When I looked back on the bits and council reports I was comforted to see what we’ve still been able to achieve in these pandemic times. I’m incredibly encouraged by that, by and large, we’ve successfully navigated through it all so far. This is a massive credit to the community and the very deep kaupapa that holds it together. I acknowledge that it’s not always been easy and some of the reports will show that.

In short, all things considered, I think Cityside is in pretty good health. Sure giving is down, as is attendance, but from my understanding from conversations around the blocks, most churches have seen the same trend. Some churches report 30–40% drop in attendance—which fits with what we are experiencing.

Reasons tend to be related to increased vigilance toward not attending even with mild symptoms (this I suspect will be a culturally permanent setting now), being vigilant about one’s own health (to be expected and encouraged!), being out of the habit, or simply that some feel it’s time to move on (for various reasons).

I’d like to celebrate that, while we are differing in shape than a few years ago, we are still here and very much alive and positive (general tiredness and pandemic malaise not-withstanding).

Agile Church

One of the key reasons for this is how agility is built into our DNA where we highly value unpredictability, experimentation and exploration. As a result our transitions to the online space were, in the most part pretty, seamless. This helped lead to a great experience for zoom participants in our hybrid services.

At times we’ve had to abandon our plans (yes believe it or not there are plans for the service themes!) and be more responsive to the needs of the community. For example, we moved from a Regen set of services into lockdown and so we pressed pause and made a well receive series on Henri Nouwen’s Life of the Beloved.

A new stride at last!

I’m relieved things are happening again. In the last few months it’s been nice to have our building being used throughout the week. The steady rhythms of noise, activity, subsequent dirt and rearranged furniture, all bring a certain warmth to my heart. Perhaps there’s something ‘normal’ settling in now. I don’t want over anticipate things but perhaps, just perhaps that longed for rhythm of life is starting to kick back in albeit in a different form.

Seeing Ahead (hunches allowed)

I’m anticipating that unless there’s a significant new strain, Orange will be the setting for a while and we can predictably carry on. (Of course now I’ve put that out there, I’m bound to be proven wrong!)

Looking ahead then, there are some really positive things on the horizon. New carpet (with a cool design on it by Ali), new garden (thank you Claude and team!), new art work (thank you Derek though others are considering adding), more reading groups, more social interaction in groups (Galbraiths, Twenty three, Monday night’s with Sarah and Roxie, Axios with Rosie (if you don’t know what that is, I encourage you to ask her about it!), Pool and Wii tourneys with the teenagers after church among other things).

It’s time to have a bit more fun with each other. It’s possible too that we could look at organising a church ‘not-camp’ as per what Michelle P had organised a couple of years ago before it was scuttled by the pandemic. In response to requests over the years, we want to get an Op Shop ball in before the end of the year. There are some good times ahead and we have lots of reasons to be positive.

New Faces

There’s been a significant shift in who is turning up to the services. This is of course natural, however, typically church-life is shaped the most by the people who turn up (in person or in conversation). In a small church I think we feel this much more than in larger churches. I’ve reflected in Cityside Bits (17/03/2022) on how, with so many new faces, if you’ve been absent for a while it could be a bit disconcerting. I’d like to believe that you’ll still recognise ‘Cityside’ in there though.

Absence then means that we lose some of our strength as a community. At the time I was being interviewed for the call process, I used the following example to describe how when we lose people, we lose shape (nowadays I would develop this with more nuance more but that’s for another time). When people leave, for whatever reason, we change.

We miss you when you’re not around and we become something less without you. I say this not to induce guilt, but simply to state the obvious where absence isn’t neutral and can create ambiguity. But just by the very nature of Cityside continuing with its rhythms, the culture will shift—and so it should. Stasis is not a friend of church community—in fact, stasis, no matter how good it looks at the time, is often a sign of un-health. It’s just the normal dynamics for any community.

Regen reflections

Two years ago I introduced an image of the pōhutukawa tree bursting out the windows of Cityside.

It captured the imagination of a number of us as a metaphor for the future. The beauty, vitality and life inside of the community bursting out for others to enjoy. I’ll be honest, two years after the fact it’s been somewhat subsumed by the constant need to deal from week to week with only “what’s in front of us”. The image has not died, it’s possibly a time yet to come—though there is one significant problem with it.

In a recent episode of the podcast “the Infinite Monkey Cage” there’s a discussion on how trees and plants in ecosystems communicate with each other. There’s enough scientific consensus supporting how fungi facilitate this communication and how without this underground network of information sharing plants struggle to flourish.

My pōhutukawa tree is solitary. It’s disconnected and so it will struggle to flourish. It, like human beings, needs active connection to others around it. Perhaps we might like to broaden the definition of ‘neighbourhood’ to include geographic, virtual and metaphysical dimensions.

This is where the regenerative approach to our future is so helpful. We move away from a vision based approach where we “do stuff to” systems (like planting exotic trees in native bush) and instead we “work within” systems that already exist. For example, it’s apparent from our work to date that Cityside née City Mission née Mt Eden Baptist has been important to the Uptown area. It makes sense that we build upon this system and see how we can form a regenerative system of relationship between us and Uptown. Some of you may remember this word ‘missional’ from earlier days and this is a development from this. ‘Missional’ asked “What is God already doing in the world around us as individuals and as a church?”

It’s also apparent that Cityside (in particular) has been influential—viewed positively and negatively depending on who you are out there—in the wider conversations of the Baptist movement in NZ and around the world. There are relational systems here that mean we can explore find a sustainable, life giving influence in these spaces.

Rather than having to reinvent itself, a regenerative organisation sets itself up to be constantly flowing cyclically in systems, responsive, agile and mindful of its part to play rather than being destructively dominant, coercive or highly impacting. The systems are intertwined and support each other and find ways of co-existing. (It reminds me of a conversation I had with Andrew Friis on permaculture).

A key to regenerative organisations is sustainability. And this is massively important because in a static model of church we can end up supporting dwindling things to the detriment of energy that could be used elsewhere. A massive part of our discernment process is to work out where and how to expend the energy well.

This framework can reframe our grief over things that have been lost or radically changed in our own church eco-system. Like on a plant, sometimes parts of it die, but rather than being discarded to the fire and forgotten, the death falls to the ground to decompose and provide nourishment for future life. Death in this sense is not something to be grieved in the same way, but to be appreciated, accepted and even welcomed. Death is part of change.

The regenerative framework that we are looking to work within incorporates this cyclical vitality and breaks from a modernist ‘progress’ oriented vision. Not only is it life-giving and life nurturing, it accepts decline and death as part of the life of the church. Constantly changing, yet remaining a coherent system held together by the kaupapa of what makes Cityside, well, Cityside.

Random thoughts

Some areas I think about a lot for Cityside are:

• Many of us living with ageing parents and the challenges that brings
• Living alone and singleness in a church community
• More LGBTQIA+ people finding home in Cityside
• Co-sovereignty in a church like Cityside where there are few Māori
• How to be good allies in honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi
• The ongoing tension of our stated desires to explore newer models of church and spiritual practice with what appears to be a lack of engagement either virtually or physically.
• The role of scripture in our lives both in gathering and as individuals
• Making room for our artists to flourish when energy is so low at the moment
• Money and building renovations
• Wondering what (or even if!) we might collectively acknowledge as legitimate encounter with the Mother-Father, the Holy Spirit or the Christ

That’s actually a much longer list than I anticipated writing and even then, it’s not comprehensive. I don’t have any quick answers but this is what I mull them and wonder.

Beauty—my final AND

And, there’s the simple fact that there’s so much beauty in what we do as it is. Pause and consider this non-comprehensive list: Bronwyn, Mark and Brenda, Pascale and Peter M when they brought music to us over zoom and often left chills running down our spines; Eco-tips!; Malcolm Dunn and the Lower Bar Collective providing live ambient music for our online compline services during Lent; Kit getting us to sing the Macarena for Matariki; Helen D having such a great focus on our people; Karen H consistently showing us what curating a service looks like; Karen H’s prayer for Regen; Derek’s poems for Christmas and Easter and his ability to fill in at a moment’s notice; Jaimee’s talks on Kanye West and a beatitude; Josh’s talks on Wairua; prayers for others during Zoom and then live with Lego thanks to Helen B; the vibrancy in the spaces with Damaris’ professional and loving care with our hirers and renters; Rhyll’s gentle way with us in the Regen process; amazing conversations in Ngāpuhi Speaks reading group; informal conversations in pubs, in private, in cafes or over Zoom; all those running Children’s Space and digging deep to make it happen; seeing Micah and our Zoom techs make it work so well; Rosie somehow managing to stitch some kind of youth community together in such disruptive times; Christina and Duncan hosting the online experience so well; Claude unleashing himself on the planting our garden; Emily B talking on trauma recently; Richard and the management team making things happen with repairs and upgrades; Jules for her centering prayer services; Sarah Woodfield for her never-ending enthusiasm to create opportunities to actually do something for the environment and for her work as co-chair with Mark; Sarah Woodfield again as our treasurer; Hyunsil, who is my life-saver, who’s diligence, capability and good natured patience is a wonder to behold…

It’s all just so beautiful! And that’s just the surface. In the midst of it all there are deep, deep spaces of encounter with God, each other and self.

Beautiful.

And we do hold onto these beautiful parts of our life together and nurture them. I know we’re tired, a bit worn out—it’s so important that Cityside is a place of rest and refreshment.

Too many words. And so much to say.

Thanks for weathering through this time with us. I’m exceedingly grateful for who we are, what we value and the possibilities ahead. Thank you!

Stu McGregor
2022

Co-chair Report

For those new to Cityside, Council is made up of the Management Team (Richard Taylor, Sarah Woodfield, Alistair Kitchen and Stu McGregor) and Community Leaders (Julianne McEldowney, Jaimee van Gemerden, Stu McGregor and Mark Haines). Management Team overseas the property and finances and Community Leaders focuses on people matters and pastoral care. Historically, these two groups separately met once every two months and then as a collective the other month. This year the collective council has met monthly to better navigate the changing horizon post-Covid and pan-Regen. We have appreciated having Josh Piripi seconded to Council. Despite Josh’s many external commitments, we were delighted to have him join the Council retreat and provide perspective around how we as a church further embraces what it means to work with Māori in honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Managing Covid—coming out of lockdown and finding some sense of normality will have looked somewhat different for each of us depending on our various personal situations (family, work, leisure), so we wanted to ensure our approach to moving beyond Covid showed a sense of care that was as inclusive and supportive as possible. Delaying Regen (putting people before programme), Zoom service upgrading (ensuring the decision to go Vax Pass Certificate minimised any sense of exclusion from being part of Sunday services) and sponsoring Dr Christina Baird’s wellbeing seminar in August 2022 are all indicators of our desire to serve the Cityside community.

Stu was due to take a sabbatical this year and the plan was to spend some of that time walking ‘the Camino’ in France and Spain. This was to coincide with continuing his previous gig as a guide on the Camino. Unfortunately, this has not eventuated so it is likely Stu will have an extended break in 2023 instead. In many churches, having the pastor away for a length of time would be problematic—who would preach, visit, reset the wifi… run the show? With Stu’s role being part-time, with curators to coordinate services, with pastoral care being overseen by Community Leaders and Hyunsil so capably managing the office, the prospect of Stu being away for a while is not daunting, although we will miss him when that time comes.

We’ve noticed a few folk appearing to be a bit less connected to the Sunday gathering, whether due to Covid or other reasons, but it has been encouraging to see new faces of late. It’s also good to see those folk return—evidence we hopefully haven’t scared them off and there is integrity and honesty apparent in our meeting together.

Cityside is a geographically dispersed community with small groups gathering in different locations at times. Events located in and around the church provide a space for those living locally or those happy to travel to meet together catch up and talk about things that matter. The monthly Monday nights at the church hosted by Roxie and Sarah, pre and post church gatherings at Cafe 23, the occasional chinwag at Galbraith's, or meals at Helen Dallaston’s place in Mangere Bridge. Music events organised by Brenda Liddiard and Mark Laurent in the community also provides opportunity to connect and spend time together. Then there are the other community based projects like tree planting and caring for our environment under the banner of being an Eco Church and working with A Rocha.

Stu, Jamie and Rosie recently attended a Northern Baptist Association Hui in Whangarei. Rosie is a member of the NBA Board and there has been more engagement with the likes of the Association, the Baptist Union and Carey College. The NBA provided funding toward Regen, primarily because there was a sense that the process might be of value for other churches as they consider their identity and role. While Cityside has traditionally been reticent in dealing with the wider Baptist family, recent engagement indicates that we have a potential role to play.

We are hopeful that as we work through the final stages of the discernment process of Regen and look to potentially add some members to Council, that Cityside will be well placed to navigate the expected growth around us over the next few years. We are placed on the edge of a number of communities and have a strong sense that we can be an oasis in this busy world. May we continue to be responsive to the needs of our members and community.

Mark Haines & Sarah Woodfield
2022

Management Team

The Management Team comprises Sarah Woodfield, Ali Kitchen, Richard Taylor and Stu McGregor (ex-officio). Sarah is also co-chair of the Council and has taken a lead role in reporting on the church finances.

The management team meet approximately every 2 months with Damaris Kingdon, the main leaseholder trading as 8Space Ltd joining the meeting for the first 20mins to discuss joint matters. This provides time for face-to-face discussion with Damaris on property and operational matters, and in addition, ensures a healthy working relationship between the two parties.

Covid-19 significantly impacted the tenants in the spaces of the church we lease out, and this in turn affected the income received by the church. The situation was managed in a cooperative way, and all parties were happy with the overall financial outcome which will be reported on separately in the finance report. Thanks to Stu and Damaris for doing a great job managing the health and safety risks through this time.

Rental and Lease Agreements

No changes have been made to the current commercial agreements. It is noted that the existing lease agreements were all due to expire on 28 February 2022, but have been extended for two years until 29 February 2024.

Improvements Made

Key improvements carried out over the last 12 or so months are as follows:

• Security System and Electronic Door Entry  Following several incidents it was decided to install three security cameras to monitor areas outside the church. These have already proven useful. The mechanical door lock for the main entrance door has also been replaced with an electronic door entry system which works very well.
• Weatherboard, Gutter and Roof Repairs  Several issues including rotten weatherboards, failing gutters and leaking roofing are currently being addressed. There are expensive works partly due to the cost of the scaffolding required.
• Gardens  There are plans underway to upgrade several gardens out side the church. Thanks to Claude Dewerse and Sarah Woodfield for taking the lead on this.
• Carpet in the Church Space  Plans are underway to replace the carpet in the church space. A supplier has been identified and the most suitable type of carpet and underlay has been established. A printed carpet design is proposed (at nominal additional cost) and Ali is currently working on some design options. A labyrinth will be included in some of the design options. Thanks to Sarah Heeringa for assistance with selecting the carpet supplier. It is proposed that new carpet will be installed within the next 6 or so months.

Future Initiatives

Some of the future projects include upgrading the projector (datashow) in the church space.

Summary

The Management Team is working well together and with Damaris. It is helpful having Stu involved in many of the meetings.

Richard Taylor,
on behalf of the Management Team, 2022.

Annual Finance Report

I’ve been in the role as treasurer for over a year, and continue to see myself as kaitiaki on behalf of the Cityside Community.

Below are the annual accounts, and also the budget for the next 12 months. There are no major decisions to be made today.

Overall

• We are in a very healthy financial position as the total surplus over the last seven years has been approx. $155,000
• The budgeted deficit last year did not eventuate. We are grateful for a one off donation of $20,000 that was specifically designated towards the cost of the Regen process. We also didn’t spend as much as expected on maintenance and salaries (cover for Stu’s sabbatical and a Children Space worker)
• We can spend some of the savings (i.e. an expected deficit in the Budget) without impacting our financial stability
• An increase in giving would help reduce the deficit
• We also currently have set aside $115,000 for significant building maintenance (such as a roof replacement), and allocate $15,000 annually to that.

Income

• Offerings continue the slow downward trend since 2017/18
• Rental income was down last year, but we anticipate that should improve with less likelihood of COVID impacts
• We received a one off $5,000 grant from the Northern Baptist Association towards Regen costs

Expenses

• Expenses slightly up overall (as expected)

Budget

• Some categories have been rearranged, and spending reallocated to different categories, so this isn’t an exact match to the Income and Expenditure report
• If income remains stable, expect a deficit of approx. $45,000 in the current year
• Budgeted expenses are significantly higher. Some of that is likely (such as pay increases and known maintenance spending), and some possible (such as a Children Space worker)
• Of note in the budget is anticipated spending on:

• Regen – $10,000 likely to be required to finish off the process. Given extra funding received, this is still within the expected spending.
• Increases in salary payments and allowances based on Baptist Union Guidelines, and moving Rosie up a pay band in light of her increased experience.
• Potential Children’s space worker
• Depreciation increased to cover potential capital purchases (laptop & carpet)

Note: Spending for new carpet (in the next few months) will be accounted for in ongoing depreciation, so this reduces the impact on current income/expenditure.

Sarah Woodfield
Treasurer, 2022

Regen Report

Firstly, I acknowledge that Regen has taken considerably longer than originally planned to get to the place we are now. That’s pretty much the story anything thanks to Covid and lockdowns. We particularly wanted continuity over 5 consecutive Sundays to make sure the presentation of all the research was done compactly.

What we’ve achieved to date

As per above, the five Sunday service/workshops in February and March this year were the culmination of research and data collection by a considerable number of people looking at the church history, ecology and geology of the area, better understanding the immediate neighbourhood, searching title for the land on which the church sits and gaining insights from mana whenua about Māori history of Maungawhau and environs. A number of Citysiders (past and present) were interviewed and we are thankful to them for their insights, not to mention the panel members at the 5th Workshop in March.

We sat with this rich data distilled from the workshops and looked closely at Cityside and the relationships and the patterns that emerged across the stories and across the landscape. We then developed a statement that speaks of the Essence of this place.

What’s next?

We are looking at what the potential of Cityside looks like—what relationships and connections will be thriving, what opportunities need exploring as well as what are the things that might not serve us as well as we had hoped. We will better understand our intent as a community and what commitments we might need to make to support this.

The process is one that encourages us toward ‘being’ and considering what Cityside looks like in a thriving regenerative model—doing things that align well with regenerative practice, rather than work against.

How is this related to church and our faith?

For Cityside, a regenerative process opens us to the possibility of “seeing Christ” in the land, water, rocks, vegetation, other life forms. In the buildings, history, people, stories, struggles, celebrations, significant moments and everyday expressions of life in this place, and in the communities that anchor themselves here.

We have been very fortunate to have Rhyll Stafford share her expertise in this space with us on this journey. We are also fortunate to have Damaris, Justine and Roxie on the Steering Group as trained Regen Practitioners. Council members have walked a fair part of the journey and Jeannie, Alison, Claude, Roelant, Karen H, Rosemary, Ross, Craig and others I have possible overlooked (apologies) have contributed along the way.

Mark Haines
2022

Cityside Rentals Report

Prepared by 8SPACE LTD.

August 2021–July 2022

Greetings to all Citysiders!

For anyone new to our community, it may come as a surprise that the Cityside building is a busy hive of creative activity through the week. As part of our research into Cityside stories this year–I thought it might be interesting to some of you to find out how this all came about! If not–jump straight to those rental facts and figures that follow.

The Cityside rentals community timeline with a few fun-facts thrown in:

The vision of my company 8SPACE is to ‘nurture creativity’ and together with the amazing Vibe of relaxed love, freedom and acceptance that Cityside provides, this place is a creative sanctuary that has been Cityside church and 8SPACE partnership. Built on the back of the beautiful kaupapa that was established long before I ever arrived–this business has thrived. It will never make any of us rich, but it has certainly provided a stable income for Cityside for 9 years now (remember my prayer with Brenda many years ago). And beyond that, it has been a truly happy place of creative community for so many.

Thank you to all of you for creating and allowing this awesome Vibe to thrive. It is my firm belief that as we draw close to our creative impulse, we draw close to God.

Yours faithfully,

Damaris Kingdon
Director, 8Space Ltd
damariskingdon@gmail.com
Or
damaris@cityside.org.nz
021 662 657

Special thanks to Stu and Hyunsil—your weekly care and support are absolutely amazing and I appreciate you both without end.

Rentals facts and figures

Cityside income from 8SPACE Ltd. (only)

Spaces leased/rented by 8Space:

1. Art Studio Collective: Main Art Studio Space, connected offices and basement cubicles
2. Storage Spaces: basement cubicles at the back of the Matrix youth room and at the bottom of the stairs (northern stairwell to the basement) the largest storage space has been converted to Room94—Music Rehearsal Space
3. Use of common spaces at Cityside: Hall, Auditorium and upstairs Meeting Room—when not booked out to other renters

Through the more than 100-day lockdown last year, Cityside and 8Space Ltd, took the hit together surviving on wage subsidies. However, in comparison to the first lockdown of 2020, opening up into the Christmas period along with the threat of Omicron, seemed to affect people’s confidence, both in terms of the desire to return to indoor community spaces, and in taking on financial commitments.

8SPACE returned to paying full rent in February but would have folded if not for the Government subsidy payments that came through in the Feb–March ‘22 period. Rentals of the studios and music room have only just begun to return to pre-lockdown levels this last month, August 2022. It’s been a tough time making ends meet, but we have made it thus far! And extra blessings like being chosen as a film set location, meant that even unexpected bills have gotten paid.

Notes from last year, August 2020–July 2021 period:

• 8SPACE lost significant income from the music rehearsal room over higher alert levels in the second half of 2020. Cityside’ shared the hit’, which attributes to the slight dip in income over the December and January period as that was when a support credit to 8SPACE was applied. We were able to keep the Art Studio open on a roster at Alert Level Three with a rigorous level of hygiene maintained.

• 8SPACE paid full rent through February and March 2022 despite the move to higher alert levels in that period.

Cityside income from other weekly renters

• The main auditorium
• The hall and kitchen area
• Two small offices on the mezzanine floor
• The upstairs meeting room (not advertised, only used as an overflow space)
• Matrix (not advertised, only used as an occasional overflow space)

The impact of Covid 19 on Cityside income: Is obvious and the graph shows almost exactly what you would expect. Very low income during the lockdown, lower than average income over the Christmas holiday period and lower than average income in the early months of 2022 due to the the threat of Omicron and Covid restrictions on gatherings

Link Alliance was an absolute life-saver and by their own offering, continued to pay out three months of bookings all through the lockdown last year, despite the lockdown occurring after they had used the space for only a few days!

Impact of Covid 19 on our people: After two years of pandemic conditions, people are both resilient and weary. Mental health seems to be something everyone has been battling with, as well as the cost-of-living impact is felt by all. Many are digging deep into their art practices for relief including me!

Thanks again to the Cityside community for making the building available for your neighbours. It’s a wonderful example of reciprocal care and meeting of needs.

Matrix

As I look back on the year so far I realise, like our young people, I have done a lot. From learning to be a board member, to talks, engaging with our wider baptist community to study. This year has been jam packed! I know for many of our young people they have jumped back into life post-covid as much as possible. Many of them doing productions, concerts, baking, minecraft, asking fantastic and challenging questions and solving what seem like impossible puzzles. I say it every year and I will continue to say it but we have some incredible young people with us at Cityside. Thanks to those who have had input, suggestions and helped out with Matrix this year, Emily, Micah, Matrix parents and others.

I’ve been challenged lately as to what are my measures of success. I admit I have found myself focused on numbers, by how many young people have turned up. However, I feel tension with this. It can feel discouraging as leaders when we plan a session and have either only one person turn up or none. It makes it difficult to create, build and curate a good sense of relationship between the youth and with the wider community. So I am currently wrestling with that tension and after chatting with the parents I am hoping this will change but am also thankful for them listening to me and providing some suggestions for the future.

Easter event

Our Easter event was a big hit. Emily created an incredible amazing race for us which all people participated in. I have attached at the bottom some of the thoughts that came out of our teaching time. We watched one of the Eastercamp main session speakers, Colin Grutzmacher, then discussed questions from this session in smaller groups. After that we had an epic time playing laser tag with the Ponsonby youth group. The MVP of the night was Sharon who killed it! We hope to do more with the Ponsonby youth group in the future.

Queen’s birthday weekend

As I have shared previously my Queer talk at Queens birthday. It was a lovely time of connection and relationship building with each other and other youth leaders. We had Brian join us this year and he said it was good. I would like to take more of our older youth to Queen's birthday in the future as many of the teachings can be applied to the various ways our young people lead in their lives.

Pool & Wii tournament

While I couldn’t be here for this event, I have heard numerous good things about it. The youth enjoyed the event. One thing coming out from this has been that the young people are practising more to eventually be able to beat Stu!

Escape room

We have done two escape rooms so far this year, one in earlier this year and one during Queen’s birthday. It was awesome to see the young people try to work together and to see how their brains work. For the escape room during the Queen’s birthday we did the hardest one at master level and were the champions for the month of June.

Impacts of Covid:

We are probably all aware that Covid has impacted various aspects of life and sadly it has had an impact on Matrix as well. We missed out on Festival One and Eastercamp due to Covid. Due to the consequences of Covid a number of our young people have either had to isolate themselves or have felt that coming in person to church is too much of a risk. To try and ensure that those young people feel connected or still can join in with Matrix we have trialled being both online and in person. This is not a new venture we have been doing online off and on due to lockdowns, using discord as it's free and some of the youth set it up. These online sessions have a mixture of conversations and games with many of the youth favouring the games at the end. The games have been things like snake, minecraft, gartic phone.

r>For this year so far we did the month of March online as many youth or families with youth had to isolate themselves. For term 3 we are trialling one week in person and the next online. This has come after talking to young people and parents. Ideally running Matrix in person feels more natural and continues to build the relationships within Matrix and the wider body of Cityside. However, it can be difficult to run Matrix in person when people aren’t at church. My hope is that for term 4 we can be fully in person.

The future

The longer that I’ve known Cityside youth the more I realise how incredibly articulate, intellectual and curious they are. Coupling this with my further engagement into the wider body of the Baptist churches in Aotearoa the more I realise that many of our young people will go off and do incredible things but may feel unstuck or confused by other baptist churches. We are unique at Cityside and that means that many people who visit or hear about us find us refreshing. However, on the flip side is that some of our young people aren’t fully aware that other churches do not think or act like us. This is something I want to explore further, looking at how we can prepare our young people to continue their faith in community outside of Cityside.

Word clouds from the questions at Easter:

With word clouds the more frequent a word is used the bigger it is.