#acl All:read

== Ministry team report Sept 2016 ==

=== REPORT OF THE UNITING LEADERS CONFERENCE 2016 ===

We want to take this opportunity to report on the Leadership Conference we attended last week in Queensland.  Sometimes it is words and phrases that capture your imagination at these events.

Churches that make an impact are
 * led with adventurous faith. Being prepared to take a risk. We deal in hope and we trust in God as we take the first steps.
 * Are led with clarity.  Be clear who you are and where you are going
 * Are led with trust
 * Are led with resilience
 * Are led with patience.  We tend to over estimate what we can do in the short term and under estimate what we van do in the long term.
 * Are led for the future.  Not for the status quo.   We have to be able to embrace change.  

Serving God in Ministry is not necessarily safe
 * I am going to upset some people sometimes.  Not deliberately.
 * I am going to have to change (not just about others)
 * I have to keep my focus forward
 * I am going to have to keep my fears at bay. Of being misunderstood, failure, not knowing the answer, of…

We were reminded that the people we surround ourselves with are really important

We were reminded of the great importance of vision to maintain our focus.  But it can’t just stay on a piece of paper.  Vision is the oxygen for a church.
 Start with the needs first rather than grab the latest thing.<<BR>>
 Know who you are, your context, your vision.<<BR>>
 Ministry should be done with freedom.

A Christian speaker from an organization called Leading Teams Australia spoke with us for 4 hours.  He gave us some tools about how to change culture.  They have worked with the Sydney Swans, Hawthorn, The Diamonds netball team regarding building, and then empowering the team to maintain the culture of their team.  We think our culture and values as a congregation are going to be really important as we try and engage with our community.

==== HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS ====

1. Common Purpose - clarity, synergy

 ||MECHANICS||DYNAMICS||
 ||Process||Personality||
 ||Systems||Feedback||
 ||KPI||Culture||
 ||Technical Skills|| ||
 ||Governance|| ||

What percentage of time are we putting into each?  Are we putting enough time into dynamics?

==== THREE PARTS TO SHAPING DYNAMICS. (shifting culture) ====

1. Strong Relationships – trust, honesty, transparency, risk taking

2. Agreed Behavioural Framework – what are your values.

3. Genuine Conversations.

==== KEY QUESTIONS FOR SHAPING CULTURE ====

What is the truth about your team/community life now?

What would your team/community like to be described as in an ideal world?

What are the counter productive behaviours in your team/community that you accept or tolerate?

What behaviours are we going to accept, reward, and challenge going forward?  

Alanee and I plan to reflect on this conference further and bring some reflections and ideas to the church council in the near future.

=== OTHER MATTERS ===

We want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of Elwyn Pederson who has exercised pastoral care within the area of Seniors Ministry while Alison has been away.  Jan Clear has also been actively involved in this area of ministry during Alison’s absence.

The church council has already endorsed a [[http://www.dvsingers.org/docs/godspell-2016.pdf|concert by the Diamond Valley Singers]] to be held at GWUC on Friday evening 11 November.  The young people of the church are willing to put on supper as a NCYC fundraiser.

'''Recommendation''' - Will church council endorse 50% or even 100% of  our share of the profits  (50/50 with DVS) of this event to support NCYC?

Neil and Alanee