A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
A review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Introductory letter.
General observations
A summary of answers to questionnaire.
Recurring themes in questionnaire answers
Especially important matters.
Gil Cann
1.5.12
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
1415 Little Yarra Road
Gilderoy, Vic 3797
1.5.12
Dear Friends of the Community Church Kyabram,
Undertaking a review of the life of your church, and compiling the following report has been a
challenging and stretching experience for me.
But thank you for the opportunity of doing so. I have learned a lot, and have been given a great deal
to think about as I pondered your answers to the questions I put to you during my last visit. I am sure all this
will better equip me for any ministry I may fulfill in other churches in the future too.
I am sure that in any review of the life of a church our criteria should be the things which matter
most to God Himself. This approach suggests two things in particular which, according to the Scriptures are
top priorities to Him.
First, that as Jesus said, “we are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our
strength, and that we should love our neighbour as ourselves. “(Mark 12:29-32).
Secondly, He said that we are to “go into the whole world and make disciples, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to do all that I have commanded you, and I will be
with you always, even till the end of age” (Matthew 28:18-20)
I encourage you all to keep these two priorities very much in mind as you consider the outcomes of
this review and as you seek to serve the Lord fruitfully in the days ahead.
Yours in the certainty of His Kingdom
Gil Cann
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
My general observations of CCK
I freely acknowledge that I am an enthusiastic “fan” of CCK. It is a great blessing and encouragement
to me to visit occasionally and to get to know you better. I am deeply impressed by your wholehearted love
for God and each other, by your strong sense of “family” and your desire to be a church and people of
integrity.
You are blessed to have pastors and leaders who are mature, gifted and passionate to help you all
become genuine, authentic followers of Christ who lives demonstrate to others what God can do for them.
Generally you are enthusiastic, you desire your church to be to the glory of God, and you are keen to
co-operate with other local churches in the furthering of God’s Kingdom.
I am especially blessed and impressed by the fact that you attempt to seriously acknowledge, not
just in theory, but in practice, that Jesus Himself is the Head of the church, and not only the Head of the
church in general or worldwide, but the Head of CCK.
Your Prayer & Planning meeting, where the Lord’s directions are sought and important decisions
subsequently made, is an extremely unusual but excellent means of acknowledging that the Lord really is
the Head of your church. Very few churches have been wise enough and courageous enough to commit
themselves to function in this way.
In doing so you have truly and deeply recognized a fundamental truth about the nature of a church,
i.e., that a church is an organism, not and organisation. Most churches stop short of this recognition in
practice, and settle for a more organizational practice of functioning. I am certain the Lord will bless you
greatly for honoring Him in this way, and for being an example which I hope many other churches will
follow.
I also notice, as a general observation, that many of you are somewhat apprehensive about the
future of CCK, especially in the longer term. Because of the importance of this issue I will pursue it more
fully in another part of my report.
Perhaps the most important of all my impressions is this – your church is not like a typical local
church. In many respects it more like a missionary movement. If this is true it has major implications of
many kinds which are very important for your church’s future. Again, we will consider this matter more
freely elsewhere in this report.
Finally, by way of another general observation, you are certainly “on target” when it comes to
fulfilling your mission statement, and the statement of purposes set out in your constitution.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Summary of CCK Members’ Answers to Questionnaire.
Question 1: What is it about your church that you find encouraging?
 Belonging to a welcoming family.
 Integrity, great work commitment.
 Prepared to live out what they believe.
 Strong Christian witness.
 Passionate preaching from John.
 A heart for mission, local and overseas.
 Non judgmental, accepting.
 Wide range of ministries
 United, supportive, helps orientated.
 Friendly, loving environment.
 The fellowship in small groups.
 Outward focus and love for Jesus.
 “I am confident to invite others”
 “Everything!”
 Ability to work together.
 God adding to our number those who are being saved.
 Growth of new believers.
 People care for each other.
 The youth are wonderful.
 We are Holy Spirit led.
 Our many forms of outreach.
 Core of “solid” Christians.
 Strong, biblical message.
 “I have attended many churches of the years, all over Australia, this is the only one I have ever felt loved
and comfortable in”
Question 2: If you could change on thing about your church what would it be?
 The preaching may be a bit long for people I invite.
 Employ another pastor to help John and Rob because of their enormous work load.
 More marriages!
 More young families.
 More involvement and sharing the load from fringe attendees.
 More children and young people.
 Perhaps a “buddy system” – and adult or young person closely linked to every child, and an adult closely
relating to every young person.
 Doing away with the old traditional order of service which is reminiscent of our Uniting Church past.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Question 3: What “season” do you think your church finds itself in – ‘Spring, Summer. Autumn or
Winter’?
 Autumn.
 Autumn – as our numbers are less. Families, young people and children have left for various reasons.
 Autumn – our past achievements are gone, we need a brief time of rest, we need to think of new ways of
reaching out – a ‘spring’ of new ideas and living actions for God.
 Autumn – the people who started our church remain in leadership and are now in the 60 – 70 age
brackets.
 Spring. We are coming out of cold and starting to warm up.
 Spring – always something new!
 Spring – lively, colorful, growing, relaxing.
 Spring – new life in Christ.
 Spring – people ‘blooming where they are planted’
 Spring – beautiful and busy.
 ‘Summer End of’ i.e. the work has been hard but fruitful and some are tired.
 Summer.
 Summer
 Summer – somewhat on a plateau.
 Summer – too few willing to do all the work – a plateau.
 Summer – first eight years were ‘spring’. Healthy but not flourishing. Plateau.
 Winter, on verge of spring
Question 4: What is your church’s primary agenda?
 Devotion to God
 To function as body of Christ.
 To make disciples.
 To fulfill mission statement.
 To show church is relevant.
 To not ‘water-down’ Gospel.
 To reach out to local community.
 To do things better – to be more diligent and enthusiastic about using our spiritual gifts.
 To see everyone to participate and be encouraged to use their gifts.
 To bring people to Christ.
 Disciplining and soul winning.
 To function as the body of Christ.
 Being a positive influence in the community.
 Showing the love of God.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Question 5: Why do you meet on Sundays?
 To equip us with skills and understanding. But we are sometimes reluctant to apply what we hear.
 To be encouraged by one another.
 To catch up and share news and experiences.
 To worship God together.
 To challenge one another.
 Extending our relationships is most important.
 To be equipped and motivated.
 To learn from God’s word.
 To see and hear what each other is up to. Can hardly wait!
 To thank the Lord for all He has done for us.
 To reflect and recharge.
Question 6: What are your church’s greatest weaknesses and greatest strengths?
 Weaknesses.
 Some people not sharing the load.
 Inability to replace leadership as they age.
 Not recognizing talents and not training people to take up leadership roles.
 Apart from core members of our church there is continually changing demographics of people.
 Not enough encouragement given to others who maybe are just waiting to be asked to help.
 Won’t let me tell jokes!
 Our traditional background sometimes hinders us from allowing God to do a new thing in us.
 More challenge needed for us to live holy lives, i.e. prayer, bible reading, repentance, and tithing.
 Not enough delegation and sharing of the load.
 Not enough teaching on spiritual gifts. Too many people not using their gifts or not knowing what they
are.
 Too much pew-sitting and not helping on Sundays, greeting, teaching, encouraging, or on weekdays. Eg.
Cleaning, working bees, freezer roster, etc.
 Holding on to past traditions.
 Not recognizing and growing leaders.
 Too concerned with pleasing everyone.
 Too much attention given to pleasing the elderly.
 Not dealing sufficiently with conflict resolution.
 Weakness in administration
 Strengths
 People welcoming and generous.
 Good programs
 Involvement of so many in so many ministries.
 Members recognizing God’s calling and reaching those in the community.
 Acceptance and assistance of the ‘poverty generation’.
 Committed leadership who work well together.
 Gifted mature leaders.
 Many members offering their time and talents.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
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Question 6: cont….What are your church’s greatest weaknesses and greatest strengths?
Welcoming to new people.
Multi-purpose building suitable for variety of activities.
Lay involvement in services.
Good number of bible study groups.
Generous giving to wider church and outreach programs in many countries and locally.
Strong base of committed Christians.
Caring, compassionate pastors.
Very positive results.
Soul winning and nurturing.
Question 7: What, do you think, is the primary ministry of a church?
 To spread the Gospel.
 Love one another.
 To deepen faith by preaching, teaching and mentoring so that members can have a strong Christian
witness to community, both individually and co-operatively.
 To build up a body of Christ.
 To equip Christians to bring others into the Kingdom
 To show why it is vital for everyone to know God personally.
Question 8: When God looks at any one of His churches what things, do you believe, matter most to Him?
 His people’s relationship to Him.
 That we are living out His word, showing love to all people, and sharing His message in practical ways.
 That we are humble people who acknowledge that all we have and are comes from Him alone.
 That His people make Him No 1 focus in their hearts.
 Harmony, unity, love for one another all speak volumes to those around us.
 That His truth will be made known to set people free.
 Good shepherding.
 That we love and obey Him and follow His word.
Question 9: What concerns you most about your church?
 Mice!
 That the willing workers are getting tired, and that we are getting older and less capable of serving as we
have been doing.
 The work is done by too few.
 John having too much ‘on his plate’.
 More follow up and pastoral care needed.
 I fear that people will ‘burnout’.
 We are becoming a little complacent.
 Not enough attention being given to succession planning. Also, we need to address related personal
issues adequately and respectfully.
 Holding on to old traditions and seeing us loose more young adults as they seek a church where they will
be recognized as mature enough to take on responsibilities in their church.
 That unless younger people join our church leadership, our church doesn’t have a future.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Question 10: Which do you think is more important – the church ‘gathered’ or the church ‘scattered’?
 The church gathered, because people need that ‘infilling’ to become the church ‘scattered’.
 Both are equally important.
 Both equally important but the ‘church scattered’ is probably not emphasised enough at CCK. i.e. the
members are not particularly encouraged and prayed for.
Question 11: The ‘seniors’ age group is the fastest growing group in Australia. They were teenagers at the
time when church involvement of young people was in rapid decline. Consequently, many ‘seniors’ are
unreached with the Gospel. What does this mean for your church?
 We have a lot of praying and work to do.
 Extra effort.
 What we are doing in aged care facilities is important. However we probably need to consider
alternatives too, as elderly peop0le live in private homes too.
 We need to think of ways we can effectively reach this age group.
 This means that we do not become too caught up in modern ‘worship’ and lose sight of the needs of
older fold. They require nurture as much as the younger do. But we also need to be aware of the
younger people’s preferences in worship.
 I feel that if our worship is ‘contemporary’ rather than the traditional form these aging people may have
experienced in their youth (since many attended Sunday School), they will rather attend a church that
does not reflect the style of those days.
 Certainly their salvation is as important as any other age group.
 At present other churches are better at reaching seniors than we are because their congregations are
predominantly elderly. As ours gets older we will reach more seniors.
Question 12: What are your church’s biggest challenges?
 Growth of our church. Gaining commitments to Christ, and a new freshness, in our personal faith, and in
our church’s approaches to our overall ministries.
 The future!
 Embracing change, being willing to adapt to new ways, recognizing importance of involvement of our
younger members, and encouraging all of our members to grow.
 Reaching young people.
 Managing programs effectively.
 See authentic growth in people of all ages.
 Encouraging more people to be involved in small groups.
 Motivating more people to participating in different church activities.
 Responding to so many needy people.
 Pursing holiness in a world which is far from holy.
 Aging group of workers.
 Providing adequate, relevant training for young people – in Christian character, responsibility, putting
Christ first in daily lives, all seen as a pressing need.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Question 13: How would you describe your church in one word?
 Exciting
 One with God and each other.
 Surviving.
 Caring & loving.
 Busy.
 Blessed.
 Biblical.
 Living.
 Friendly.
 Committed.
 Christ.
 Special.
 Earnest.
 Trying.
 Messy. (not necessarily in a bad sense)
 Encouraging.
 Fruitful.
Question 14: Name three things your church could do better.
 Spread the load, better follow up, stronger commitment.
 More town evangelism, make visitors feel special, teach more young people how to use computers, data
projectors, music etc.
 Organising and conducting of events, systematic pastoral care, and more intentional discipling – perhaps
‘one on one’.
 Make better use of members’ talents, follow up people not at church, clarify role of elders, eg. Are they
the ones to follow up non-attenders? are they responsible for certain people or for everyone.
Question 15: What kind of growth should matter most to leaders of a church?
 Personal growth of each member in their relationship with God.
 Understanding the principles of living a Godly life.
 New members being added to God’s Kingdom
Question 16: If your church was a person would it be a child, a youth, and adult or an elderly person?
 Teenager.
 Young adult – many years ahead.
 Child.
 Middle aged adult – not understanding the ways of young people.
 Adult – mature in its’ outlook.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Question 17: What would ‘success’ for your church look like?
 Strong, confident Christian with good outreach into community.
 Everyone growing in personal faith.
 Seeing new people won to Christ.
 Everyone involved in small groups.
 All having a role or responsibility according to their gifts.
 Members yearning to know more of biblical truths and how to translate them into their lives and
relationships.
 Peoples’ lives being changed, overcoming difficulties in their lives and God being given the glory.
 That God would be seen to be very much alive and relevant to mankind today.
 To see Jesus return.
 Everyone in the Kingdom.
Question 18: Do you think that as a congregation, you take each others’ ‘Mondays’ seriously on Sundays?
 No.
 We are trying to do so.
 We could do better.
 We probably haven’t thought too much about this one as a congregation, but I am sure we could.
 We have had a few ‘get to know members’ workday lives’ at Sunday services, but I am sure all of us
could do so much better at taking an interest in each other’s daily lives.
 Yes, we do.
 We must never forget the young mums, the widowed, the disabled and the unemployed all have a daily
sphere of influence.
Question 19: Are you, as church members, reasonably attentive to the trends and changes in the prevailing
culture? Do you intentionally reflect on our culture from time to time?
 Our church, along with most churches, is isolated from prevailing culture.
 My husband and I do reflect on our culture and current trends and our relevance as a church in this
situation.
 We do try to be attentive to current trends and prevailing culture. However, I am not sure we make
significant changes or commitments to new directions all that easily. We face a big challenge in being
relevant to culture yet being faithful to the absolute requirements of God’s word.
 I think so. At the beginning of each year we review the previous year and reflect on how we can do
things better.
 Yes, we do occasionally reflect on our culture but I am not sure we are good at making (appropriate)
changes.
 No.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Question 20: Do you think the gifts, ministries and callings of your church’s members are sufficiently
recognized, encouraged and ‘employed’, both within your church and beyond? If not, how could this be
improved?
 There is room for improvement. Not enough is done to encourage people in this matter. Some people
don’t know what their gifts are. It’s also a bit difficult as some people are not willing.
 Courses to help people identify their gifts.
 I’m sure we could do a whole lot better in this matter of gifts, callings and ministries.
 Importance of people’s gifts not sufficiently recognized. However, also true that people have to be
willing to step outside their ‘comfort zone’.
 We do encourage and recognize gifts and ministries but we need to do so much more.
 Perhaps it is because of poor organization but people with abilities are not being used.
Question 21: What should your church’s priorities be in the next five years?
 Succession.
 To see our young people who are strong in their faith taking up leadership roles and responsibilities.
Unless we do, our church’s future will be limited by the decreasing capacity of aging members to
continue.
 Teaching God’s word, clarifying roles in the church. Delegation of authority, expansion of teaching and
Bible study groups. Share our vision and passion with members encouraging them to fulfill additional
responsibility.
 More mentoring is needed.
 Strengthening and encouraging each other.
 Encourage to fast and pray and seek God’s face earnestly.
 Better supporting our pastors and leaders.
 Priorities for next five years – Children’s and youth ministry. Parenting and marriage courses. Paid
secretary, improved administration. A young associate pastor or alternately a young married family man
to fulfill those ministries. Continue many of CCK’s present ministries.
 Stick to our guns.
 Better administration. An office person, office telephone, computer at the church, better signage.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Recurring Themes
It is clear from members and leaders answers to the questionnaire that there are several things about CCK
which you are very thankful for, and several issues about which you are concerned. It may be helpful to you
all if I list this in summary form as they could then become the subjects for further consideration, prayer
and decision. They are not necessarily listed in order of importance.
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1. Things you are thankful for, and greatly appreciate. Eg.
Your church is welcoming, friendly accepting and like a family.
You value integrity and commitment to the Lord and to each other.
You have a wide range of ministries, both to the local community and several other countries of the
world.
Your small groups are supportive and very fruitful in helping you all grow in becoming who hearted
followers of Christ.
You greatly appreciate the excellent biblical teaching and preaching given by John, Rob and visiting
preachers and members of the congregation.
You greatly value the compassionate and faithful pastoring given by your pastors, elders and several
other members.
You appreciate that your church is very willing to help people in need.
You are thankful for mature, gifted leaders.
2. Matters you are concerned about.
 Too much is done by too few – i.e. you would like to see more involvement in your church’s ministries
and responsibilities by a larger number of people.
 A lack of members in the young families or 25 – 45 year old age group.
 Weariness on the part of some older, much involved members and a fear of ‘burnout’
 Concern about the future of your church given the lack of young to middle aged adults, and the fact that
many of your young single people move to cities for study and work.
 Some feel there is not sufficient recognition of the importance of spiritual gifts or opportunity given for
peoples’ gifts and ministries to be identified and developed.
 There is concern about an aging leadership and the need to involve younger people in leadership roles.
 Not enough delegation of responsibilities.
 Concern about the tendency to cling to traditional ways of conducting Sunday services.
 Some are troubled by perceived weaknesses in administration.
 Others are concerned about too heavy workloads for your pastors.
My comment: I hope that listing these concerns in this way will help you consider and address them. Some
of these I comment on more fully in the section “Especially Important Issues’.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Especially Important Issues.
I have chosen to comment further on the following issues because I believe they are particularly
important for your church.
However, I have done so briefly, rather than exhaustively, in order to keep this report to a
reasonable size for the benefit of those who read it.
Each of these issues could well be pursued further with even greater benefit. If I can be of any help
in your doing so I would be happy to be involved.
‘Our most committed members are very weary’
This is a cause for concern because churches are meant to energise, not exhaust their members. It is
a common issue, often known as the 80% - 20% syndrome, i.e. 80% of the work is done by 20% of the
people.
It is one of the hazards of having perhaps too many regular, organized ministries and activities.
One very good approach is to have an annual ‘moratorium’, eg, in January each year when all regular
programs and activities except Sunday gatherings cease. They are only resumed in February if there are
sufficient people volunteering to be involved. People who believe that the Lord is leading them to do so.
If not, that particular ministry or activity is discontinued. This is a good way of ‘pruning’ a church. Churches
need this because they have a tendency to accumulate activities as time goes by, which, in time, can
become burdensome if too few are involved.
The moratorium approach also gives members an annual opportunity to seek the Lord’s direction
about how their time, energy and abilities can best be used. This too is very important for the health of the
church.
‘Losing Young People’
As you know this is a fact of life for country churches. But we can look at this issue another way, i.e.
we could see them as ‘sent’ rather than ‘went’. Instead of seeing their going as a loss we could see it as a
gain, i.e. the ministry of our church is extended as they go to work live and study in many and varied places
far from their home town.
This is to have a ‘kingdom mindset’ rather than a local ‘church mindset’ and there is no doubt from
the Scriptures which is more important to God.
So why not commission them in public before they go? Encourage them to report back frequently,
read their messages in church on Sunday? Pray often for them and the challenges and opportunities they
face? Interview them on Sundays when they are home on holidays? and once a year have a special
weekend when they are all invited back at the same time for a time of reunion, fellowship, sharing
experiences, encouragement, teaching and prayer?
And at such times why not gently point out that the Lord may be calling some of them to return to
Kyabram and district when they have finished their studies, to serve Him there, and to lead and be involved
in the churches of this area?
Music, songs, hymns and worship.
Never has there been such a wide range of opinions, views and preferences on the part of church
attenders! In many churches these matters raise a lot of feeling, misunderstanding, and sadly quite some
tensions.
In the past there was little problem. The same music and hymns served generations of Christians.
But now, because of evermore rapid changes in our culture, this has become a real issue. eg. 3 or 4
generations of people in the same congregation can strongly prefer 3 or 4 different styles of music and
songs.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Consequently, eg, if young people are leading a service they choose music they prefer. Likewise,
older people do the same. Sadly, very sadly, some congregations have even divided over this one issue of
music.
But there is a far better way! In Ephesians 4:19, Paul tells the Christians in Ephesus to ‘address one
another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs’. This is crucial. Most Christian think that our hymns and songs
are ‘addressed’ to God. Some of them are. But our hymns and songs are to be a major means of
encouraging, edifying and building up one another.
What would this mean in practice? It would mean, eg, that older people asking younger people what
they would like to sing, and younger people asking older folk what they would prefer.
It would mean giving people, older and younger opportunity to tell the congregation why this particular
song or hymn was so significant to them. It would mean people of different age groups and preferences
doing their utmost to ensure that each other was deeply blessed through the music and songs that were
used.
The outcomes of such attitudes and practices would be wonderful. You could be one of the first
churches to do this, and show others the way!
Lack of involvement on the part of some members.
This ‘spectator’ attitude on the part of some members may be caused, to some extent, by the fact
that your basis of membership, while biblical, does not ask much of members in terms of their
responsibilities and participation.
Recent research has shown that spirited growth of individuals and member participation are both
significantly improved by ‘raising the bar’ of what it means to be a church member. Being a member should
mean more than believing and ‘belonging’. It could well include eg, agreement to be mentored and be
trained to mentor others, willingness to be accountable to a mentor, commitment to involvement in one or
more ministries outside the Sunday services, participation in membership training courses or events, some
form of ‘ownership’ of the church’s mission statement, a ‘declaration’ of willingness to be called upon for
various forms of help in the case of an emergency or others having a special need, etc.
The ‘raising of the bar’ for membership is a practical, church related way of furthering the process of
discipling, one of the most important assignments God has given us.
Again, recent research shows that far from frightening people off, many people respond to the challenge, in
this case, of what it means to be a member and become far more willing participants.
Membership must include responsibilities as well as privileges. The casual nature of some members
involvement may be one of the few negative outcomes of seeing church as ‘family’ ie, it can result in a few
willing people serving the majority.
If this has happened you need a ‘kick start’ approach to getting the ‘spectators’ moving. Raising the
‘membership bar’ can be a very good way to start this process. A church is a family, but it is a family with a
mission.
Not enough younger people involved.
Could this partly be because new Christians, especially those from non-Christian backgrounds don’t
quite know ‘how they system works’ in churches. In other words, not knowing the ‘culture’ of the church,
and how people become more involved, they are hesitant at ‘putting them themselves forward’ in any way.
I know there are other causes too, but this one is often overlooked.
Also, we must not mistake the apparent reluctance of young people to take up responsibilities in
churches as ‘lack of commitment’. It may equally be a response to some aspects of traditional church which
they see, from their perspective as inappropriate or irrelevant. We must be careful not to use Christendom
criteria to asses post=Christendom Christians. Eg in 1966 young people under 30 comprised 50% of all
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
people attending churches. In 2012, even though 30% of people under 30 call themselves Christians they
only comprise 3% of church attenders.
We must give prayerful thought to what this means and what clues it may give us as to what the
church of the future, and even the church of today, may need to be like.
Life Itself Is God’s Primary ‘Program’
I have noticed that CCK is a busy church with a lot happening in terms of regular events and
activities. Much of this activity seems to be relevant and fruitful.
However, I feel that I should briefly remind you that God’s primary ‘program’ is life itself. We need
this reminder to help keep our lives in balance. Some Christians are so constantly involved in organised
church related activity that they have little opportunity or time to reflect God’s love for people in the
course of their daily lives.
As we who are older look back on our lives, we often notice that some of the most significant ways
God has used us have been eg. Conversations with neighbors over the fence, or with people we met at the
bank, in the supermarket or at our local garage. Or similarly, as we helped a neighbor do some practical job,
or met someone on the street. We have also noticed, as someone has well said, that often, ‘man’s
‘interruptions’ prove to be God’s appointments.
Putting this way every one of us has a wide sphere of influence in our daily lives. Family, friends,
neighbors, workmates, fellow students, business people, members or organisations in which we are
involved – the list goes on and on. Nearly all of these are outside the sphere of our church involvement but
have great potential for honoring the Lord and helping others to know Him.
Let’s not underestimate the importance, and the ‘Kingdom potential’ of life itself. It is God’s primary
‘program’.
Concern about the future of CCK.
Several people expressed this concern. Some said ‘unless we can get more young people, and unless
younger men and women replace our aging leaders, our church has no future’
Some important issues:
Churches are not meant to last forever. I think our Anglo-Saxon background, in which people, eg in
England, assumed it normal for churches to last for centuries, has conditioned us to think that the survival
of ‘our church’ is more important than anything else.
Consequently many congregations today are involved in a desperate struggle for the survival of their
church ‘even if it kills them’ which it may well do!
This is a self-imposed heavy burden. It is not a responsibility God has given us. Churches are not
meant to last forever. But they are meant to be effective while they last.
Churches are not ends in themselves. They are means to an end – the Kingdom of God. Churches are
to the Kingdom of God what scaffolding is to a building under construction, ie, they are simply a means to
an end.
So especially today with the world changing so rapidly, we should not be concerned about the
future of our church but about the church of the future. Our primary concern should not be how we can
ensure our church’s survival but about what we can do to ensure that the church of the future (whether it
includes our church or not), will be as authentic and effective as possible.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
The church in which I trusted the Lord, along with several others of my age group, no longer exists.
During its’ relatively short life it virtually gave itself away for the sake of the Kingdom, ie, most of those
young people moved away to serve the Lord in many parts of the world. In ‘local church’ terms this church
was a failure. In Kingdom terms – a great success!
Jesus promised that if we seek His Kingdom first everything we need will be provided. This may or
may not mean the preservation of our church in its present forms. But it does mean God has promised to
provide everything we need to enable us to seek His Kingdom first, whatever shape or form that may take.
We could not possible need, ask or wish for more than that!
The Nature Of CCK.
I must emphasise that, in regard to this matter I am ‘thinking ahead’, rather than saying anything
conclusive. But I think this issue will prove to be the most crucial of all in relation to the future of CCK and
therefore should be seen as a top priority for your consideration and prayer.
CCK is not a typical local church. And yet, in many ways, it tries to function like one. I think this is the cause
of some of the stresses you experience as leaders and members.
CCK displays many of the characteristics of a local church – a congregation, Sunday services
attended by local people, pastors, lay leaders, etc.
But the difference is an unusually high proportion of your members are deeply involved in ministries
to which they feel strongly and personally called, and which, in some cases, they have initiated themselves.
These ministries seek to reach a very wide range of needs, challenges and opportunities. Some are local, eg,
the Friday morning playgroup, the Foodbank, and the community garden. But many serve people in distant
places both in Australia and overseas.
These include your annual youth conference, Theos Kyabram, the very extensive camping program,
chaplaincies, AiDEX, and the support of many ministries overseas in Africa, Indonesia, India and elsewhere
through giving financially, prayer and personal team visits by CCK members.
Because of all of this, in many ways, CCK is more like a ‘missionary movement’ than a typical local
church. Your people’s hearts are not only in Kyabram but in many other places as well.
No doubt all this has developed gradually and you have become somewhat accustomed to it, but
perhaps have not appreciated that such a church/missionary movement needs a different approach to
leadership and functioning that that required for a typical local church. Otherwise questions of loyalty,
commitment and priorities will arise causing misunderstanding, disappointment, tensions and extreme
busyness, all of which can be damaging, and greatly hinder what I am sure God wants to do through the
CCK community.
Another related danger, if this matter is not addressed is that you may find yourselves using local
church ‘criteria’ to measure the ‘commitment’ of your members. eg regular Sunday service attendance. But
obviously, it is hard to be there on Sunday morning if you have been up all night working on the Theos
outreach team, or even more so if you are leading a weekend camp miles away, or involved in a work party
in Zambia! I am sure you will see that the point I am making applies for many other aspects of church
involvement too.
The fact that many of your members are deeply involved in such a wild range of ministries is
certainly not something to be regretted as sadly, some local churches do, but rather, something to rejoice
in. This ‘problem’ is a great problem to have! It would be wonderful to see all churches afflicted with it
because all churches are meant to be ‘missionary movements’ of one kind or another.
Ironically, some of our traditional expectations of members involvement are based more on Christendom
era understandings and practice of church than they are in a biblical teaching which makes clear that for a
church to be in ‘mission mode’ is normal.
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A Review of the life and ministry of the Community Church of Kyabram
Relatively few churches today mange to truly incorporate mission as a primary goal and function
accordingly. This is a major excuse of the development of para-church movements. This is a great pity
because, while para-church movements’ serve the Lord faithfully they lack so much of the richness,
credibility, depth and capacity to ‘demonstrate’ the Gospel which churches have, not to mention also the
prayer support which a local church can provide.
A New Role for John?
Perhaps all of this suggests a somewhat different role for John Hosking in the future. Instead of him
being pastor, in the traditional sense of CCK, he could serve as superintendent/ overseer/ teacher/ ’coach’/
resource person – all in support of mission.
Simultaneously others would take on some of the roles he currently fulfils, eg, pastoral care,
counseling and administration. Another important part of John’s ‘church in mission-mode’ role would be
the intentional development of the gifts, callings, and ministries of every member.
This is a distinctly a pro-active role, focused on maximizing the mission mode potential of a church,
rather than the reactive role many pastors fulfill, responding to the needs of people in the congregation
when and as they arise.
Both are important but the former is indispensable if a church is to fulfill it’s ‘missionary’ potential,
which is surely God’s intention.
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