COMMON GROUND CHURCH BLOUBERG
2019A YEAR IN REVIEW Each year we take the opportunity to look back, reflect and review. We share numbers. We celebrate numbers. Numbers represent people. Numbers represent lives being impacted and transformed. We celebrate these stories of impact and consider how God is using Common Ground Church as an instrument; serving to extend both his kingdom and love deeper into our city and wider into our culture. page 2
SECTION 1 COMMON GROUND CHURCH BLOUBERG
a year in review 2017 COMMON GROUND CHURCH BLOUBERG page 3
A NOTE FROM ROGER HAYNES
2019 was a year of faith and family. Within our so as to achieve the breath-taking things we believe immediate family Nicky and myself had the incredible God is calling us to. privilege of a 12 week sabbatical (April-June), something we are still enjoying the fruit of and are When we reflect on the church God has built us into, very grateful for. It was through that time as we had we can only be thankful and humbled. An army of our hands completely off the leadership wheel that servants after the heart of Jesus, doing their best to we experienced the incredible wonder of what we love him, love each other and peel off the masks that have in this church we then called Common Ground stand between our friendships going ever deeper for Table View. It’s a community of impassioned, vision- his glory and our growth in him. filled people willing to love, serve, lead and care for each other. We look forward to the new season in our Elkanah High School meeting space, trusting that God will help Our leadership teams showed incredible depth and us maintain the awesome sense of real community ownership of the community and vision, bringing and mission into an enlarged future. about a deep sense of family and unity. With love 2019 was a year where God began to bring a fresh Roger and Nicky and the leadership team emphasis into our hearts and minds, that of our own personal formation (or counter-formation) – who we are becoming and how we are being counter-formed in a culture that is trying to form us into its image. This has renewed our sense of mission, community and expectation of God.
We witnessed wonderfully more new people crossing the line of faith than in any other year since our inception in 2015. We thank God for that.
We also witnessed more consistent units of giving than in any other year which counterbalanced the sobering realities of an overall decrease in finances through regular committed giving. We are committed to discipleship, not raising money, and so will continue to lead our church towards genuine heart and head conviction about the value Jesus places on regular committed giving. During a tough economic climate and with emigration a reality, we celebrate God’s kindness to us and equally trust for future increase Roger and Nicky Haynes
a year in review 2019 COMMON GROUND CHURCH BLOUBERG page 4
a year in review 2019 COMMON GROUND CHURCH BLOUBERG page 5
BLOUBERG NUMBERS
124 6 110 14 AVERAGE PEOPLE REGULAR LIFE WEEKLY ATTENDANCE BAPTISED VOLUNTEERS GROUPS (Excluding Christmas & Easter) (On Sundays) 2018: 119 2018: 10 2018: 91 2018: 11
145 15 24 120 PEOPLE IN DEACONS NEW MEMBERS CHURCH LIFE GROUPS WELCOMED IN MEMBERS 2018: 120 2018: 4 2018: 22 2018: 106
Our Sundays not only saw numerical increase, but also a growing maturity of leadership and gifting in most areas. The highlights of Sundays in our (then named Table View) congregation is the incredible sense of community, warmth and engagement of volunteers. It’s breathtaking to witness a family so invested in the mission and the people within, and to see the wonderful way that everyone plays their part in making it work. 2019 was a steady year. Whilst many churches worldwide and even citywide sadly see decline, we are grateful for every life God adds to us as we grew steadily. With many people emigrating and the increase of the transient lifestyle, we thank God for steady growth, deeply rooted people and the stability of community in an increasingly isolating, individualistic and unpredictable world.
a year in review 2019 COMMON GROUND CHURCH BLOUBERG page 6
NEXT GEN NUMBERS
KIDS ROCK & IGNITE An encouraging increase in numbers saw our kids ministry growing to an average over 40 children per week. With a great sense of vision for the future coupled with warmth 41 16 and love, our leadership teams are AVERAGE NUMBER always striving to create a community WEEKLY ATTENDANCE OF LEADERS where faith, friendships, fun and 2018: 33 2018: 17 family are the central values. It’s incredibly encouraging to witness the Ignite group (age 11-13) building momentum on Sundays and Friday evenings! With limited resourcing and high commitment, this team has pulled together a wonderful sense of momentum that has set us up for 7 7 present and future fruitfulness! Kudos AVERAGE NUMBER to that outstanding team! WEEKLY ATTENDANCE OF LEADERS 2018: 7 2018: 7
a year in review 2019 COMMON GROUND CHURCH BLOUBERG page 7 COMMON GROUND CHURCH BLOUBERG page 8
BLOUBERG FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
Sometimes we like to use the term, ‘what’s the bottom line?’. It’s a financial term to get to the essence of what’s going on. This is not always a simple exercise when it comes to church finances.
I’d suggest the bottom line is not directly visible in spreadsheets or annual reports, because the bottom line is the in hearts and lives of our people. God reminded Samuel that man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart – 1 Sam 16. Jesus confirmed this when applauding the widow ho gave less than the wealthy man. The heart is much harder to measure, the heart spends many currencies, and opens and closes its fists over many things. Jesus calls us to trust him in all things.
However, if we were to measure 2019 with the ‘bottom line’ mentality, how would we fare?
If the bottom line is units giving per year, we saw good increase. More people or families are giving than in any other year since our inception. This is wonderful! If the bottom line however is income through regular committed giving, sadly our overall income saw a steady decline leaving us with an end of year budget deficit of no less than R450k. Economic challenges, emigration and people movement are all factors in this that we can’t ignore. Whilst every church wishes to see income increase, we have a higher desire; to have a community with deep revelation and understanding of God’s generosity towards us, that melts our hearts and moves us towards a giving that reflects the very heart of Jesus!
We look forward to not simply increasing our income, but in coaching our congregation financially to become more empowered financially by, getting out of debt, spending wisely, saving effectively, and growing in generosity too. We are realizing that as we make disciples it’s not what we want from people, but for them as we learn to live empowered, honest financial lives so that our future is one of genuine generosity.
We can celebrate with humility the generosity of other congregations in our city wide story who graciously helped us to eradicate our deficit entering into 2020. We trust that in years to come we too will be able to be a family that can support others in times of need. May 2020 see the bottom line truly change, may our hearts be moved to steward our money well, grow our revelation of God’s generosity, and give joyfully as God leads us to do, for his glory and the good of this glorious mission he has called us to.
HOW SALARIES ARE SET: In tandem with an external consultant, Common Ground use a job grading system - involving Patterson grades and the Avril Ryder South African NPO salary report - to ensure fairness in clustering job sizes.
2019 figures are management report figures, financial audit underway at the time of print pagepage 91
SECTION 1
F I L L I N G THE CITY
+ Multiplying Congregations
+ Multiplying Christ-followers
+ Multiplying Compassion & Justice
+ Multiplying Societal Renewal
+ Multiplying Church Strengthening
a year in review 20182019 FILLING THE CITY page 10
FILLING THE CITY
In 2017, God gave the leaders of Common Ground GIFT 5: CHURCH STRENGTHENING Church a vision to serve Cape Town in five specific This year we strengthened the ministry of 65 pastors ways – multiplying Christ-followers, multiplying and church planters from Phillipi, Langa, Khayelitsha, Congregations, multiplying Compassion and Justice, Gugulethu and Strandfontein through our Leaders multiplying Cultural Renewal and multiplying Church Breakfasts. We have also been able to equip two Strengthening. pastoral couples (one from Khayelitsha and one from Strandfontein) through a 2-year church Trusting in God’s calling and provision, the leaders planting course. of Common Ground rallied congregations across the city to giving these Five Gifts to the city. We have also created an online repository of free Common Ground Church resources that we hope will Three years into that five-year vision we can give one serve and strengthen churches around the world. account after the next of God’s miraculous hand in Take a look and why not share the link: multiplying these gifts… www.commonresources.co.za
GIFT 1: MULTIPLYING CHRIST-FOLLOWERS The best gift Common Ground can give to Cape Town is more Christ followers. In 2019, we have seen many stories of people crossing the line of faith, being baptised and living out the way of Christ in all spheres of their life. These stories are celebrated across the congregational pages and can also be found on commonstories.co.za
GIFT 2: MULTIPLYING CONGREGATIONS In 2019 we celebrated the launch of Common Ground Langa. This congregation has grown to a vibrant attendance of 35 adults and 40 kids. We are so grateful to God for adding to this congregation.
GIFT 3: COMPASSION AND JUSTICE Our partnership with Common Good is central to who we are as a church and there are hundreds of stories of God at work through all three of their initiatives. Please see more of these stories on the Common Good page.
GIFT 4: CULTURAL RENEWAL Through the Know Your Why conference with Ken Costa we equipped, connected and inspired just over 300 delegates to take the wisdom and ways of Jesus into their workplace. We also created a dedicated One Life website which seeks to equip, connect and mobilise Christ-followers to be agents of hope for the good of the city. You can find the website here: www.onelife.org.za
a year in review 2019 page 11
SECTION 2
COMMON GOOD
+ Multiplying Compassion & Justice
a year in review 2019 COMMON GOOD: MORE COMPASSION & JUSTICE page 12
SOCIAL JUSTICE CITY IMPACT
As Christ-followers we are called to ‘do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God’ (Micah 6v8). In partnership with Common Ground, Common Good seeks to create opportunities for people marginalised by injustice to fl ourish and reach their full potential. As we look back on 2019 we give thanks for the thousands of lives that were impacted for the better through our various programmes: from babies in the womb, to new moms, school children, teachers and the unemployed; from church leaders to Christ- followers in congregations across our city.
Thank you to the many donors, supporters and volunteers from Common Ground who partnered with us in 2019. Together we are bringing hope, opportunity, dignity, and care to those who need it most.
a year in review 2019 COMMON GOOD: MORE COMPASSION & JUSTICE page 13
Early Life | Education | Employment | Congregational Support
EARLY LIFE
In 2019 Common Good launched a new Early Life initiative, Sikunye (meaning ‘we are together’ in isiXhosa). Our research determined that the local church has a signifi cant role to play during the fi rst thousand days of life – a critical stage of development from conception to two years of age that sets the trajectory of a child’s future.
Sikunye inspires and activates churches across South Africa to support families with children in this phase, so that they can provide the nurturing care required for their children to truly thrive and reach their full, God-given potential.
50 100+ SIKUNYE CHAMPIONS CHURCHES PARTICIPATED MOBILISED AND ACTIVELY IN VARIOUS EARLY LIFE WORKING TOWARDS EVENTS AND ARE ON BUILDING COMMUNITIES A JOURNEY TOWARDS OF CARE AND SUPPORT DISCOVERING THEIR ROLE AROUND FAMILIES IN IN GIVING ALL CHILDREN A LOCAL CHURCHES. STRONG START IN LIFE.
a year in review 2019 COMMON GOOD: MORE COMPASSION & JUSTICE page 14
Early Life | Education | Employment | Congregational Support
EDUCATION
Common Good is determined that all children should have access to an excellent education, no matter the community in which you grow up. We’ve partnered with the Western Cape Education Department to strengthen three no-fee schools through the Collaboration Schools Project. Our team works 1861 LEARNERS RECEIVED BETTER alongside school staff to provide operational support, EDUCATION ACROSS OUR THREE co-create improvement plans, mentor teachers, SCHOOLS: DISA PRIMARY develop leaders and build teams that can drive change. AND BOUNDARY PRIMARY IN We also support targeted literacy interventions at BONTEHEUWEL, AND SILIKAMVA partner schools in Kewtown and Oceanview. HIGH IN IMIZAMO YETHU (HOUT BAY).
55 TEACHERS PARTICIPATED IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND RECEIVED INDIVIDUAL COACHING FROM COMMON GOOD’S INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES.
82 GRADE 2 & 3 LEARNERS RECEIVED VALUABLE ONE- ON-ONE READING SUPPORT THROUGH SHINE LITERACY PROGRAMMES AT KEWTOWN AND KLEINBERG PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
a year in review 2019 COMMON GOOD: MORE COMPASSION & JUSTICE page 15
Early Life | Education | Employment | Congregational Support
EMPLOYMENT
Our employment initiative, The Zanokhanyo Network, offers a holistic, three-week work readiness course that empowers the unemployed with the confidence, skills and resources they need to enter the marketplace. We journey with our graduates, offering support and connections to meaningful opportunities. In 2019 we piloted a course in Langebaan, with a view to establishing replication partners in communities further afield.
634 GRADUATES FOUND WORK OR WERE CONNECTED TO FURTHER STUDY OPPORTUNITIES
703 UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE COMPLETED WORK READINESS TRAINING AT 7 TRAINING SITES ACROSS THE CITY INCLUDING, DUNOON, HOUT BAY, LANGA, LANGEBAAN, OBSERVATORY, OCEAN VIEW AND WYNBERG.
245 GRADUATES IMPROVED THEIR TZN graduates and TZN training COMPUTER SKILLS AND GAINED INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC EXPERTISE THROUGH ADDITIONAL, IN-HOUSE COMPUTER, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND HOSPITALITY WORKSHOPS.
a year in review 2019 COMMON GOOD: MORE COMPASSION & JUSTICE page 16
Early Life | Education | Employment | Congregational Support
CONGREGATIONAL SUPPORT TEAM 16 PODCASTS PRODUCED FOR THE Our Congregational Support team aims to equip LIVING SOCIAL JUSTICE CHANNEL and mobilise Christ-followers towards social justice in their everyday lives. We support Social Justice Ministry (SJM) teams in Common Ground as they seek to disciple congregants towards a lifestyle of social justice and respond to the needs of their community. We publish resources on a range of topics and build 10 bridges to Common Good’s EEE programmes by SOCIAL JUSTICE RESOURCE PAGES facilitating volunteer opportunities and events. PUBLISHED ON OUR WEBSITE EXPLORING VARIOUS SOCIAL JUSTICE THEMES, INCLUDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, LIVING WAGE AND RACE, DIVISION AND INEQUALITY.
1050 VOLUNTEER HOURS INVESTED IN COMMON GOOD INITIATIVES
8 SOCIAL JUSTICE TEAMS SUPPORTED ACROSS COMMON GROUND CONGREGATIONS
a year in review 2019 page 17
We’re a gospel community filling the city with the message, life and fame of Jesus.
a year in review 2018