“The Torrent of the last days, Inherit the Mission” – Rev. Leo Kwan
In the past two years, North Side and the churches of Sydney, together we were experiencing the sea change of era, while also experiencing God’s preservation and grace. Under this background, I lift up the pen to write a testimonial, as a retrospective and look forward to encouraging each other in the Lord.
During the pandemic that began in early 2020, the church was not only affected in Sunday worship services but also in pastoral care, fellowship life, the disconnection within the community of faith but also disconnected with the community. All became chaotic during the pandemic epidemic under the government epidemic policy; the human heart becomes weak. Church worship services and other physical gatherings need to be turned online, and shepherding believers in protracted circumstances is challenging.
Although with the help of network software, gatherings were held online, believers are getting accustomed to this model. Through the internet media, a variety of spiritual food supply from Christian world helps God’s Word be available to Christians, but this cannot replace personal pastoral care. Believers’ physical, spiritual and spiritual health suffers the damage. Pray that after the epidemic, believers can reply to the “group of faith and love” and be the witness of the Lord. Under the epidemic situation,
Rev. Chow had planned to retire at the end of 2020, and in terms of the heavy and complex church ministries and the expected changes of the pastor team, he was willing to postpone his retirement to the end of 2021, so that everything could be arranged in an orderly manner, and thank God for Rev. Chow’s loyalty;
At the same time, the Church is setting the theme of “Having the mind of Christ, Transform through Crisis” in 2021, pointing out the challenges facing the Church, generational transformation, and the expected post-epidemic church ecology will be rapidly networked, the struggle between physical gatherings and the network world, the epidemic will only accelerate the disclosure of the current situation, the Church is also looking for pastoral and evangelistic opportunities,
The Vision and Direction of the Church
In 2021, the pastor staff seeks the vision and direction of the Church in prayer, sets a return to the foundation of faith, and rediscovers the purpose and mission of the Church’s existence. Therefore, the theme of the church for the next two years (2022-23) is, “With a Heart of Christ, Love the Lord your God, Having the Mind of Christ, Loving the Lord your God” (2022), “Having the Mind of Christ, Loving your neighbour as yourself” (2023), just as the Lord Christ set the great commandment “The Lord Jesus said: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, the second is this ‘Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31). So on the pulpit we preach God’s work from the Book of Romans (Second Half of 2021) which laid the groundwork for our faith. In 2022 we study the Book of Exodus, both in pulpit and fellowship groups Bible study to learn God’s attributes and God’s redemptive story in this torrent of last days.
Transformation of the pastoral team
In the past year, in addition to the impact of the epidemic, the transformation of pastoral team workers, including the retirement of our long serving senior pastor Rev. Chow, the leaving of Pastor Leo Chow who was called by God to continue his theological studies. In June 2021, Church appointed three pastoral recruitment teams (team of senior pastor, of mandarin ministry pastor and of youth ministry pastor). In human thought, it seems an impossible tasks to accomplished. Church leaders, and congregations have little faith and are filled with worries and doubts. But God is faithful, kind and merciful to the church, and we see God’s wonderful deeds (Ps. Li Xinning started his ministry in the Mandarin congregation in June, Pastor Andrew Choy will be the in-coming senior pastor of North Side, who is in the midst of C&MA National Office licensing procedures; and there is another candidate, if of God’s Will, will be another one- North Side youth ministry pastor). And how great contrast for our experiencing His Grace-and faithfulness comparing our human faith.
The challenge of the congregation In mid-2021, the church Elder Board invited Rev. Leung Ming Sang to hold a leadership workshop entitled “Church Strategic Plan Ready Session” to examine the church’s spiritual condition, leadership qualities and ministry structure, and to assess the feasibility of re-structuring type future development, and after the workshop, the conclusion indicates there is lack of impetus for strategic change. The Church is overshadowed by “disappointment”, The reflection brought forward of the Apostle Paul’s encouragement of 2 Corinthians 6:10 “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything,”. We believe that God is not asking for “development” in North Side’s term, but watching God has placed all kinds of “His call” before our eyes to ride the wave. All kind of needs includes the burden on the Mandarin congregation of reaching out to the community; the burden of youth ministry in the English congregation; the burden of new migrant and children ministry challenges to the Cantonese congregation. All of these are precisely the work and challenges that God has entrusted to North Side. Sending His servants- pastors shows God already in work. What He needs from North Side is to be His faithful servant, not blind or deaf, but trust God, as it is written in the scriptures: “I lift up my eyes to You, to you who sit enthroned in heaven…as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their Master.” and He also said “But he who waits for the Lord will be empowered from the new. They will soar like eagles; They run without sleepiness, but they walk without fatigue. (Isaiah 40:31).
