Last Sunday we introduced Bill and Linda Colyer as our newest Global Mission Partners (here’s the clip we showed on Sunday). They are preparing to do ministry with uni students in Vanuatu, beginning next year.
Bill has been working in uni ministry for the past 17 years with AFES at Queensland University of Technology and they are currently part of Wilston Presbyterian Church in Brisbane. Here’s a short profile with some more info about them and the rest of their family.
Bill and Linda, along with their 2 daughters Amy (14) and Gwen (8) will be visiting us on August 9-15. We’ll hopefully get to know them lots more across the week. I met them on zoom for the first time recently and was deeply encouraged by their steadfast heart for people, the gospel and for ministry in the South Pacific.
I’m excited about the opportunity for us as a church to partner in global mission with them as we seek, under God, to make disciples of all nations.
Next generation ministries at SCPC have been critical to our heartbeat over the last 25 years.
It is so exciting to be part of a church family where its leaders, elders, Committee of Management (CoM) and staff are proactive about how to give generously of their time, skills and money to grow and extend this vital ministry.
Here are some ways you can be thoughtful and partner with this critical demography…
Firstly, pray for our Mum and Me Time ministry. Last week at our CoM meeting we had a report from them and we heard about the many, many community mums that are coming along weekly and benefiting from the ministry. We rejoice in the incredible opportunity the Lord has provided! But the challenge of this growth is retaining a warm, generous and gospel culture, generated from SCPC mums and mentors. We currently have less mums from SCPC than community mums, and it’s a delicate balance to handle. So, pray for proactivity and creativity for the SCPC directors of Mum and Me Time over the next 6 to 12 months as they consider how to negotiate that space. It would be great to see more preschool families connect with our heart at SCPC [2] over the coming years, and make SCPC home.
Secondly, the NSW school holiday break is almost upon us. As you may know, during school holiday time we request holiday helpers from the extended church family to serve in our Sunday kids program. This allows our kids team to take a well-earned break and come back a little refreshed for the next term. The Sundays the program requires helpers are July 7, 14 and 21. If you are interested in helping you will need current Breaking the Silence training along with a valid Working with Children Check number. To indicate your interest, or ask questions, email office@spcc.org.au
Finally, pray for our Next Generation Pastor role in 2025. We have been in conversation with the denomination and theological colleges about graduates etc. but as many churches are finding, there are more roles than there are pastors and ministry workers! [1] I am due to visit Sydney-based theological colleges in August (on behalf of the Northern Rivers Presbytery) and this may provide another opportunity to connect with critical parties in this space.
What a joy it is to work with the next generation – the curiosity, the enthusiasm and the wonder as they come to understand the depth of our Father’s love for them is magical. So, can I spur you on to pray for this demography at SCPC (including the ministry of Mum and Me Time)? Please also consider if you can serve in our Sunday kids program this coming school holiday break and give generously to the ministry of SCPC so we can provide robust gospel resources and personnel to this significant stage of life.
I have been reading through Proverbs in my quiet time over the last fortnight, so many powerful or challenging little grabs. Here is one from Proverbs 22:6 as we think about precious little lives: Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
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[1] I have checked in occasionally on the website of QTC in Brisbane and found the roles currently available and in 2025 only growing, none disappearing! Pray for the Lord of the Harvest to raise gospel workers in our country and beyond!! (Matthew 9).
[2] We have tried to reconnect with Colin Buchanan’s team about a visit from him in 2025 at SCPC.
During the week our Committee of Management (CoM) had its ‘Christmas in June’ meeting!
I know that sounds like a funny event… We would have had ‘Christmas in July’ but we have no CoM meeting dates in July, so ‘Christmas in June’ it was.
But the real spirit behind the night was to allow Leadership Team (LT) the opportunity to thank our CoM team for the countless hours they invest into our heartbeat at SCPC each year. So much of our dealings in CoM are administration and finance related, but I love to use the language of how they ‘add ministry’ to our pastors, staff team and church family as a whole. Therefore, LT wanted to take a night to thank the CoM team for how much they ‘add’ to our ministry at SCPC. Now, what better way to do that, than to head west to a steak barn. [1] Yee-ha!
LT shouted CoM members their meal, but more than that we wanted to have time to be present personally with the CoM team (while not having to be pressured by time and a full agenda). Due to the efforts of our treasurers, a written report from Mum and Me Time and a briefing paper I wrote before the meeting, we actually achieved a healthy amount over the course of the night. We could move from bit of banter to finance reports with relative ease. We were even able to have time for some dessert!
However, there are some issues we want to bring before you all from the night. So, there will be an update this Sunday (following on from the CoM update provided on May 12) to let you know where SCPC currently lies financially. Our Assistant Treasurer will bring that report at 9:30am and 6pm this Sunday, June 23.
Another issue we wanted to update you on is our Sunday meeting space. Peita and I were able to meet with the Admin Manager from LHS recently and they are clear with building contractors, that the school is extremely eager to have access to the hall for the 2024 HSC and the trials that occur in Term 3. Therefore, we are reasonably confident of regaining access to the hall by Spring this year. We are thankful for this news as we were uncomfortable about the prospect of enduring the MPU through Summer.
So, for now, we stay in the MPU and it’s a very basic set up. Due to this we are unable to provide hot drinks out of the MPU, but certainly feel free to bring a thermos, or a cuppa in a ‘keep cup’ as you arrive – it’s BYO hot drinks for the MPU.
Finally, don’t forget (like any Sunday), you can also BYO Bible. This Sunday we will be heading to the confronting passage of Genesis 22 and Abraham’s turmoil in the prospect of offering his son. As we work through this MESS we will move to a number of New Testament passages in this order; John 18-19, Hebrews 11, 2 Corinthians 5 and Romans 5. There will be a bit of flipping, but by the end of it you will be thankful that (at just the right time) the Lord will provide. Thus, when our faith is tested we can return to the power of Romans 5 and verse 8… But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Have your youth registered!?! If not, make sure to do it soon as it’s an opportunity too good to miss! The youth team are chasing registrations by Sunday, June 30th.
What makes SCPC’s week-long youth camp (Safari) so excellent? 18 months ago I read a biography of the prominent 20th century Christian leader, John Stott. It was an excellent read. It was super great to hear about his journey to faith. Significant in it was a camp run by Scripture Union in Britain. They seemed quite persuaded that a five-day camp was a brilliant forum to allow teenagers room to consider and think through the claims of Christ. I couldn’t believe it as I read it! I straight away thought of our five-day youth camp, Safari! So excited was I, that I took photos of the pages and sent it to two of our past MTS apprentices who had co-led the camp with me in the past with the caption “The special ingredients to Safari”!
So, I can’t wait to hear reports back from Safari 2024 and the way those special ingredients work like magic, fuelled by the word of God and the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit.
I understand that not everyone at SCPC is impacted by Safari and a good twenty percent may not really understand what all the fuss is about. But Cam and the youth team put in a huge amount of effort to make Safari happen.
So, can I encourage all of us to consider who from your Gospel Community is due to attend? Ask them how they are feeling about it? You might like to enquire with the family and see if they need financial support to get all their kids there.
Also, you might think about who in your street might be able to go… A few years ago, I tentatively door- knocked two families on our street about whether their teenagers would be interested. I had no idea what they would say and I expected the door to slam! But, it was much better than I expected. In fact, one of the teenagers in our street came. Similarly, have a listen to the shock John Stott experienced when he invited a friend. John, like me, expected a NO! But this was the response from his friend: I said straight away I would like to come. He told me later that he (John Stott) was quite overwhelmed by the response. I was the normal hard swearing school boy, I suppose, no faith at all… my parents occasionally taking me to church. John had prayed about this approach to me and had been fairly certain he would be rebuffed. [1]
This teenager went along to the camp, and there found Christ for himself. How cool is that!?!
Safari is coming up really soon, on July 13-17, with Safari Sunday on July 21. Please pray that even teenagers with messy lives would come and meet the faithful God.
Let me finish with the powerful conversion story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19: 1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
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[1] Dudley-Smith, John Stott: The making of a leader. (London: IVP, 1999), p102.
