Moving on from Ranges

Well most people who know us, know that Christina myself and the girls have left the mountain. That we have moved on from Ranges Church which we have lead for 6 or so years.
It was always going to be a difficult move, leaving friends and a church which in many ways feels like a child which you have fathered. It is why I've avoided this post, yet I feel has to be written.

There are a number of reasons for the move.
:: I've always wanted to live in a regional. (Christina didn't but was willing to comprise if it was near the sea. Thus Phillip Island.)
:: We wanted to do this prior to the girls starting kinda and school.
:: The ways things at Ranges church was going, was positve. It was a healthy time to move on.
:: I also felt that until the girls both started School we would have had limited time to do anything new and innovative. While maintaining what we already have Again this was a good time for others to step up, and u to move on.

The future, with ministry...

:: At this stage we just want to hang for a year or so at Phillip Island. See what the Holy Spirit is up to. In the church, with the community, and with ourselves.
:: We are still on the board of Vineyard Cataylst Network and will probably head over to Nerium South and help with John and Chris V with their house type church, in the short term.
:: When the time is right we will probably plant again. This time a lot differn't. So stay tuned!

Friends in Neerim District

My good mates Chris and John van der Marel who are with the Vineyard Cataylst Network have put out what they are up to for the next couple of months. So I thought I'd put the word out....

Friends In Neerim District

Will Meet on the following Sundays for this school term

2^nd, 16^th, 30^th August,
13^th September

Generally this is what happens

12:30 – 2:30        BBQ at the Park (YAPP Park) in Neerim South

Then afterwards at the Orana Community Centre

2:30-3:00              Kids games, songs and story

3:30-4:30              Adults - Prayer and Afternoon Tea

4:30-5:00              Discussion on our Mission Action Plan

Other activities; Men and women small groups meet fortnightly and Sunday morning mountain bike rides at 7:00am call John van der  Marel 0400047864 for more details

Stretched

One of my favorite reads is 'Backyard missionary', I've got a lot of respect for Hammo as one who has gone before me. His las post "Stretch" a reflection of his community in Perth has had me thinking a little bit.

The line-

I have said a number of times that on a scale of 1-10, if normal established church life is ‘1′ then we probably ‘jumped’ out to around an ‘8′, to a place of unfamiliarity and to an environment that made most Christians uncomfortable. (Its ok for overseas missionaries to jump to ‘8′ but not local ones!)

For me, after we did Forge and the stagnancy of Ranges at the time I would have done the same as Hamo, gone to 8 straight away. I supose Ranges would have been about a 2 on Hammos scale. We didn't do the plunge for a few good reasons. We were a new church plant 3 years old and the people that we had with us already had gone through enough joining our team. We decided that the external would look the same but the underpinning would change.

So it has been a slow movement up the scale at Ranges we would now be about a 3-4. Although the Vineyard Catalyst Network which we set up, the communities would be 5-8.

Hammo also mentioned some of the difficulties meeting others expectations

• Children's Ministry
• feed
• worship

I think these problems happen for every church, large and small communities. Yet they have their own set of issues. Eg a large church you start having great worship, then... 'excellence, elitism' sneaks in the music team, which no one can crack. (Yep I've been in and tried to get into these types of teams, very clicky).

I think it would be easier just to start at hammos ranking of 8 without a Christian team. Or if people wanted to join, you lay your cards on the tables. The 'feed', 'worship', 'Children's Ministry' expectations are made pretty clear. I really think next time this is how we will do things.