Making Room to Grow
New service times: 9am, 11am, & 6pm
“…the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace." (Colossians 1:6)
Because of the demands of ministry growth and because of the vision God has given us to grow as a city church in Wellington, we have followed the call to make room to grow.
Room to Grow Videos:
1/5/11 The Vision
8/5/11 History of The Street
15/5/11 The Youth & Life Centre
Room to Grow update: 15 September 2011
Room to Grow Update: 29 May 2011
Ok, wow! We were so humbled and thankful to the Lord last weekend at the “Room to Grow” service. By the end of the day the Lord had led us as a church to commit over $160,000 per year to the room to grow fund. In addition there was nearly $20,000 in one off contributions. Praise the Lord!
This enables us to move forwards with the development of the Life Centre so keep praying for those people who are “set apart” to do the work, that they will know the wisdom and provision of the Lord and the filling of His Spirit to do all that is in God’s heart for this ministry tool.
If you were not here last week, or as we know was the case with some people, you were wanting a little more time to seek the Lord as to what you should give, you can pick up a commitment envelope at the connections desk. That also has all the relevant account details you will need.
As part of our Making Room To Grow focus, remember that the week after Queens’ birthday we are moving to two morning services. A 9am and an 11am service. You will be by now deciding which service will be your service to attend!
This week in our teaching we are looking at the return of Jesus. There is no greater topic that inspires hope and encourages diligence in living out the Christian faith.
Enjoy!
Nick
Room to Grow Update: 5 May 2011
This is the story of how we came to purchase the Life Centre at 21 Hania Street.
It's a story of God’s miracles of provision and the spiritual lessons we have learned along the way....
We always sensed that our facility was going to be more than one building. In fact the day we took possession of 9 Hania Street back in 2001, I stood at the front gate with a couple of the elders and we looked at the green building and said to each other – what an awesome ministry facility that would make. The next day it was put on the market for the first time. That was back in 2001! It is a Life Centre, a place where people find Christ, learning to walk and grow spiritually, a place for healing, conversation and prayer, for joy and friendship, a place to hang out. A place for young and old alike. It is like the second of two pillars. The first is this building a pillar of celebration and power where we come to worship and to proclaim the glory of Christ. The second pillar is a place if intimacy and warmth where we learn to walk and grow as followers of Christ.
The more we prayed and surrendered, the stronger this conviction became and the more compelling the arguments for ministry space became as the Lord blessed his work, but we hold all things lightly and with an open upturned hand because we want God’s way.
Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails
We discovered that the building was built during the second world war as a rehabilitation centre for soldiers who had lost limbs. It was a place of restoration and healing...a place where people learned to walk and live again. I can’t wait to see people again learning to walk and live spiritually as we have this facility provided to help people become total followers of Jesus.
We initially sought to purchase the building off the owner however his price expectations were too high and so it was taken of the market. Then in 2005, a property developer purchased the site and we thought we had lost it. However that developer ran into difficulties and began in 2007 to look for ways to sell off the property to various interested parties.
We started discussions with the owner to see if we could secure the back half of the building. These discussions went strangely quiet and we were wondering again what was going on. It became clear in 2008 when the entire property was put on the market as a mortgage sale.
We put a stake in the ground and trusted the Lord for the back half of the property. The entire building without the space where the car park is now located. The journey since that point was long and immensely interesting, faith testing and trust building.
One lesson we learned at this point was: “when God says no, it is because there is a better yes in store.”
We thought a water tight case to purchase the back half of the property. We were all set to submit an unconditional offer when, all of a sudden there came a resounding NO. What we thought was secure finance was removed.
And so we let go, we sat in a meeting, discussed offer prices but knew that we could not go unconditional. So we put in a conditional offer fully expecting that someone else would have a cash offer that would mean we were done. That was not the case. We won the offer but still needed to raise the finance which, surprise surprise, we found we could not do. And so again in the face of God’s NO, we let go and surrendered to his ways. What followed was nothing less that the miracle of God’s provision...
The vendor came and offered finance for us to purchase the back lot, the rates were high but doable – just. We would get the building and through the income generated from the tenancies plus contributions from the building funds given here at church, be able to hold the building in current state for a future date.
The settlement was dependent on the subdivision of the property into the two halves. A developer was working to construct 2 multistory apartment blocks on the front vacant land – for him to do this meant he was clearing the site, he took away the buildings and cleared all of the site to the state you see it today.
And so the months ticked by, frustration on my part, ministry leaders and parents going cross eyed through lack of space on Sunday and during the week. I would walk into my office – look across the property and say Lord thank you, I am sure it is for us, but I have no idea how this is going to happen, because nothing was happening, but it was!!
Then, in the later half of 2008 the market crashed which resulted in a dramatic drop in the interest rates and therefore the cost of the finance.
What then happened was astounding...
The week of Christmas 2008, the developer who was looking to build apartment blocks on the front section withdrew and we were offered the entire site at a rate that, with the income generated from the tenancies and car parking at the front meant that it is far more affordable that when we started with just the back half.
God had a better yes in store and when we let go and surrendered to him we saw his power at work.
Sometimes we fight against the Lord when he says no, we either try really hard to get around it, or we resent it, or we reject it. Surrender to the Lord allows you to walk in his yes, even if you have not seen what the yes is yet. Keep living well for God today and trust him for your tomorrow..
**As a side note – God is the best architect, he pulls together right people at the right time into a spiritual house that is magnificent. Deana who wrote a masters paper on the design and appropriate treatment of 21 Hania Street a number of years ago, who along with her husband Alistair started coming to The Street around the time we began negotiations with the building owners. His skills in town planning are just want we needed and God used him to help us navigate our way through various building and town planning issues.
This type of story is replicated with so many people God has provided.
Finally, Let me share one last story of God’s miraculous timing...
21 Hania Street was built during the second world war – built to be a rehabilitation centre for service men and women who had lost limbs in combat. A place of healing and restoration where people could learn to live and to walk again.
There was a woman who lost her husband in World War two who moved to New Zealand and made The Street her home. Tory Street Gospel Hall and Elizabeth Street Chapel as it was then known. Nora Horton had a vision for what the Lord could do through the ministry of the church. In the middle of this building process Nora went home to heaven, and she left her estate to The Church.
And so in the week we needed to confirm that we would purchase the entire property, her lawyer rang us informing us that the Street would receive her legacy, some $360,000. And so a building built in the war that claimed the life of her husband, to help soldiers walk again was now to be purchased with help from her legacy so that all people can grow and walk spiritually.
We know that God’s timing is perfect. And if we ever get nervous looking forward, just look back and see what the Lord has done.
Rejoice in the strength of the Lord We find joy in the victories of the Lord God grants the desire of the heart He does not withhold the requests of our lips Psalm 21:1 - 2
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ROOM TO GROW UPDATE: 27 April 2011
When the apostle Paul wrote these words to the Church in Colosse, he saw growth as a central theme in the life of a follower of Jesus. It is incredible to see how the good news of the Gospel and growth that comes from it is being seen here at The Street in Wellington, New Zealand, almost 2000 years since Paul penned these words.
It is because of this growth that we want to let you know about an exciting change that is coming to our community. As you can probably tell, the number of people attending The Street has been growing steadily for some time now. This is really encouraging as it shows that, just like the Church in Acts, God is adding to our numbers daily. We’re thrilled that we have been blessed with this growth, but our focus continues to be on helping people become total followers of Jesus Christ. We want to make sure that people have room to grow spiritually, as this is the kind of growth that matters most.
To help us create room for The Street to continue to grow, we are introducing an additional Sunday service from 12 June 2011. This will relieve pressure on our facilities and help us focus on growing followers of Jesus in everything we do. From Sunday 12 June we will be running two morning services — our 10am service will move to 9am and we will add another service at 11am — and our evening service will continue at 6pm.
We are excited about introducing a third Sunday service because it will enable us to better equip the people who call The Street home, including the creation of more opportunities for people to serve. This is why we will be putting out the call for more people to get involved in the coming months. If you believe that God is calling you to help serve the church we would encourage you to talk to your Life group leader about ways to get involved. Keep checking the church website over the next few months to see how you can be a part of helping make room to grow at The Street.
Above all we encourage you to pray that God would enable us to make the most of this opportunity to grow our ministry and become even more effective at helping people become total followers of Jesus Christ.
FAQ's
Below are some frequently asked questions that have been raised. Please don’t hesitate to contact the church office if you would like more information or would like to ask any further questions.
Q: Haven’t we had three services at The Street before and found that it didn’t work? Why will it work this time?
A: Yes, we did have three services running for a time, however the circumstances that have led us to this decision are significantly different from last time. Most importantly, we are now:
Full throughout the Worship Centre: Previously we have had kids inside the main auditorium for all or part of the morning service. Now that kids programs run through the whole service we have an auditorium that is full of adults. Also, the kids programs have grown to an extent that they are out of space in the areas they use. We want to provide room to grow for everyone that calls The Street home which is why we need to add another service.
Better staffed: We now have a full time Children’s Pastor on staff to help support programs like The Ark, Little Lights, Kids Street and Jam that run during the morning service. We also have a stronger teaching team with two teaching pastors and other service leaders who are able to share the load an extra service will create.
More “sticky” as a church: Over the last few years, The Street has been on a journey of simplifying the number of programs we run so that we could give greater focus and intentionality to what was most important. Now that we are fully committed to doing life together, there is a much greater emphasis on experiencing the warmth of community in Lifegroups. As we begin to see the effects of this approach there will be a need to allow room for growth in all areas of our community.
Q: Won’t we burn people out by adding more services?
A: One of the key parts of establishing a third service is recognising the serving opportunities it creates in a number of areas in the church. For this reason, putting the call out for people to get involved is an important part of how we sustainably add another service. We’re letting the church know about these plans now to give us enough time to identify and equip those who are God is calling into serving roles.
Q: Are kids programs running during the 9am and 11am services?
A: Yes, there will be programs running for all infants, preschool and primary age children at both morning services. There will also be a program for intermediate aged children at the 9am service with the intention of expanding this to the 11am service providing there are enough leaders.
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