Newsletter 7th June 2020

Rev Ian Lord

Concluding 2 years of Ministry at Southport Uniting Church

Rev Ian came to Southport Uniting in mid 2018 while Rev Dona was on extended sick leave.   He was with us through the loss of both Rev Dona and Pastor Jonathon as our much loved ministers ultimately responded to the Call to Ministry in other places.

We were fortunate to have Rev Ian leading us and supporting us through this time of change.  There were many changes to be made as we transitioned from a two Minister church to one.  Also as we worked on pulling our budget back into the black.  Presbytery, in consultation with Church Council, appointed Ian to the role of Intentional Interim Minister for a designated period of 9 months which came into effect at the end of March 2019.

Rev Ian came to our church bringing many years of Ministry experience in various churches and even countries!  He brought energy and enthusiasm to finding solutions to the challenges we were facing and introduced us to new ideas and new ways to doing things.  He led us, with prayer, every step of the way. We have learnt much. We have restructured and we have acquired ways of working smarter!! This will be a lasting legacy and we are very grateful to him. And along the way there were some extra bumps in the road that Rev Ian managed to navigate– such as finding the right person for the fledgling 4 pm service, liaising with many people in the community – both official and neighbours,  re the homeless/vagrant situation,  encouraging us in the purchase of the Hymnal Plus. The recent flooding in the church and hall and the subsequent investigations into and rectification of the drainage on the church property have indeed been the cause of much concern. Rev Ian’s extensive negotiations with insurers and his skilled liaising with hydrologists, engineers and plumbing businesses has enabled the necessary work to be completed to a high standard. Most recently the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has placed an additional burden on Rev Ian, he immediately arranged for an online worship service to be produced each week and he implemented the RED ALERT initiative encouraging us to continue making our offerings to the church whilst we have had social isolation restrictions.

Throughout his time with us Rev Ian’s Message has been well received by our congregation, his generosity of spirit and his passion for the church, is unsurpassed. Rev Ian leaves us a stronger congregation having grown us in spirit and in relationship with God and each other. Rev Ian has ensured that we have reached the goals we set out to achieve – the foundations and framework are in place and we can move forward confidently and build on this positive position for a sustainable future into which we will be welcoming a new Minister. As Rev Ian concludes his ministry with us he is returning the church to us both physically and spiritually intact in readiness for our much anticipated return to worship when restrictions have been sufficiently eased.

We have been truly blessed to have Rev Ian at this time in our journey – we will miss him.

 

If you would like to contribute to the Farewell Gift for Rev Ian, please leave your donation at the Church Office whilst the office is attended, Tuesday to Thursday, 8 am to 1 pm. Rev Ian will be presented with this Farewell Gift on Tuesday, 30 June, 2020 at 11.00 a.m.  It would be greatly appreciated if you could leave your     donation at the Church Office by Thursday, 18 June, 2020.