December Newsletter now available

The Salvation Army Wellington City Corps December newsletter is now available online here, or by clicking on the image.

Within its pages you’ll find information about our weekly and monthly ministries, activities and events etc. that we have running.

We are continually developing our weekly worship services, and our in-house capabilities to make these available online so that we can effectively reach out to those within our wider community and beyond. People who are unable to physically meet with us each week due to ill-health, underlying health conditions, or are in a rest home etc. are enjoying our hosted ‘Church Online’ services @ 6pm

Links are available via our Corps or the Wellington Citadel Band Facebook pages, alternatively you can subscribe to our Corps YouTube channel (services are uploaded midweek) or follow this blog to ensure you get notifications as they come through.

The Corps leadership are continually amazed be the number of people that are accessing our services not only here in the Wellington region, and around New Zealand, but also around the world.

We are receiving a huge number of positive responses and comments from people right around the globe, and are amazed at how each week this continues to grow with people liking our facebook pages, connecting online and returning to watch and share with us in worship and the Word.

This ministry is also enabling us to reach out beyond the Inner City of Wellington, sharing Christ’s love far and wide – not only around the country, but also worldwide bringing “Life & Hope“.

If you live in the Wellington Region (especially the Inner City) and would like to know more about what we do, what we are about, and how you can partner with us – Check out our facebook page, leave a comment, give us a call at the office (04) 801 9278 or email: wellingtoncity.corps@salvationarmy.org.nz and we will get in touch – God bless you each 🙂

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Church Online: 6pm (NZ Time) – Sunday 29 November

This week we commence a new sermon series looking at the Christmas Nativity Story.

We read in the biblical accounts of the Christmas story that many of the key people experienced the emotional highs and lows that this season can bring.

In many ways I’m sure their expectations were dashed one way or another and there are many lessons that we can learn from the build up  towards Advent as we endeavour to live God-honouring lives in this day and age.

Through it all, God is wanting to remind us of His provision and His love, mercy and grace.

Today at 6pm (NZ Time) we are hosting ‘Church Online’ as a facebook live video event via our Wellington City Corps and Wellington Citadel Band pages. (Link below also).

Our weekly Sunday meetings feature both the Wellington Citadel Band and the Wellington City Worship Team.

We pray that you will be blessed as we minister in these unprecedented days not only for our local community who are unable to join us in person but also to enable others around the world that currently unable to worship in their settings.

May God bless you each as you head into the coming week 🙂

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A Call to Prayer

This morning we have received the tragic news that a Salvation Army outpost in Indonesia was attacked on Friday 27 November 2020, claiming the lives of four of its members.

The General of The Salvation Army has issued the following prayer request following the deadly attack in Sulawesi. The outpost Lewono Lembantongoa is in a very rural area of Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi, situated on the edge of the Indonesian rainforest.

Additional information is available from the International Christian Concern website, and further updates will be posted as they come available on either; The Salvation Army International Facebook page or The New Zealand Fiji, Tonga and Samoa 24/7 Facebook group which Salvationists across the territory are encouraged to be a part of.

Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues in Indonesia and with the victims families as they work through their grief and loss, for the community as they support those in need and as they continue to witness in these trying times – May God bring healing… 

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Five Things Churches Should Do Differently in 2021

The following article was written by Thom S. Rainer on the Church Answers blog.

Thom is the author of more than two dozen books including; I Am a Church Member, Breakout Churches, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Who Moved My Pulpit?, and Anatomy of a Revived Church.

As I am writing this article, I was notified that my grandson, Joshua, had broken his ankle. My granddaughter, Collins, broke her arm this year. My son, Sam, broke his leg a month ago. And my wife, Nellie Jo, broke her wrist earlier this year. That’s four different Rainer families with broken bones in the same year. 

2020. Ugh. Come quickly 2021!

For certain, there are many of us looking forward to leaving 2020 behind and entering a new year. We anticipate that 2021 will be much better. Indeed, we have every reason to believe it will be a better year. 

As our team works with church leaders, we are often asked what changes or pivots their churches should make as their congregations move to a new year. Though this list is not exhaustive, we find ourselves making these five recommendations consistently. 

1. Triple the amount of time your church dedicates to outreach to the community. It’s all about the Great Commission. For years, many of our churches have gradually reduced their commitment to reaching their communities. We are incredibly excited that thousands of churches have adopted Pray and Go (see www.PrayAndGoChurch.com) with a new commitment to make a difference where they live.

2. Have a backup budget. The economic outlook for 2021 is murky, but we do see some troubling signs. Indeed, we are already beginning to hear from church leaders whose churches are showing signs of deteriorating finances. We are encouraging many leaders to have a backup plan if giving does not meet expectations. 

3. Move from incremental change to substantive change. In the past, I advocated an “eating an elephant” posture toward change in established churches. You eat an elephant one bite at a time, and thus you lead change in a church one small step at a time. I can no longer advocate incremental change. We simply do not have the time to wait on people like we once did. If we wait on some of the more resistant people in our church to change, we may have closed the doors long before they are ready. 

4. Cut back on the clutter and activities. Many of our churches are simply too busy. We are sacrificing our families and opportunities to develop relationships in the community because of church calendars. COVID has given us a new opportunity to focus on doing a few things well in our churches. The simple church will become the effective church. 

5. Approach ministry with a church planter mindset. I have called this new opportunity “the blank slate.” Instead of doing things the way we’ve always done them, ruthlessly evaluate everything your church is doing. If your church were starting anew, what would it start doing? What would it stop doing? COVID has given us a new opportunity to rethink church. Don’t let the opportunity pass. 

I am watching the calendar closely. For sure, 2020 has not been a stellar year for many of us. But it has been a season where we can re-evaluate our lives and our ministries. Indeed, it can lead us to 2021 with a new enthusiasm for our churches and the people we lead and love.

So, come quickly 2021. There are incredible opportunities just around the corner.

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Sunday 29 November

This Sunday, 29 November we commence a new sermon series looking at the build up towards Christmas, the advent story.

I don’t know about you but this year has seen many of our expectations dashed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic is still affecting countless lives not only here in New Zealand, but around the world. For a large part we have been largely spared from the traumatic affects of it – but it has still had a devastating affect for many.

As we approach this Christmas there is still the fear for some that Christmas plans etc. could be disrupted at the last minute and leave us feeling discouraged, disappointed and upset. Sometimes our expectations are dashed – Emotions that can have a detrimental affect on us if we let them fester and absorb us.

As we read the biblical accounts of some of the people in the Christmas story they too more than likely experienced the highs and lows that this season can bring.

There are many lessons that we can learn from the Christmas accounts as we endeavour to live God-honouring lives in this day and age. But through it all, God is wanting to remind us of His provision and His love, mercy and grace.

So, if you are in the Inner City of Wellington on Sunday morning, why not come and join us @ 10:30am at 92 Vivian Street, Wellington – Limited parking is available on site via 6 Jessie Street.

For those of you that are unable to attend for whatever reason or are wanting to check us out online you can view our ‘Church Online’ Service @ 6pm (NZ Time).

Links will be posted on our Wellington City Corps and Wellington Citadel Band Facebook pages and on this site on Sunday afternoon.

Please share these far and wide amongst your friends, family, social media contacts etc. so that we can continue reaching out with God’s love to those that may need it in these uncertain times, as we endeavour to ‘bring life and hope to the Inner City of Wellington’ and beyond.

May God continue to bless and encourage you as we each endeavour to live out our Christian Faith in these challenging times that we find ourselves in 🙂

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Sunday 22 November – Recap

If you were unable to join us last Sunday at 10:30am in-house, or at 6pm when we hosted ‘Church Online’ via our facebook pages; Wellington City Corps or Wellington Citadel Band, you can have a recap of what we covered during our meeting by clicking on the video link below.

This week we concluded our sermon series looking at the book of Malachi – exploring how our lives leave a lasting legacy for those that are watching us, regardless if we think they do or not!

We have looked at many lessons that we can learn from the last book of the Old Testament, and I hope and pray that we’ll be able to take on board the many aspects of our faith that God would have us adopt, so that we can endeavour to live God-honouring lives in our day and age.

We are to be examples of what it means to live out our Christian lives in such a way that people will be drawn to the ‘life and hope’ that we espouse as we reach out into our local communities and beyond. For God is calling us back to what He intended for us and our lives – To get back to where we once belonged!

We hope and pray that through the words and music that you hear, and the many talents used in His service to bring this meeting to you each week, that you will be uplifted in your spirit and encouraged as you continue trusting in God and living out your journey of faith. Knowing that through His Holy Spirit He goes with you, He is walking beside you, and He is also preparing a way forward for you.

You can subscribe to our YouTube channel and / or follow us on facebook to keep up to date with what is going on in our faith community.

God bless and have a good one 🙂

 

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