18 June 2017

11am Church would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone at St Michael’s. It has taken effort and sacrifice from the whole church for us to begin, and to begin so well.

This would not have happened without so many from all over St Michaels helping in many ways; 8am now finish at 9am, and 10am start earlier and finish earlier, all so we can start at 11am instead of noon.

Starting at 11am feels normal, more than starting at noon would have, and it lets us have lunch afterwards each Sunday. We have about 70+ people coming each week, eager to listen to God and serve each other.

11am has twin goals: to let St Michaels grow, and to serve people who struggle with English at our other church meetings. Not everything we try works, but we keep trying.

Many of our members will only be with us for a few years, so how do we make best use of the time we have with them? We haven’t got the final answer, but here are some of the things we have tried…

• We try and limit the level of English used, have short sermons with lots of slides, printed notes, and often be more interactive.
• We try to teach using common English words only, and using illustrations that most will understand. We have found you can keep things simple, and still teach deep Bible truths without dumbing things down. (But it is harder, and more work!)
• We also have Bible readings in other languages – with some surprising results. The rest of us feeling excluded from the reading, so we get to feel what people with less English often feel most of the time.
• Kids’ songs and the Kids’ Spot teach all of us, not just our children. Just about everybody joins in with the actions! We have a great Kids’ program for younger children.
• We have ‘Meet the Member’ interviews, so we can hear the variety of ways God works in people’s lives.
• And we have lunch after, because food is a great way of getting to know each other better.

God has been very kind to us letting us start so well. Everyone at St Michael’s has been so kind to us, adjusting and changing what you have always done, just for us. We have already had visitors check us out. Many have enjoyed what we have been trying, and some have even become regulars at 11am.

So many St Michaels people are doing so much for us. We feel loved, and are very grateful to God and to you. You are invited to visit to encourage us further, and hopefully we will encourage you too, to love and serve our wonderful God and rescuer.

Thank you!
Joe and Jon
(11am Ministry Team)