MINISTERS REPORT

2008 Christ Church Creekmoor - it’s quite easy to look back and ask the question – what have we achieved, to go through the diary and check out what we’ve done and whether we have been successful. That poses the question – how do we mark success? What actually makes a successful church?

Bill Hybels. senior pastor of the Willow Creek mega Church in the USA writes in his book ‘Courageous Leadership’, “The local church is the hope of the world”. ‘Local Church’ is what we are – our covenant says that our four sponsoring denominations support us in being the church in the community of Creekmoor. Therefore, as I look back, the question I want to ask is, "Have we been bringers of hope?" Through the inevitable ups and downs of life, can we as a community of faith, live in such a way that finds hope?

When I read through all the reports and look back I see a community that has journeyed together finding ways of supporting each other and always looking outwards to serve our community of Creekmoor.

Over the year we have seen some lovely moments that are real expressions of hope – Lisa and Jon Stuart's wedding in April, Celebrating with Julia and Martin Baker's 25th Wedding Anniversary. Ron Markham, Duncan Newman, Helen Tucker and Helen Richards marking their journey of faith through confirmation and later in October Rosemary Matthews giving her amazing testimony of how her interaction with Christ Church has changed her life and brought her healing from agoraphobia. Rosemary’s confirmation was a very special last visit to Christ Church from Bishop Tim as he prepared to move to be Bishop of Truro.

In Lent 2008 we took up the challenge to deepen our faith by either taking part in Alpha or the Road to Maturity course. Both these courses were well attended and enabled us to be better equipped as disciples of Jesus.

We have faced tough financial challenges and through the amazing response to our ‘creative’ stewardship campaign we found ourselves in the black after financing all the ministry and mission that God has led us to! The material that we created has also become a resource for other churches. In a year when we began to see the big cracks appearing in the global financial scene we have put our hope and trust in God, and together have honoured Him!

In our outreach to serve our community there have been high points and blessings but sometimes being bringers of hope means journeying with people through the sadness' of life. These are the occasions when digging deep in our faith and bringing the hope that can only come from God has been a reality. In Paul’s letter to the Romans we read ‘And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.’ (Rom.5:3-5)

One of our fun highlights of the year in outreach was the ‘Big Party’ where we finished our teaching series on Parables from the Gospel of Matthew by inviting our community to a big party, We had a big BBQ, giving away burgers and sausages, fun activities for Kids and opportunities to reflect on the parables. We even had parables being acting out in a real fun way! We finished with an act of worship which many people stayed to.

In worship we have continued to find new ways of enabling people to grow in their relationship with God. In September we introduced a new format to our 10.45 all age worship – ‘Equip’ which has a much more vibrant feel to it. 9am – we have named ‘Encounter’ so on Sunday we can Encounter and Engage with God and be Equipped as His disciples!

And we look forward with hope – hope that we can continue to find ways of being the church in this community but the hope of mission further afield. We look forward to the ordinations of Allie Kerr (curate in Lytchett Minster and Upton), Christine Brooks (curate in Canford Heath) Andy Smith (curate in Lymington) and the Licensing of Shirley Williams as a Licensed Lay Minster who gets to stay with us! The appointment of the Pioneer Minister Paul Bradbury in the Poole Regeneration area and our hopes to work with him and other churches to reach out in our town of Poole is daunting but exciting!

Being Minister in Christ Church is a real blessing and I want to thank everyone for your part in the mission and ministry of Christ Church, the local church in the heart of the community of Creekmoor.

Janice Audibert - Minister

Treasurer’s Report
2008 began the year with a deficit of £335.12 in the GENERAL fund.
With a significant increase in costs of utility bills and insurance, a Stewardship campaign was held in February 2008. This campaign encouraged people to review their giving as individuals and families and prayerfully consider how they could help. The overall result was an increase in number giving by standing order and some new requests for the envelope scheme to assist people in planning their giving. Thank you to everyone who reviewed their giving. The increase has allowed us to meet all our financial commitments this year, with a little help from the tax man!
We have paid our 2008 Share of £31,157 in full to the Diocese of Salisbury.
We have also been blessed by funding from:
1. United Reformed Church – the 5 year funding for our Outreach Worker - Liz Bailey finished in June. There was enough left in the fund to employ her for July. In September congregational giving was pledged to continue to employ her for the moment.
2. St Aldhelm Mission Fund and Foster Wood Foundation gave matched funding to fund the second year of our Children & Youth Pastoral Outreach Worker – Michelle Bird.
3. A gift was also received to continue the Café project for a further year to March 2009.
We have been able to give away £3,900 in Mission Giving (an increase of £800 over last year) with additional donations of £35.51 to Oxfam for their work in the Congo, £51.59 to the Sudan and £165 to Life Community Services. The Big Party in the Summer was also funded from Mission Giving and congregational donations.
In 2009 our Share payment is £32,617, an increase of £121 per month – an increase of approximately £1 per month for everyone on the Membership Roll!
Thank you all for your financial commitment to Christ Church – it allows Mission and Ministry to take place in Creekmoor.
Sue Pouton, Carrie Partridge & Roger Bailey

OUTREACH - Outreach Report 2008

Jesus said to his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. Acts 1:8 & 9
The disciples returned to Jerusalem where they met with their family and friends praying continually and waiting with anticipation for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, just as Jesus had promised.

When the Holy Spirit did come upon them they knew that Jesus presence would be with them for ever and they received His power to demonstrate God’s love. Through preaching, teaching and healing they saw lives transformed as people were filled with faith, hope and love.

They began planting new churches and even when faced with opposition continued to draw alongside people enabling new communities of faith to grow in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and across the Roman Empire.

God is still building his church today. We are His people and filled with His Holy Spirit, we too have been given power to demonstrate His love in words and action.

Just as the disciples began where they were in Jerusalem, we begin by sharing God’s love with the people close to us, our family and friends, our neighbours and work colleagues our friends at school, at the gym, in the pub… wherever we are.

Together at Christ Church we have promised, through our covenant, to ‘Serve the people of Creekmoor’ and we have continued this year to outreach to our community through our work with Children and Youth, Café Connect, Barney Blessing Bin, Lunch Club, Open Door, and by visiting people in their homes, in hospital, and in Tanglewood or in the Millfield Elderly People’s Dwellings. We have also enjoyed special events with our community including The Garden Party, The Big Party with BBQ and the Christmas Café.

This outreach is supported by the whole church family through prayer, generous giving of gifts and skills, time and finance, care and encouragement, and is greatly appreciated by everyone who takes part in the activities or receives a visit.

Jesus’ disciples began to move outwards through Judea and Samaria, bringing the good news of Jesus to people they didn’t know and hadn’t even liked in the past.

And this is still the work of our outreach today, bringing love into dangerous situations, being peacemakers in the middle of conflict, praying for the sick, healing, giving food and water to the hungry and thirsty, visiting prisoners and enabling captives to be free. Through the Holy Spirit we are bringing the good news of Jesus physically and spiritually, offering hope to people living in the darkest of situations.

Through ‘Hannah Blessing Bin’ we have been able to bless people beyond our own community, people in Poole, living with great need who spend their days and nights without the protection and comfort of a home.

This year we have a very exciting opportunity to further reflect the work of the early disciples. Just as they moved out from their own community and planted churches in Judea and Samaria we have recognised a call for Christ Church, Creekmoor to join with other Christians by drawing alongside the people who live in the Baiter regeneration area of Poole.

The vision is to enable a faith community to grow and to encourage the emerging church as it develops its own characteristics and witness in the area.

Some people from Christ Church may feel called to serve in Baiter, while others may prefer to support the work through prayer.

We can also join in with the call to be witnesses to the ‘ends of the earth’ by supporting those who travel or live far away bringing Good News to the poor or broken hearted.

This year we have begun to support the work of ‘Life Community Services’ in George, South Africa. This is a partnership set up by the Christian Church and businesses there to bring God’s love, life and hope to the poorest people of the city.

At the end of January, to raise prayer and financial support for them, we enjoyed a Sing ‘a’ Long Mamma Mia, evening when we dressed up, ate Greek food and sang along to our favourite Abba songs. In February our Kidz Café raised money for ‘Toybox’, who support street children in South America, and back in November we supported Oxfam in their work with people living under violence and poverty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Thank you so much, for all the outreach you have been part of this year, seen and unseen. Thank you too for all the prayer support and for the ways you have shared your gifts, finances and time to enable us as the church in Creekmoor to reach out with God’s love to our community, to people in Poole and to others far beyond.
Liz Bailey - Outreach co-ordinator

Open Door - Thursdays 2- 3.45pm

Open Door has just changed back to Thursdays. We happily welcome our loyal bunch of friends who come each week – but would be really pleased to see some new faces too, for tea, cakes, a chat and a laugh. During the summer we visited The Peacock Tearooms at Upton Country Park. Our Christmas outing was a splendid meal at the Stepping Stones pub in Broadstone.
Carolyn Fathers

Cafe Connect

Cafe Connect continues with its regular provision of refreshments for church events which are well supported by church family members.

Healthy Lunches for Pre-school children and their parents has continued to be popular over the past year. Numbers fluctuate as children grow up and move on and others take their place.

In June last year we opened Cafe in the Community on Tuesdays for teas, coffees and homemade cakes and on Thursdays for teas, coffees and light lunches. We have been supported by a select few who return on a regular basis and the occasional passer-by. Feel free to come and join us - we'd love to see you!

Susan Howe,Cafe Co-ordinator

Cell Groups

There are 12 Cell Groups at Christ Church, including 2 for young people and 1 for the Kidz. Other people are also linked to the Cell Groups for prayer and support if required.

The Cell groups all follow the same material, tailored to the needs of the group members. We follow the 4 ‘W’s. Welcome, Worship, Word and Witness. Cell Groups are good places to have fun, to get to know people, to pray, to discuss God’s Word, to give and receive support and to go out from to make a difference. We usually meet informally in people’s homes.

On a Sunday morning, Cell Groups take it in turns to Welcome people into the Church and to provide Hospitality. This enables us to feel part of the Church family.

The adult groups meet on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. There are young people’s groups on Monday and Thursday evenings and the Kidz Cell meets in the Church on Thursday afternoons. If you cannot make one of these dates maybe we can start another one!

If you are not in a Cell Group, why not speak to Janice about joining one?
Once you have tried it, you will really miss it if you do not go!

Margaret Bossom

Friday Lunch Club

This year has been one of change. In September we moved from getting our meals provided by Fourways, to cooking in-house. Susan Howe and her team began cooking for us in September. This meant adjustments for cooks and helpers. After initial teething problems we are now running quite efficiently. Our numbers remain at about 30. During the year we have had quizzes, a games afternoon, also Easter and holiday travel presentations by power point. At Christmas the Friday Lunch Club changed to a Tuesday, when we had a first class Christmas Lunch and Carol Singing.

Many thanks to the kitchen staff and all other helpers.

Worship Team

We have had another exciting year of Worship at Christ Church. Early in the year we took a small group to the Worship Central conference in London hosted by Tim Hughes and friends. It was an inspiring day for all involved. Joining two thousand lead worshippers in the magnificent surroundings of the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster was especially amazing. In June we took a larger group back for a similar conference, and another conference is planned this March that we hope to attend. During the summer some of us were lucky enough to benefit from great teaching and worship times at the New Wine and Soul Survivor conferences.

In the autumn we said goodbye to some of our youth members and reorganised our morning bands into 3 all age bands. At the same time we restructured our 2 Engage bands to involve more of our youth at this evening service. The once a month ‘prayer and worship’ evening is providing an interesting opportunity to take part in a freer time of interwoven worship and prayer. As Christ Church continues to evolve and develop we try to be flexible in our worship provision. The reintroduction of Kid’s songs at our 10:45 Equip service is an example of this. We are privileged to have several young singers and musicians in the Worship team. We are doing our best to encourage them to grow and reach their Worship potential.

We have a great team of sound engineers, singers and musicians who give their time, talents and energy regularly to praise and worship our eternal God. Thank you all for your hard work.

Stephen Partridge, Ian Alexander, and Margaret Bossom- Worship Band Co-ordinators

E.C.C. Report

The E.C.C. has met 6 times since the last Annual General Meeting. There has been a full agenda and many important issues discussed. Here are some of the highlights.

Administration

Through donations Carolyn Fathers' employment, as an Administration Assistant for one year, has been extended until December 2009. During the year we have been further supported by voluntary help from Samuel Howe and Nigel Williams.

General

£3,000 was distributed in ‘Mission Giving’ to charities.

In March a further year’s funding was pledged to continue to employ Susan Howe for a further year as the Café Co-ordinator. Café in the Community providing refreshments and lunches every Thursday was introduced. A ‘share’ rebate received from Salisbury Diocese enabled employment for one year of a Café Connect helper, Wendy Shelton, and it was proposed that Café Connect supplied the meals for the Friday Lunch Club in the future.

An ECC/Leadership ‘Vision Day’ took place at The Orangery on 18th October.

June 2008 marked the end of Liz Bailey’s five year URC funding as Outreach Co-ordinator for Christ Church. Through congregational giving we continue to employ her.

Ministry and Worship

In May, a Covenant for the North Poole Ecumenical Team was signed.

On 18th June Ron Markham, Duncan Newman, Helen Richards and Helen Tucker were confirmed at St. George’s by the Bishop of Sherborne.

Tom Lock moved from Christ Church in September to be part of the ministry team at St. George’s in Oakdale.

Sally Bedborough joined us in September as part of the ministry team and also Nigel Williams, who is in training at Moorlands College, commenced placement with us for one year.

Entering their third and final year of training Shirley Williams for Licensed Lay Ministry and Christine Brooks for ordination.

On 1st October a Confirmation Service for Rosemary Matthews was led by the Bishop of Sherborne at Christ Church.

In the autumn we reviewed our Sunday worship and on 5th October the services were re-launched. The 9am service renamed ‘Encounter', the 10.45am All Age Worship was launched as a café style service called ‘Equip’, and the 7pm ‘Engage’ service continued to grow as the ‘Youth’ congregation transferred their attendance.

Children

Jane King was appointed as Pre School Manager in January. In July, a letter was received from the Borough of Poole Early Years confirming that following their recent assessment that the Little Oaks Pre School had been placed in the top 11 pre schools in the area.

Lisa Stuart's contract as Deanery Youth Worker expired in August.
Beverley Wood - E.C.C. Secretary

Creekmoor Community

The Creekmoor Community Association (CCA) continues to oversee the Creekmoor Community Centre besides supporting community initiatives. The Centre continues to be well booked with a variety of activities.

The Community
Free magazine “Creekmoor Link” is being used to communicate information within the Creekmoor Community.
A clothing bank continues to raise funds for the Dorset Air Ambulance.
The annual trip this year visited Gun Wharf Quays Portsmouth. Fifty three people enjoyed the day which left the Co-op at 8.30am on Saturday 15th November 2008.

The Community Centre
A new Social Club lease has been signed, which means that the Social Club now manage their own membership, collecting and keeping membership fees annually, and keeping membership of CCA separate.

The committee put in a lot of time and effort to ensure that the Community Centre provides a useful and effective facility for the people of Creekmoor.

The Church maintains dialogue with the CCA, and is represented at meetings when possible. All Creekmoor residents can attend meetings or contribute to the new Weblog or Blog which has been set up. The Blog provides a useful place for sharing information which affects Creekmoor residents. Have a look at the information on www.creekmoor.org.uk and access “The Blog” from the home page. If you would like to know what the committee is up to, Meeting Notes can be viewed on this Website.

Creekmoor Youth Club
The Church is represented on the Youth Club Management Committee. Details of Church activities held in the Youth Centre can be found in other reports.

Phil Blake