Glenbrook 6pm
Details + Distinctives

Notes for Gathering Leaders

Thank you for leading this Gathering. At Lower Mountains Anglican Parish we gather to proclaim Christ. So our ministries aim to seek, connect, grow and send people so that together we can serve God and others. 

The Seek > Connect > Grow > Send Framework also forms the backbone of our church gatherings.

1. Seek: We draw together under God as we prepare to hear His word

2. Connect: We hear the word of God

3. Grow: We respond to the word of God

4. Send: In a continuing response to God's word we are sent into the world

For every detail of planning a church gathering, we need to ask ourselves - is this preparing us to hear Gods word, hearing Gods word, or responding to Gods word? This places God's word at the centre, but also ensures intentional preparation and response to God's word. Below are directions for a variety of regular Gathering elements including; how to use the Elvanto template, how to prepare for the Gathering, music and copyright, communion, terminology, and the DEADLINE.

Tip: Put yourself into the shoes of a newcomer – what would be helpful?

• Check gathering box for special instructions or handouts.

• Foyer

  • Place Welcome Flags (there are two) and Sandwich Boards outside

  • Turn on lights

  • Open both Doors on Raymond St

  • Clean-up – remove any items on bench or tables that should not be there. 

  • Check Tables and Seats in foyer are inviting and Crèche is packed away.

• Welcomers

  • Ready handouts (in the gathering box). 

  • Have pre-printed labels ready

  • Have Welcome brochures and Welcome Afternoon Tea postcards ready
    
    Note: If the person is clearly a Newcomer it would be helpful to take some time to give some more direction (e.g. Kids Church, Bible, Parents Room, Toilets, introduce to/sit near a member in a similar demographic)
    
    

  • Record the names of any newcomers on the Newcomer Notes clipboard

• Seek out Newcomers after the gathering – invite to Dinner, introduce to other members.

• Head count – before the Bible talk:  

• Mark roll (by the end of gathering, but not during welcoming) - tick/add

Please put the completed Checklist and the Marked Roll back in the box for the office.

At this point in our gathering, the hope is that we would want to respond together as a church family. 

Consider including a Creed, Confession, Lord's Prayer, or a Thanksgiving 

You can also write your own corporate responses using the passages of scripture being read this week

Click here for dishwasher instructions.

• After Gathering Tidy – give the Foyer/Auditorium a quick tidy (e.g. replace Bibles, clear up items left behind, recycle handouts, lost and found to cupboard in the Foyer)

• Bring back inside the Welcome Flags and the Sandwich Boards

• Close/lock Doors on both Wascoe St and Raymond St (incl Hall).

• Turn off Air Conditioners/Close windows

• Turn off lights (incl. Auditorium/Hall/Bathrooms/Foyer)

• Feedback - Notes for Ministry Team/Office (e.g. is there anything we need to know – Newcomers names, something needs fixing, brochures running out etc.)

Praying for Global Mission is driven by a desire for God's Glory and for our heart to align with his. As a result, our prayers should show God's heart for the nations.

Praying for Global Mission should be both relational and global. This is why we pray for our mission partners as well as unreached people groups.

We have two kinds of missionary partners: 1. Our Link Missionaries who are supported by our church (Sandifer's, Elyard's, Grivas-Allison's) and 2. Missionaries who are related to our church in someway - The Friend's (daughter of church members), Taylor's (son/brother of church members), A+B (secure), Atwood's (son of church members).

Our relational focus is on our link missionaries, but we include those related to our church in our prayers as well.

This means missional prayer should have four elements:

1. Showing God's Heart for the Nations/Least Reached

2. Unreached People Groups

3. Link Missionary - sent and supported by our church (we see that at formal church visits/home assignments)

4. Related Missionary - related to someone in our church but not 'sent' by our church (we see them informally when they visit family)

Video: What to Pray for Missions

Showing God's Heart for the Nations

These one sentence prayers taken from Bible verses are a great way to show God's heart in your prayers.

You can also use an introduction like this:

Leader: God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth
Congregation: For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.

Leader: The Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
Congregation: As the waters cover the sea.

Leader: So we pray in response to the will of God, and in expectant hope, knowing Jesus will be enthroned as Lord of All. The Leader then prays... God of Nations...

or

The Apostle John saw in heaven a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. We pray in anticipation of that day, remembering that having been given all authority on heaven and earth Jesus has placed on our lives. For he said, 

go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. 

Unreached People Groups

The focus on mission prayer and unreached people groups means it is good to profile/draw attention to a group, this may mean including a map, an image, or a Joshua Project graph, and talking briefly to it. But remember, it's not a 5 minute presentation, more like 1 minute, 2 min max. The whole mission prayer segment should be approx 3 minutes.

• These one sentence prayers are great to include in prayers for an unreached people group.

• Joshua Project 'Unreached of the Day' has information on a different unreached people group each day. 

• Joshuaproject have also released a prayer guide for the 31 largest unreached people groups - https://joshuaproject.net/assets/media/handouts/the31.pdf 

• Global Frontier Missions has helpful videos on 'what is an unreached people group' and 'the state of the world' https://globalfrontiermissions.org/gfm-101-missions-course/

• Asia Harvest has video clips of more than 50 of Asia's most unevangelized tribes and people groups. They include both information on the groups and prayer points for the groups. https://asiaharvest.org/videos/ 

Link Missionaries

Specific Prayer Points for our link Missionaries can be found here, we'd encourage you to also sign up for their prayer points directly through the CMS website.

Related Missionaries

Prayer points for A+B (secure) can be found at the link for link missionaries. 

You can choose to sign up through CMS for the prayer points of other missionaries, or use info below:

Adam + Avril Friend. Missionaries in Toliara Madagascar. They are supporting the work of St Patrick's Theological College, Adam teaching Biblical Studies courses and Avril caring for students as a doctor, and discipling female students and the wives of students.

Mike and Katie Taylor in Tanzania. Mike is the principal of Munguishi Bible College. "In our Diocese we have witnessed rapid church growth and increased evangelism; new churches are popping up right across the large Diocese. Yet there remains a lack of spiritually mature pastors who can lead God’s people away from the temptations of false gospels. Munguishi Bible College strategically trains pastors and evangelists from many churches across our Diocese and beyond. As we teach, disciple and resource students, we aim to prepare them to return ready to teach God’s word faithfully in their churches. We desire to see churches grow in a gospel maturity that matches their outward enthusiasm for church."

Joel and Tiff Atwood in Noumea, New Caledonia. "Tertiary student ministry is a relatively new avenue for gospel work in many parts of the Pacific, and it is an even newer idea to be involved as full-time staff in campus ministry. We want to see many more local staff leading, reaching, and discipling in their own contexts, so that more young people can meet Jesus, be saved and set up for a life following him, and joyfully serving their churches and communities. To do this, we need to support and train our current (and future) staff across the whole region!"

Every week pray for an unreached people group. In addition:

First Sunday of the Month: Compassion and Adam + Avril Friend in Madagascar

2nd: Sandifer's and Taylor's

3rd: Elyard's and Andrew+Bec

4th: Grivas-Allison's and Atwood's

5th: That our church would be a place where missonaries are raised and sent, that we would consider the call to missions on our lives.

Praying for our church + community

Pray for our church, and then for the ministry of God's word

Use the following to inform your prayers for our church: LMAP Glenbrook 6pm Prayer Points

Praying for the world

This is a place to pray for our link missionaries and for God's glory to be known in all the world.
Here are some examples of missional and biblical prayers you can use to start your prayers

Pray specific prayer points for our link missionaries, but you can also pray generally and briefly for the other missionaries who have an association with our church:

Week 1: Compassion (and Adam + Avril Friend in Madagascar) + one Bible verse prayer on an unreached people group
Week 2: Sandifer's (and Taylor's in Tanzania at Munguishi Bible College) + one Bible verse prayer on an unreached people group
Week 3: Elyard's (and Andrew+Bec in the Middle East) + one Bible verse prayer on an unreached people group
Week 4: Grivas-Allison's (and Atwood's working with university studies in the South Pacific) + one Bible verse prayer on an unreached people group
Week 5: Unreached People's

Note that Boardman's are prayed for in 'local/church prayer'