In Case of Abuse

At the Nov 19 church meeting, we adopted the Policy in Case of Abuse, (aka Church policy on Sexual Misconduct, and Church Policy on Managing Complaints : Specifically in regard to 'Mistreatment').

Read or download the policy from ...
http://westchurch.org.nz/wc/docs/WestchurchPolicyInCaseOfAbuse.doc

Westchurch is committed to providing a safe environment for all of its members - an environment in which they will be free of harassment and abuse.

The Church will seek to provide a positive, timely and just approach to dealing with any complaint or reasonable suspicion of harassment or criminal offending, providing support and fairness to both the complainant and the respondent.

To provide appropriate response in the event of an allegation:

• The contact people within the church will be listed and made known.
• In the case of any allegation of abuse or harassment, the church will follow the protocols and procedures set out in this Westchurch policy.

This policy document contains the following sections:

• Fundamental principles of the policy
• Complaints or Concerns - what to do
• What Happens Next
• Your rights
• Guidelines for working with young people in Westchurch
• Appendix: Ethical guidelines for church members

Thanks especially to Fiona for drafting this document.
[Elders]

Angel Tree

Just received! Another 20 'Angels' from Prison Fellowship. Ring or email me your interest in buying a gift for one (or two) of these 'Angels'.

Apologies for the very short notice but the gifts need to be to me by the 23rd November (unwrapped).

We really appreciate the support that you give to this project and know there will be many happy children on Christmas Day receiving a 'special' present from their parents.

I have also had the wrapping day confirmed - Saturday 29th November starting at 9.30 a.m. at Halswell Baptist Church - aim is to finish by 1pm.

Paula

Training Grant

Young people will be considering what to do after this academic year ends.

Having some fun sounds great! But once that's done you might consider some Christian training.

As a church we offer a grant to encourage & help finance such training. You simply apply for it.

Westchurch Bible Training Grant for Young People.pdf has the guff you'll need.

Our Documents

Here are some of our documents.

• Focus Framework (May 1998).doc 52K
• Mission Policy.pdf 120K
• Speaking at Westchurch.pdf 5.8K
• The Elders Vision for Westchurch.doc 22K
• Westchurch Bible Training Grant for Young People.pdf 33K
• WestchurchYouthInternship2009.doc 28K
• Youth Internship Youth Internship policy.pdf 234K

There may be other files added later.
Currently these are being put on ...
http://westchurch.org.nz/wc/docs/ .

Steve R

Red letters 08

Hi friend, you may have heard that we are intending to do another Red Letter Voices later in the year (November 21-22). Like last year that will mean a Friday night and all day Saturday. This year we want to explore the practice of fighting for others. For example:

• how does one fight for others at a political level (Kim Workman, NZ Director of Prison Fellowship),
• how does one fight for indigenous people (Jon Owen, Urban Neighbors of Hope Chapter Leader, Sydney Australia),
• how does one fight for global justice (Justin Duckworth, a Founder & Leader of Urban Vision, Wellington ),
• how does one fight for stigmatized women & children (Ruby Duncan, CEO Iosis, South Auckland ),
• how does one fight for the disabled (Evan Clulee, Ministries Director of Christian Ministries with the Disabled),
• how does one fight for peace (Adrian Leeson, who was one of the three arrested over their symbolic protest at the Waihopai spy base),
• how does one fight for the gay community without compromise ( Mike Hercock from Sydney who recently got over 100 Pastors to rally for the gay community even though some of them could not condone the practice of homosexuality),
• plus Musicians from both NZ & Australia whose music is a blend of God, us & the other.

The emphasis, as noted, will be on "how to…" rather than challenge. This will be an informative gathering. RLV will be sponsored by Alongsiders (Mick Duncan) and held at Carey Baptist College , Penrose, Auckland Friday 7.30-9.30, Saturday 9.30 – 4.30). There will be a conference fee of $50.00pp.

While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight, I'll fight to the very end!"

So, if you're keen to be at this gathering then flick me back an email: mick@michaelduncan.org

Mick

Nooma Series

Westchurch now has the Nooma series of 20 short films (around 10mins ea) in DVD form dealing with issues we care about and often want to talk about with friends, from a Christian perspective. They're a brilliant resource for small group discussion.

You can find out more & pre-view at http://www.nooma.com/ . [Also see earlier blog]

Contact Blair 352 6778 if you would like to borrow any of the series.

Chefs de Maison

Hard to read? Click on the picture/slide.
Steve

Reporting back:

The cooking demo went very well. Thank you to Ryan, Hamish and Grant who demonstrated great flair in the kitchen and to all for the tips shared. The $110 raised has been sent to World Vision's Born to Free project.
If you are interested in another evening some time in the future, maybe desserts?, please let me know.

Janine

Fistula Hospital

Human Rights Film Festival - Regent Theatre

May 22 at 6.45pm and
May 24 at 1.30pm

Showing the film "Walk to Beautiful" about the work of Dr Catherine Hamlin at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.

Dr Hamlin was nominated for a Nobel Peace prize in 1999.

Mission Committee

Friendships

SMALL GROUPS are a great way of building friendships, encouraging each other in the messy business of life & faith - and having a lot of fun! They can be Westchurch-based or made of a handful of friends or people with a common interest sport or hobby. If you're interested in belonging to a small group (no matter how small or odd-shaped), have space in yours for someone else, or would consider starting a new group - don't sit on the idea for too long! Take a first step - talk to someone about it. And the pastoral team (Kathy, Brian, Trudi & Blair) can help put you in touch with resources and others you could team up with.

Bad Blog?

If there is anything on this Blog, Calendar or Westchurch site that you think should be removed or modified ...

Call me on 322 5678 immediately or/and
email me the details via our email address: WstChch@gmail.com.

I'll attend to the matter ASAP.

Steve R

Blogging Begins

This blog site is open for anybody from Westchurch to write whatever they would like to write. It is expected that this will be good stuff and helpful for the church and other readers.

You will appreciate that this will lead to material and thoughts that may not receive consensus agreement for all Westchurch people. If you do comment and enter into debate publicly with the blogger then please be reasonable and polite.

Remember that this is in the public domain. You must be careful not to cause trouble with regard to personal safety, privacy, confidences, copyright and other social responsibilities.

I have modified the Westchurch web site (a draft site looking for someone to help give it a face lift and take responsibility for it) to include this Blog, a Calendar and an Email address - all thanks to good old Google. See http://met.net.nz/wc.

Steve R