Better Resourcing Mission & Vision
Our St Luke’s Greytown whānau have rethought how their facilities can better serve the mission and vision of the parish.
St Luke’s Greytown after refurbishment.
UPDATE (8/6/2022): The playground has been installed and resource consent granted to work on a new community hall. Check out the pics of the playground on Facebook and make sure you stop by next time you are in Greytown.
“A few years ago (2017) we set about trying to discern what caring for the least, the last and the lost in our community would look like. Despite being a relatively affluent area, Greytown does have some material need. However we realised that one of the most important pressing issues was that of loneliness and genuine connection. We embarked on a community mapping exercise and eventually came to our mission/vision statements which flowed out of diocesan commitment to be a faith community that cares for those on the margins,” says Vicar Rev. Harry Newton.
Our vision is to be a visible vibrant community following the way of Jesus.
Our mission is to connect people to one another and to Jesus.
As we went through this process we realised we wanted to have assets that better resource our mission hence our decision to dramatically redevelop our site.
Last weekend they were supposed to be building a new community playground on the church site. With no playgrounds close by, the new community playground will provide a space for families to connect. However, there’s been a wee hold up – the playground went missing en route from the factory! “While frustrating, it’s kind of funny – how do you misplace a 1 tonne playground?” says Harry. The playground has now been found.
They have already transformed their church interior to be more modern and flexible multi-use space which is available for the wider community and resource consent is being sought for a new community hall. The new hall will go next to the new playground and will provide a space for community and church groups to meet and will also house the community foodbank and food pantry.
But it doesn’t end there. They plan to demolish the, currently derelict, hall and construct a house on the site with the vision of placing youth workers there, rent free, to serve the community.
“All our work to date has been funded by generous donations of members of the STL community which is incredibly humbling. As a result we shouldn’t end up with any debt while securing a modernised church interior, community hall and playground and a new Vicarage (we currently don’t have one).” Said Harry.
St Luke’s Greytown before refurbishment.
The site for the playground.
The finished playground. The kids are removing the caution tape.
