As we reflect on another year at The Street, a picture from Exodus continues to encourage us. When Israel left slavery in Egypt, they found themselves in an impossible situation. Unable to go back because of the Pharaoh’s mighty army bearing down on them and unable to go forward because of the Red Sea, no one in the world could help them. In this environment of great fear among the people, Moses addressed the people:
“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13).
And as they stood they got to see God make a way for them to move forward through what had previously been impossible. No wonder the response of the people was “Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).
For all the hard work and effort that has gone into this year, we found ourselves in an impossible situation. Traction with services in local communities but no obvious way of seeing them led or supported. And yet as we cried out to God, he provided seemingly out of nothing. It is evident that God drew people into leadership roles and had been preparing them behind the scenes. By the end of the year, we had grown from three to six locations, pioneered a new model of location leadership and pivoted a staff team to support the growing number of locations. This shift was evident in the two whole church gatherings that we held in the year. At the first we shared the need for God to call people to leadership roles and by the second ‘Together’ in November, we commissioned seven new people into Location Pastor or Associate Location Pastor roles. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance of the Lord.
As a church of six locations, it has been important to widen our pool of input from churches across the world who are further along in a church planting journey. We have been grateful for the input of Exponential in Australia, the Resource Church movement from the UK, and the opportunity to be a part of a cohort of churches in Aotearoa New Zealand on church planting. While these relationships have been helpful for the skills and strategies that we have learned, an overriding takeaway has been the relentless need to seek the LORD together in prayer as only he can build his church.
As a church of six locations, it has also been important to have crystal clarity on the core issues of mission, vision and values. In looking at our timeless purpose expressed in our mission statement—“Helping People Become Total Followers of Jesus Christ”—it was evident we needed to have a common understanding of what constitutes a total follower of Jesus Christ. By returning to the core principles of the Great Commandments and the Great Commission, we settled on four words and phrases that will shape every area of our church in years to come. We are striving to become a church of Upwards - We Love the Lord, Inwards - We Love One Another, Outwards - We Love the Lost, and Onwards - We Multiply. We believe that as we pursue the simple and repeatable rhythms that underpin these phrases, we will grow towards our fresh vision of who we must become: A disciple-making movement transforming Wellington and the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.
We are so grateful to God that he has not called us to follow Jesus in isolation. Instead, we are on this journey as one church made up of a diverse group of people who love Jesus and who are using the gifts and resources to help build up the body towards maturity. To everyone who has prayed, led, served, encouraged, and given, we are so grateful for the part you play. May we continue to give all that we have for the sake of the glory of God and his fame in our city and beyond.
Much love,
Simon & Jenny Gill
Senior Pastors
