Vision for Children's Ministry

Jesus said, 'Feed my lambs..take care of my sheep.' (John 21)

Vision:
To serve and encourage families within the DNA church, expressing the love
of God and complementing parents' care and teaching of their children.

Nurturing Objectives:
To teach about God's love through His Word and nurture the growth and
development of young people aged 2 to 11 years by

· encouraging children's creative and spiritual gifts

· promoting confidence, self-esteem and a sense of belonging to God's Church - The Body of Christ.

· complementing young peoples' dreams, aspirations and walk before God

· encouraging them to contribute to the life and ministry of DNA church.

Training
· To train up others to work with children and their families, especially those with a heart for mission or those that wish to work with children in other situations.

Public and Social Responsibility
· To reach out to unchurched families during Services and at one-off, special events.
· To meet the requirements of Social Services and The Children's Act as it relates to the care and safety of children.

Janie and David’s Epistle!

Janie and David’s Epistle!

For some time we have been feeling the strain of everything that has sprung up over the last 4 years or so. Our home has become overloaded with gear; our finances have often been stretched because we don’t always get paid on time; and we have become irritated (old turkeys aren’t we?!) when we are doing a multitude of activities all at once. We have realised that DNA is not structured effectively so as to support and facilitate all that is going on. Our light structures were fine when we started off; now they need to be strengthened.

The Acts 6 story

When the Apostles became overloaded with too much caring, some people were left out and disadvantaged (see Acts 6). The Apostles called the people together and the people chose 7 deacons to ensure that everybody was catered for adequately. Then the Apostles concentrated on the Word of God and prayer. Tri Nguyen has helped us see that we need to do something similar here in DNA. We therefore want to create 7 Servant Teams to take care of many areas we do badly, or sometimes not at all. These are the teams we imagine and a brief description of their responsibilities.

Seven Servant Teams

Administrative/secretarial: typing, photocopying, telephoning, filing, packing boxes, keeping the office in order, updating address lists etc.

Finance: paying in offerings to the bank, bookkeeping, reporting on income and expenditure, paying bills, promoting the ministry of giving in the community

Communication: sending emails, maintaining and developing the website, producing newsletters, publicising activities

Equipment: maintaining and managing all equipment (PA, audio-visual, computers, photocopier, minibus etc.) rota for PA operators, recommending purchases when things need to be replaced

Hospitality at worship events: welcoming, setting up, making coffee, rota for providing refreshments, packing up on Sundays and other major events on Sundays and other major events

DNA - Mission

DNA NETWORKS’ Mission
is to be and do the Fingerprints of Jesus:
Jesus declared his fingerprints (his unique “DNA”) when he said: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me…

• To preach the gospel to the poor;
• He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted,
• To proclaim liberty to the captives,
• To set at liberty those who are oppressed
• Recovery of sight to the blind,
• To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

These fingerprints correspond to the five gifts Jesus has given the church as described by Paul in Ephesians 4; 11.

Apostles are sent to announce the Favour of God
Prophets speak so that blind eyes are opened and God is glimpsed
Evangelists bring Good News for the poor and poor in spirit
Pastors heal broken-hearted people
Teachers release the godly dreams that are locked up in people’s hearts

Psalm 23; 3 says, “He restores my soul.” Psalm 104; 15 speaks of how our whole lives are restored by Bread, Wine and Oil.

To be and do the fingerprints of Jesus, our souls need to be continually restored by:
Bread to sustain our strength:
The Word of God
Wine to gladden our hearts:
The Joy of Community
Oil to make our faces shine:
The Presence of the Holy Spirit

Sunday evenings

St Martins is open for spending some quiet time with God on Sunday evenings. It's a time to reflect and to hear from God as we seek his heart for the town of Colchester. Adults are welcome to come along between 8pm and 9pm Sunday evenings.