Hi Curate Church,
SPRING IS IN THE AIR!
Thanks in advance for taking time to read the thoughts we have penned along with a few updates we want to keep you in the loop with. We know you have full lives and very much appreciate and value your time. As a church community we are walking together into the new thing that God is doing here at Curate.
“See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19
We are declaring this scripture over you, over your families and over our church. This is also a new day for us as your Pastors, this is a new season for our family too, a new country even! So we are absolutely all in this together. As Nick preached on Father’s Day ‘It Takes a Village’. We are so glad to be part of your village and that you are part of ours!
As a gardener (Sarah speaking here - yes I love all things green), I’ve been thinking, and Nick and I have been talking, about the quality and quantity of a harvest - how it is so dependent on the quality of the soil and the care taken to prepare that soil.
Jesus told a story in Luke 8 about a farmer who sowed his seeds on the farm. He described four places the seed was sown, and how the quality of the soil directly impacted the harvest. Jesus compared this to the way people received the words of God and the gospel message. If you can hold this thought, we will circle back to it in a moment.
Traditionally at Curate Church the end of September is when we have our Vision Offering, to finance the vision of the church. As new pastors we don’t feel in our heart to take up a Vision Offering at this time. We believe we are in a season of getting to know one another and seeking God for clarity around what the vision of Curate Church will be moving into the future.
In light of this we are going to move the Vision Offering closer to the end of March 2025, in line with the end of the financial year. This will give us time to pray and wait on God for his vision for the church moving into the new year and bring you clarity and transparency around what this offering will be going towards.
However, that doesn’t mean we are all sitting around on our hands! If you haven’t already picked up on it, we do believe that we are in a season as a church of preparing the soil of our hearts so that when God sows the seed of His word, we have a foundation that is healthy, rich in nutrients and ready to receive all that God has for us. This is true for us as individuals, and as a church community!
A few weeks ago we shared about a wasteland - “An area may be a wasteland because the soil doesn’t have enough nutrients for plants to survive.”
We aren’t in any way demeaning what God has done in and through Curate up till now. In fact we rejoice and honour the good fruit! However every gardener knows that after a season of harvest the soil must be broken up, fertilised, have the weeds removed and rested so it can be ready for new seed. This is where we believe we are right now as a church.
So in this season, as a church we will ‘preparing the soil’ in four ways:
1. SPRING AT CURATE
Preaching & teaching around the new thing that God is doing and spiritual guidance around how to prepare the soil of our hearts.
2. SPRING CLEAN
We’re going to have opportunities for us all to get involved practically to spring clean our church building. We’d love you to join our staff as we pull up our sleeves, get our hands dirty and do away with any dust and grime. We’ll let you know when we’re going to have a clean up!
3. RECONCILIATION
As a team we are here to walk with and support our church, past and present, down the pathway of healing, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. Please come and talk to one of the team if this is something that you would like to participate in.
4. SPRING ‘PREPARE THE SOIL’ OFFERING
As we mentioned above, we are moving our Vision Offering time to March 2025. However, to honour the financial commitments made by previous leadership and the financial rhythm and position of Curate Church, we are excited to let you know we have decided to have a “PREPARE THE SOIL” SPRING OFFERING. This is an opportunity for those of us who are willing and in the position to do so to help prepare the soil in this season. We are hoping to raise $150,000 to help invest some nutrients into the financial foundation of our church. This will help us to be ready to receive and walk into all that God has for us moving forward.
