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New Church in Hamilton -- In the Tradition of the Reformation
Hi Friends
We are interested in starting a new church/denomination, with our first plant occurring right here in Hamilton.
The church will be centered on Jesus Christ and a deep respect, interest, delight and submission to the authority of Scripture Alone (sola scriptura).
Jesus is the sole head of His Church. But his Word calls for local under-shepherds to help lead his flock through the preaching and teaching of the Bible. We have a founding pastor who has planted churches and taught at theological colleges and universities all over the world. He is really excited to help build a new Reformed Church which would be really unique in Hamilton.
Our statement of faith will be the Westminster Standards with the American revisions: opc.org...
A few things that will make us unique to Hamilton:
- Our church will be led by a pastor with a proper theological education -- including a BA, two M.A.s, a Ph.D., knowledge of Biblical and ancient languages, experience in the mission field, and who has lectured at some of the top seminaries/theological in New Zealand and the World.
- We will be a friendly and welcoming Reformed Church. We are not a political movement. We do not support any particular party, race, or social philosophy. Just scripture.
- We will welcome people of all backgrounds and walks of life.
This means we want everyone to come and feel welcome. Our culture will be determined with everyone's input and contribution. In our view, this would be unique for a Reformed Church in Hamilton.
- While we respect and love people of all races and backgrounds, we have noticed there is an overrepresentation (to the exclusion of others) of leaders from Dutch/South African backgrounds in other Hamilton-based Reformed churches.
- While there is nothing wrong (in and of itself) with this Dutch overrepresentation in a Church -- sadly, we have noticed the unfriendliness, lack of charity, lack of curiosity and antisocial behaviour that unfortunately sometimes characterizes Dutch culture has taken root in these Hamilton Reformed churches.
- Sadly, you could attend these churches for years and not see a single Maori, Hebrew, Chinese, French, or Japanese (etc.) elder or pastor -- or even such a layperson in attendance. We will not be like this. We are founded on Christ and His Word -- not Dutch culture (or the culture of any other ethnity).
- To avoid this unfriendliness and to ensure all peoples are represented, we will limit our eldership to no more than 1 (or 20%, whichever is greater) Dutch/South African elders. Any more than two Dutch/South African elders must be offset by an equal number of Māori/Pasifika elders. We are a CHRISTIAN church, not a Dutch church.
- We have noticed that many of the Reformed Churches in New Zealand are pastored by folks with a very low level of theological education -- such as a single janky/patched-together degree from a kiwi institution or a degree from an understaffed theological college in Australia -- whose faculty we view as sadly lacking and whose academic rigor is low.
- In contrast, we will have a pastor who is trained, smart, kind, curious, open, outward-facing and caring. He won't be perfect. He will sin like we all do. But he is a humble leader and is not afraid to confess/repent when he screws up. He is not afraid to roll up his sleeves. He doesn't pretend to be "Holier than Thou."
- We will study, learn and grow! We will have weekly Bible Studies in which we move verse-by-verse through the Bible. We will not simply play a video or read a bit of Scripture and then fall back to a set of printed out questions. We will be led by trained individuals who are able to teach and lead Bible Studies directly from scripture.
- We will care about our people first and the community a close second. This means we want to help as much as we can -- not just those poor souls "over there" in other countries -- but first and foremost those in our own tent and in our own backyard. In our experience, Reformed Churches in NZ are not necessarily any more Christianized than mission fields abroad.
- We need the Word! We will preach it here first and foremost! We will be generous to others!
- We will know the difference between the law and the gospel. The focus of all Scripture is Jesus Christ. We will preach through the whole Bible, while never preaching sermons that don't have much about Jesus. Jesus will be the main point of every sermon.
- We embrace covenant Reformed theology -- historically redemptive in nature. We agree with the Two Kingdom/natural law approach to non-theological issues. It is totally fine if you don't understand or disagree with us on these stances. We can always fill you in and explain our perspective. And we can agree to disagree on these and many other issues. All our welcome. The point is that we trust God's providence on things like politics and do not feel like we need the Law of Moses to be the Law of New Zealand.
- We will have adult Sunday School on important topics - Church History, Systematic Theology, Ethics, Apologetics, Comparative Religions, etc..
- We will be fun! Reformed Christianity is all about glorifying God and ENJOYING Him FOREVER (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #1). Forever means right now just as much as next month, next year, or 1,000 years from now. We won't need a social committee to schedule our joy, fun and fellowship. The entire thing will be joyful and fun. God gave us senses of humour. We will celebrate this.
- We will have really good coffee. If you want/need bad coffee, you are still welcome! Just remember to bring your own.
- We will encourage families worshipping together. Children will have their own (age appropriate) Sunday School lessons. But they will be encouraged to remain with their parents during the worship service so that they can also benefit from the sermon.
- Our pastor will not be the "pope" of our church. He will lead us, not control us.
- Discipline will be reserved only for the most extreme and severe cases and will be done in accordance with God's word. Competent and caring "discipleship" makes "discipline" unnecessary.
- Our members will select the name for the church and for any potential future denomination. But just as a placeholder, we were thinking of calling it "Reformation Church of Hamilton."
IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN, PLEASE SEND A DM. OR EMAIL reformationchurchhamilton@gmail.com
Poll: Are domestic flights with Air NZ out of your budget?
A Tauranga man has filed a complaint with the Commerce Commission, claiming that due to dynamic pricing, it’s cheaper for him to fly to Los Angeles than to book a flight for his daughter from Tauranga to Wellington.
Do you think their pricing needs addressed to encourage more people to fly?
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95.6% Yes, it's too expensive
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3.8% No, it's reasonable
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0.6% Other - I'll share below
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