A CHURCH'S FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY

 A CHURCH'S FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY

In Writers’ School they teach you to catch your reader’s attention with an eye-catching, enticing, interesting title that leads him or her to want to read what you have written. My Creative Writing professor would have rolled his eyes at the title of this post just before giving me an “F”. And probably deservedly so. After all, who even knows what the word fiduciary means let alone uses it in a title? Not only do I need to use this precise word in the title – I also need to help you understand why I needed to use it. And if you love Christ and His Church I hope that you too will come to recognise why a local church has a sacred fiduciary responsibility.

There may be some who come from a banking or accounting background who will already be familiar with one aspect of how this mysterious word fiduciary is used. But when used of a local church, it has a much broader application than its application to banking or accounting. For those who have a slight grasp of Latin it will be obvious to them that this word’s first syllable, fid, comes from the Latin fidere which means ‘to trust’. Technically, it is a Latin word – fiduciarius, from fiducia ‘trust’ which has been anglicised (translated into English) as fiduciary. For a banker or an accountant it means that someone is trusting them with their finances. But for a church it means much, much more because it involves being trusted with things worth much more than finances. 

He [Jesus] charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And He said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
Mark 6:8-11

 

WHAT FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY MEANS FOR A CHURCH

In my previous post on the topic of the Church, I wrote how Christ has entrusted to His Church a sacred mission with eternal ramifications. Just as in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, if Christ was depicted as the ‘Good Samaritan’ and with wounded and beaten man left to die on the side of the road was depicted as those trying to live outside of God’s Kingdom who end up being hurt and broken by the way the world treats its own, then we, the Church, were depicted as the inn-keeper – the ones that Christ has entrusted to look after those He has rescued and redeemed.

And just as the Good Shepherd in this parable entrusted to the Inn-Keeper all the resources he needed to care for the one who had been rescued, Christ entrusts to His Church the resources that we need to fulfil our sacred mission – and it is much more valuable than silver or gold or money.

And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying,
‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
Luke 10:35

WE HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH THE WEALTH AND RICHES OF CHRIST IN ORDER TO FULFIL OUR SACRED MISSION FROM HIM

In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you,
what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints
Ephesians 1:7-8

While it is certainly true that Christ provides financially for His Church (for which we in particular have greatly experienced) there are riches that He possesses which are far more valuable than coin to which He has primarily entrusted us. He has entrusted to us His Word (Jn. 17:14). The Bibles that we have (and often take for granted) have been delivered to under the supervision and preservation of the Holy Spirit working through our forefathers who guarded their copies of the Bible at the risk and sacrifice of their lives. We should never underestimate the inestimable value of the riches of God’s Word. There are many churches around the world where no one in those churches has even seen a Bible. Secondly, something else also of inestimable worth has also been entrusted to us by Christ for the accomplishment of our sacred mission: those Christ has redeemed!

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn,
and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
Luke 12:24

THE ENTRUSTING OF MONEY TO A CHURCH

Money is an emblem of a person’s life. Most of us work a job in which we exchange time for money. The time we give our employer is a portion of our life. Thus, as an act of worship, God calls people to honour Him with the first of their wealth (Prov. 3:9). Jesus warned His followers against thinking their money was their true treasure – and instead, regard worship of and obedient service to God as developing the kind of heart that would store up true treasure for eternity. Thus, He was saying, how we gave of our money in service of His Word revealed what was really in our heart (Matt. 6:19-21). Similarly, how a church would then entrust the finances that God’s people would give it was also an act of worship of God by that Church. Jesus said that how we treated and valued our money was an indication of how we would treat and value His true riches (Luke 16:11).

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth,
who will entrust to you the true riches?
Luke 16:11

The true riches that Christ has entrusted to us includes (i) His Word, and (ii) those He has redeemed. In addition to these true riches He supplements a church with less valuable things like money, property and possessions to steward (manage) so that their sacred mission can be fulfilled. We see this almost from the outset of the Church’s birth where people generously gave to the Church. But even then as the Church grew and expanded it required greater care and diligence on the part of the Church’s leadership to steward Christ’s provisions more wisely which included the appointment of the seven deacons.

 

THE USE OF MONEY BY A CHURCH

The early Church’s first organisational change was linked to how they managed their finances. As the Church grew rather rapidly the need to restructure the church became necessary. We have seen that there were many Hellenists who were in Jerusalem at this time who had become dependant upon the Church for their relief (Act 6:1-2). What I did not discuss in a previous post was that many people gave very generously as the Church was being established. In a typical biblical writing style, characters are introduced and then who will reappear later more prominently in the narrative. Joseph the Levite, nicknamed Barnabas by the apostles (Acts 4:36), is such a character. He sold land and gave the proceeds to the apostles (Acts 4:37). We see from the record in Acts that the money was used to supply relief to those in need. In case anyone could think that this money which was given to the apostles and was used for the personal benefit of the apostles, we read in Acts 3:6-7 an admission by Peter:

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
Acts 3:6-7

We have seen that the Church grew and spread as a result of the persecution it experienced. Believers were scattered and led by the Holy Spirit to go where Christ had instructed (Acts 1: 6). This included Phillip, the deacon, going to Samaria. After his successful mission there, he called for Peter and John to come and assist. When Simon the sorcerer witnessed the importation of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the apostles he offered money to Peter to also be able to do the same. Peter strongly rebuked the sorcerer for thinking that the gifts and the offices of the Holy Spirit could be bought.

Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. ¶ Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”
Acts 8:13-23

This episode later gave rise to the name of a sin which unfortunately became prevalent during the Medieval period known as Simony (paying money to buy a leadership role within the church – such as “Bishop” or “Archbishop”). This practice was condemned by the reformers as the sought to restore the Biblical standard for leadership (which included “not be greedy for [financial] gain” Titus 1:7). 

 

WHY WE REGARD STEWARDING CHRIST’S PROVISIONS THROUGH HIS PEOPLE AS A SACRED RESPONSIBILITY

When people give to a church, that church appoints certain people to steward that money on their behalf. This stewardship is used to: (i) support those who “labour in teaching the Word” and those staff who serve in the church (1Tim. 5:17); (ii) pay the bills that are incurred by the church (Rom. 13:7); (iii) support missionary efforts largely unreached parts of the world; (iv) evangelistic efforts. Just as those who teach the Word will be subject to “stricter judgment” (James 3:1) by the Lord, also those who misuse the finances given to a church will also be subject to the Lord’s judgment (1Cor. 3:17). This is why we regard the handling and expenditure of monies given faithfully by the church family to be a sacred trust and thus a fiduciary responsibility because it is actually God’s money after all. We pray two things regarding it: (i) that those who have given will be especially blessed, and (ii) that what is given will be used wisely for both immediate and long-term benefit to God’s kingdom.

 

WE ARE ALL STEWARDS AND SERVANTS OF CHRIST’S CHURCH

Some see their position within a church as giving them power or status. Certainly Church history bears out that many false shepherds (Christ called them “hirelings” – people who are only there because they are paid, John 10:12-13) had snuck into what was once Christ’s Church and abused their positions for their own glory, comfort, and enrichment. In the darkest days of the Medieval period many (not all) of the Church’s leaders were ungodly, greedy, and highly political scoundrels who wore the robes priests – but did not even know the Lord! As I have also noted in another post within this series, God then set about to reform the Church by once again illuminating His Word to those who would become known as reformers. These reformers were actually mostly unsuccessful at reforming the established Church – but highly successful at reforming many within it to realise what Christ had called His Church to be. This realisation led to the establishment of the original denominations – Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian, and Baptist (then later, Methodist, Congregational, Brethren, and Pentecostal). These reformers have bequeathed to us a legacy of understanding that Christ’s Church is not merely about grand buildings, elaborate artwork, a professional clergy class, or a bureaucracy. But a church that is to be served by Christ-worshiping leaders who have a shepherd’s heart for God’s people. These leaders were to accept their call to shepherd – not because they were to be paid – but because they willingly desired to be obedient to Christ’s call to do so. Thus true shepherds don’t run when it gets “hot in the kitchen” but they take their stand to shepherd Christ’s flock and accept that one of His greatest gifts to them is their responsibility to care for and lovingly steward God’s people.  

 

CHRIST’S CHURCH EXISTS TO KNOW HIM AND MAKE HIM KNOWN

I am not after a position, a title, or an accolade. I am a nobody. I am not anyone special. I have not done anything extraordinary. But I know Somebody who is really, really, special. He continually does the extraordinary and the remarkable. While I have no claim to fame, He is the most famous person in the world. What is outstanding about Him is that He is simultaneously the most loving person in the world yet the most hated by it (Jn. 7:7). While I can’t speak more highly of Him, especially after what He has done for me, there are many who deride and denounce Him, and speak of Him with scorn. It is my hope that such people will meet Christ in a God-honour local church that exalts Jesus and reveals to them who He really is and what He is really like.

Christ is often misrepresented, misquoted, and misunderstood. Despite all this. He still cares deeply for even for those who treat Him so poorly. One other thing about Him that I need to tell you: He knows more about everything than literally anyone else. But His infinite knowledge is not merely a bottomless reservoir of data – no! – His knowledge is soaked in wisdom. He not only knows most, He knows best. In any circumstance He not only knows what could be done – He knows what should be done. In the vastness of this knowledge and wisdom, the has decreed that He should be represented by two things: (1) His written Word, and (ii)  His body of loyal followers (whom the often refers to as disciples, servants, and lately as friends).

And it is to His body of believers/followers/worshipers that He has commanded that they gather at least once a week to do sacred things together. In doing so they can know Him better and also be better empowered to make Him known. The local church is therefore, as has been said many times, the hope of the world – not because we are its hope, but because we make known to the world its True Hope – Jesus. While we deliver this life-giving water of the gospel to our hurting world for free, someone has to pay for the plumbing. And when that someone does we as a church have a fiduciary responsibility to faithfully oversee it.

Pastor at Large,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

A BROADER, FURTHER, BRIGHTER, HIGHER VISION FOR A MATURE CHURCH AND MINISTRY

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Legana Christian Church, 2018, November 23rd Pastor’s Desk Article -  0:01:04 / 0:14:36

So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.
First Samuel 30:9-10

How do you see the role of our church? For many, church is a place where worship, reflection, teaching, and prayers happen each Sunday morning. For some, church is a community of people who share common beliefs and values. For others, church is a mission from which resources are collected and stewarded to evangelise. Sadly, for a great many people, church is seen as an outdated irrelevant institution made up largely of elderly people who have not been scientifically enlightened – or worse still – an institution of hypocrites who abuse their positions to hurt others. Whatever your view of the role of our church, I want to present to you a compelling vision of a church that is broader, further, brighter, and higher.

A YOUTHFUL VISION OF A CHURCH

I was in my early teens when I sensed a call to be a preacher. I was 18, in my final year of High School, when I approached my pastor, Joe Bowes, and shared with him that I sensed the call to full-time ministry. His sage advice to me was to get a job, experience what working with others was like, and begin studying for ministry at the same time. This I did. After Kim and I were married, I was credentialed by the Assemblies of God as a Youth Pastor while continuing to work a day job. I was then appointed as an assistant pastor. I then had the opportunity to go and pioneer a church not far from the CBD of Melbourne.

At the time, I was one of hundreds of church planters within the Assemblies of God. Our mission was relatively simple. Gather a community of disciples who could make disciples largely by conducting Sunday meetings which would be attractive. In this context, ministry and serving was what happened on a Sunday in the church meeting. It any pioneer pastor’s hope that as many of their fledgling congregation as possible will get involved in helping make the Sunday services work. If you ever ask a pioneer pastor what their ‘vision’ is, they will tell you (and I should know) it is about what their church will do and become. This is what I consider to be a youthful vision for a church. It’s youthful because it reflects the focus and enthusiasm of the pastor, and ‘youthful’ is a good description of a fledgling church.

HOW DOES A CHURCH GROW UP?

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:15-16

It is every parent’s hope that their children will not just age, but grow up. Often it’s the very thing needed for this to happen that many parents today want to prevent their children from experiencing. I’d heard of ‘helicopter parenting’ where a parent will ‘hover’ close by their children to rescue them from any trouble or problems they might encounter, but I hadn’t until recently heard of ‘lawnmower parenting’ where the parent tries to remove any trouble or problem from their child’s life before they encounter it. But guess what helps a child to grow up? It’s the same thing that helped you to grow up. Yes, that’s right. It’s having to deal with troubles and problems!

Last Sunday night during our testimonies time, Ross shared about a season of pain that he and his wife had experienced. If I could paraphrase what he said as I heard him testify that this pain deepened their relationship and obviously gave them great empathy for others, I might put it this way- Pain can be a gift from God. 

Over the years I’ve been surprised by who has also said something similar. I’ve heard it from people who have experienced loss, cancer, betrayal, divorce, and trauma. Each of these people have experienced something redemptive (“God brings good out of something bad”) from their pain.

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
C.S. Lewis

As a child learns that pain is an inevitable part of life, and they learn to deal with it – and even eventually see it as a gift from God, they grow and mature. I suspect that it is much the same for a church to grow and mature. It too has to experience pain. It too has to learn how to deal with pain. Only then can a church truly have the kind of compassion for those who are hurting and are in pain. Or, to put it the way the Apostle Paul put it, if we want to comfort the hurting we must have experienced God’s comfort in the midst of our affliction.

¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
Second Corinthians 1:3-6

The church that goes into denial about its pain, loss, betrayal, will be hard pressed to comfort the hurting, help the distressed, heal the broken or save the lost. The church that avoids the pain of conflict and necessary confrontation is the church that will be hard pressed to help those it is ministering to whose relationships have broken down.

There’s something else that every parent also wants for their children so that they can grow up. When children are little, they need discipline from their parents. This discipline forms within them their guiding principles for how they treat others, how they carry responsibility, and how life’s choices have consequences. As the child accepts this discipline as good and right they begin to adopt it as part of their self-discipline. This means that even when no-one is telling them to bear their responsibilities, they tell themselves! It also means that when given the choice to do wrong, they tell themselves to avoid the wrong and do the right thing – even when no-one is watching.

Similarly, the church that seeks to grow up is going to be the church that is disciplined and self-disciplined.

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A BROADER, FURTHER, BRIGHTER, HIGHER VISION

My opening text of Scripture beautifully illustrates the difference between childish and mature. David, a young man in his twenties, has just returned from an arduous battle to find that the Amalekites have kidnapped the women and children of his men who have just fought along side him. They are already exhausted. Some of these warriors are so exhausted they cannot ride into the night to fight another battle – even to rescue their own wives and children. The men are tired and now vying for David’s head because they hold him responsible! 

In an episode that could have gone horribly wrong, David shows great maturity and exhibits the very traits that we have just been discussing that transition a child into an adult. David appeals to his men to come with him into the night on this rescue mission to get their wives and children (and bounty) returned. Some of his warriors ride on with him. Some stay with the baggage they leave behind. David’s mission was eventually successful. But some of the men who returned with him scorned the men who stayed behind with the baggage.

David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

¶ Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
First Samuel 30:18-25

What the men who returned from rescuing their families may not have appreciated is that these two hundred men who remained behind with their baggage were the very men who had fought alongside them in their last battle – and quite possibly helped to preserve their lives. Secondly, by leaving their additional baggage behind to go off after the Amalekites their lighter load meant they were quicker and more agile – which would have contributed to their decisive victory.

There is a principle here for a mature church. God calls some people into the front-lines where the battle is fiercest, and some He calls to ‘mind their baggage’. 

WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN A CHURCH BEHAVES LIKE A GROWN UP

A grown-up church has a broader, bigger, brighter, further, higher vision of life and ministry. In this kind of church there will be those whose ministry has demanded that they ‘battle’ from Monday to Friday. They come into church on Sunday battle-weary. They are tired. Their responsibilities through the week are a heavy burden. Their self-disciplines require of them great concentration. The kinds of challenges they face are challenges that very few share. They are leaders of industry, commerce, education, media, justice, government, the arts, and health-care. They come to a grown-up church not to be a ‘pew-warmer’ but to be refreshed, renewed, revitalised for the continuing of the battle Monday morning. For these ministers (and this is how a grown-up church views them) this is their time and space to be restored.

¶ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness or his name’s sake.
¶ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
¶ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Psalm 23:1-6

A grown-up church is better equipped to minister to the hurting, lost, lonely, confused, and broken. It does this each Sunday directly by ministering to such people – but it also does it indirectly by ministering strength, inspiration, encouragement, is far wider than ours on a Sunday. Therefore, each Sunday we want to welcome the hurting, lost, lonely, confused, ill, and broken into our church family – but we also want to make welcome the healers, the leaders, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the innovators, the teachers, the mothers and the fathers – whom Christ has called to minister – who are each a part of the solution our city desperately needs!

Pastor Andrew Corbett

TEAM, FAMILY, CHURCH

TEAM, FAMILY, CHURCH

What do ‘team’, ‘family’, and ‘church’, have in common? Their connection may not be immediately obvious. A team, such as a football team, is comprised of members who perform a task to achieve a common goal. Each of the players’ roles complements the other players and when coordinated together enables them to achieve far more than they could on their own. A family seems to be completely different. For starters, a team may only last for a season. A family lasts for a lifetime of decades. A team is connected by talent. A family is connected by biological bonds and the unconditional love that flows from that bond. Team composition necessarily has to change based on individual performances. Family composition isn’t based on performance – and may even be in spite of performance abilities. But what of a church? In many respects it is different altogether to a team and a family. Or is it?

¶ For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
First Corinthians 12:12

MORE ALIKE THAN IT APPEARS

The things that make for a strong team, also can make for a strong family – and a strong church. All three diverse involvements unite people. All three involve people fulfilling certain roles. All three require leadership. All three must have rules. All three need coaching and discipline. Even churches. Having these things in common makes teams, families, and churches more alike than we might initially appreciate. Each of us have something to learn about becoming a stronger team, family, or church, from each other.

THE COMMON INGREDIENT

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
First Corinthians 11:3

I once heard the CEO of major international hotel chain describe how his faith in Christ and his understanding of Biblical leadership had helped to shape him, his company, and his senior staff. While many of his competitors had a view of leadership that was very hierarchical and authoritarian, this CEO saw that the Scriptures described leadership primarily as service. In this view, the leader, and those in their leadership structure, performed a function rather than merely holding an impressive job title. Seeing leadership in this light changes the way teams work. Coaches and captains become servants who work with their team rather than having their team for them. It also changes the way families work. Husbands and fathers become a servant to their wife and children. Their leadership seeks to ensure their family’s safety, provision, welfare, and nurture. (Some men see being a husband and a father as a position of power to make others do what they want. This is not Christ-like leadership.) And it changes the way a church views leadership. Rather than a church leader relishing in their position or title in order to garner the respect of those in their congregation, they strive to fulfil their position or title by using their appointment and gifts to help others. 

The common ingredient of all successful teams, families, and churches, is servant-hearted leadership. The team leader wants to see their team members succeed. The husband and father in a family wants to see his wife wife and children flourish and succeed. A pastor and his leadership team wants to see those in their church thriving and achieving successes that they never did

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
First Corinthians 12:26

YOUR PLACE

You may be one of those people who has experience in all three involvements – a team, a family, and a church. If you are, then you’ll know what I’ve been talking about. If you’re even more fortunate to be a part of a successful team, a successful family and a successful church, then you’re doubly blessed. You will already know that your team needs your to do your part well. You will have also found that in your family, each member shares a part of the load for the household. And in church you will have come to know that when everyone does what they can, just as in a sporting team or family, you also have a better chance of achieving success. 

from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:16

Much to our Board’s frustration, taking leave is very difficult for me. Perhaps in a way that only a pastor can begin to understand, taking leave can actually be quite stressful for me. But, for the good of our church, so that we learn together what Christ meant by the pronouns ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘as one’, when referring to His followers, Kim and I are taking some leave. I writing this to you now, from just outside Stuttgart Germany in the beautiful town of Nürtingen. You won’t hear from me again until November. In the meantime, each Sunday service, you will see, hear and appreciate, just how deep our preaching ‘bench’ has now developed. In addition to this, each week, you’ll hear from one of our pastors who will be filling in for me to write these weekly pastoral epistles. I look forward to returning in November and meeting all the new people who have joined our church and found Christ. And hopefully along the way, they too will come to find the acceptance and love that all good teams, families and churches offer.

Your pastor,   

Andrew Corbett