It’s Tuesday afternoon and the staff of St Thomas Church on the Cape Flats in South Africa are gathering for their weekly staff meeting. Nadene, a social worker and biblical counsellor with 30 years of experience, grew up as a white lady under the apartheid government. Katleho, one of our pastors, grew up in the townships around Cape Town. And me, the other pastor, all the way from South London. United by the gospel, and built together by God in his wisdom, we have the tremendous privilege of proclaiming his good news to the community around us.
First on the agenda, after a bit of banter, is Sunday’s sermon. Katleho and I ‘team preach’ and so bring our planning to the meeting, to sharpen our understanding and communication skills. The passage from Sunday’s sermon will also be taught to our midweek kids, youth, young adults, and adult growth groups. Nadene studies the passage with us and we discuss how this part of the Bible connects with the hearts of our hearers.
After that, we have feedback on the big projects we launched at the start of this year. For us this means approaching, training and supervising volunteers at the church. This year, God has brought us a large group of teenagers, and we would like a bigger team of leaders. I have responsibility for the teens and am thankful that all the people I approached on Sunday were willing to serve and eager to be trained. Katleho, who is responsible for the children’s work, gives me some insight as to how he trained his Sunday school leaders. Nadene ensures all the child protection training and checks are in place.
We talk for a few moments about the Christianity Explored course – that will have started by the time you read this! One of the growth groups will host it, and we will train them to be table leaders. This is the second year we have been able to run this course. There is growing excitement in the church family as we invite people to meet God for themselves as we read Mark’s Gospel. We know God promises to work through his word.
We move on to talk about pastoral issues. With family breakdown, gangsterism, and addictions so prevalent in the Cape Flats, Nadene is constantly having non-Christians from the community come in for the counselling she provides. A particular mother and son now want to be involved in the church. We arrange for one of us to call them and personally invite them. Since Nadene is a biblical counsellor operating as part of a church’s staff team, this kind of referral is expected and welcomed by the counselees who choose to come to us.
We also arrange a food parcel for a family who are in need. With unemployment at about 40% in South Africa, many people who would love to work are unable to find a job. The food is bought with a donation from another church in a more affluent part of town. It is packed by a team at church, and delivered with a pastoral visit. We pray God will enable us to be like the church in Acts 4:34, where there was ‘not a needy person among them’, because of the generosity they showed to each other.
Our meeting ends with prayer. We know this is God’s church, saved by his Son, built on his word, filled with his Spirit, and all for his glory.