The following is taken from my transcript from our congregational meeting last Sunday, November 17…

But let me begin by turning to 2 Timothy. In the letter of 2 Timothy the apostle says the following to his apprentice:
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses  entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2

To the discerning listener, or any MTS apprentices here today, that is the memory verse of MTS Australia and it signals a gospel baton change from one person to another. That desire is bound into the role of the Next Generation Pastor. Now it certainly doesn’t mean Merhawi would be hands-on and present with every child and youth at SCPC – that would be impossible! But, critical to the role, is to be a transformational leader, investing in some key leaders in the kids and youth team, and thereby enlisting beautiful gospel partners. If we cannot approve the renumeration package today for the NG role there is a genuine risk that we break the gospel baton change. Personally, I don’t think this is the moment to jeopardize this, or even deny an opportunity to reboot our preschool ministry, when we have a godly couple (with pre-schoolers of their own) open and available to serve with us enthusiastically at SCPC.

However, it would be unwise, or even deceptive, to not alert you to the other risks before us. If our extended church family at SCPC choose to endorse both motions before us with the NG role and the seed funding for MTS in Zimbabwe, we would say ‘yes’ to a $122K deficit and that sounds risky too.

So, what are we to do? As I presented last week, do we begin to lay off members of our staff teams? There really are unforeseen risks associated with that. My feeling (as one of the leaders of our extended church family) is that the smallest risk before us is to confront the financial challenge. There is a saying I googled during the week which is apparently associated with Francis of Assisi (I kid you not) or Desmond Tutu saying “How do you eat an Elephant?” The answer – one bite at a time! And Google explains this pretty bizarre saying by suggesting its meaning is that any task, no matter how challenging, can be tackled bit by bit.

Now, since the CoM budget meeting on Wednesday November 6 I have been looking that number ($122,000). I know some people when they are struggling to sleep count sheep. I found, instead, that I count that number… At first I groan and think how am I going to eat that? And I think about how much I have in my ING barefoot investors accounts. But, I am taking my family’s personal capacity and trying to engage that number. So, instead, over the last week and a half I have been trying to train my mind to see this number from the collective members that make up SCPC.

Our database software notes that we have 168 adult members and 57 adult adherents. But if we counted only the members and divided 122K by 168 members by 52 weeks, how much extra each week would you imagine our members could give to eliminate the entire deficit in 2025? The actual amount is $14 a week extra to what members are currently giving. Yes, a number of our members are married, so that would be an additional $28 a week per couple.

Is that risky? For some people, yes it would be! For others it wouldn’t. And for others they may be positioned to extend more. But let me say that this rough (and basic) calculation certainly gave me a better perspective and allowed me to sleep over the last fortnight. My interest in doing that little maths exercise was a living example of the saying “How do you eat an Elephant?” Today my wife and I have adjusted our giving and increased it by $28 a week. Gospel ministry is risky business.

I listened to a podcast with Professor Donald Guthrie from Trinity Evangelical College in Chicago late last year and he said that full time gospel ministry is actually bad for your health. But I believe being a gospel baton changer to the next generation is simply out of this world!

I read of an American believer who had a successful business career and was moving towards the final stage of their life. When questioned about passing the gospel on they said they’d give every award in this office to see that take place. (Personally when I hear that I think of Harvey Spector’s office in the show Suits. So visually, an office with sports memorabilia and all sorts of business awards lining the walls.)

Friends, there are risks associated with however we vote today aren’t there? As the chairperson I am not entitled to vote (only if there is a tie can I present a casting vote) so the decision is really ‘out of my hands’…

As you may know, both motions were approved at the meeting so come along this Sunday, November 24 to hear more!

The information below is what I shared at our preliminary information session last Sunday…

In 2025 I am interested in SCPC learning that Matthew 6:19-34 off by heart. Does it seem impossible?
Maybe…

At LTOTR, Leadership Team made a commitment to purchase a small book for every adult and teenager at SCPC called How to Memorize Scripture for Life: From One Verse to Entire Books.

And recently, while sitting out the front of a Maccas in Adelaide at 5:30am on a Saturday morning (it’s a long story…), I wrote the author an email about our desire to do this and to see if he could contact the publisher to tell them our story and make this desire of ours more economical for the elders. Generously, they have done that and we are in process and making payment to the USA and having them distributed to SCPC.

But why scripture memorisation and why this passage? Scripture memorisation has come onto my radar in the last 3 years through a friend of mine who is a Presbyterian minister (and currently ministers at Ann St in the city in Brisbane). He told me the story of his grandfather who served in the military. Through his adult life he retained that confronting early rising that the miliary enacts. However, through the peacetime of his adult life, this gentleman has been committing scripture to memory. His reason – he said he never knew when he may need it.

I think we will need Matthew 6:19-34 at SCPC in 2025.

Financially 2024 has been a hard year for Australians, with the rise of interest rates. How will it affect Christmas spending? I guess we will find out soon! 2024 has caused Australians to worry about money.

2025 at SCPC is causing me to worry about money…

This Sunday, at our congregational meeting, we will look to endorse the money we would be required to pay a Next Generation Pastor and also an opportunity to give some money to stimulate the establishment of MTS in Zimbabwe (and from them into other Southern Africa nations).

Could I suggest the needs for each of these roles is very evident. Take for example the Next Generation role… In 2024 we had our biggest safari youth camp EVER in our 26 year existence at SCPC! So, if we don’t have a Next Gen pastor, what do we do?…

Now, what about MTS in Southern Africa? Who has seen the benefit of MTS at SCPC over the last 26 years. If you feel comfortable, put your hand up if you have seen the blessing of MTS here at SCPC? Who wouldn’t want to see that blessing flow into Southern Africa?

As I have made know to you previously, I didn’t know the request was coming from MTS Australia to SCPC. To partner with them to establish the equivalent of MTS in Zimbabwe. Yet it did come about a week before I flew to Zimbabwe. So, while I was there in October, I took the opportunity to have coffee with the National Director of Ministry Apprentice Training in Zimbabwe, Antony. Our time together in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, was delayed by 15 minutes because while we waited for him to come, he never came in! So, in the end we had to go out to the entry of the hotel, to let him in, as he had been excluded from attending the facility because of the colour of his skin. But apart from the initial distress, it was an excellent and encouraging time. Personally, as a chairperson next week, I am not able to vote.

But, if I was a member of the Presbyterian charge of SCPC, I would enthusiastically vote yes to providing $5K over 5 years to get MTS off the ground in Zimbabwe. From my interactions with Antony here in Australia (in January at the National MTS conference where he and his family were in attendance, and now again in Harare a month ago) it is evident he is a wise and eager gospel-centred global leader.

And to be honest, I am absolutely confident that all of you here today (and the vast vast majority of our church family) would vote yes (yes, yes!) to both these initiatives don’t you think?

However, the real question many of us have is “will we have the money?” Isn’t that what it will boil down
to? Because there is absolutely no way volunteers can do the Next Gen role. No way! So, what are we going to do?

Currently we can afford to do both as we have the most money in the bank that we have just about ever have had in our 26-year history at SCPC. And yet we will budget a confronting deficit. So, what do we do? It seems madness not to employ a Next Gen Pastor, when we have more youth than we have ever had and I believe I have equally promoted our dire need to raise the profile of our preschool ministry.

But what about the money? This Sunday, at the congregational meeting, should we do a staff popularity poll and the most unpopular staff member at SCPC be released (to release the financial pressure and allow us to comfortably endorse the package for the Next Gen pastor)? I reckon I could tell you right now the answers to the staff popularity poll… Who is the most popular staff member at SCPC!?! Drum roll please… Steve Tilley. When we placed the start of his Ministry Apprenticeship on our socials in January this year, Stezz (as we know him fondly) broke the internet! Could I say that is testimony to the loyalty, comradery and Christ-like compassion he shows to people. So, who would come at the bottom of the staff popularity?! Me, as so often leaders are change agents, urging us and spurring us on. But as humans we really, really, really, struggle with change. So, I can understand why people may not find me popular (and also I’m the most expensive one of all). So, should I go? Should our administrators go? Should our Sunday logistics person go? (Just to clarify, I was speaking facetiously).

I have heard that some are confused about what our staff do, and that it can take a day like Celebration Sunday for the extended church family of SCPC to see and feel all the moving parts at SCPC. And yet, even Celebration Sunday doesn’t capture the breadth of SCPC!

In our new data base system we have over 400 live attendees and in a total of around 2600 contacts that have had connection to SCPC. So, what do we do about the fact our staff cost money? Release someone?
Personally, I don’t feel comfortable to do that, and that’s not just because I think the staff team are the best in the country (which they are)! I actually think you would be shocked if we removed a staff member for it knocks you out in places you could never predict!!! So, what do we do?

My suggestion is to find money. How do we do that? I actually don’t know. But Matthew 6 does. So I attempted to memorise Matthew 6:33 last Sunday. And so let me finish with that:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things, will be given to you, as well.

SP

This Sunday, November 10 at 11:30am, we will hold a preliminary information session in preparation for our Congregational meeting on November 17.

This week’s preliminary information session will go from 11:30-12:30pm.

Our LT, along with CoM Exec., will present the stipend for the new Next Generation role for endorsement for 2025. The package was finalised at the budget meeting of the CoM on Wednesday night this week. The figures for this will be available for perusal on Sunday at the information session. To understand the role of the NG pastor 2025 and our candidate, you can peruse some previous pastors’ pens (you can find them from October 9, September 5, June 27, and March 22).

The other opportunity that will be explained at the information session on Sunday is the invitation from MTS Australia to support the establishment of MTS in Zimbabwe over the next five years. You can find more information about this on the MTS website.

The gospel baton passing to the next generation, both here in Australia and overseas, is critical to the growth of the kingdom of God. As you will discover on Sunday, these initiatives come at a cost! Please consider coming along so you can feel informed and excited about the opportunities before us!

I simply love the boldness of our gospel forbears, who got the gospel out no matter the cost!!! Have a listen to the passion of the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 2:1-2 NIV
[1] You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. [2] We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition.

SP

Last weekend, Leadership Team was on the road (LTOTR) to Adelaide. We have never strayed this far away and its hard to expect we ever would again! [1]

However, this trip was planned in March 2023 in Sydney during our Reach Australia Consultancy. During one of the intensives (with 40 or so other pastors) I was able to have an informal lunch with the Rector of Holy Trinity [2] in Adelaide, Paul Harrington. I knew of Paul and also Richie and I had heard him preach as one of the keynote speakers at the Reach Australia conference in 2022. Over the informal lunch with Paul Harrington, he told me a little about the Trinity Network of Churches in Adelaide. I knew they had planted some churches, but I was flabbergasted when I heard they had planted 14 churches since 2001!

However, I think I was even more impressed when Paul took a very active and keen interest in Southern Cross and our church planting experiences. He was thoughtful, kind and sought to listen to our story. You know how they say you know you have been in the presence of humility when you walk away and think, “Hang on I don’t think I really asked them any questions!? They were soooo kind they just kept listening to me!!!” I felt moved, refreshed and genuinely heard by Paul. So, at the end of our conversation (and as the next session was about to begin) I said to Paul, “One day I would love to visit the Trinity Network and listen to you and your wisdom in church planting.”

Over the weekend, that day arrived. Kindly, Paul spent about two hours with the elders of SCPC simply answering our questions and offering little anecdotes along the way. He was overflowing with experience having served at Holy Trinity for decades. Please consider reading the spring edition of the Moore College magazine to find out more about their story.

I concluded our time with Paul by reading a portion of a biography about J.I.Packer. As we arrived in Adelaide, I had just finished the first chapter and was struck as I read about Packer. What I read reminded me of my interactions with Paul Harrington. Thus, at the end of our time I read a few paragraphs and inserted “Harrington” whenever the text referenced “Packer”. I felt very comfortable about the comparison (and I am quite confident Paul Harington did not)! Read below and when you read any reference to Packer, imagine you are putting Paul Harrington’s name there! So, here goes…

I can recall the first time I met “Packer” each time I was in his presence, I came away sensing, that there was something of greatness in him. Of course, “Packer” himself would bristle a such language. He is, as Carl Trueman aptly describes it, “the classic example of a modest Christian gentleman”. Whatever greatness is in him (and it is there), whatever constructive influence he has exerted on the Christian church (and it has been incalculable), he himself would attribute to the sovereign grace of God working through yet another “clay jar” (2 Cor 4:7). In our age of Christian celebrity, “Packer” feels oddly out of place.  He is, as best I can tell, entirely devoid of self-promotion. I echo Timothy George’s assessment:   

I have seen him buffeted by adversity and criticised unfairly, but I have never seen him sag. His smile is irrepressible and his laughter can bring light to the most sombre of meetings. His love for all things human and humane shines through. His mastery of ideas and the most fitting words in which to express them is peerless. Ever impatient with shams of all kinds, his saintly character and spirituality runs deep.

I understand this high praise! Therefore, you may be interested to hear from him yourself in the following resources:

Now, the weekend captured our usual program for LTOTR. Three-hour planning for 2025 on Friday night, four-hour five year planning on Saturday, afternoon free time, personal check-in on Saturday night, then visiting a local church on Sunday. We were privileged to visit Modbury church in the Trinity Network at 10am Sunday. Modbury was the first church plant from Trinity cathedral in the city of Adelaide in 2001. Remarkably, and in the kindness of God, Modbury has gone on to plant a few churches from it too. Amazing! You can check in with LT, Tilly or Cam [3] to get the correct number, I found it hard to keep up as Paul explained where all the plants came from on Sunday afternoon!

Another generous blessing of our good shepherd, was connecting with two precious women from SCPC who now call Trinity home. One of them works with AFES in Adelaide and the other (kindly) with her family, sponsored part of our trip.

Like any weekend away you may experience, there were things that didn’t go to plan! Many of us suffered some digestive discomfort in the early hours of Saturday morning after eating Indian on Friday night. One of our hire cars was hit by a Jaguar (the car variety) on Sunday. On our travel home early Monday morning we saw a member of church family in the airport and as I hopped on the plane to sit down, I was sitting next them! Crazy! Finally, in our time with Paul Harrington on Sunday at the top of my notes I had written in big letters: “TAKE PHOTO!” But I forgot. Sigh. Yet as we touched down in the Gold Coast airport, who was it that walked past? None other than Paul Harrington himself (on his way to holidays in South East QLD)!

In all the bizarre and painful activities of our lives, we have a good shepherd don’t we? Let’s together cling to him!

SP

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:1-4

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[1] In 2025, Leadership Team on the Road, heads to SEQ to Lake Moogerah about two and a half hours drive from Lismore. We will also be attending the Sunday service of a FIEC church in Springfield, in the South West corner of Brisbane.

[2] Holy Trinity is an evangelistic church in the Anglican diocese of South Australia.

[3] We were able to have Ritchie’s ticket changed to Cam.