HXUCA AGM 2008

At the congregational meeting last Sunday, our pastor and the coordinators of HXUCA's various outreach activities tabled their reports.

The reports - especially the Minister's - made for exciting reading. I got the sense that I was caught up in something bigger, something significant, that is about to happen in HXUCA.

For instance, 2009 is going to be the year of the Big Idea. The main objective is to go deeper into the pastor's Sunday sermon during the week through various Bible study and prayer groups.

I think that is a very good idea. So many times I've walked out of Sunday Service thinking, "That was a really good sermon", and that was that. Monday came around and with it the usual busyness that overwhelms. Now there'll be opportunities to explore and ask questions and reflect in an intentional way with like-minded brothers and sisters.

Another thing we talked about was the community impact of HXUCA's various outreach projects. As someone who is not personally involved, it is wonderful to hear of how individuals in our community have been touched because of the simple availability of the Take 2 Opp Shop that not only lets people buy second-hand goods at affordable prices, but gives distressed persons a chance to talk with our pastor when they wander through the doors of the church on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

We also heard some interesting feedback from the vendors of our monthly Car Boot Sales (CBS). They told the CBS coordinators that they feel more appreciated and taken care of at our CBS than at any other craft market in the neighbourhood. Wow.

It's lovely that our CBS coordinators have gone out of their way to make the vendors (most of whom are not HXUCA attendees) feel welcome. I love going to craft markets just to see what's out there, but I've never thought about what the experience might be like for the folks behind the display tables. Next time I'll remember to make an effort to strike up meaningful conversations with the vendors.

HOSPITALITY is undoubtedly HXUCA's greatest gift to the community. The ladies and gents who help out with the Opp Shop, bookshop, CBS and monthly Working Bees do an incredible amount of unpaid work week after week without any guarantee that their efforts will be appreciated and without knowing if their projects will touch the lives of those outside the church family. Well, now we know. Their work matters very much.

On the subject of hospitality, it is interesting that our pastor is raising the bar on what he wants to see HXUCA do in the new year. His report puts it so well that I am just going to lift the relevant extracts.

"I cannot stress strongly enough that the hardest thing in growing a church is not geting people through the front doors, it is finding a way of preventing the flow of people out the back door. This is very much dependent on each of us.

If people are to stay, they will choose to because they sense they belong; that they are welcome and that there are meaningful relationships to be enjoyed here...It will be your practice of welcome and fellowship that will cause people to stick.

I want to challenge every person associated with Hoppers Crossing Uniting Church to make a real effort in this regard. From children to youth and on into the adult church we are too comfortable with ourselves and must allow our interest and friendship groups to be expanded.

...Each of us can do a very simple thing. Just by being here at the church during the times of activity on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday you can do a great and important thing.

People need to see and feel the church. They won't do this through the building, they can only do it through the body."

Amen to that.