Ministry @ St Francis
PARISH COUNCIL UPDATES
2013 - May
2012 - April : May : June : July : August : September
How to get involved by Serving at St Francis
Serving at St Francis
At St Francis we encourage all of our members to participate actively in ministry – as part of the body of Christ. But one of the joys of belonging to this body is that nobody is forced to do more that he or she feels called to do. People offer themselves freely to God in response to his free gift of love, and enjoy being involved in service and ministry.
Download a list of ways in which people share in the formal ministry and mission of St Francis Church, and the names of those who lead or co-ordinate and exercise authority in the different areas. If you feel called to an area of ministry, please contact the Parish Office who will put you in touch with the leader concerned. If there is an area not mentioned below, please discuss this with Fr Timothy or one of the other clergy.
If you want to join a house group, you can download the list of options here and contact the Parish Office for more details.
Feedback from Parish Council – May 2013
The year 2013 got off to a good start and Council has debated and decided on a number of issues. Some of the discussions relate not only to St Francis, but also to Diocesan matters, interests and activities. Some issues that are newsworthy:
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A decision has been made to upgrade the sound system and in doing so, in essence replace the existing one; this process has started.
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Some consideration is being given on how best St Francis can communicate with its members in modern times; a mix of communication types and technologies is being considered, e.g. the screen in Café Cloisters.
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Following on the decision to employ a Children’s Church worker, there has been tremendous growth in both the Youth and Children in Sunday School. There are lots of new ideas and energy making this an exciting and interesting ministry for the Children, Youth and young adults alike.
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The Diocese of Pretoria has built a school offering world-class education at Garankuwa. It is a collaboration between the Church and the LEAP Schools’ Association focusing its education on science and maths.
Feedback from Parish Council – September 2012
Jon-Reece attended a 3-day Christian Youth
Revival Conference in September. He had a chance to interact with
150 other youth pastors from all over the country, and picked up
some new ideas for incorporation into the St Francis Youth Group.
The meetings takes place every Sunday evening and is regularly
attended by a group of 20.
The Archdeaconry event for Clean-Up Day was attended by
parishioners from St Francis, Corpus Christi, Trinity and St Anne’s.
The first part of the event involved clearing litter from the Serene
Valley part of Moreleta Spruit. In the afternoon, a smaller group
went on to Moretele Park, where they were joined by parishioners
from Mamelodi, in particular several young people from the St
Lawrence Guild of St Francis, Mamelodi.
Parish Council Feedback, August 2012
As part of on-going efforts to be more environmentally friendly, a
new geyser management system will be installed at the rectory and
parish centre. Within a few months the cost of the system will have
been paid back through savings in electricity costs.
In certain areas of the church gardens the roots of non-indigenous
trees are protruding through the surface of the ground. In other
areas, the condition of the grass has deteriorated irrecoverably –
leading to soil erosion and muddy patches which take ages to dry
out. These conditions have created slipping and tripping hazards. In
order to prevent accidents from happening, and to bring the garden
up to standard, four non-indigenous trees will be removed and
replaced by indigenous trees and the grass will be replaced where
necessary.
The old church pipe organ has deteriorated over the years. The
parish will be consulted in the near future on possible replacement
options.
Council is entering into its budget planning cycle for the next
financial year.
A successful Fill-a-Bag (Tumelong) was held on 19 and 26 August.
Due to the generosity of parishioners, the Car Fund for David raised
R32000. This will enable David to obtain a decent second-hand car.
The Family Night at the Movies on 17 August was supported by 25-30
people. A good time was had by all and a profit of R500 was made for
the Youth’s D-Camp fund.
The Youth are continuing to raise funds for D-Camp by selling
refreshments after the 7h30 and 9h30 services on Sundays. So if you
skipped breakfast, try their delicious bacon rolls. If you have a
sweet tooth, delectable cupcakes are on sale!
Parish Council Feedback, July 2012
St Francis appointed Jon-Reece Evans as Youth Chaplain, during 2010.
As part of our vision to create, “A Christian-centred community
deeply rooted in Anglican Spirituality, living in love and obedience
to God”, Council has agreed to, during 2013, also offer a gap year
to one of our young people to become involved in the life of the
Parish. It is hoped that time spent in this way will not only help
fostering the environment we visualize, but also one where the
foundation will be laid for the person to explore a possible
vocation. Based on the outcome of the first gap year offered in
2013, the decision may be made to extend it in the following years,
possibly involving more than one person at a time.
Parish Council Feedback, June 2012
St Francis has excelled at “building out” the previous Diocesan
Theme into what is currently known and run as “Family Matters” in
the parish. This will be used as the basis from which the new
Diocesan theme, “Renewed and
empowered through baptism to be servants of Christ and stewards of
the mysteries of God”, will develop and grow at St Francis. A workshop on implementing the Diocesan theme will
be held at St Francis on Saturday 28 July 2012.
Fr Timothy has introduced a once-a-month family orientated service, where
the focus will be on families in the broader sense (e.g. the family
of St Francis, the Christian family, one’s local community). This is
separate to the current first-Sunday-of-the-month Family services.
St Francis has an Environment Committee headed up by Jill Daugherty. To celebrate World Environment Day (5 June), special readings, prayers and liturgy were used at both services. The Committee arranged an exhibition in the parish centre which showcased, amongst others:
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A poster on how a geyser management system can save electricity
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A worm farm to demonstrate composting
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A waste plan for recycling.
In continuation of the move towards environmental sustainability,
the parishioners of the Pretoria East Archdiocese are invited join
up for a clean-up operation in Serene Valley (part of Moreleta
Spruit) on 15 September 2012 (Clean-up Day). Details to
follow in due course.
Parish Council Feedback, May 2012
The generosity of the St Francis of Assisi Community has enabled the building of EIGHT new churches in the past 10 years, the latest being Stanza Bopape. Members of the Stanza Bopape church will be fellowshipping with us at a Sunday service in the near future.
Tumelong: St Francis participated at the Tumelong Gala Dinner on 21 April 2012, where we were once reminded of the excellent work Tumelong does through its social outreach projects (www.tumelong.org.za). The Tumelong AGM was held on 12 May 2012. For those who are interested, a hardcopy of the Tumelong Annual Report is available at the Parish Office. Tumelong is sad to be losing its Director, Keba Matlhako, who has been poached by Nissan to manage their corporate social responsibility projects. The mere fact that Keba has been poached by private industry gives a picture of the level of work done by Tumelong.
The St Francis Craft and Fellowship Group donated 40 jerseys and 8 caps to Tumelong orphans. With generous donations from parishioners, June van der Merwe and her team were able to purchase tracksuits for a further 114 children who attend the crèche and nursery schools.
Youth/Children’s Church: The Youth now have a lounge to relax and socialise in. This was achieved through revamping of the “dungeon” in the Parish Centre. It is really a great asset to have and we hope it will greatly contribute towards the Youth activities of the Parish.
Confirmation: The class of 2011 (nine candidates) were confirmed on 27 May 2012. A further six candidates have joined the 2012 class, to be confirmed in 2013.
Council has overhauled its approach to handling collections and donations and is implementing improved security measures to ensure that all cash collected is appropriately and safely accounted for.
Parish Council Feedback, April 2012
The year 2012 got off to a good start. Shepherd Musanhu is settling in as new treasurer as matters are gradually being handed over by Gareth Evans. Key issues debated during the first quarter of 2012 include:
As part of our “Going Green” drive, various options are being investigated to save operating costs on the four geysers on site, in the church as well as the rectory;
Renovations were approved and done at the “Stuart Hendry” house as part of our stewardship responsibilities. Discussions were held with the Diocese and Trustees, and agreement reached on the future use of the property;
A Funds Committee has been established with the main purpose of creating a framework and guiding decisions on how best our funds and investments should be used in future. It is foreseen that members of the Parish may be invited to submit proposals as to worthy causes or principles that should guide our consideration.
Social outreach
Reports on various social outreach activities:
October 2009 : report on third trip to Zimbabwe
Link to Mission Zimbabwe website
June 2009 : report on second trip to Zimbabwe
June 2009 : Social Outreach Projects
December 2008 : Report on trip to Zimbabwe
Primate's statement on Zimbabwe
September 2008 : Social Outreach Projects