I deal a fair bit in numbers.  Part of my job as Growth Group overseer at church involves figuring out things like how many people are in groups, how does this compare to six months ago, what’s the average group size, how many groups do we need and so on.  I’m pretty sure the other staff and ministry team leaders are doing the same in their areas.  But now and again I get a faint feeling of guilt - is it wrong to be thinking and planning about numbers?  Am I being somewhat callous and clinical by planning in these areas? Am I ‘building a kingdom’?  After all, a common complaint against churches is that ‘they only care about numbers’.

After reflecting for a while on this question I actually want to argue something fairly provocative.  I want to argue this: a church that cares about numbers is a church that cares about outsiders.

photo credit: National Library NZ on The Commons

Let’s examine this claim.  I would hope most Christians would care about outsiders - that is, non-Christians or Christians who are looking to find a church to be part of.  Jesus exemplified this attitude by the way he ate and drank with people outside the acceptable social and religious culture of Judaism (see for example in Matthew 9:9-13).    We see it also in the way we are to ’shine like stars in the universe as (we) hold out the word of life (Phil 2:15-16) or ‘declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light’ (1 Peter 2:9).  Paul commands his readers to ‘welcome’ people like Epaphroditus (Phil 2:29), Mark (Col 4:10) and Philemon (verse 17).  To put it simply, If a Christian community is shaped by the character of God and the Gospel itself it will care about outsiders and want to welcome them into fellowship with God and with his people.

However, a real test of a church’s care for outsiders is its willingness to care about numbers.  A church that wants to know how many new people visited church or are in the area or have heard the gospel cares about who those people are and how we can actually care for them.  A desire to see individuals saved and welcomed will drive a church to pray for, plan and work towards saving and welcoming lots of individuals i.e. numbers.  In contrast, a church that claims to not worry about numbers may as well say it doesn’t worry about those individuals who are in need of God’s salvation and Christian fellowship.

This relationship between ‘numbers’ and the value of individuals is seen in the Bible itself.  This can be seen pretty clearly in the book of Numbers, for example, where numbers matter because they are made up of individuals like Beriah, Naaman or Zelophehad’s daughters.  In the New Testament numbers are also mentioned without embarrassment.  In Acts 2:41 3000 were added to the Christian community.  In Acts 2:47 ‘the Lord add to their number daily those who were being saved’ (see also 5:14, 6:1 and 6:7).  We actually get to meet some of these individuals like Stephen, Philip and others.  As Paul suffered in Corinth, the Lord told him to stay because he had many people in that city (Acts 18:11).  These ‘many people’ are not abstract ‘numbers’ - they are the individuals who were the first readers of 1 and 2 Corinthians!

Now of course this emphasis on numbers doesn’t mean that a failure to grow in numbers is a sign of ministry unfaithfulness or God’s displeasure.  Elijah had to learn this as he wrestled with his own ‘ministry failure’ (1 Kings 19).  But if we do see the number of new Christians or new people at church fall we should be looking for reasons why and praying to God about it.  Not because of ‘numbers’ as an isolated concept but because we do care about outsiders and want them to join us.

Moreover, our care for outsiders will actually be tested by growing numbers.  It’s easy to care for only a few new Christians or church members - especially if they are culturally similar to us.  We can even consider ourselves welcoming.  But when there are lots of people, and some of them are different to us, our care for outsiders is really tested.  It’s hard to call, visit, talk to and love lots and lots of new and different people.  It would be easier to simply put a cap on the numbers and close the doors!  But our love of people commits us to caring about numbers.  And so we do pray for, plan and work towards growing numbers.

So that’s why I think a church that cares about numbers is a church that cares about outsiders.  And so I press on with my ‘numbers planning’ and am not ashamed to be a pastor that cares about numbers.

On three Monday nights in November, 37 members of HBC (mostly UC but also PM) met to think through their next move in life. Each of them are in the process of pulling stumps at university and planning to start something new.

For some, the change has come through the completion of a degree. For others it’s being united with a spouse who’s moving to another town. For others still, a decision that uni just isn’t the right thing at the moment.

The coming transition can be a time that brings a range of feelings: excitement, worry, conviction, uncertainty, confusion, hope. It’s certainly a time for reflection. University years are a privilege - years that often shape the rest of our lives. Years of new friendships, available time, independence and learning - usually cultivating some big thoughts about life, the universe and God. For this, we must firstly be thankful.

The Grad Nights were time to consider together some of the changes that the future might hold - guided by the Scriptures. Greg opened the Bible to help work through three big topics: money, work and ministry. It was clear that the life of a Christian will stand out in the world.

Real-life alumnus, jack-of-various-trades and AM-church-attender, Mark Jefferys, came along as a guest to share personal insights on life from the other side of uni. Each night, Mark humbly opened up his life, marriage, family, work, relationships and bank-account to help get everyone thinking; never claiming perfection, but demonstrating Christ’s work in him.

Some time was spent discussing scenarios in groups and praying for each other.

Now that you know there are (at least) 37 people in our church who are moving on from uni in 2012, it’d be great for you to pray for them as well. Pray that their character would be growing to match Jesus - that this would lead to wise and godly decisions that would help them stand firm in Christ and continue to present their lives to him.

There was a nervous atmosphere in the church office on the afternoon of September 23. Throughout the working world, Friday afternoon is generally a time of the week when office frivolity is at its highest and mood its warmest, leading into the week’s end. HBC’s office is usually no exception with its renowned Friday Dance Party - but this Friday was different.

A group of 13 members of Hunter Bible Church, a couple of ring-ins and a rugged tour guide were all gathering to depart on an adventure that we expected, without knowing exactly how, would change our lives. Rightly unaware, on the dawn of this ‘AIM Mission Awareness Tour’.

The stats were impressive: 17 people, 1 minibus, 7500km to be driven through 4 states of Australia, 90 hours of travel, 11 locations to stop and pitch 6 tents over 15 nights.

Heading through the Mayf on our way out of town...

The goals were also impressive: to see the work of Australian Indigenous Ministries in six separate places across the country, to experience what life is like for the workers there, to encourage the people we met and to be encouraged, and to grow in God’s word - all of these as a team unified by Christ.

How would we cope with the lengthy confinement on the bus? Would relationships prosper or wither? How would we respond to regular nights of 6 or less hours of sleep? What shock would we face experiencing new cultures within Australia? Would the bus hold together? How could we encourage the missionaries without creating too much disturbance in their setting? How far would our phone reception extend? Would we be able to climb the rock?

Different from my memories of bus journeys for school camps past, the cool kids weren’t on the back seat (I was toward the front) and there wasn’t the missing kid who had slept through his alarm. The departing travellers were quite happy to openly plant farewell kisses and hugs on those who were seeing them off, even waving from the bus.

We were off.

There’s something amazing about the God of the creation and salvation… Our God is one and yet three. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we’re going to see why this truth is wonderful and essential for our Christian faith and lives.

Summer Sessions is on again for Unichurch!

Summer Sessions is like a giant all-in Growth Group kicking on through the summer.

Come at 6:30pm for dinner ($4), meet new people, jump in to study the Bible, pray together, and hang-out into the evening. It’s fun, it’s open to visitors looking to join church, it’s for your non-Christian friends.

Greg is leading the opening night on Tuesday Nov 22nd, diving into the huge topic of prayer.

See you there

Sometimes the question is asked, does HBC have a men’s ministry?  This is an excellent question!  Men are different from women in various ways and it pays to minister to men as men.  Every Christian and every church will want to see the men in their Christian community grow in Christ-like maturity.  So the answer for HBC is ‘Yes! You bet!’  Read on to see more on why its important and how we do it at HBC.

photo credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection

In Proverbs, the man (or ‘my son’) is challenged to follow wisdom and pursue sexual purity, sound speech and humility.  In Titus, older men are to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance (Titus 2:2).  Younger men are to follow the example of Titus in being self-controlled and good.  They are to show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned (Titus 2:6-8).  Men are to love their wives as Christ loves the church (Eph 5:25) and bring up their children in the training and instruction of the Lord (Eph 6:4).  They have a particular responsibility to manage their household and uphold sound teaching in the church (1 Tim 3).  These are only some of the particular instructions for men in the Bible.  All Scripture informs and guides men on what they should think and how they should live.

Every church takes a slightly different approach as to how they do ‘Mens Ministry’.  Some will put on a yearly conference, some will have a monthly breakfast and some take all their men away for an annual camping trip. Other things that happen at different times and places are prayer triplets, accountability partners and social groups.   They are all good strategies and, done well, will grow the men in a church.

At HBC its our conviction that the key to Gospel growth among all people, including men, is Bible teaching, prayer and relationships.  These three elements, which arise from the Bible, work together under God’s providence to grow people in Christ.  Therefore our Men’s ministry will put a high priority on Bible teaching, prayer and relationships.

The main strategy for Mens ministry at HBC is for all the guys to be part of a Growth Group.  Some of these will be single sex and others will be mixed.  Here guys can read the Bible together, pray and build relationships every week!  Most men will end up meeting up in various ways outside the regular weekly time, especially as connections grow.  In mixed groups often the men and women will split up for prayer so we can be a bit more honest and open with each other as we pray.  Sometimes, especially when a passage has specific applications for men and women, guys and girls can also split up for the study.  I try to encourage men to see the men in their group as the guys they should encourage, challenge, pray for and even evangelise with.  I think its fantastic that we have almost 240 men meeting each week to grow as Christians.

Another element of the mens ministry at HBC is the Mens Katoomba Convention.  This happens every year towards the end of February (Feb 17-18 in 2012).  This is a great opportunity for Bible teaching (directed to men from first class Bible teachers), prayer and relationships (especially staying overnight and travelling on a bus together).  Over the last few years we’ve seen many guys take real steps forward as Christian men, husbands and fathers.  We’d love to have 80-100 guys come along, especially from our AM and PM congregations.  Another conference worth getting to is Hunter Mens Convention held in the first week in September.

A third element of mens ministry at HBC is a culture of 1:1 ministry.  Meeting up 1:1 with another bloke to read the Bible and pray is a great way for men to grow.  This year we’ve trained about 20 guys in 1:1 ministry at Monday Madskills and we’re looking to train more in the future.  We’re also keen for blokes to read the Bible with non-Christian guys they know.  At least one 1:1 meet up is feasible for most blokes at church.

There are other things going on as well - usual informal and spontaneous.  Perhaps I’ll blog about these another time.  If you’re keen to see more Mens Ministry at HBC let me encourage you to get in a group, deliberate build connections with the blokes in that group, come to MKC and see where the Bible, prayer and relationships will take you!