Lets Put Antrim First

 

Let’s Put Antrim First – Update January 2010

 

This time last year First Antrim responded incredibly to the Let’s Put Antrim First pledge appeal.  Over 70 hours weekly of outreach work was pledged by 43 members of the Congregation.  Many of these pledges have been passed on to existing organisations to strengthen our current ministries.  Other pledges have resulted in individuals becoming involved in new ministries such as assisting in teaching English to foreigners living in our town. 

Over the last year ideas have been progressed to develop new ministries where other pledges can be put into action.  Through these ideas it is hoped that God’s love can be shown in new and relevant ways to Antrim today.  Separate “Think Tanks” are currently considering how the following ministries might be developed in First Antrim.

 

Food Parcels

Credit crunch is striking all around us and behind closed doors parents are struggling to feed their children.  Could this be a need we could help address from within our Fellowship?  Individuals within the Congregation have already donated generously to the Homestart Christmas Hamper Appeal.  This has been a practical demonstration of God’s love in action.  We hope that a food parcel ministry could become a weekly feature in the life of the Congregation to which people of all ages can contribute.

Cook-it Training

 35% of respondents to a recent Northern Ireland survey reported that they have poor cooking skills with 10% unable to boil an egg.  A further 25% reported only to be able to prepare a basic snack such as beans on toast.  These stark statistics are reflected in the lives of children whose parents are unable to provide them with basic nutrition.  

The “Cook-it” course offers basic cookery training that can equip parents in this struggle.  It is hoped that this could be a course that might be available on our premises.

Debt Counselling – Christians Against Poverty

Session has approved in principle investigating how First Antrim could work alongside Christians Against Poverty to help lift families out of their struggles with debt.  This is an exciting outreach ministry opportunity where families could receive experienced debt management advice along with counselling from trained individuals from within our Congregation.

Divorce Care

For every two new marriages in our town there is another divorce.  That means another family torn apart and grieving the loss of a stable home.  Divorce Care is a ministry where Christians who have directly experienced divorce can assist families going through similar experiences.  They can help to limit the damage caused by divorce and minister God’s love to those in pain.  Please pray for Maud McClenaghan and Rev. Parker as they consider this idea further.

Worship

20% of people in Northern Ireland have never been to Church in their lives apart from for weddings and funerals. For those with no experience of Church Sunday morning worship can be hard to understand. The time might not suit or our style of worship might be something that they have difficulty relating to.  Consideration is being given to a monthly alternative worship service on a different day of the week.  This would be an opportunity to experiment with other styles of worship and could provide a welcoming atmosphere for those with little or no experience of what Christian worship is about.

Supporting Teenagers

There are 12,000 teenagers in our town – 20% of our population while in the UK only 10% of 16 to 24 year olds regularly attend Church.  There are many successful ministries within First Antrim that reach out to this section of our society but are we doing enough?  Are there new approaches which we could develop?  This is being considered and new ideas for this area are welcome.

Reaching the Unreachable

Can we as a Church make more effort to reach the “unreachable” in our town?  Are there steps we could take to minister more effectively to those who are homeless?Could we be more helpful to those suffering from addiction or to those with sexual orientation issues?  These are issues that are being considered and again your suggestions would be very helpful.

Your prayers to date for our Outreach work have been greatly appreciated.  None of the ideas that are being considered will progress unless they are grounded in the prayers of the Congregation. Please continue to bring these proposals before God regularly. 

 

Do you feel called to being a part of any of these ministries?  If you have already pledged time to Let’s Put Antrim First maybe you might consider offering that time to one of these proposals.  Alternatively if you did not submit a form your pledges or any suggestions would be welcomed.   If you do please contact Mark Finlay or use the Contact Us section on the site

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Many thanks to all who have pledged time/talents/prayers for this challenging work. Please Join with us to continue to pray for the project, every Sunday evening after the Church service in the toddlers room.

There has been much discussion about the possibility of purchasing Viscount O'Neills premises adjacent to our church building. During the course of this discussion many members of the fellowship have caught a vision to engage both with our congregation and the community outside on a whole new level.

Due to the present financial climate things are at an impasse regarding this purchase but the vision for community engagement remains. The purpose of this letter and accompanying survey is to offer you, as a member of the congregation, the opportunity to volunteer your time and services to make this vision a reality ... whether or not we purchase the premises adjacent to our church.

Click the links below to view information on: The Family, the Lonely and Teenagers...

We appreciate that many of you are already involved in your neighbourhood, or in support of the church's Care Ministry and we want to support and encourage you in what you are doing. If you are willing to share what you are already doing it will help us to build up a picture of what is happening informally in respect to community witness outside the church buildings and perhaps enable us to support you better. (Please include this information in the appropriate box on the reverse of the 'Let's put Antrim First Form'.)

We may not receive much appreciation for this work. It may not cost us much financially, but it will cost us in time ...and for many of us that is a far more precious commodity .

On the reverse side of the 'Let's put Antrim First Form' is a table asking you if you are willing to volunteer your time and your services to engage with the community around us. Follow the links above for several examples of things you could do ... but these list is not exhaustive, and there will be plenty of opportunities just to support the initiatives of others. If you have other ideas which you would think are worth trying we would be delighted to hear about them. We are looking for anything from serving a cup of tea once a week to running a marriage enrichment seminar twice a year.

In signing your name on the sheet or sharing your idea you are not committed to a life of eternal community work! This is an exploratory survey. Before we embark on anything we need to establish whether or not we have the resources and support of this congregation. If no one signs up then we will know we are not in a position to move forward.

 

All forms were due to be completed and returned by 8th March 2009. However, it is never too late if you wish to be of service. You can fill in the details of the form via the 'contact us' page on this website or by completing the downloaded form and returning it to the Church office.