St John’s is a vibrant and growing Newcastle Church located on the corner of Darby Street in Cooks Hill. St John’s has three regular services on a Sunday as well as services and programmes through the week. During the week St John’s also runs a number of bible studies, youth group, other youth and young adult’s programmes, a playgroup and supports two soccer teams.
The essence of the Christian faith is relationship – God with us and us with each other. As a church we are not interested in making up the numbers so that our stats look impressive – our priority is to nurture and value all relationships. Our aim is to supportively encourage a deeper relationship with God while enabling friendships and support networks to develop and grow.
We don’t pretend to be the best church or the perfect church – we are far from it. We just try to be who we are and what God has called us to be.
Our teaching, preaching, and exploration of faith is based on the Anglican ideal of the interdependence of Scripture (the Bible); Tradition (the collective wisdom and learning of those who have gone before us); and Reason (our ability to think, question and discern). We believe in the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe that we are called to love God with all our heart, mind and soul, and our neighbours as we love ourselves. Furthermore, we believe that all God’s people are gifted and equipped for ministry and as a church we should empower them to do so.
Besides, we believe that people should be encouraged to question and explore their faith in order that they may come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Moreover, we believe that people come to faith in many ways at varying speeds, and we commit to patiently journeying with them as God is revealed in their lives.
God is revealed in the gathering together of God’s people, and because God’s people come in all shapes and sizes and from different backgrounds, it is natural that they will want to express their connexion with God in different ways. We are committed to exploring new ways to bring a fresh revelation or understanding of God while retaining the integrity of worship styles that continue to draw people closer to God.
We aim to be an inclusive, tolerant and patient community that meets people where they are at and encourages them to come as they are. Furthermore, we strive to remove all barriers to joining our family, whilst engaging with those who come, and encouraging them to build relationships with the church community and with God. Besides, we aim to present a paradigm of church that people find refreshing and real.
Moreover, we are committed to giving the best of ourselves and encouraging the best from others. While in our humanity we will always fall short and make mistakes, our desire is that we will not offer to God and our community that which has cost us nothing.
We aim to provide an atmosphere of community where people are able to come together and share one another’s joys and pain. We encourage a diversity of backgrounds, opinions, theological understandings, social status and life styles. Furthermore, we believe that in the acceptance and celebration of our diversity we will as community find unity.
Besides, we believe that the church is not owed its place in the community, but as a church we are called to be visible and ensure that people are clear about what we stand for. Moreover, we actively seek to be part of our community by meeting people’s needs, commenting on topical issues, reclaiming the church as a public space, surprising people about what the church cares about, and encouraging our members to live their faith outside the walls of the church building.
Much of Jesus’ teaching and ministry was done with food present. We try our best to ensure that people who come to our church are not only fed spiritually but also nourished physically with great morning teas, suppers, meals, and BBQs. We believe our worship continues after the service has ended and people move to engage each other over a cuppa and a chat. Furthermore, we encourage the church community to open their homes in hospitality in order to build authentic relationships.