Riverview Review 2023 - Flipbook - Page 8
MAL
COOKE
Unity.
I just can’t escape how central our
unity is to the mission and fruitfulness
of the church. Jesus said unity is the
pathway to people knowing God’s
love (John 17:23) and that we will be
identified as his followers by our love
for one another (John 13:35). Paul
described unity as God’s ultimate
will through Christ (Eph 1:10) and
so urged us to make every effort to
maintain unity (Eph 4:3).
Our focus as a church places unity at
the centre, because our vision is for
everyone. Everyone known. Everyone
formed. Everyone a blessing. Everyone.
That is an audacious aspiration. We
don’t just worship with people who
share our politics or who share our
theological preferences. We open our
hearts and our hands to everyone.
People we like and people we don’t.
People who inspire us and people who
frustrate us. People of all generations
and cultures. All bear the image of
God, and all have a place expressing
their unique gifts in God’s Kingdom.
It is because we are pursuing this
vision together that we invite a
shared commitment to engaging in
community characterised by:
3
Generosity (The heart of the Father)
Humility (The mind of Christ)
Curiosity (The work of the Spirit)
Creativity (The way to the Trinity)
Hope (The message of the Gospel)
As a Board, we recognise our
responsibility to embody this priority. In
our Board Charter the Board:
“… acknowledges its custodial
responsibility to all of those who serve
and are served by the Church, and
that its capacity to discharge that
responsibility is a function of the unity
of the Board.”
Our focus during 2023 has had unity
at the heart of all we do. Together
becoming the Church that invites
everyone to be known in community,
formed in Christ and a blessing in our
city, we have paid particular attention
to:
• Creating space for the elders of our
church to emerge and provide a
heart of service and discernment. We
look forward to sharing more about
this in 2024.
• Strengthening our risk frameworks to
ensure that we become increasingly
trusted as a place to form community
and grow in our faith and service.
• Discerning more precisely what
priorities we ought to be resourcing
as we pursue our mission together.
• Supporting the McCready’s as they
continue to make a home in Perth,
including as they navigate the
ongoing immigration frameworks
and secure a home.
• Exploring how to meaningfully
evaluate our progress as a
community so that we can curiously
and creatively learn and adapt.
• Imagine how our facilities may be
shaped as we pursue our purpose in
our city.
We trust that you feel increasingly
confident to be known at Riverview,
and are experiencing increasing love.
We believe this is the essential pathway
to becoming formed into the kind of
people who reach out with generosity,
humility, curiosity, creativity and hope
to know and love others and be a
blessing in this beautiful city of ours.
Please continue to offer us
any feedback. Questions (and
encouragement) are always very
welcome.
Mal Cooke
Board Chairperson