We held our AGM on Sunday 13 December 2020. Ministry leaders shared their highlights from the year. See their summaries below.
Children (Brent on behalf of Candace)
Candace did an incredible job leading the kids through a topsy-turvy year.
During lockdown the kids met online, then later some in-person get-togethers. (We watched a video of some of what the kids got up to during COVID lockdown).
We are now looking for a new kids’ ministry leader(s). Have a think and pray if God might be calling you into this!
Candace will continue to lead while we look for someone new.
Comms (Jill)
Made a decision early on in COVID that we weren’t going to try and just do what we usually do and put that online. Instead we tried to put a regular rhythm in place to communicate each of our values to people in some way (wholehearted worship, prayer, biblical teaching, authentic community and active compassion).
Big thank you to:
All who were willing to have their teaching, images and stories put online to encourage others.
Claire and Celine for your video updates.
Group leaders for disseminating information - this is so important!
Redhill Groups (Julie and Rohan)
Deep and slow: Late 2019 we felt that it was time for groups to go deeper and go slow, and we picked a book that let us explore that. This would be challenging and uncomfortable to do at the best of times - then when 2020 happened it became a more difficult space altogether! God used this ‘agitation’ to shake things up and did some good things as a result.
New groups: Two new small groups this year - Rachelle and Shaun in Fisher, Abbey and Josh in Gungahlin.
Shift to online: Started the year meeting in person then went to Zoom. Thank you for turning up and participating even when it was hard!
Thank you to the small group leaders - for the preparation, the time and the cleaning (!).
2021: Looking forward to what God has in store next year.
Brent added: Thanks Ro and Julie for pumping out the messages to people. Thanks for your willingness to go where the Lord is leading you, putting up that sail and asking ‘where are we going to go Lord?’
Worship (Emily)
Year theme: Always pray at start of the year for word or picture of where the Holy Spirit is going to take or focus our worship. This year it was just: ‘Jesus’, and sense of His glory and his worth. This year we’ve had to lean in to Jesus. Without the routines and structures we’ve all had to dig (or re-dig) our own wells of worship and be in that place where everything else has been stripped away and it’s just us and Jesus.
John 4: Rather than having to worship in a particular place, Jesus says “a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth”.
Start of the year: Amazing start to the year: room full of people praising and singing, fully pumped, we welcomed new team members… then COVID hit!
Worship online: We tried worship night Zooms, some worship in small groups and experimented combining worship and prayer online. Some of us joined with what God’s doing with the wider church in other online prayer and worship events.
Creative Collective: Online forum with worship ‘prompts’ released then people responded. Amazing to see people - many of whom not on worship team - putting up their responses. Our community is so rich and creative!
Projects: We wrote songs alone, wrote songs together, and worked on projects, including Holy Spirit video and recording original song ‘Here with Us’ with video (coming soon). Ro, Bea and Kelvin were our awesome video and production team with help from Josh Freestone.
Kids worship: Two ‘Pizza and Praise’ nights for kids and families, as we were very conscious of the kids not missing out on worship experience that adults could get more easily. Was some wild worship!
Thank you so much to everyone who was involved in worship ministry in 2020!
Finance (Andrew)
Andrew gave a presentation on financial matters. Financial statements are currently being audited. They will be available in hard copy at our January gatherings or via email on request.
Exciting stuff:
Amazing giving despite church being ‘different’
$20k stimulus provided by government
We gave a financial gift to Missionheart and Lyons to help them meet some needs they had
As a church we had a conversation about Brent’s hours, which resulted in increasing to 4 days per week
Increased our monthly giving to mission partners, plus some one-off missions gifts to meet specific needs
Boring (but nonetheless important) stuff:
Implementation of an accounting system
Preparing for audit
Submitted all of our required government reporting and payments
Our 2019-20 finances at a glance:
Income -
Tithes and offerings $125k (38% more than last year)
Mission giving (money you gave to Redhill for missions) $1.6k (60% less than last year)
$10k economic stimulus (with another $10k received this FY)
Great job! This was in the context of not meeting together as usual.
Expenses -
Employee expenses $74k (about the same as last year)
Mission support $9k (about the same as last year)
We invested about $15k in our sound equipment
We spent about $10k on ministry expenses
Other expenses included insurance and rent
Assets -
Bank accounts and cash $45k (was $21k last year)
We also have the office shipping container listed as an ‘asset'
Liabilities -
About $1k employee liabilities (this is normal)
What’s next...
Complete the financial statements for 2019-20
Submit ACNC reporting for 2019-20
As we go into 2021 we will continue to ask: “What is God asking us to do with our money?”
Pastor (Brent)
2020: It's been a very disruptive year and we've all had to manage and adjust our lives. For some it's been a big change and for others a little less. However, we've all endured through a disruptive year. Well done on getting through so far and for keeping the faith.
“Dance With Me”: At the start of 2020, before COVID, one Sunday when I had nothing to preach, I believe God said to me and us for this year - "Dance with Me". Look what then happened this year. God continues to be faithful. That He was inviting us to dance with Him - to follow His lead and that He is our safe place. It was an invitation for us to accept or decline.
Getaway: Thank you to Claire who organised another wonderful time away as a church family. It was our biggest getaway yet with over 70 people enjoying the time on the coast. Also, a big thank you to Rohan who builds a great hub for us and Julie for your effort in bringing that community vibe!
Bringing content online: This was a massive task this year. I want to say a huge thank you to Jill who gave so much of her time in communicating, designing and editing all our online content. It was a huge ask and she helped us all in staying connected and updated with all things Redhill.
It was also a time to learn some new skills of video. I myself have learnt how difficult this is and have a greater appreciation for those that do it regularly. There is so much time put into this. Also, thank you to everyone who gave a video message during the year. Your words and time have been very helpful!
Men: Thank you to Billy for organising a few Redhill Men's events. I know I have enjoyed the fun and meaningful times together.
Women: Thank you Claire, Julie and Jill for creating times of connection and fun with the Redhill Women.
Marriage Course: Thank you Chris and Claire for running the Marriage Course. It was a little different this year as we went online, but they did a fantastic job in leading the course, and we’re looking forward to seeing this course run again in the future.
Park gatherings: We created a good rhythm online for people to feel connected, however, we saw that people were soon tired of Zoom-ing and screen time. So, we decided we'd meet in parks as soon as we were able to. Since the middle of the year, every two weeks we have met in a park to be together, discuss a Bible passage or topic and pray.
Supporting mission partners: We continued our support for our mission partners: Gary and Narelle in the Philippines, Noom and Karis in Thailand, Mark and Steph at YWAM Woollongong and Missionheart here in Canberra. Thank you for your prayers, financial gifts and time given to help encourage and serve these partners.
Prayer: This year we started early morning prayer on Thursday. This started back in March before COVID and was soon moved to Zoom so we could keep praying. There were a number of people who tracked with us in this and thank you for everyone involved. Through the year you have all been prayed for as a community and for things needed and for healing. Thank you to everyone who participated in this and we will continue praying in 2021.
Pastoral care: Our approach to pastoral care is mainly through Redhill Group Leaders, and it continued this way in 2020. However, if anyone wanted to chat with me that would happily be arranged. In seeking to look after each other this year, we didn't want to hover over you like over protective parents, but rather continually make ourselves available to anyone who needed support and prayer. During COVID I met up with people in person and on Zoom. I always enjoy my catchups with you and it's a pleasure to support and pray for you whenever needed.
Pastors’ get-togethers: During the COVID year, Fresh Hope invited me to join with other local pastors and some from further north to gather online regularly to see how everyone is doing. It was a great time of encouragement and it was comforting to know most churches were in a very similar position to us. It was great to walk together through this time embracing the difficulties and being reminded of God's grace.
I have also started reconnecting with the local Canberra Churches of Christ pastors. We have got together twice in the second half of the year with the desire to meet more regularly throughout the year to support each other and grow in our friendships.
Fresh Hope update: Fresh Hope (our church mob) have a new Executive Ministry Director (EMD) - Daz Farrell. Daz was heading up Church Planting and Pioneering before he took on this role. We’re looking forward to hearing more of his heart and vision for the next few years!
Andrew Ball (former EMD), who visited us earlier this year, is having some time off before stepping into whatever comes next. I'm very grateful for his ministry and the way he has encouraged us pastors and leaders for two decades.
Farewells: We said goodbye to Kelvin and Bea as they return to Brisbane, and to Renton, who was in Canberra for two years with the army.
2021: We have ideas for next year and some new things are starting already. We will fill you in early next year but what's on my heart is to see us continue to grow and be strong in the faith.
Thank you leaders: Finally, a huge thank you to our wonderful Core Leaders and Ministry Leaders for once again leading us well in what was a weird and crazy year. We have an incredible team of people who serve Redhill well. Very grateful to God for all He is doing!
Questions about any of the above, or about ministries within Redhill in general? We’d love to chat! Contact us via any of our channels.
