At the end of the study, hopefully you will gain a better understanding the culture we live in, and how to interact and share faith within the parameters of our culture.  There are lessons that we can all take away and apply to our every day lives. 

To get the most out of this series, growth groups will look at critical points raised in Sunday sermons.  If you are not already in one, talk to Andrew about joining a growth group today!

Speaker Stan Fetting will be back to share with us again, and Steve Stokes is planning an exciting program for the kids!

Registration forms are available now and due by 5 February for catering/planning purposes.  Download your form and get it back to Andrew asap!

700+ people came to enjoy the musical stylings of local primary schools, kinders and performing groups, as well as several soloists and small vocal groups!  Attendees included Cr Tobias and Cr Mulroney of the Mitchell Shire Council, who were both very impressed with the high standard of the performances.

The church band worked hard to produce some wonderful music for all to sing a long with. 

A great night was had by all, and we are looking forward to another great event in 2012.

Note that a service will not take place on 25 December.  Services will resume as normal on 1 January 2012.

We rejoice with Carla, Loryn, Georgia, Danielle, Maree, Christine, Michelle and Di - thank you for sharing your testimonies with us and your special public declaration of faith in Jesus.  We will continue to pray and journey with you for the times ahead.

Thank you to those of our church family who made the time and effort to come out and be part of this very special occasion in the life of these women.

A big thanks to Roxanne and Ross for opening up their home to the church family.

Our church band will lead the community in carols singing, and many community performers will showcase their talent on the stage.  Come along for a night of singing, community and fun!

On Sunday 11 December, our music team will perform reprises of several carols from the community event.   Come along to our morning service to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, and the love that God demonstrated through the birth of Christ.

1. “Give” Coffee and Dessert night will be held on Friday 19 November @ Wallan Secondary College.  This is an opportunity to give to others.  Cost is $5, plus there is an opportunity to buy jewellery, with all proceeds going to UNOH.   
2. A gingerbread house making night will be held on Saturday 3 December @ Wallan Secondary College. Cost is $25 per kit. Contact Liz Ph 0417688743 or Diedre Ph 0430281094 for more information.

Come along and enjoy some fun with the ladies of Wallan Gateway Church.

Just to name a few:

• Guest Pastor Simon Beasy will join us on 16 October.
• Singer and songwriter Levi McGrath will join our service on 30 October. 
• We have a Baptism Service planned for 13 November @ 3:00pm, out at the Tippings’ farm.  All are invited to come and celebrate!
• Bill Muehlenberg will join us on 20 November.  Bill is Secretary of the Family Council of Victoria, and lectures in ethics and philosophy at various Melbourne theological colleges.
• Wallan Community Carols are on Saturday 10 December @ 7:00pm.  Not only are Kathy and Bree coordinating the musical program, but the church is also forming a choir to perform at the carols!  All are invited to participate – contact Kathy or Bree for more information. 
• There will be no service on Sunday 25 December.  Instead, we will hold a Christmas Eve service @ 7:00pm.

The Backyard Bard is a Christian company that specialises in Biblical Storytelling.  Its mission is to help all people to engage with the incredible stories contained in God’s Word, to enjoy them, to share them and most importantly, to come to know the God that is revealed by them.

The company is passionately dedicated to taking God’s stories to a world that increasingly has never heard them.

Since 2002, The Backyard Bard has had the privilege of bringing the power of Biblical Storytelling to churches, universities, schools and arts festivals across Australia.

As with all our Ministry Team leaders, under our constitutional set-up, the positions are appointed by the leadership (Board of the church), after a recommendation from myself. This morning we want to take the opportunity to inform you that I made my  recommendation to the board for the youth position.

After careful consideration, much prayer, and an interview process, the Board and I are as one in appointing Roxanne Tipping to this position.

This appointment is different to the other Ministry Positions as this Youth Position will be a paid position. The role will be 16 hours per week, and will have a number of key roles, including discipleship, youth programs, outreach and pastoral care.

Background

I would like to provide further some background information to the church family, in regards to this overall process.

During the initial period of the growth (up until May 2010), the leadership of the church was administered by the core group. With the growth in families and children, it was always expressed by the core group that we would move towards the appointment of a paid Youth Position (in some capacity) when God’s timing was evident.

The core group during this time, and with the foresight of this need, was able to accumulate surplus funds, in anticipation of a paid Youth Position.

It would be hard not to be aware that God has been steadily growing WGC since we started three years ago – all praise to God. We now have more than 50 children as attendees of the church (under the age of 13). About 12 of these are or nearing teenage years…  It is currently a critical time in these young people’s lives as they begin to develop their own set of values and we need to teach them about the values that God expects from us, not the world values which are continually bombarding our children. We would also expect that most of the church family would have these same convictions.

 At Vision Sunday in February 2011, I expressed to the church that the leadership still had a deep conviction that spiritual input into these young people’s lives is essential. It was mentioned that I could not fulfil the role and commit the time and energy that was required. So the process of exploring someone for the position was commenced.

For the past two years and with added focus in the past 4-5 months, I have worked through the process and spent considerable time working on the job position. As I continually prayed about the right person, God kept laying Roxanne’s name on my heart. With my trip to South Korea, and my venture to prayer mountain, God confirmed to me to approach her.  After meeting with Roxanne, she also spent much time in prayer and dialogue to also ensure that this was the direction that God had for her as well.

As already mentioned, we have accumulated funds from previous year set aside for this position. As such, the commencement of a person in this youth position will not affect or impact the Budget for 2011 and most of 2012.

It is an exciting time and we ask that as a church, you will affirm with the leadership and myself the decision that has been made and sincerely pray with us for Roxanne as she prepares to take on this Youth role, as well as continual prayer for all our Ministry Team leaders as they serve God in various ministries.

Finally, I want to express my thanks to the amazing job that our Team Ministry leaders do in this church. Tony & Regi, Jenny, Suzie, Dawn, Kathy. Thank you also to those who have a serving capacity under these Team leaders, and we publicly thank you for the way you use your gifts in this church and serve without the need for human affirmation.

Thanks
Andrew Adams