In a nutshell, our thinking has led us towards the following changes:

• A doubling of our Factory Morning Church so that there are two services, both with kids programs, since the current one is full;

• Moving our Christ Church 8:30 service to 8am and establishing some new systems;

• Recruiting a minister for a new role aimed at building Night Church and our young adults (replacing Edward Stocks, still overseeing Small Groups, but not Christ Church 4:30);

• Winding up our Christ Church 4:30 service;

• Some movement in the staff team so that Liz Roediger oversees Membership (welcoming and integration of newcomers); and

• Beefing up our outreach and evangelism under Stephen Liggins.

These changes are being planned to provide for the future growth of our church. When looking at the way our church is currently set up, there seems to be limited potential for growth. Change is necessary to open our church to more people coming and hearing the gospel.

We currently run three weekly services of a more traditional style (Christ Church 830, Winmalee 815, Christ Church Thursday 11). We hope to use the earlier timeslot on Sunday mornings to build on the momentum of Factory Morning Church, which is currently full. We do not have the resources to run three concurrent services at this time. For this reason, reducing the scope of Christ Church 830, and moving it to 8am.

The strength of our Night Church congregation, and building of our young adults there, is a priority for our church. With the departure of Edward Stocks (who looked after the 430 congregation and small groups) we would like to recruit someone to give attention to Night Church and young adults, along with small groups. This necessitates the closure of the Christ Church 430 gathering, which has been carried by the efforts of a small group of faithful servants for several years.

We do not feel that it is realistic to seek large increases of our budget (i.e. members’ giving) at this time, hence it is necessary to take from some areas in order to add to others.

Realising it was time to do some forward planning, we invited a group called Reach Australia to come, look at our church, and recommend how we might move ahead. They have performed consultations for hundreds of churches all over Australia with the aim of helping churches to grow. They gathered our parish council, staff, and others for input, watched our services, and examined various data from our church. We are not planning to do everything they recommended, but their input was helpful. (There is a summary of their report on this page.)

Our staff and Parish Council have been considering our options and priorities since receiving the Reach report. It was felt that our church needs to take definite steps to grow, noting that we have been in maintenance mode. But we have been very mindful of the sacrifice that these changes involve, from some in our church in particular.

While we need to start working towards the implementation of these changes in 2024, we remain open to listening to all points of view on our church’s next steps and how we might work towards growth.

July/August – conversations, announcement, meetings, questions & answers, specify and finalise plans

August/September – form committees to care for individuals (CC830, CC430), survey members re intentions and serving

September/October – form teams to plan ministry

October/November – planning meetings

November/December – planning meetings, follow-up individuals, thanksgivings/celebrations

Pre-Christmas – final CC430 gathering

January – welcome events

28 January – Launch double Factory Morning gatherings

There will still be weekly church services held at Christ Church at 11am on Thursdays and 8am on Sundays. Other weekly activities also take place at Christ Church. Weddings, funerals and other occasional services also take place there.

There are no plans to attempt to sell or abandon the Christ Church site. We acknowledge that Christ Church is our most visible site, and an iconic historical landmark. If we see the growth that we hope to see in the rest of our church in the next few years, it is possible that we would look to recruit an additional minister and replant a congregation at Christ Church to continue the growth of our church.

While times of Winmalee, Christ Church Thursday and Night Church gatherings are not changing, it is hoped that all existing congregations might reform to open up to new members transferring from elsewhere in our church. This should involve reshuffling of small groups, serving rosters and teams, and even perhaps preferred seating positions in church!

New processes for integrating newcomers, along with new plans for outreach and evangelism, will impact all congregations.

We are working towards holding the two new Factory morning services at 900am and 1030am. We are aiming for an even spread of adults and children across the two times. Some members will need to choose one over the other, but some will be able to be flexible. and we will encourage people to go where they’re needed if possible. The Serving Together survey in October 2023 will give an indications of individuals’ preferences and intentions.

We have formed a transition team from within the FMC congregation who are working out how to make it work, including the tight turn-around between the two services on Sunday mornings.

There are plenty of logistical issues associated with doubling the Factory Morning gatherings, including:

• Who plans to attend which gathering;

• Forming teams for serving (ushering, welcoming, morning tea, etc.);

• Recruiting and organising kids and youth programs;

• Recruiting and organising musicians and tech, including rehearsal times, set-up, etc.;

• Carpark safety in changeover between services;

• Morning tea arrangements;

• Etc.

Members can pray for the process and the outcome. Specifically, pray for

• the people who are most affected and their care;

• understanding, maturity and godliness on all sides of discussions;

• compassion for the lost and willingness to prioritise reaching them;

• wise planning and good organisation; and

• the growth of our church, particularly as people are saved.

Members can also support the changes by

• looking to care for those who are changing congregations;

• being flexible and open to things changing in their congregation;

• seeing the bigger-picture priority of opening the church for growth; and

• being available to serve where needed.