NOVEMBER 2013 ISSUE 9 At the heart of every healthy, growing church is a network of small groups - communities where people grow meaningful relationships, where they grow closer to God and where gifts are discovered and developed. Many people at Kingfisher have discovered this for themselves over the years, and deep friendships have developed, ministries have been launched, people have found support in times of grief, and have connected with God more deeply than ever before. We have a goal at Kingfisher - that every single person who calls Kingfisher their home will be an active part of a small group. We currently have mainly ministry- based groups, along with one or two more general groups, and whilst many people are in one of those groups, there are many who aren't. Crucially, when new people join the church, there needs to be a clear, easy way to get connected to a small group and become part of a real community, and this is something that we need to get better at. So, we are launching a new approach to small groups - CONNECT GROUPS. Connect groups have three goals in mind: to connect people to each other, to connect people to God and to connect people to the ministry that God has for them. Connect groups will have a different flavour dependant upon the makeup of the group...they could, for example, be predominantly a group that meets around a particular interest, such as curry, walking, child-raising or the like, and, in that context, discusses biblical themes and how they affect everyday life. They could meet in the daytime, in the evening, around a meal table or even in the workplace. Connect groups are flexible in format, but at their core they exist to fulfil the three goals of connecting people with each other, with God and with the ministry God has for them. Connect groups will run alongside the existing ministry groups. If you are in a ministry group and it is the right group for you - it is expressing your passion and enabling your gifts to be used, then that is the group you need to stay with. However, for the large number of people who are not currently in a group, or who are in a ministry group but they have come to realise this is not really the right 'fit' for them, connect groups are for you! Tredworth already has one Connect group running, led by Alison Feltham, which meets every other Friday. Harry Bennett and Perdie Ashenford will be starting a Connect group for those in their late teens/early twenties. Rachael Bennett will be starting a Connect group that will run during the daytime particularly for young families. Kingsway are currently formulating their small group strategy around the Connect group approach, and we will be starting more Connect groups in the near future. Our goal: to get every single person who calls Kingfisher their spiritual home into a small group, whether that be a ministry group or a Connect group, so that every single person can experience the joy of connecting in deepening relationships with a small group of people, connecting in a deeper way with God and connecting with their gifts and God-given ministry. Do you want to know how you can be part of a connect group? Call us at the church office (304339) or email us (info@kingfisher.org.uk ) or talk to a leader soon! Starting in January 2014 - let's GET CONNECTED! Get connected at Kingfisher THE NETWORK Our goal: to get every single person who calls Kingfisher their spiritual home into a ministry group or a Connect group.
Transcript
NOVEMBER 2013 ISSUE 9
At the heart of every healthy, growing church is a network of small groups - communities where people grow meaningful relationships, where they grow closer to God and where gifts are discovered and developed. Many people at Kingfisher have discovered this for themselves over the years, and deep friendships have developed, ministries have been launched, people have found support in times of grief, and have connected with God more deeply than ever before.
We have a goal at Kingfisher - that every single person who calls Kingfisher their home will be an active part of a small group. We currently have mainly ministry-based groups, along with one or two more general groups, and whilst many people are in one of those groups, there are many who aren't. Crucially, when new people join the church, there needs to be a clear, easy way to get connected to a small group and become part of a real community, and this is something that we need to get better at.
So, we are launching a new approach to small groups - CONNECT GROUPS. Connect groups have three goals in mind: to connect people to each other, to connect people to God and to connect people to the ministry that God has for them.
Connect groups will have a different flavour dependant upon the makeup of the group...they could, for example, be predominantly a group that meets around a particular interest, such as curry, walking, child-raising or the like, and, in that context, discusses biblical themes and how they affect everyday life. They could meet in the daytime, in the evening, around a meal table or even in the workplace. Connect groups are flexible in format, but at their core they exist to fulfil the three goals of connecting people with each other, with God and with the ministry God has for them.
Connect groups will run alongside the existing ministry groups. If you are in a ministry group and it is the right group for you - it is expressing your passion and enabling your gifts to be used, then that is the group you need to stay with. However, for the large
number of people who are not currently in a group, or who are in a ministry group but they have come to realise this is not really the right 'fit' for them, connect groups are for you!
Tredworth already has one Connect group running, led by Alison Feltham, which meets every other Friday. Harry Bennett and Perdie Ashenford will be starting a Connect group for those in their late teens/early twenties. Rachael Bennett will be starting a Connect group that will run during the daytime particularly for young families. Kingsway are currently formulating their small group strategy around the Connect group approach, and we will be starting more Connect groups in the near future.
Our goal: to get every single person who calls Kingfisher their spiritual home into a small group, whether that be a ministry group or a Connect group, so that every single person can experience the joy of connecting in deepening relationships with a small group of people, connecting in a deeper way with God and connecting with their gifts and God-given ministry. Do you want to know how you can be part of a connect group? Call us at the church office (304339) or email us ([email protected]) or talk to a leader soon! Starting in January 2014 - let's GET CONNECTED!
Get connected at Kingfisher
THE NETWORK
Our goal: to get every single person who calls Kingfisher their spiritual home into a ministry group or a Connect group.
Over the past few months, some exciting new ministry appointments have been made in the Network.
With the expansion of the Social Enterprise, Andy Davis has been appointed as the manager of the Treasure Seekers shop in College Street, Gloucester. Along with this new role, Andy has stepped down as Youth Leader at Kingfisher Tredworth, after seven years of faithful and fruitful service. In his place, Rosie Blake has been appointed, and has already overseen an exciting makeover of the youth room, introduced some exciting new initiatives and seen a number of new teenagers start to come along, as well as some 'old faces' making a welcome return.
After coming back from maternity leave,Katie Tucker stepped down as pastor of Kingfisher Kingsway in order to concentrate on developing the Network and the business side of the Social Enterprise. On September 29th, Shaun Russell was commissioned as the new Pastor of Kingfisher Kingsway. Shaun has been serving as Assistant Pastor and, during Katie's maternity leave, Acting Pastor. Kingsway has got exciting times ahead with Shaun, supported by the Kingsway elders, at the helm!
At the beginning of October, Treasure Seekers launched their second shop, this time in Stroud. They were approached by the charity, Open House, and offered the use of a vacant premises in High Street, which is right in the heart of the bustling shopping centre of
Stroud. Open House recognise the wonderful work that Treasure Seekers do and want to do all they can to enable it to increase. Another joint venture is a charity single that Treasure Seekers and Open House are producing together this Christmas (Open House also has a recording studio!). Gill Parkinson has been appointed as the manager of the new Treasure Seekers shop in Stroud, and various LD staff have already been appointed.
Earlier this year, Ollie Bennett was appointed as Assistant Pastor at Kingfisher Tredworth. This has meant him taking on a wider pastoral role in the church and, as such, taking a step back from being the up front leader of Engage (our worship ministry) at Tredworth. We are very pleased that Joe Blake has responded to God's call to take over this role, and Joe was commissioned as the Engage leader for Tredworth at a recent evening service.
This Network is growing and developing all the time - watch out for some more exciting appointments soon!
News from the Network
New appointments at Kingfisher
Excitement and anticipation is growing at Kingfisher Mauza, Mozambique. When Pastor Fuloresi Dempster planted the church 4 years ago, she had a dream to build a community of believers that held out God's hope for both the local community and also for the whole Mozambique nation. God is moving this vision closer now as they prepare to construct a brand new training center on the land that Kingfisher Network helped them to buy in 2011.
Our 2013 Kingfisher UK Harvest appeal has raised the money that Pastor Fuloresi needs. Kingfisher Mauza is partnering with Charles Mithowa, the Kingfisher National Director for Malawi, on the new building project. Charles has successfully overseen a number of Kingfisher building projects in Malawi over the last 10 years.
Right now the local Mauza community is working hard to lay the groundwork for the Kingfisher building project. The way it works in Africa, people from the local community all get involved - it is a true community event. As well as digging the foundations, people are already constructing the brick ovens that will be used to bake fresh bricks for the project. Wood for the roof will be imported into Mozambique from Malawi.
Please pray that the building work completes safely, and also that the weather remains dry while the construction is happening.
Harvest appeal 2013
Rosie Blake Andy Davis
Shaun Russell
Joe Blake
Katie TuckerGill Parkinson
Ollie Bennett
News from the Network
Kingfisher Resources
This October marked a first for Kingfisher - our own stall at the Christian Resources Exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham. The CRE is the premier such exhibition in Europe, attracting organisations from all over the UK - from software companies to stage lighting companies, publishers, film companies, musicians...and us!
Kingfisher Resources, our publishing house, was advertising our newly-published leadership materials, as well as our online leadership resources at: leadership.kingfisher.org.uk/. We had hundreds of visitors stop by over the two days of the exhibition. Several church leaders purchased either the Called to Leadership course, or the entire three levels.
More important than the sales were the connections made with people who shared a similar passion to see people with the gift of leadership identified, equipped, commissioned and well-supported. So many churches have the desire but not the means; they know that their
churches aren't making the most of the people resources that God has entrusted them with - they just don't know how. It was exciting to have these conversations, to talk about the possibilities of associating with and supporting each other. What a wonderful couple of days, and we look forward to next year!
Our Kingsway children’s summer holiday club “Superhero Adventure” was a huge success, with places fully booked and for the first time ever we needed to run a waiting list. It was an amazing week that I feel blessed to have been a part of. The week started full of excitement and enthusiasm right from the first moment, with children coming dressed in some great superhero costumes and equipped with loud voices and lots of energy! Each day was jam packed with games and challenges all relating to the superhero theme.
Some of the highlights were the “help the Hero” food game and the “ball pit challenge” alongside some old but firm favourites such as quizzes and visual memory games. Big team points were won each day in the design challenge as teams worked together to design some superhero essentials such as a superhero costume and a superhero mode of transport, where once again imagination and creativity ran wild. The ultimate game for entertainment for the week, as always, was the leaders game where we saw our brave team leaders immersing their bare feet into bowls of gunge, using their toes to pick up a key to enable them to rescue themselves from the villains who had captured them. Very entertaining and very messy!
Alongside the fun and games and continuing with the superhero theme, using examples from the Disney film “The Incredibles” as a discussion point, the children explored some of the Bible’s heroes such as Noah, Moses, Joshua and Gideon through interactive stories, accumulating at the end of the week with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ our ultimate superhero!
As usual interjected in the mornings activities was music and dances and
what encouraged us all during the week was on several different
occasions out and about in the community the lyrics of Hillsong’s “Jesus you’re my superhero” could be heard drifting across the air for all to hear.
The fun didn’t end there though and this year we tried something a little different for our reunion. Abandoning our usual reunion service at the end of the summer we instead invited parents and family members to come along and join their children and take part in an hour long superhero experience.
Setting the hall up as we had for superhero adventure one Sunday morning, adults and children alike were entered into superhero teams to complete some of the favourite games and challenges from the week and compete against each other. The morning was a great success and a lot of fun was had by all, from this we now have 10 families signed up already for next year’s holiday club “Chocolate Adventure” and if this year’s fun is anything to go by I can’t wait!
Samantha Russell - Kingsway children’s ministry leader
Superhero Adventure - August 2013
News from Tredworth
A new look for One Eighty
It has been a few weeks now since I took over from Andy as One Eighty Tredworth leader and I can confidently say that I am loving every minute of it! Having the opportunity to get alongside the youth to be able to encourage and grow them in their walk with God is a great privilege.
My first goal was to give the youth a room that they could feel at home in and make their own to give them a sense of ownership over the youth group. As you can see from the pictures, we transformed the room and the youth love it! We have started movie nights every other Friday at 7pm to help One Eighty build community and the new room really makes it feel like home.
We have already started to plan for Soul Survivor 2014 which is always such a great opportunity for the teenagers to experience God and grow their friendships, so make sure your teenagers are booked on! I'm so excited for what the future holds for our teenagers, if you want to be a part of it just come and grab me at any of the services.
Rosie Blake - Tredworth’s youth ministry leader
The theme for our second term for 2013 was “Summer Holiday” and in true Cliff Richard fashion the show started with his famous song. Once everyone was aboard the bus we all had a wonderful evening at the beach, on the pier and in the seaside theatre. The stage was set with an amazing beach backdrop which really set the holiday atmosphere.
Once again the show was littered with stars such as Freddy Mercury (Ashley Parlour), Mungo Jerry (Ben Pearsall), our Joke-telling Clown (Stephen Sowter) and The Drifters (Paul, Mark, Sarah and Stephen). With great dances from our Dance Group, brilliant singing from the Singing Group and summer shimmies from the Belly Dancing Group the show was a spectacular success. Once again all the members of TSPA excelled and put on a Summer Holiday Show to remember. Well done all!
News from Kingfisher Tredworth
New Years Eve Thanksgiving Meal7pm - 10pm, at Kingfisher Tredworth
Come and join in with giving thanks for all that God has done over the year
Net
work
News from Kingfisher Tredworth
The Dads Only toddler group had its first men's breakfast together on Saturday 19th October. A fantastic time was had by all! Counting all children and adults, breakfast was served to over 50 people with even some very young toddlers tackling 'the works' which consisted of bacon, sausage, egg, beans, tomato, hash browns, fried bread and mushrooms!
There was and is a real sense of community growing in this group and it is a huge privilege to be part of it, watching dads and grandads playing with their children and getting to know each other and many of our guys from church who faithfully come along and serve in this ministry each fortnight.
A huge thank you to Steve and Bill for providing breakfast and doing all the cooking, a very kind group member who provided us with a large amount of really tasty bacon and the rest of the dads only team and other church members who worked incredibly hard to make this event a huge success.
Our next Dads breakfast is planned for January 11th to kick start the spring term, can't wait!!
The group runs fortnightly on Saturday mornings from 10.30 until 12, if anybody else feels drawn to serve in this group which is growing by the week, come and have a chat with me (Bev) or another team member.
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Hope you enjoy hearing all that is happening across the Kingfisher Network!
