[{"id":2574,"order":0,"imagePath":"https://admin.ezystream.com/static/images/article/66a6b59d-c6ad-4948-a364-eed4885ca4ea.png","type":"image","content":"https://admin.ezystream.com/static/images/article/66a6b59d-c6ad-4948-a364-eed4885ca4ea.png"},{"id":2575,"order":1,"contentText":"Myrle Bunn and Grant Harris write about the unique collaboration between two Auckland churches, for ministry and mission on Waiheke Island.
Journeying to partnership
It is with joyful praise to the Lord that our story begins amongst a small bruised remnant of the unremarkable and unlikely.
In 2009 Waiheke Island Baptist Church (WIBC) was offered an Auckland Council initiative to form and manage an op shop that also diverted waste from landfill. Our mandate was to return profits to the Waiheke community. There was profound recognition that God was at work. With necessary speed and huge enthusiasm, four trustees and an advisory accountant cobbled together the structure that would enable the formation of New Hope Op Shop and Timber (NH). Employing a few, with numerous volunteers supporting, community enthusiasm and support grew at pace.
Three times a year, NH injected many thousands of dollars of community grants into various worthy initiatives. Streamlined access to funds for the needy in the form of hardship grants formed a lifeline for front-line workers such as social workers and district nurses.
Getting help
Despite this stunning success, a menacing u2018howeveru2019 began to emerge early on. The rapid formation of NH and the complete absence of governance left us with profound struggles. NH faced imminent catastrophic failure. A desperate questioning prayer echoed: u201cWhere do we go to get help?u201d
A tentative phone call put one of the trustees in touch with the Northern Baptist Association and by Godu2019s grace we were introduced to Senior Pastor Grant Harris at Windsor Park Baptist Church (WPBC). Located in our region and having the shiny credentials of communityu2011facing ministries experience, perhaps they could help?
There was an unmistakable glint in the bankeru2019s eye when first reviewing pie graphs showing just how well NH was performing. However, it would be misleading to infer that itu2019s been a simple and uncomplicated process with everyone involved understanding perfectly the othersu2019 point of view. The spectre of NHu2019s u2018no governanceu2019 history presented a deeply complex situation, shot through with misunderstandings and profound power struggles. They were refining times!
In hindsight, Grantu2019s u2018hands-offu2019 approach, which he applied many times, was wise. It allowed the smoke to clear, high emotions to settle, and the necessary mutual trust to take root. We were then able to recover enough to grapple with the way forward. It also allowed time for WIBCu2019s congregation to be pruned and added to.
Weu2019re so grateful that mutual grit and determination in keeping to the ultimate goal of building the Kingdom of God u2018togetheru2019 is leading to an outcome u2018far more than we could think or imagineu2019.
u201cSheu2019s the one for us!u201d
Beyond the op shop governance now in place, a ministry link has been forged. While WIBC is the hands and feet in our community and maintains our identity, WPBC elders are our elders. WPBC resources are available to us. A very generous u2018open handu2019 was offered to WIBC in crafting a memorandum of understanding that outlines preferred options and clarifies responsibilities.
Godu2019s goodness didnu2019t stop there. Nurturing an undertaking from Grant to provide a pastor for WIBC, we welcomed Roi Nu Maran as pastor in early 2018. Her sunny and engaging personality, deep faith tempered through hard times, her servant heart and of course her theological training at Carey Baptist College, galvanised the congregation to recognise and communicate loudly, u201cSheu2019s the one for us and our community.u201d
Roi Nu immediately made a profound impact on us as the body of Christ, knitting us together, injecting enthusiasm, and exhorting us with creative opportunities and ideas. Her inner compass planted her at the church in Ostend where there is now an open door to welcome the wider community with friendship, discussion, prayer and refreshments. Many lives are being touched.
In November 2018 a u2018daughteru2019 op shop, Timeless Treasures, was opened on the church property. Jointly funded by WPBC and WIBC, it showcases quality donated, sometimes refurbished, eye-catching items to maximise returns. It has been well received.
We are learning the divine imperative of identifying and securing Kingdom opportunities in and for our community, the call to prayer and perseverance, the richness of the resources in the shared body of Christ... and to expect miracles!
Story: Myrle Bunn
Myrleu2019s life has revolved around family, nursing and church. She and her family moved to Waiheke Island for the second time in 2003, where her husband Richard reoccupied the position of WIBCu2019s secretary. Her particular passion in the New Hope venture was developing a rapid, simplified, accessible source of grants for those in difficult situations. She says u201cadministering joy has to be the best job in the world!u201d
Waiheke Island... a missional opportunity
Iu2019m a glass half-full kind of person, which is just as well when youu2019re trying to do something a little different, something outu2011ofu2011the-square.
When Waiheke Island Baptist Church (WIBC) approached us in 2015 with the request to come and chat about some of their challenges, I would never have imagined how interesting, and difficult, an offer of support would become. The glass halfu2011full needed to be slightly over half-full for us to be there still in 2019.
Windsor Park Baptist Church is reasonably large, and Waiheke Island Baptist is reasonably small. In fact, the staff team in Windsor Parku2019s stable of ministries is about 170, which is at least four times the size of WIBCu2019s congregation.
So why did we get involved? We sometimes ask that ourselves! Letu2019s face it, weu2019d already tried this u2018campusu2019 idea once before with a neighbouring church, and it ended in tears and a sense of personal failure in my mind. That situation hurt and I had to ask myself whether I wanted to risk that again. Maybe Iu2019m a sucker for punishment, or maybe that glass just stays slightly above half.
Looking to the future
Waiheke Island is a fastu2011changing and growing community; its 8,000 population swells to over 30,000 in summer. With no significant church on Waiheke Island, an increasingly affluent population as a suburb of Auckland, and the thought of calm sailings to a subtropical island destination on our minds, we took the first steps of involvement in assuming the governance of WIBCu2019s social enterprise, New Hope, in 2015.
However, our involvement always came with the hope of being able to resurrect a small and dysfunctional congregation, looking to the future at what a healthy church might look like in 10 yearsu2019 time. Of course, being from u2018Aucklandu2019 was always problematic for islanders so I knew this wasnu2019t Easy Street.
Has it been easy? No. At almost every turn the politics of people and power have created constant challenges that are not yet totally resolved. My hope at the start was that we would close the church and replant it from scratch. However, this wasnu2019t the preferred option of the remnant so, for better or worse, letting them take the local lead has always been my strategy.
A perfect match
And then, out-of-the-blue and outu2011ofu2011the-box, I came across Roi Nu Maran, a Carey Baptist College graduate at the end of 2017 with no calling to a church. She was available for the summer of 2017/18. Sheu2019s delightful, so I thought it would be a good experience for her to spend a sunny summer on Waiheke Island.
At the end of that summer the Waiheke congregation asked if they could keep her. And to cut a long story short, with the support of Windsor Park, the Northern Baptist Association and a private donor, weu2019ve been able to plant a full-time pastor on Waiheke Island and watch her bloom. WIBC became a ministry of Windsor Park Baptist Church.
Roi Nuu2019s appointment is initially for two years. However, I know there is a bigger story; as a single woman, initially a refugee from Myanmar to New Zealand, with English not being her strong point, this was always going to be out-ofu2011theu2011square. But an outu2011ofu2011the-square pastor in an outu2011ofu2011the-square island congregationu2014you couldnu2019t have found a better match.
Roi Nu is part of the pastoral team of Windsor Park and receives all the joys of being part of a team. She is not a sole pastor; sheu2019s just located in an office on an island. It couldnu2019t be better! Her pastoral approach, her love and grace, her integrity, her wisdom and her desire to stand up for the values of the Kingdom, have won her many friends. The fruit is ripening quickly.
All for Godu2019s glory
Merging two churches in our New Zealand Baptist ecclesiology is almost unheard of. The challenges seem to be bold print, even though the benefits should be headlines. Iu2019ve long had a deep sense of regret at the pride we hold in autonomy, which I still consider a hindrance to fruitful ministry in our time, and in particular as each year rolls by.
I am grateful for the WIBC congregation; they have had courage to try something different. Itu2019s still a worku2011in-progress; itu2019s still not easy. But at least weu2019re still going! That slightly more than half-full glass is still on the island and long may we drink from it for the glory of God.
Story: Grant Harris
Grant has been the senior pastor of Windsor Park Baptist Church in Mairangi Bay, Auckland, for the past 10 years. He enjoys the diversity of the multiu2011disciplinary approach Windsor Park takes to mission. With Windsor Parku2019s empowering congregation, heu2019s able to try all sorts of crazy missional ideas and, so far, most of them seem to work out. But, says Grant, thereu2019s still plenty of time for things to go haywire!
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