On Turning 30

Each year we celebrate the first Sunday in November as our church birthday. This year we turned 30, which seems quite incredible to me.

Our major celebration as a church this year is to say “Thank you” to various businesses and services that make living in Narrabri possible and enjoyable. We know that people working in retail, in particular, often feel that they live in a war zone. Aggressive and entitled customers make their work day very unpleasant.

So to help us make a connection with these business people, we bought 50 coffee vouchers at $20 each, and placed them in a specially printed “Thank you” card. It is a token effort in some ways, but it does make a difference to the people who receive them.

This year we have invited people to church in the form of a Church Brunch. We do these every 2-3 months, giving participants a feed and a tastes of our worship style. The key is that it deepens relationships and breaks down the fear of the unknown that so many people have towards churches.

It is delightful to be a part of a congregation that invests itself into our local community. This is the congregation that I have had the delight to lead and shape over three decades.

When we started this church in 1996, the mission was to start a new thing that God would show us. 30 years later, it feels like we are starting to discover what this new thing is.