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"...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."  Phil 2:13

Prayer PRAYER

Our goal is to involve all members and attendees in a life of prayer. To instruct people in the need for, practice of prayer, and an appreciation of prayer as a ministry of the person and the body of Christ as a whole. Prayer will be a structured part of all small group/cell meetings as well as corporate worship celebrations. It is hoped that some small groups will form for the exclusive purpose of meeting for prayer.

Actions:

  • Prayer time set in all small groups.
  • The formation of exclusive prayer groups.
  • Semi-annual Days of Fasting & Prayer set in calendar.

Small Groups SMALL GROUP DISCIPLESHIP

Our goal is to develop our primary care for the Body of Christ with the formation of small groups or cells of ideally six to ten people. These groups may have differing tasks and ministries, but will hold several things in common. They will all have time in prayer and bible instruction, to varying degrees as well as developing a nurturing environment of care and support for each other. An emphasis on unity in Christ and among each other will encouraged and developed. Spiritual growth will be coupled with spiritual actions as people mature in Christ.

What the Hume Presbyterian Church understands small groups to be:

  • A small group is any official or unofficial group operating within the ministry umbrella of the Hume Presbyterian Church numbering ideally between six to ten people. They meet together for the purposes of mutual Christian nurture and support as well as for any specific ministry task. They are grouped together by personal desire, common interest and affinity to any one group.
  • Each group will have a designated group leader (who is recognised and supervised by session and staff) who will lead the small group in Christian nurture and ministry task.
  • Each group will have an apprentice leader who will be trained to be a group leader at a later date.
  • Each group will be evangelistically minded. Each small group will commit to enfolding, enveloping and loving two non-Christians into the Kingdom of God over the calendar year.

Kinds of small groups:

    • Small Groups that are focussed primarily on a Up-Reach Tasks:
    • Worship teams, Choirs, Music teams, Drama teams, Technical support teams-& MORE.
    • Small Groups that are focussed primarily on a In-Reach Tasks:
    • Visitation teams, Session, Board of Management, Diaconate, Leadership Training teams, Bible Studies, Sunday Schools, Youth Groups, Kids Clubs, Freezer ministries, Tela-care teams, Book Stall teams, PWMU groups, Prayer Groups, Crisis Response teams, Greeters teams, Counselling teams, Christian Education teams, Counselling Care Groups, Mother & Tots Groups- & MORE
    • Small Groups that are focussed primarily on a Out-Reach Tasks:
    • Holiday Bible Schools, Evangelism Training teams, MOLDI Dinners, Soccer teams, Scrap-booking group, Beach Missions, arts/crafts group, Coffee Lounge Outreach Group & MORE

    • Actions:

    • Align any existing small groups into the church small group scheme. Provide leader training.
    • Make small group ministry a focal point of membership classes. Gain commitment to them from prospective members.
    • Develop a wide range of ministry centred small groups.
    • Small Group Cells birthing new small groups.
    • Develop a number of small groups that will cross over into overt outreach (from strictly green to orange, yellow and blue zones).

    Leadership LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

    All small groups will be led by someone who has demonstrated leadership skills and recruited for the task. It is essential that all group leaders have a sense of God's calling for this type of ministry which is confirmed within the Body. Group leaders will commit themselves to mandatory ongoing training, supervision and oversight of their work as a group leader, and apprenticing other people for leadership on a continual basis.

    • Small Group Leaders - What The Hume Presbyterian Church is looking for in small group leaders:
    • Men and women who have identified in themselves spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit and who wish to use them in leadership within the Body of Christ.
    • People who have a vision for a particular ministry that is in line with the over all Vision and goals of the Church and are willing to be accountable to the elders and staff for it.
    • Leaders who have the ability and desire to recruit people to their small group ministry.
    • A commitment to seeing the lost souls won to Christ. A personal goal for each leader and their group is the enfolding, enveloping and loving of two non-Christians into the Kingdom of God during each calendar year.
    • A commitment to nurturing those in your small group in the Christian faith by giving primary care in ways that will meet their emotional, physical and spiritual needs.
    • A commitment to spending time in prayer and the Scriptures every time your small group meets.
    • A commitment to training up apprentice leaders within your small group.
    • A commitment to regular monthly training meetings for encouragement, vision expansion, and skills development.
    Anticipating our growth, we would have need to train up and/or employ:
    • Assistant/Associate Ministers
    • Ruling Elders
    • Deacons for Mercy Ministries
    • Worship Team Leaders
    • Musicians
    • Small Group Leaders
    • Small Group Co-ordinator
    • Evangelism Co-ordinator
    • Missions Co-ordinator
    • Christian Education Co-ordinator
    • Sunday School Teachers
    • Youth Pastor
    • Uni Church Pastor - AFES worker
    • Women's Ministry Co-ordinator

    Actions:

    • Individuals recruited for small group ministries
    • Leader Supervisors trained and set in place
    • Ongoing training and development accomplished through VHS (Vision, Huddling, & Skills attainment)
    • Apprenticing of those showing leaders ability

    Evangelism EVANGELISM

    It is expected that the heart of our church's evangelistic thrust will be within the small group structure. Small groups will be expected to pray and to plan for the reaching of at least two people for Christ over the period of twelve months. They are to enfold and envelope non-Christians within their group and love them into the Kingdom of God.

    Actions:

    • Set VPPM before small groups and their leaders
    • Provide evangelism training to group leaders and interested individuals
    • Conduct evangelistic evangelism on a weekly basis
    • Become an EE III Clinic base

    Praise WORSHIP CELEBRATIONS

    Our goal is to produce God-centred worship celebrations that are uplifting, encouraging, and marked with excellence. The celebrations will include the Word of God faithfully preached, a time of confession and prayer, singing of the Lord's hymns, songs and spiritual songs. The purpose of the service of worship will be to glorify and worship God in such a way as to cause wonder and awe in the mind and hearts of those non-Christians in our midst. They must know that we have met with the living God in every worship service we undertake.

    Services shall be contemporary in style, while reformed and evangelical in content. Traditional components of services will be utilised, but brought into a context that uses modern communication methods and which will involve themed services that make for a seamless dialogue between God and the members and attendees of the Hume PC.

    Services will be led by a trained team meeting as a small group. While not forsaking the rich heritage of ancient hymnody, we will focus on singing "new songs to the Lord" (Psalm 33:3). The majority of worship music will be of a contemporary nature. Development and encouragement of a musical team will include a minimum of a electronic keyboard/piano, bass and percussion section.

    Service styles may include:

    • Interviews
    • Drama
    • Testimonies
    • Visual displays via a data projector to include:
      • Words to music
      • Announcements
      • Sermon outlines
      • Bible readings
      • Missionary spots
      • Illustrations
      • Worship components
    • Services are to be participatory and interactive.
    • Assembly Area: Possibly set up in a lounge or café style setting.
    • Fellowship is to follow each service with coffee and tea-preferable in the same room. Meals will follow on occasion.
    • We will endeavour to use or include at least one piece of the visual arts in each service.
    • Assembly area to be aesthetically pleasing with plants, flowers, light and of temperate climate.

    Actions:

    • Pastor modelling styles of worship services
    • Recruiting and training worship team
    • Developing music teams and Choirs
    • Developing a Worship Support team for worship setup, floral arrangements, morning tea, crèche duty, greeters, and feeders

    Missions MISSIONAL

    Our goal is to stimulate knowledge and understanding of the Christian missionary enterprise and our members' participation in it. We will seek to break into our world and local communities by engaging in relational and evangelistic enterprises wherever they are and to bring Christ to them. We want our church members to be actively engaged in public opinion, politics and community affairs.

    We will support local and world missions with financial and prayer support with 50% of the Hume Presbyterian Church financial budget by 2015. We will seek to raise mission consciousness with annual missions conferences. We seek to be an enabling vehicle for those who feel called to respond to missions around the world and look to send people from our own congregation.

    Actions:

    • Develop a missions committee to organise annual missions conferences and promote awareness
    • Determine financial support needs for mission projects and personnel
    • Develop missions giving and support policy
    • Recruit potential missionaries and assist them in the application process
    • Establish information conduits that will educate, inform and assist members in public debate and action

    Presbytery PRESBYTERY & GENERAL ASSEMBLY

    Our goal will be to stimulate our presbytery and general assemblies to continue a reforming process as our denomination returns to an historical orthodox position in theology. We will send up overtures, petitions and suggestions that we hope will enhance the ministries of our denomination. We further dedicate church resources and support to those ministries of the denomination that further the Kingdom of God and are well-pleasing to the Saviour.

    We believe that God wants our church to develop into a full particular Church. We further believe that it is important that we believe that God builds His church and does so through the efforts of those whose spirit He touches, and that through them the Spirit of God will provide the necessary funding.

    The Hume Presbyterian Church does not want to rely on any regular support from the General Assembly of Victoria and its committees. It is our desire to become as quickly as possible, completely dependant upon the Lord to build His church from within our midst and to be at every point:

    • Self Supporting
    • Self Sustaining

    We will seek to support local and world missions with financial and prayer support with 50% of the Hume Presbyterian Church financial budget by 2015 as God enables us.

    Actions:

    • Committing a regular portion of our stated session meetings to the development of higher church courts.
    • We will send requests, submissions, petitions and overtures to our higher courts where we think we may encourage a strengthening of our holy religion and the governing of the Bride of Christ. We will seek to promote a purity of doctrine and efficiency of ministry in the historic reformed understanding of our faith.
    • To assist presbytery and the general assembly when asked, in the training teaching/ruling elders the concepts of leadership development and small group ministry God has initiated at the Hume PC.
    • To plant congregations for presbytery and affiliated denominational committees from our strength of numbers and model of ministry.

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