Presbyterian Foundation

Information booklets and forms to apply for Presbyterian Foundation Grants 2004 went to all parishes and presbyteries last week.
Queries should be made to ministers in the first instance and then presbyteries. Any queries that can’t be answered by the minister or presbytery should be directed to verityd(at)presbyterian.org.nz.

Study Leave Reports

Notice from the Mission Resource Team

Ministers will be aware that, when you have completed your study leave, a copy of your study leave report is to be sent to the Continuing Ministry Formation Workgroup.

Please note that from 12 April 2004 that copy is to be mailed to:
Continuing Ministry Formation Workgroup
Assembly Office
P O Box 9049
Wellington.

Study from Home

The Ecumenical Institute of Distance Theological Studies offers courses for people to study from their own homes.

In May a 20 week course will commence on ‘Presbyterian (Reformed) Studies’. This course will be tutored by the Rev Dr John Roxborogh and will be delivered via the internet. The course covers the history, theology and practice of the Presbyterian Church. It is intended for lay people as well as ordained.

Other courses commencing in June are ‘Introduction to Pastoral Theology’ which will be tutored by the Rev Dr Mary Caygill and ‘Theologies of the Hebrew Scriptures’ which will be tutored by the Rev Dr Keith Carley. Both of these courses will commence with 3-day residential schools in Auckland and will then be delivered by distance learning.

For further information phone the Registrar 0800 667 969 or visit the website at www.eidts.ac.nz

Charities Bill

The Charities Bill has been drafted and is expected to be tabled in parliament. The Bill provides for the establishment of a Charities Commission to establish a registration, reporting and monitoring system for charities. Charities wishing to be tax exempt will have to register with the Commission and file an annual return.

Once the Bill has been tabled in the house it will be referred to a select committee. The committee will then call for submissions.

A series of roadshows is planned to provide information and answer questions. Meetings will be held at 22 locations nationwide.

The Ministry of Economic Development will also launch a website and freephone number and a brochure on how to make a submission.
More details about the process are available on the Ministry of Economic Development website
www.med.govt.nz.

(See the Finance section of Bush Telegraph for comments on the Bill.)

Fairfield Church Name Change

This is to inform you of a significant change regarding Fairfield Presbyterian Church.

As of March 28, 2004 we have renamed ourselves Discovery Christian Centre.
You may wonder why? In brief, we are in a process in our life and ministry of moving proactively into a much more mission focused future. The new name is just one facet of that.

There is one careful distinction to be made. We are part of a Parish that is made up of two churches operating more or less independently: Discovery Christian Centre and Gordonton Presbyterian Church. The name of the Parish remains as ‘Fairfield Presbyterian Parish’ and any Parish communications should be in that name.

But where communication or ministry is concerned with the city church, where people are being referred, etc the name to use is Discovery Christian Centre. For people in the city the old name will progressively become part of our history and almost all knowledge, identity and activity will relate to the new name.

Please note: our web site is: www.discovery.org.nz

Welcome to the task of becoming familiar with Discovery Christian Centre!

With kind regards
Garry Marquand

APW Reminder

The extraordinary business meeting to present the proposed change of structure and administration for APW is on Friday 30 April and Sat 1 May, at the St Mary Centre in Wellington.

Anyone interested in the future of APW is welcome to attend.

Registration forms are available from office(at)stenoch.co.nz.

Support Turakina Maori Girls College for Free

If you are a Telecom residential customer, you can support Turakina Maori Girls' College by becoming a School Connection Sponsor. Simply ring Telecom on 123 or complete the online form on their website www.telecom.co.nz and nominate TMGC as the school you wish to sponsor. Then up to 5% of the value of any National or International Calls made by you with Telecom will count towards the amount the school receives – and it costs you nothing!

New Book Title

Dick Tripp has published booklet no. 21 in his series Exploring Faith Today. Life After Death: Christianity's Hope and Challenge. This one has turned into a book of over 200 pages, but includes one on the same topic (83 pages) by Derek Eaton, Bishop of Nelson. They are printed back to back. Lots of sermon fodder. $18. The titles of all the booklets, with full text and prices, can be read on the website: www.christianity.co.nz.

These booklets, most of which sell for $4, are particularly popular with churches running the Alpha Course as they deal with questions that come up when discussing the gospel. Evangelistic groups such as OAC, TSCF and Evangelism Explosion Ministries make use of them. 17,000 have been sold so far. They get used for dialogue evangelism, building the faith of Christians, study groups and sermon material.

For those not familiar with them they deal with topics such as The Bible, Who is Jesus, Suffering, Why Christianity? Trinity, Science, Forgiveness, Guidance, Repentance, Conversion, Saving Faith, Assurance, Morality, Truth, Church, Identity, Purpose, Self-esteem, Life after death.

Booklets available from Dick Tripp, R.D 1, Lyttelton. Phone: 03 329 9752, Fax: 03 3299525. Email: dick.tripp(at)christianity.co.nz Promotional leaflet and order form available on request.

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Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand