INTRODUCING

Whānau Friendly

Our dream is for the local church to be a place where all generations are present: thriving, encouraging one another and growing in faith, together. It is our prayer that the Whānau Friendly Process will help

The Whānau Friendly Process

The Whānau Friendly Process is an intentional journey with teaching and reflection for the whole church whānau to engage in together. It fosters an understanding of the collective power of the congregation discipling young people – together. It has also been created to help congregations reflect on their current ministry and discern in which ways God may be leading them in the upcoming years.

 
 

Whānau Friendly Guide

Here is the complete Whānau Friendly Guide. This guide gives you all the information you will need to go through the Whānau Friendly Process.

 

What is the Process?

STEP BY STEP

PLAN
The process starts with a pause to ‘Plan’ ahead. We will start by forming a representative ‘Dream Team’ who will take responsibility for leading the entire Whānau Friendly Process. In the ‘Plan’ phase, the Dream Team will pray, gather informing documentation, and prepare and plan the ‘Learn’ phase.

LEARN
This is when we take time to ‘Learn’ together as a whole church whānau/family with all ages included. We have developed this phase to gather learnings in two ways:

  1. by surveying the ministry leaders in your church and people in your community to learn about areas of strength and growth needed.

  2. from the whole congregation gathering to watch the locally-produced Whānau Friendly film series, where they will learn about six key ministry essentials. The congregation will discuss the films, and then suggest ideas of how the ministry essentials could be lived out in your context.

REFLECT
This is when we ‘Reflect’ on what we’ve gleaned from the ‘Plan’ and ‘Learn’ Phases. We enter into a time of reflection and prayer as a Dream Team and ask God’s help in discerning what our actions will be as we move into our next season as a church community.

MOVE
This is when we take action and make our next moves together in ministry. Out of our reflection comes a list of steps we have discerned to prioritise moving forward. We first share these with the church council, ministry stakeholders and then the wider church family: then mobilise leaders and congregation to follow priorities.

Check out the first video in the Film Series

This is the first of six videos in the locally-produced Whānau Friendly film. To view the other videos and download the resources sign up.

 

Key Ministry Essentials

At the heart of the Whānau Friendly Process are six key ministry essentials. These ministry essentials are introduced to the congregation in the film series and are the basis for the discernment process.

 

  1. Christ-Centred -Individually and collectively committed to growing closer to Christ in our faith.

  2. Valuing Children, Young People and their Families -Give families in our community opportunities to fully participate in the mission

  3. Partnering with Families - We want to equip, support and resource our families

  4. Generational Connections - Authentic connections across the generations

  5. Faith Formation - Holistically inform, form, and transform the faith of children, young people, and their families

  6. Serving in Mission together - We imagine mission as something all ages can participate in together.

 

Any Questions?