Mission expansion opportunity

Redoubt North Wesleyan Methodist Church (RNW) is one of the five founding churches of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand (WMCNZ) having held its first service on 5 March 2000. It was planted as a church focused on reaching the people of the Redoubt North area by working primarily with the children, youth and their families of the area. From the beginning the vision has been for a local community church that:

• Is anchored in the Word of God.

• People can walk to.

• Is part of, and seen by the community as part of, the local community.

• Is salt & light to the local community.

• Seeks to impact the local community with the transforming love of God as shown in the hope and holiness of Jesus Christ.

• Seeks to identify where God is working and to join him in that work.

• Is here for the long haul.

• Is a church planting church.

• Seeks to impact in the above ways beyond its local community in South Auckland and the world in missional and incarnational ways.

The Lord has blessed us by growing His church quickly and in large numbers over the last few years. There is a renewed sense of mission and vision as we look to what God wants to do in, and through, RNW. It is clear that this includes a larger church with a wider regional outreach but still with a primary call to the people of Redoubt North. To achieve this we need to purchase more land which in the Auckland property market is a challenge for us as a church which ministers to communities in the lower socio-economic strata of society.

Our “ultimate” property vision is to have facilities that enable us to be an incarnational community of faith. These facilities will provide us with a base from which to reach the community with the good news of Jesus Christ in a practical way. They will enable us to also facilitate the discipleship journey of those in our faith community (both those who are part of our faith community now and those who join us in the future). We see

• Facilities for practical service such as providing food to those in need, a social space where people can gather and just “be”, a free library of books and resources, a free “op” shop where people can just take what they need.

• Dedicated (separate) facilities for children, youth etc. both indoors and outdoors (e.g. areas for games such as basketball).

• Facilities to run programmes and ministries which meet the needs of the community e.g. a sewing / arts & crafts programme, an early childhood centre, ministries to parents, the elderly etc., before & after school care and the like.

• A community services hub which provides the local community with some of the key services which many have to walk or bus to as they are not available locally. These could include any combination of a Doctor’s surgery, (free or at least low-cost) counselling facilities, community law offices, WINZ service centre, a café / bookstore with affordable menu’s etc. or the like.

• Office facilities (Internet, printing etc.) for the use of the community (as well as the church).

• A purpose built “hall” well suited to fellowship and celebration gatherings and the like, with a kitchen of appropriate size that is appropriately outfitted with appliances etc.

• All the “tech” gear that is required to be able to do worship, provide ministries, programmes etc. in a God honouring way.

• Worship facilities with plenty of “space” (space in our current worship centre is at a premium and constrains what we can do) not only for “Sunday” worship but which can be used by the community for weddings etc. In addition a smaller chapel open to anyone who wants to pause, reflect, pray etc.

We invite you to help us achieve this vision either by making a one-off or ongoing donation. All funds raised will go towards the purchase, development and maintenance of the proposed facilities.