Flagstaff Union Parish

Flagstaff Union Parish Church Dunedin Otago New Zealand

Asking the question of how we as a Church in this part of Dunedin express relevantly the relevance of the gospel to and in the community where we are placed has lead us in new and fresh directions.
It has meant being intentional and taking the initiative in going out to the community rather than expecting them to come to us.

This has involved finding ways to support and engage with the schools in the locality by sending our members to help with the reading and physical activity programmes, we teach Christian and Religious Education Programmes. 

One need concerned the numbers of children at a school who had head lice and ‘Nitbusters’ was born!  This is a small team that go weekly to the school to check heads remove lice and treat hair.  This practical act has been a great service and witness.

We are running a community survey which involves a small team going door to door asking what people think about their community and the Church that is in it.  We listen more than we talk and this is building bridges.

The Church appointed a community worker and the work she is doing is building more of a ‘motorway’ than a ‘bridge’ between the Church and the community.

All this is stretching us as a Church, helping us grow and discovering we can do things that we had no experience of or background in as well as seeing positive transfer of skills to help those who were or are ‘outside’ the Church.

Taking the initiative has also challenged us to change in order to welcome, accommodate and minister to the needs of those who have started coming to services as a result of the contacts being made.
We are open to beginning a new congregation, but at this stage we’ve changed as congregations, with minimal fuss!!

We are still in early growth stages; it’s been steps of faith and some of them big steps too.   God has been leading us as we prayerfully seek His ‘good pleasing and perfect will’ and our driving desire is to see the name of Jesus honoured in tHis Church, in tHis community and in tHis world.

Rev Ian Pittendreigh

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