Core Values
St Christopher’s is a Dynamic Anglican Church
We are Dynamic, not docile but on the move and adapting to the needs of the day. The message stays the same but its presentation of Jesus varies and is always to be up to date and relevant.
We are a Church rather than a club. The word church comes from the Greek word Ecclesia. Church was God’s idea. The church is the “bride of Christ”. It is something to be revered rather than destroyed. Psalm 133 – “How great it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity”. That is what the church is to be, the unified group making a difference in the world.
We are involved in the 5C’s – Catch, Cultivate, Celebrate, Care and Commission.
Catching refers to evangelism
Cultivation refers to building people up in the faith
Celebrating refers to the 5 unique services we have each week with a special focus
Caring concerns the pastoral care of people, of visiting in hospital the sick, the lonely etc
Commission is our endeavour to ensure that people work out what their God given gifts are and encourage them to utilize them for His glory.
At St Christopher’s we have the cradle to the grave mentality...
We do not specialize in one age group or one style. We are not a youth church, we are not a young married’s church, we are not a church for older folk, we are all of the above, plus more. However we do have specialized congregations in which we target.
For instance at the 7.45am service in the mornings, our target group is our over 60’s who like the old prayer book.
Our target at the 9am service are those maybe in the 48 to 60 year old age range who enjoy the new prayer book and quality music.
The 10.30am is aimed at families and so there is a large informal element at the beginning of the service with children playing instruments before going out to their Christian Education programme.
The 7pm service - sunday@7 - is targeted for 19 to 30 year olds.
On Wednesday at 10am we target those who are shut in and can’t get to church on Sundays.
Our cradle to grave mentality means that we have a programme and interest that reach right across the spectrum – in terms of age, style, personality and times.
We are a large church...
Presently we average 650-700 people each week and so we encourage the culture of thinking bigger rather than smaller. Our aim is to involve more and more people in ministry to help cover the increasing needs that people in society have. So rather than cut down on the number of services and assistance we offer, we tend to add more.
As a large Anglican Church we recognise that many people from out of town enjoy coming to St Christopher’s while on holiday, therefore we must have the quality programmes 52 weeks a year.
While we are a large church, we do not regard size as a major goal, rather we believe in doing the basics well and when we do that, number growth usually occurs. So we see growth as a by-product, not an aim in itself.
Of much more importance is the health of the church, rather than the size. We are not out to grow the St Christopher’s empire, but to expand the word of God. It just so happens that St Christopher’s is situated in a city and a suburb that makes it conducive to growth.
We cannot grow effectively without being good at being small...
In other words, small groups are an essential part of St Christopher’s. New Christians and newcomers to St Christopher’s are always encouraged to join a small relational group. The small group is the “primary belonging” area. In each small group, people experience worship, sharing, study, prayer and there is an outward ministry focus as well.
We must enter into the competition of the age as referred to in Acts 17...
In that instance Paul observed the idols that were worshipped and quoted “none of us is far from God”. Ministry today and evangelism in the new millennium means we must utilize those particular situations that surround us. With that in mind we must make the best use of the media for advertising and for putting the message of Jesus Christ and of St Christopher’s across in many creative ways. We must encourage links with all the media. We must be bold in how we advertise.
It is my belief that too many good services get too few people attending because we don’t advertise well enough to non believers. The Country Gospel Service is well known throughout Christchurch and even New Zealand mainly because of the extensive amount of time and energy and prayer with advertising being vital.
In this post modern society we are to take seriously the challenge of introducing people to Jesus Christ. We embrace Paul’s injunction in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 – to be all things to all people in order to win a few:
I am a free man, nobody’s slave; but I make myself everybody’s slave in order to win as many people as possible. While working with the Jews, I live like a Jew in order to win them; and even though I myself am not subject to the law of Moses, I live as though I were when working with those who are, in order to win them. In the same way, when working with Gentiles, I live like a Gentile, outside the Jewish Law, in order to win Gentiles. The does not mean that I don’t obey God’s law; I am really under Christ’s law. Among the weak in faith I become weak like one of them, in order to win them. So I become all things to all men, that I may save some of them by whatever means are possible. All this I do for the gospel’s sake, in order to share in its blessings.
There is no one sort of worship service or methodology that we embrace at the exclusivity of others. Rather our Anglican diversity is ideal for us to be all things – in order to win people to Christ.
Leadership and teams are vital...
A leader is one who is followed and so each staff member must develop a team. This is known as the Jethro principal. Teams can do much more work than individuals and so everyone in a leadership capacity is called to train and equip and surround themselves with a team. Recruitment is standard practice at St Christopher’s. If you are a leader of a ministry then you must develop recruitment strategies. We acknowledge recruiting volunteers is difficult but if we don’t we will surely die! Every person at St Christopher’s is encouraged to recruit and “promote” from within the church.
We win or lose on Sundays...
Sunday is the “big match” day. For many staff members this is the most important day of the week. It is the culmination of all that has taken place in the previous few days. Sunday is a time when our worship services must be like an oasis where folk who are exhausted from ministry and working through the week can come and be refreshed, re-energised and re-equipped in preparation for their next week of ministry in their particular work, recreation or living space. Therefore we value quality preaching.
It is important that our music has a quality factor.
On the first Sunday of each month at 10.30 we have a space for testimonies and sharing times.
We recognise the importance of an effective welcome for folk who come on a Sunday. Moreover we believe that the cup of tea provided at the end of the services gives a chance for regulars to speak to newcomers and to help incorporate them and make them feel welcome.
We believe that every Christian must learn to grow both in confidence and competence in their relationship with the Lord...
While we at St Christopher’s have a duty to provide a lot of opportunity for personal growth, we believe that individuals have to take responsibility for their own situation as well. Laidlaw College (Bible College) of New Zealand is only five minutes away from here and it offers many courses.
The Anglican Church provides many courses for those who want to deepen their knowledge of God. We encourage all parishioners to develop a daily habit of Bible reading and prayer.
We are allowed to fail...
Failure indicates that at least you are trying new ways and new ideas and that you are out of your comfort zone. However it is important to learn from our failures. Another way of looking at failures is to call them excellent mistakes. It is important that we learn from them.
We value involvement above excellence...
The church is the body of Christ, we work together to change the world. It requires all of us to use our gifts as expressed in Romans 12. Fortunately our church is big enough to have many people sitting there and not using their gifts because they are burnt out. This is certainly acceptable for a season.
While we do value excellence for God it must not be at the expense of involvement. This involvement is expressed in the way we have teams of people to read the Bible, to be on the chalice, to be welcomers etc. While we give training we do not expect flawless performances.
I would much rather have a church with 100% involvement making a few mistakes than merely allowing the “experts” to do things.
If you are to be a leader at St Christopher’s then it is important that you are leading a life worthy of that calling...
The Biblical imperative of leadership is leading a moral life and so being a good role model (1 Tim 3:1-7). It is important to realize that people of all lifestyles, beliefs, creeds are welcome to come to St Christopher’s church. This is not a school for saints but a hospital for sinners. However, leadership roles demand the living of an authentic Christian lifestyle. So if you are involved in a violent domestic or marital relationship, if you are sexually unfaithful, living together rather than married, if you are engaged in a sexually active gay lifestyle, if you are dishonest in the use of money and taxation or if you indulge in drunken behaviour, then this would preclude your participation in leadership on Vestry and staff team. But you would still be very welcome to attend St Christopher’s.
We are a church that encourages people to tithe...
This is an act of faith because many people believe that giving should just be spontaneous. However giving is an act of will and of faith. Tithing is not just an Old Testament directive, it is also reinforced by the teachings of Jesus (Matthew 23:23).
New Christians and non-believers may not find it possible to give 10%, however as we grow in our Christian faith and maturity then giving a tithe to the Lord’s work is an imperative—Malachi 4:10.
Part of the St Christopher’s culture is tithing – giving one tenth of our income to God’s work. For some people this is a huge step, while for others they see tithing as a minimum.