Vision, Mission, and Strategy cont.
Core Activities
We have identified some central, core activities, which are integral to the life of the Chapel, with reference to Acts 2 verse 46, as well as some key tasks and ways in which we are seeking to fulfil them.
Our Morning Worship Service on a Sunday morning is a key time for the whole church community to gather together. This is when we can give our thanks and praise to God, as well as remembering His sacrifice for us on the cross. We worship God using music and prayers, read the Bible and explore its meaning for us today, and celebrate Communion using bread and wine. Our service is contemporary in style and we seek to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading in all that we do.
Sunday evenings give us the opportunity to go deeper. In our Open Bible sessions we have the chance to worship God and look into His word. After an extended time of worship we discuss and talk about the truths we read about in the Bible and see how they apply to our daily lives. This is a much more interactive time where everyone is encouraged to ask questions and get to grips with what God is saying to us.
All our members are encouraged to regularly attend our Fellowship Groups. These groups meet during the week at various times of the day in different homes around the area. We follow a simple pattern of Welcome, Worship, Word and Witness - times when we can get to know each other and chat, focus of God and all that He is doing in our lives, look into the Bible and discuss its meaning, and pray for each other that we would live the message and share the truth about Jesus with others day by day.
We also recognise that having a friend to encourage us and help us to live what we believe is a great help. Our Mentoring programme gives us the opportunity to meet regularly with one other person to talk and pray together. This is a great way of learning from each other and growing together.
Key tasks and objectives:
Jesus made it clear that our task is to preach the gospel, and make disciples. (Mark 16, Matt 28). So how do we fulfil theses two tasks of evangelism and discipleship?
Evangelism
People come to faith one at a time - it is our friends and those we meet day by day who we need to be sharing our faith with: using both words and actions. Faith sharing starts by living the truth, then explaining the truth we live by. Personal friendship evangelism is the main emphasis in our evangelism strategy. Events will be put on from time to time to help support and encourage people to come to faith, but only in support of the ongoing personal evangelism of all the members. Introductory courses like The Alpha Course will give us the opportunity to invite people to explore what it means to know Jesus personally.
When people make a decision to follow Jesus we encourage them to make this decision public by being baptised in water as believers. (Matthew 28)
Discipleship
Opportunities to grow in your relationship with Jesus are there for you to make the most of! For example: join a Fellowship Group, or link up with someone through the Mentoring programme. If you are struggling to live out the Christian life, then we would encourage you to try the Freedom In Christ Discipleship Course to help you live in the freedom that God gives you in Jesus.
Our regular teaching sessions on Sundays also provide opportunities for everyone to grow in understanding of not just the message but how to live it out.
Ministry
Growing in your faith will give you much to offer others. There are many opportunities for you to help others and make use of the gifts and abilities that God has given you. Explore what you have to offer in a course to help you identify your gifts and abilities. In addition to this personal interviews are available for people to discuss their options and to explore their vocation from a Christian perspective.
As part of our ministry we seek to serve the community around us. We run our own groups including Kingsway Tots, Kingsway Preschool, Girls Club and Rock Solid. In addition we support other community groups including Kingsway and Newton Residents Association. We also encourage involvement with The Kings Way café, a community outreach based in the Kingsway Shopping Centre.
We are also aware of the needs in the world around us. In serving the wider world we want to support ministries that help people discover the truth about God (Evangelism), train and equip people to serve in God's world (Discipleship and Training), as well as ministries that seek to meet the practical needs of people (Aid and Development).
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