to leverage and not give up on.
The second is the opportunity to bring forward the start of our second service. With church meetings currently limited to 100 people onsite, we will need to run a second service in order to include and welcome people for our Sunday gatherings (whenever that maybe). This is exciting and will create more opportunities for mission, outreach, and growth. The other opportunity is to use this time to recruit, train up, and empower our people for discipleship. This is particularly important for families with children who are missing out on Kids’ Church, and our youth.
What is your prayer for our church community?
My prayer for our community is that God would use this time to wake people from their spiritual lethargy and deadness (Eph 2:1), to see their mortality and inability to control their lives (like we foolishly think we can), and to see the hope, comfort, and peace there is in the gospel. I pray that as people’s foundations of health, financial security, and comfort are rocked, that God would use this time to draw people to himself, and into eternal life.