Overflow - Issue 19

Issue 19 February 24

Overflow

ISSN 2815- 9322

Into The Deep At WYCamp 2024 Don't Stop Before Transformation Connecting Across The Pacfic Shore Grace - Still Sailing at 20!

Pastoral Ministry Formation Training New Maths WMCANZ Global Mission Christmas Appeal The Daily Is Back!

From the Editor Tēnā koe, Malo e lelei, Ni sa bula vinaka, atu, Kia orana, , Noa‘ia, Hello!

你好

안녕하세요, Fakaalofa lahi

A new year is well under way and we are once again in the season of Lent where many are surrendering themselves to the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting. Seeking to draw closer to God and discern His activity in their lives.

Every day is a new day that allows us to draw closer to God and prayerfully discern where He is already working in and around us.

May we use the fact that things, like hot cross buns, are already in the stores to create those God conversations with the world around us about how these things are symbols to represent what Jesus has done for us and what that means.

At conference in November Rev. Jo Verkerk shared some of the ideas surrounding discipleship. Over the next few months we will include a series of articles by Rev. Jo sharing that information again. Look out for your opportunity to contribute to the work of discipleship and training.

Denise Barrington Editor

Into The Deep At WYCamp 2024 Rev. Ashan Rodrigo: Papakura Wesleyan Church Fofola e Falá kae Talanoa e Kāingá – Roll out the mat and let the kāinga share stories..

On Sunday night clusters of rangatahi sat across from one another ready to share their stories of faith. The tapa underneath them was the kete which delicately held their vulnerability and honesty. Keiti Fonua of Shiloh Wesleyan opened the sacred space of talanoa with her story from the deep, the room was flooded with raw emotion.

“My highlight for Camp was being able to share my story,” Keiti said.

“It's taken a long time for me to get to this position, so it’s been quite freeing and a blessing to be able to share, and allow people to share their stories within that space.”

A youth from City Cross Link who had an unforgettable experience after the talanoa said, “I felt weakness all over my body, my knee felt really weak and for all I know I was bowed down to him and worshipping him.”

After a weekend designed to challenge WesoYouth to consider the depth of their relationship with Christ, the talanoa session, or Stories from the Deep, allowed youth to be honest about their faith journey.

The Journey to WYCAMP When Youth Leaders were asked in March 2023, ‘What do your youth need most in their spiritual journey?’ it was clear a deeper, personal relationship with God was the desire–not the faith of their family, culture, or church, but a real encounter of their own.

Over the next nine months, a core team of youth leaders formed to curate WYCAMP 2024. The theme was ‘Into the Deep.’ Through prayer and Holy Spirit guidance, the team charted a course for WesoYouth to journey into the deep at WYCAMP.

An overnight Youth Leaders ‘Charge Up’ in September was hosted at Papakura Wesleyan Church, where Mele Suipi Latu, National Youth Coordinator, taught Servant Leadership. Worship and fellowship throughout the night ignited the spark for WYCAMP. A pre-camp charge-up in November at East City Wesleyan for all campers set the tone for WYCAMP with upcoming leaders taking ownership of organising and leading the event. Anton Haines brought a convicting message to set us a course, into the deep.

Letting God do his thing!

The opening day of WYCAMP brought together rangatahi from 17 Wesleyan churches. The joys of reunion were buzzing through the corridors of CYC Ngaruawahia. The opening session was set on the shoreline among those gathered to hear Jesus’s parable of the farmer, led by Ashan Rodrigo, pastor at Papakura Wesleyan.

On Saturday morning Francis Nofoa, youth leader at City Cross Link challenged the youth to move beyond the comfort of knee-deep faith, as the woman at the well. In the evening, Ashan and Francis led the camp to push out their waka into the deep and accept the call to be fishers of men.

On Sunday morning, Mele Latu illuminated the reality of the stormy deep which flowed into the evening talanoa session. On Monday the camp prepared to be sent out into the world. Ashan encouraged them to just keep swimming to Jesus, despite failures, like Peter in John 21.

“I like how they talked about the deeps,” Liam from ECW said. “You know like shoreline, knee deep.”

There was multi-ethnic food, fun and games, including the return of an electrifying talent show dubbed ‘Saturday Night Alive,’ but it was the spiritual encounters that rocked the boat.

“My highlight of camp was definitely recommitting my life [to God],” Lani from Streams Community Church said. “I really love the rallies, especially the praise and worship” Youth leaders were praising God for the encounters their young people experienced.

“My youth! Praise God, three people gave their life to God” Judith Kacivi from Living Waters Wesleyan said. “I really thank God and all the leaders for setting it up. A lot of work has gone into it.”

Throughout WYCAMP there was a sense of reverence. God showed up. As Monica Akauola of Joyful News Wesleyan said, “It’s the Holy Spirit doing his thing!”

W Y C A M P 2 0 2 4

New Maths National Superintendent: Rev. Brett Jones I was “lucky” with my schooling - I got to experience the so-called “new maths”. I didn’t know any different, it was all new to me! I’ve been wondering about some “new maths” for the church in 2024.

In Ephesians 3:16-17 we see something being added: 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

God is fully committed to addition – making the church more than it can be. Paul’s prayer is for power – through the indwelling Spirit so that Christ may dwell in us, that our lives are more and more transformed to Christ’s.

This addition is at the heart of our vision: Transformed People, Churches, and Communities overflowing with the grace and holiness of Jesus Christ. It’s a vision of OVERFLOW as Jesus’ power transforms us. It’s this addition that is the secret to another equation: multiplication! (We’ll leave long division and subtraction for another day…)

Multiplication brings us to the second part of the prayer in Ephesians 3: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. This amazing statement describes for us the multiplied presence of God in three dimensions. It’s a statement of fullness and what happens when something is full? It overflows. Multiplication of disciples, leaders, pastors, missionaries and churches is only possible when it is resourced from this fullness.

I pray that we who are called as Wesleyan Methodists would be strengthened by the indwelling Spirit and that we might be filled with the incomparable love of God. That we may know the overflow of the Spirit’s work among us as we seek to multiply our impact in our communities and churches.

Connecting Across the Pacific National Superintendent: Rev. Brett Jones Wesleyan Methodists from across the Pacific gathered in Brisbane 15 - 18 January for the four-yearly South Pacific Regional Conference (SPC). The Conference ran alongside the Australian National Conference which made for a rich blend of worship, inspirational messages, training and connecting.

Dennis Jackon (Global Partners) made a valuable contribution as keynote speaker and was able to represent the General Conference of the North American church (our parent Conference).

The WMCANZ sent 7 delegates as part of its formal representation at the SPC, including our national officers Brett Jones, Atu Lagi and Peter Benzie, Global Missions Director, Michelle Yates, along with Armand Catulong (Kaiwaka CCL), Catherine Tupou (Lotolelei) and Clint Ussher (The Well). Brett chaired the SPC and assisted as co-chair at the Australian Conference.

Brett Jones concluded his term as President of the South Pacific Regional Conference (2020 - 2023). Lex Akers was appointed President of the SPC following his election to the role of National Superintendent of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia. The Conference celebrated Rev Dr Rex Rigby’s retirement as National Superintendent after 12 years of service.

The SPC affirmed a set of Principles that will guide the development of Regional Partnership over the next 4 years. Strategic priorities for the region were identified for implementation including: 1. Assess current development of Solomon Islands and Bougainville churches against criteria for advancement to member National Church status and establish pathway and timeline (flexible) for eligibility for advancement.

2. Develop Strategic Partnerships in the Pacific with the following goals: (a) Enhance awareness and profile of the SPC within the Pacific (b) Explore opportunities to offer relationship, support and resources to non-aligned Wesleyan/Methodist churches in the Pacific [including Methodist Church of Fiji and Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga] (c) Establish formal relationships with non-aligned Wesleyan/Methodist churches in the Pacific including but not limited to: Conference attendance/recognition Mutuality of ministry processes Pathways for migrants to mutual membership Resource sharing Prayer Missions exchanges The next SPC will be held in New Zealand in November 2027 alongside the National Conference.

Don't Stop before Transformation!

Director of Discipleship & Training: Rev. Jo Verkerk As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:16-18.

The scene into which Jesus speaks this incredibly well known invitation is a little misleading in Mark. These men were not strangers to Jesus; they already knew of Jesus, they had already heard him preach, they had spent time with him, they had already decided he was the Messiah (see John 1:35-42 for context). And its into that scene - ordinary guys who know Jesus, who had spent time with him, and who believed him to be the Messiah that this really, really familiar invitation is offered.

Come - an invitation; Follow me - a call to action; And I will make you … - a promise of transformation.

It’s the same basic invitation that Jesus offers to each one of us today.

A synopsis of discipleship if you like. Yet here’s the heartbreaking thing; it's entirely possible to stop at any point along the way.

Stop at the John 1 description of events and you’d probably still be considered a good Christian. Ordinary, hard working people who know Jesus, have spent time with him and believe him to be the Messiah - it describes an incredibly large number of people in our churches.

Stop at the ‘come’ part, and you’d be one of the many among us who have had one of those ‘come to Jesus’ moments where we did come, and it was awesome, but if we’re brutally honest with ourselves it’s the only Jesus story we really have.

Stop at the ‘follow me’ bit and you’ll likely be ‘doing’ the stuff of Christianity - reading your bible, going to church, volunteering from time to time, perhaps even participating in a small group….but still stopping short of actual transformation.

And yet it’s the last bit, the promise from Jesus of transformation, where the crazy-good-life-changing stuff happens. That bit requires time, and commitment, and showing up over and over and over again, and being part of a faith community where there’s authenticity, and accountability, and acceptance. It’s the hard stuff….but the good stuff.

The life change stuff. The bit we call discipleship.

So…..where are you ‘up to’ in your discipleship journey?

If you’d like to chat more about how to invite people in your church and community all the way through the process to transformation, I’d love to hear from you! jo.verkerk@wesleyan.nz

New Kiwi's!

Congratulations Rev. Joey Millington (East City Wesleyan) and Pastor Joel Detalo (City Cross Link) who have recently become New Zealand citizens!

Update from The Well

By David Graham, Assistant Pastor and Formation Leader For a few years, The Well has been wrestling with the question, “How does an adult at our church become a mature disciple of Jesus?” This question has taken us on a journey to better articulate our Discipleship Pathway.

Some elements of our Discipleship Pathway are well-established (for example, the two entry points of Sunday worship gatherings and Alpha), while some elements are in a “pilot” phase.

In 2023 we piloted the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship course at The Well. We acknowledge a key part of being a mature disciple of Jesus is living out of overflow of a personal relationship with Him, being true to God and ourselves in emotionally and spiritually healthy ways. We saw incredible transformation in the 38 people who completed the course last year, and we're trusting to see the same in this year’s cohort.

In 2024 we are piloting two new elements of our Discipleship Pathway: 1. An internally developed Spiritual Formation Basics course, serving as a prerequisite for joining a Life Group or a first study for new Life Groups.

2. Communities of Practice Life Groups, where people will learn about, practice, and reflect together on a life of following Jesus. In 2024 all Life Groups at The Well will journey through the practices of sabbath, prayer, solitude, and generosity.

3. We are praying that these new elements in our Discipleship Pathway will draw people closer to Jesus, as they mature in their discipleship to Him.

https://thewellnz.org

EASTER EVENTS The Well Church The Well Church, 364 Colombo St Sydenham Christchurch Friday 29 March - 7pm - Tenebrae A sombre service of reflective mourning modelled after a traditional Tenebrãe service.

We will be reading and reflecting on the story of Christ’s suffering, death, and burial, observing the layers of darkness or shadow that he bore.

Easter Sunday 9am & 11am Join us at one of our Sunday gatherings for a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and life!

City Cross Link- Kaiwaka Waiheke Island Saturday 30 March 10am-2pm Street evangelism and one on one sharing the gospel to anyone who doesn't have Jesus Christ yet in their heart.

Millwater Wesleyan Church Venue: To be confirmed (email minister@millwaterwesleyan.org.nz for details if interested) Thursday 28 March - Tenebrae: 7pm Good Friday Venue: Kingsway Junior Campus, 2 Bonair Crescent, Silverdale Friday 29 March: 10am Easter Sunday Kingsway Junior Campus, 2 Bonair Crescent, Silverdale Sunday 31 March: 10am

THE DAILY IS BACK! Auckland Church Leaders Lent Devotional We'll be looking at various scenes from the Gospel of Luke as Jesus makes his way 'On the Road' to the Cross, showing and teaching us the qualities we must adopt on our own roads to our own crosses as we follow Jesus.

This year, we're also mixing up the modes of delivery. In addition to the thought-provoking devotionals, we'll also be weaving in spoken word poetry, reflections on art pieces related to the passage, songs, and Lectio Divina. As always, the contributors will be drawn from across the wide Church of Auckland / Tāmaki Makaurau.

You and your church are going to love it, so invite them to join you On The Road with Jesus.

The Daily will be running from Ash Wednesday (14th February) and ending on Easter Sunday (31st March).

Read More.....

Job Opportunities Office Administrator The Well Church is seeking a superstar office administrator to join our growing team. The main focus of this role will be finance and facilities, with lots of variety thrown in.

This part-time role would suit someone who gets on well with all sorts of people and can quickly prioritise tasks in a changing environment.

Have your say in your work days and times - this role is for 20 hours per week, worked within The Well Church's normal office hours of 9am-5pm, Monday-Thursday.

Key Responsibilities Oversight of The Well's finances in Xero (bill entry, invoice issuing, etc.) and payroll administration.

Key contact for The Well Church's vendors and customers.

Support the leadership team with budget creation, monthly financial reporting, and annual financial account consolidation.

Oversight of The Well Church's property (scheduling maintenance, responding to venue hire requests, liaising with security and parking enforcement, etc.).

General office administration (mail, filing, reception, etc.).

Go to https://thewellnz.org/jobvacancies for more information.

Are you interested? Or do you know someone who might be a good fit? If so, please contact Alison Low (alison@thewellnz.org) today by submitting your resume and a cover letter outlining your relevant experience and tell us why you'd love to work for The Well Church.

Applications close: 11 March 2024

The Hornblow Memorial Ministry Training Fund is actively seeking donations to further its mission in funding Pastor training and resourcing church planters.

Donations: You can make donations to the Capital Fund or for Annual Grants - just tell us which area in the REFERENCE field ad include HMMTT in the PARTICULARS field Bank Account: 03-0206-0380248-00 Please email accounts@wesleyan.nz with your details to receive a donation receipt.

Bequests: You can make a bequest in your will or add a codicil “I leave to The Hornblow Memorial Ministry Training Trust, Charity Registration Number: CC46561: $______ for its general purposes and I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be a sufficient discharge to my Executors.”

News from Global Missions, Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand Click here to read the latest news, and for opportunities to respond Get in touch......... missions@wesleyan.nz

www.wesleyan.nz

National Church Contacts

National Resource Centre Tuesday | 9am-2pm 219 Burswood Drive Botany, Auckland 2013 Ph: (09) 271 6460 National Support Assistant Sian Sidwell Email: office@wesleyan.nz Overflow Editor Denise Barrington Email: overflow@wesleyan.nz

National Superintendent Rev. Brett Jones - natsuper@wesleyan.nz Ass't National Superintendent Rev. Atu Lagi - pastoralcare@wesleyan.nz Director of Operations Rev. Peter Benzie - dirops@wesleyan.nz National Treasurer Kerrin Thomson - treasurer@wesleyan.nz Director Discipleship & Training Rev. Jo Verkerk - training@wesleyan.nz Director Global Missions Michelle Yates - missions@wesleyan.nz Director Ministerial Formation Rev. Melissa Powell - nbmf@wesleyan.nz Director Multiplication Rev. Mike Yates - churchdevt@wesleyan.nz Director Next Generations Rev. Stephenie Couch - youth@wesleyan.nz

Our Values | Enduring Foundations | Embracing Grace | Embodying Oneness Flourishing Churches | Celebrating Belonging

Event Calendar Anamata Youth Leader Training Day | 24 Feb National Council | 16 March Pastor Cluster Group | 23 March Refresh | 24 - 26 May Click here for our full WMCANZ National Calendar

Donations We invite you to make donations to the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Aotearoa-New Zealand. Join us to make a difference and reach the lost with the grace and holiness of Jesus Christ.

Using the WMCANZ bank account number below, please include your first initial and surname in the particulars field and 'donation' in the reference field.

03-0206-0380248-00 Particulars: e.g. 'J Smith' Reference: e.g. 'Donation' Please email accounts@wesleyan.nz with your details to receive a donation receipt.

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Services are held in English, Fijian, Rotuman and Tongan with several churches using multiple languages in their worship.