Hey Family!
Welcome to the AGM edition of 'The Scoop'
15 years ago, we started CoastEC with a handful of people (like Tom and Ali Brittle!) who had a desire to plant a church that would seek to make Jesus known this area. Our goal was to make more and better disciples of Jesus, and to start a church that started other churches up the coast.
Since then we've seen God draw many people to Himself and build his church to what it is today (including another church up in Taree - MBC).
Jesus has certainly been true to his promise: "I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matt 16:18). So praise God for all of that!
We're now working in partnership with other churches in our network to start more churches in the next few years
Here are the 2023 ministry reports and some plans for 2024 and beyond.
I hope these keep you informed, encouraged and prayerful as we press on together to grow the gospel in this beautiful region of ours.
Love you all deeply,
Chris
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart" (Philippians 1:3-7)
It's a huge privilege to work on the staff team, and I'm really thankful to God for this crew!
Thanks Dev, Heather & Meg for all your work amongst us in 2023!
Long term, we’re trying to build a staff team that will help us grow to 1000 people on a Sunday.
Meg - at the end of this year, she will finish her ministry apprenticeship and her diploma of theology. Our focus this year will be training her to lead leaders and teach God’s Word. Lord willing, Meg will then go to bible college for 2 years full time (2025-26) to complete a theology degree and to get better equipped for full time ministry. We're hoping she comes back to serve with us in 2027!
Kids & Youth Pastor (or Assistant Pastor) (2025) - We’ve been advertising for a Kids and Youth Pastor for a few years but we haven’t had any suitably qualified applicants. We will now broaden the search to find an assistant pastor (which would include oversight of Kids & Youth) and shuffle some other staff responsibilities (depending on the giftedness of the new staff member). Please pray for the Lord to raise up a godly and gifted servant.
We're working towards having our own purpose-built facilities to house and grow our ministries.
We've made some tweaks to our previous design to make it more affordable (which we'll show you at the AGM).
Construction will be a combination of tilt-up concrete (for the auditorium) and modular construction.
Our Project Manager (Adam Birkefeld) will be at our AGM to give us an update, and there will be time for QnA.
Once we get approval from council to build (DA), we'll start raising the capital to build it.
If you’re able to start giving monthly to our building fund (even a small amount), this will help us demonstrate our ability to service a loan for construction.
If you’d like to help keep our block of land neat and tidy, speak to Dev about about joining our Green Team!
Mission is about growing in our love for the lost and helping others come to know Jesus.
It seems like God really is at work in our region - drawing people to Himself through the gospel
The amount of visitors we've had to our Sunday services and youth group has been amazing.
It's been so beautiful seeing Jesus grab hold of some of our brothers and sisters and make them His.
People like Rowan and Lisa; and Stephen.
We've celebrated baptisms!
We've had a bunch of guests checking out Jesus at LIFE (our 4 week intro to Christianity at Club Forster).
A number of them have started coming to church, and some others are also coming to our new EXPLORE group (a weekly Coast Group for those investigating Christianity).
It's pretty low-key: dessert, discussion, QnA and a short bible study in Mark's gospel.
Please pray for the Lord to grab hold of them and make them His forever!
And let's keep praying for other people we know, that the Lord would give us opportunities to point them to Jesus.
WORKING TOGETHER
In 2020 we planted mMBC in Taree. Check out their agm report here.
We’re are also working with other FIEC churches on the mid-north coast to start new churches in the largest regional centres between Forster and the Qld border. Please pray for God to raise up church planters for these towns (especially Kempsey).
We’re also partnering together to run a combined youth conference (MCYC) and seniors weekend away. In the coming years, we’re also looking at launching a mid-coast men’s and women’s conference.
MISSION WEEK (7-14 APRIL)
We have a team of students from Moore Theological College coming up for a week to get some training and to partner with us in disciple-making. This is a great opportunity to help raise us the next generation of Christian leaders!
They will run some seminars and events you can attend and also invite friends to.
We will be billeting the team in our homes, so if you can host a student or a family for the week, let us know! Fill out this form.
Connect
We praise God for growing His flock here at Coast EC and reconciling lost sons and daughters’ home to Him throughout the year of 2023! What a celebration it is when the Gospel truth pierces hearts and minds, and we get to welcome them into our family as an emulation of Christ's gracious invitation to us into His eternal family.
As of December 2023, we have 309 people gathering with us on a regular basis at CoastEC - whether they're connected through Kids Church, Salt, Riptide, 6pm & 4pm Church services and/or mid-week Coast Groups. This equates to an overall 18% growth since December 2022 - what a faithful Father we have!
Let's keep up the stellar work of welcoming people well and helping them feel connected into our family, and pray that the Lord will continue to draw new people to Him and His flock at CoastEC in 2024 and beyond.
Family News
Praise God for Meg & Boaz, Darci & Marcus, Mitch & Tamika, Dave & Lou, Monica & Calvin, Ben & Elana, Elena & Glenn, Mitch & Dyarna, Amanda & Codan, Tazia & Bryn, and Laura & Matt who have all welcomed little ones into the world in 2023/early 2024!
The Lord is also at work forming new life in Jaz De Gioia and Tash Clifton - we'd love you to be praying with us that they'd each be trusting the Lord during this season and that their babies would grow healthily to full term.
Petra Flower, who grew up in Forster and in our faith family at CoastEC, has been serving onboard the Logos Hope Ship for just over a year now! She's enjoying growing in her faith and trust in Jesus alongside other brothers and sisters, having opportunities to use her gifts of dance and teaching children to worship our King, and seeing God's Faithful hand at work in the lives of people from all around the globe. We praise God for the way He's using Petra for His glory, and look forward to hearing about all He has planned to do in and through her in 2024 on board the ship.
Newish
It's been exciting seeing a steady trickle of new people from all walks of life, meeting Jesus and plugging in with us at Coast EC.
Over winter, we generally see a decline in new people coming along, but the Lord drew many to our faith family over the colder months in 2023!
Praise God for the power of the gospel to save and unite!
Our newcomers have been blessed by the hospitality of Pete & Steph Flower, Ally Hawkins, and Grant & Luisa Sweeney as they've opened up their homes and hosted meals.
Please be praying that the Lord will continue to bring people into our fellowship, and that He would amplify our hearts for hospitality.
Formal Members
This year we've welcomed Noah Hazlewood, Matt Young, Ally Hawkins, Lisa & Rowan Lacey, Stephen Pinkney & Tiana Young as formal members of Coast EC! We love it when more people choose to partner with us in the gospel and to get on board with our specific mission!
Loving & Caring Community
Over the course of the year, we were able to pass on your generosity towards the Love Bomb Fund to bless 3 people in the form of grocery vouchers, fuel vouchers and various bills.
The love that people have for one another at CoastEC, and the continuous extensions of sacrificial generosity is such an immense blessing to witness! Brothers and Sisters in our family have been generous with their time in organising home and hospital visits to those who have been battling illness, offered to clean houses, provided meal deliveries for new families and those doing it tough, offered transportation, and gathered to pray with one another. It's a blessing to see so many people living out God's Word in action and being led by His Spirit to love one another. It reminds me of these verses in James 1:22-24:
'But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was.'
After battling kidney disease for a number of decades, and reaching stage 5 renal failure in December, our sister Carolyn went to be with the Lord on the last day of 2023. She went along to the inaugural combined FIEC Churches Senior's Retreat in October before her health declined, and it was a joy to hear that she had a wonderful time and was strengthened by God's Word and His people. Amidst the sadness of her going, it has been heart-warming to witness God's body in action loving deeply and generously through hospital visits, phone calls and prayer. We praise God for the assurance and hope that Carolyn will never again experience sickness or pain, and we will one day see her resurrected body in the presence of our Saviour and King.
Gathering
We held our annual Sunday Roast event again this year! Sunday Roast is such an fun & epic way to offer hospitality and gather together with new and familiar faces from within our church family. We've got two Sunday's scheduled in to share a meal in this way together in 2024 which we hope you will be apart of as a guest or host!
Romans 12:13 'Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality'
What a great joy it was to gather with one another for a holiday up at Scott's Head!
In September, just under 100 of us spent a beautifully sunny weekend together surfing, bike riding, spike ball-ing, playing card and board games, having water-fights, eating yummy food and enjoying the unity we have together in Jesus! One of the highlights of the weekend was having Church together on Sunday morning and hearing Stephen share how the Lord is at work shaping his heart to be like Jesus'.
Lock in 20-22 September in your diaries for our 2024 holiday!
Grow People
Our desire for Coast is that we are a people growing in Christlikeness as the Spirit works in our lives. In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he writes: '...we are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God..' (Col 1:9-10). It has been our great joy in 2023, to see this happen incredibly in our community. God has been very gracious to us as we see many 'walk worthy of the Lord' and 'bear much fruit' as they serve Him.
One of our great privileges is to sit together in God's good Word. Last year we spent time in finishing up Luke's Gospel, then jumped into the joyful letter to the Philippians, before landing in the hard-hitting book of 1 Corinthians. One of the most crucial parts of how we function as a family is that our Coast Groups sit in the same passage together each week and then sit under that part of Scripture as we gather on Sundays. It brings a sense of unity (from our teen CGs all the way to our Senior CGs!) and helps our people read and wrestle with the Bible before they hear it preached. We've seen God work through His Word & Spirit so much this past year - as people kill off sin, rely on Him, and choose to honour Jesus in their life circumstances. It's been humbling and encouraging to be a part of.
We've also taken the chance to prepare ourselves as our society continues to move further and further away from their Christian foundation. Many people gathered to take part on a seminar about Transgenderism and the challenge it brings to the church. We are keen to keep exploring different and hopefully helpful topics as we continue to equip our people. In 2024 we'll be spending time looking at what God says will happen in the end times, perspectives on Indigenous spirituality and Christian belief, and also help our people understanding how the bible fits together as a whole.
One of my greatest joys this last year has been gathering with a group of solid, faithful people each Wednesday morning (via Zoom!) to pray for the people of Coast and our region.
Grow Leaders
A massive thank you needs to go out to all of our Coast Group Leaders! We have always been incredibly blessed with godly, humble, and very able teachers of God's Word. Thank you to Steph Flower, Celeste Suters, Ann Roberts, Lynne Christie, Ali Brittle, Pete Flower, Dave Hayes, Chris & Sharon Ekins, Hazy & Jodie Hazlewood, Dave & Lou Warner, Brent & Rebecca Pakalniskis, Michael & Naomi Dasey, Alan & Felicity Suters, Bill & Jackie France, Meg Graham, Jason Little, Mitch Wilson, Juliette Schubert, Gemma Willmott, and Amanda Tatzenko! For leading, teaching, prepping and loving your CGs - we are very grateful!
To Celeste, Lynne, Amanda, and Mitch - they are all taking a break in 2024 from leading. Praying you can all have a good refresh as you serve in other roles at Coast.
Another person I'm very grateful for is Aimee Lofberg. In 2023 she started up a new mum's support group. One where they can come and share, fellowship, connect and pray. This has been a huge blessing to many. And - in 2024, we are incorporating a bible study time and some creche helpers to turn it into a Mums & Bub's Coast Group! Woohoo! Please pray for this as it's already a big group - and getting bigger with more bubs on the way!
We had an awesome foursome participate in our GAP Year program last year. Noah Hazlewood, Mitch Wilson, Sophie France, and Andy Young spent the year growing and serving, as the invested into the life of Coast. Praise God for what He has done in and through them. I'll miss hanging out with them each Thursday (we had a lot of laughs!) and will be forever thankful they jumped on board.
God is growing GAP - not just at CoastEC (22 people so far!) - but also within our FIEC network. We've introduced the concept and content to Wagga Evangelical, Maitland Evangelical, Anchor Church Coffs, The Point Community Church in Port Mac, and Manning Bible Church in Taree! They have run with it and have their own GAP participants working through their programs - please pray that God would enable them to flourish and their church communities would be built up and blessed for years to come.
We've also had Meg Graham participate in her second year of our Ministry Apprenticeship Program in 2023. I'm sure you'll agree that our church family is beyond blessed to have her serving alongside us. She has had oversight over our Membership area, Women's ministry, and Senior's ministry focus areas. Whilst studying her Diploma in Theology through SMBC Online and completing Reach Australia's 'Learn to Lead' program! What. A. Weapon!
Please continue praying for her this year, as she completes her final MAP year.
Grow Groups
One of our hopes at Coast is to help as many people as possible land in a Coast Group.
Last year - by God's grace - we had the most number of groups (21) we've ever had and the most amount of people regularly attending those groups (183 people by start of Dec)! That's over 82% of our people in Coast Groups. Golden!
We are totally convinced that our CGs are one of the most helpful ways for us to grow in our understanding of God's Word and our love for the brothers and sisters in our community. So, it's great to see so many jump in and commit to each other in this way.
Please would you continue praying that God would grow our groups (and leaders!) and He would use them to help us grow in Christlikeness in 2024.
Build Teams
One of our desires as a church is to support and equip our people to build Christ's Body as they serve with their time, treasure and talents.
In 2023, we saw many worship in a practical way as they loved each other throughout each week.
People making meals for those who have just had a new bub, or are sick or recovering from surgery. Others looking after our block of land to ensure it's neat and tidy. Some organising garage sales, cleaning houses, paying for fuel, giving others a lift to CGs or services. People designing logos, shirts, bookmarks, promo material, videos. Plus, so many more things. Throughout each week there is an immense amount of serving weaving it's way through our church community. To those involved - THANK YOU! I'm privy to lots of it - however, I also know that there is a whole heap that I don't see or know about. So, thank you for loving each other so well. It's a privilege to be a part of such a loving and vibrant family.
This servant-heartedness flows into our Sunday gatherings. 78% of those that call Coast home are in our Sunday Ministry Teams. That's a phenomenal number! It takes a lot of people to put on our gatherings and it's very humbling to have so many being part of those teams.
Build Leaders
Over the last year or so we've had a focus on building up our Ministry Team Leaders - with vision, training and support. They do an awesome job as they coordinate and communicate with their teams. Thank you to Grant Sweeney, Jodie Hazlewood, Carol Holm, Ann Roberts, Dave Fitz, Marty Lofberg, Anna Davidson, and Meg Graham! We are grateful for the extra time and effort you all put into serving our people so well.
A special thank you to Ann Roberts who has led our Collection Team over the last few years. She has done a wonderful job! We have decided to amalgamate the Collection, Communion & Connect Teams into one, with Meg overseeing them in 2024. Ann has very kindly stepped down from leading her team enabling her to have more time with her Coast Group leading role.
6PM
In Feb we re-launched our 6PM Service in the Girl Guide's Hall. We started off with just below 30 people and by November we had approximately 55 gathering each Sunday - many of them new to Coast (and some new to Christ!). Praise God that he is growing our community!
There are lots and lots of people that have made this possible. In particular a big thanks to Pete & Steph Flower for providing so much good food over the last year. To Cooper, Kaylee, Josiah and Jason - you guys have blessed us immensely with the musical gifts God has blessed you with. Thank you!
We've now outgrown the Guide Hall and have moved back into the School Hall. Please be praying that we....outgrow that!
2024 - CHANGE OF SERVICE TIMES (Winter Time Trials)
We want our Sunday Services to be accessible to as many people as possible. Both our services are multi-generational and open to anyone, but they each have a different focus and flavour. 4pm is particularly geared toward young families (with a kids program) and seniors. 6pm is trying to connect with young adults and youth (many of whom serve at the 4pm service kids program).
We've been wondering if these are the best times to continue with, or if there might be better times to try. We flagged the idea at Dream and Scheme.
The 6pm crew were keen for an earlier time slot, and the 4pm crew were not in favour of a morning service (eg 10am). So from 5th May we'll be doing some time trials over Winter. Our 4pm service will change to 3pm and our 6pm service will change to 5pm.
We think 3pm might work well for young families (especially those with little kids who eat dinner early!) and seniors (who may prefer to drive home while it's still light). There is still time after the service for dinner-catch ups if people want to party on.
We think 5pm will work well for our night service because it's means we won't finish so late. The means the teens can get home earlier on a 'school night' and the young adults can head out for dinner (before everything shuts!) and still get home early enough before work on Mondays.
We'll review how these timeslots are going towards the end of Daylight Savings.
Kids Church
Our Kid's church team has pumped this year! So many serving week in and week out.
We are super thankful for all those who serve and love our kids this way. A massive shout out to AJ Blair who serves as our Kid's Coordinator! It is a big role and and the amount of effort put in is amazing. She helps to organise and communicate with our Team Leaders - Amanda Pak, Hazy, Sophie France, and Tiana Hazlewood. Who, in turn, lead their teams. Thank you to all five of you for the work you've put in last year.
Both Hazy & Amanda Pak are finishing up in their roles as Team Leaders - thanks for the faithful job over so many years.
We also have started a Leader's in Training (LIT) program for some of our early teens helping out, as we look to develop good, godly depth with those who serve our kids. Plus pray that this continues to help them grow into great leaders who serve well in the coming years.
SALT
Every Friday arvo we run our Kids Club program in the Guide's Hall.
Juliette Schubert has done such a sweet job in growing SALT - not only in those coming along but also in the quality of the program. She leads her team well. Thank you!
Each Friday there were 10-12 kids coming along, with many inviting their mates to hear about Jesus.
Please keep praying for this ministry to grow and be a great opportunity for Coast kids to have fun and have opportunity to help their buddies hear about what God has done for them.
Our Youth community witnessed a great season of growth in 2023! We had over 50 teens come along for the first time on Friday nights. That's epic!
A few put their faith in Jesus and many grow in leaps and bounds in their confidence in Christ. It was a cracker year.
Our Leaders had some training from Dale Brown (The Point Community church, Port Mac) at the beginning of the year and then Dr Rev Rob Smith (via video) on the transgender challenge facing our culture and how we can respond to that well as leaders.
Thanks to our Youth Team - Amanda Pakaniskis, Juliette Schubert, Gemma Willmott, Meg Graham, Jason Little, Codan Pakalniskis, Boaz Flower, Mitch Wilson, Noah Hazlewood, Lachie France, and Cooper Sweeney ! They give up each Friday evening to serve, lead and love our teenagers super well!
Praise God that our community is growing - we've had to move out of the Guide's Hall and move into the school because of the growth! So good!
KYCK
In April we road-tripped to the Blue Mountains again for the Katoomba Youth Conference. It was Epic!
We had 34 of our community come along, as we jumped into Mark's Gospel to 'Meet Jesus'. Our crew was absolutely pumped with the weekend.
KYCK is a great chance for fellowship - getting to know each other and also a chance for those kids who don't know Jesus to come along and hear the Gospel explained by someone outside of the Coast bubble.
Praise God that God showed mercy on Ashlyn Johnson, Matilda Ballard, and Zarabella Simmons - all three girls gave their lives to Jesus and continued growing their faith each Friday at Riptide.
Please be praying for April, 2024, as we head down again and spend sometime in the Book of Genesis.
MCYC
Then, last October, we had our third annual MidCoast Youth Conference up at Scott's Head. It was an absolute blast! This time away is primarily focused on these teens who follow Jesus already - as we help them go deeper into the Word. The theme last year was Heaven, Hell and Life in the Last Days, as we looked at eschatology. We had Jordy Francis preach to us - he used to oversee EV Church's (Erina) youth ministry before heading to Moore College - and was an absolute weapon with the Word! This weekend, for many of our youth, was the highlight of the year. With 5 other MidCoast FIEC churches all partnering together to pull this off. We were joined by the Youth Groups from Manning Bible Church in Taree, Point Community Church in Port, Salt Church in Bonny Hills, Anchor Church in Coffs and Lake Mac Church (a wanna-be MidCoast Church!).
Please be praying for 2024, as we change the weekend to be in July (first weekend of the school holidays) and as Jordy Francis rejoins us (yes!) to preach on some of the core doctrines of God, with the theme 'Seeing the Unseen'.
It was such a joy for our women to gather together for the third year running at our Women's Weekend Away 2023 (and we've also now gathered for the fourth year running in 2024)! Last March, we drove up to Scott's Head to a beautiful beach location, where we dove into the book of Psalms and reflected on what it means to be #Blessed. It really was such a wonderful time of growing closer with one another and with the Lord. We are grateful for the many hands that went into the preparation for the weekend - especially Amanda's faithful time spent in the Psalms, and Jill, Pam, Aimee & Celeste's organisational skills and prayerful hearts in the lead up.
Some other women's ministry highlights from 2023 were:
Equip conference where we gathered with other Sisters in Christ from around Forster at Club Forster and dwelt together in the book of Haggai and heard some inspiring testimonies of how Jesus continues to restore His people today. We loved gathering with women from all around Forster and will aim to invite other Churches to join us in 2024 again!
'Christmas in July' where we gathered for Woodfire pizzas and bundled together shoeboxes to send to children in need through Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child appeal. An evening of much laughter and delicious food!
Women in the Word where we were encouraged on the theme of 'Light' throughout the Bible - a special thank you to Sophie France and Tazia Humphrey for your faithful preparation alongside Chris and your willingness to teach the Lord's Word to your fellow Sisters at CoastEC. It was a blessing to all of our hearts to be reminded and inspired by the Lord's incredible Light, and His will for us to be Salt and Light on earth through Jesus.
Venue options continue to be a challenge for both women's and other ministries - so we want to say a special thank you to Jodie & Dave Hazlewood and Felicity & Alan Suters for inviting us into their home and being generous with hospitality for the Women in the Word event to run smoothly!
We're excited to continue gathering with the women of Coast EC this year - please be praying that the Lord would use the various events we have planned for 2024 for His glory - to strengthen the unity and faith of women, equip our women to grow in godliness, and bring new people to Him.
In 2023, we tried something new. Doing stuff.
And praise God...it worked!
Our aim was to organise a scattering of low key events throughout the year - all based on common interests. Golf days, fishing missions, woodfire pizza nights, and camping trips.
Men gathering, chatting, and encouraging each other. Win, win, win. Those for those who came along to any or all of those things.
In 2024, we'll have more of the same, plus a bigger event in August with Al Stewart (FIEC Director) coming to open the Bible with us.
We'll also be beginning to form a Men's ministry team, to grow this ministry into the future.
Inter-Church Partnership - Senior's Retreat
It was so wonderful to partner with other Churches in our network (FIEC) along the Mid-North Coast, in particular The Point Community Church in Port Macquarie for the first ever FIEC Senior's Retreat in October! Thelma and Carolyn both went along from Coast EC and said it was a wonderful time of gathering with other believers and being fed through the Word taught by Peter and Christine Jensen in Ephesians. Thelma was interviewed and got to share and encourage her brothers and sisters about how the Lord has been at work in her life!
In 2024, the retreat will be 15-17th October with guest speakers Jim & Lesley Ramsey. We encourage our senior's to go along - we believe it will be time and money well spent! You may like to start saving aside some money now for when the time to register later in the year comes around.
Senior's Fellowship & Connect Events
A special shout out to Deb Laurie, Yvonne Gunning & Jackie France (in sickness & health!) for their enthusiasm and passion for gathering the senior's of our church to deepen fellowship and broaden connections!
Some highlights from the year have been shared meal outings, and gathering twice a month for coffee.
Stay tuned for more social gathering opportunities in 2024!
Praise God this year Coast EC had their first ever young adults weekend away! We had such a wonderful weekend gathering together at Tahlee where we spent time digging into the Book of Colossians with Sam Hilton (pastor from Hunter Bible Church in Newy), running around the campsite, jumping in the water for a winter swim, and enjoying the opportunity to grow closer to the Lord and one another.
In 2024 and beyond, we are keen to make it an annual weekend for young adults to gather, enjoy the fellowship we have through Christ, and be matured in the Word with Biblical talks specifically aimed at our young adult demographic.
In 2024 from 26-28 July, we'll gather at Tahlee again with guest speaker Josh Hayward (who's currently studying at Moore College and serving on the Mission team at his local church), digging into what the Bible says about 'living on mission'.
We're so thankful that God has grown our young adult Coast Group over the past 12 months.... so much so that we split into 2 groups at the beginning of 2024!
