About Us
Below is some key information outlining our past, present and goals for the future.
 |
Where do we meet? |
|
When we gather together as a church community, our “home” is Lane Park, 16-22 Lane St, Upper Hutt (see map below).
We meet weekly on Sunday mornings from 9:45am for coffee and tea, with our service beginning at 10:15am.
View Larger Map
|
Who are we? |
|
We’re a diverse community of people committed to following Jesus and working with God and each other in the building of His kingdom.
CFUH was begun in the late 1970’s through the initiative of our founders, Hudson and Joan Salisbury. We grew from just a handful in a lounge to several hundred people in a fairly short period of time. As our name suggests, most of us live in Upper Hutt, and serving our local community has always been an important focus.
While we’re not part of any particular denomination, we do have longstanding relationships with a wide variety of churches and leaders both in New Zealand and overseas.
You can read more about our history and distinctives, by clicking here.
|
How are we led? |
|
One of the things you’ll notice fairly quickly when you’re amongst us is that there is no one single leader in charge of everything. However, while we don’t have a “Senior Pastor”, we do have lots of leaders – some more visible than others:
Firstly, we have elders. This group is ultimately responsible for the church. They are a team of men and women who bring oversight to our church community. We currently have six elders, all who serve CFUH in a voluntary capacity. The elders don’t “run the church” – but they are responsible for shaping the “culture” and guiding the overall direction of CFUH.
Secondly, we have a group of leaders who co-ordinate particular aspects of our life together and/or the mission we’re engaged in. Most of these leaders are also voluntary. Often they’ll carry the name “Co-ordinator” – which indicates that they actually lead a team of other leaders.
Thirdly, we have a small team of paid staff who carry particular responsibilities or roles. They contribute to the life and mission of CFUH in areas where more time and energy is required than can be realistically expected of a volunteer.
We believe that God has called all of us to serve each other and the wider community. This means that the task of organizing ourselves as a church, and being involved in God’s mission is one for the whole church family – not just the leaders.
Click here to read more about why we call ourselves an “Eldership-led Church”.
|
What values are particularly important to us? |
|
Every faith community has some things that are particularly important to it. That’s certainly true for us. Several things we particularly value are:
Family
We view ourselves as a large “family”. Our hope is that being relationally committed to each another becomes the central driving force of our life together.
Of course, like all “families” we have our issues and idiosyncracies! But we’re committed to working through the challenges of being a family. It’s like a covenant among us – a pledge to, with God’s help, walk with one another – learning what it is to love and serve Jesus.
Kingdom
We believe that all of life is sacred. There’s not an area of life that God doesn’t want to transform and bring under His rule. This includes the worlds of business, politics, education, community and health. It also includes the everyday and mundane, the environment, our relationships, our work and our rest. Nothing is exempt.
Consequently, we’re passionate about learning to be co-workers (or partners) with God in the building of His kingdom. And this extends to all areas of life.
Team
We prefer to work in teams. In fact, in CFUH we are committed to growing and developing ways where ‘team’ is the normal experience of service and ministry. We believe that working in team is ultimately more fruitful – both for what it produces in us and what we are able to achieve in partnership with God.
Leaders are responsible for harnessing and empowering individual contributions and ensuring that we are all pulling in the same direction.
Generational Investment
The kingdom of God is not something that can be contained within the life of any one individual, church…or even one generation. We see ourselves as connected with the saints of past decades and centuries, and the church worldwide. While we’re only a small “link in the chain” we are called to steward what has been passed down to us, and to prepare future generations for their part in growing the kingdom. We call this “generational transfer”.
|
What’s our purpose? |
|
We genuinely believe that CFUH does not exist for its own benefit. As a community of God’s people we are called to participate in God’s mission to the world. We’re seeking to make our communal life a springboard to the wider community and world around us, rather than an end in itself.
This is reflected in our mission statement, which states:
Christian Fellowship in Upper Hutt is a church family committed to and calling others to a journey of faith, in which God’s Kingdom life and power transforms individuals and families as they work together building a community.
|
How does someone get involved in our church? |
|
We don’t have a “membership” in CFUH, so there’s no way people can formally “join” us. However, we welcome new people becoming part of the CFUH family and there are a variety of ways to express commitment to the life and mission of our church.
Like most churches, our primary gathering as a whole community is on Sunday mornings. However, most of the life of CFUH is expressed in other contexts – particularly through involvement in one of the wide variety of “mini-communities” such as:
- home groups
- men’s or women’s groups
- specific age-related groups such as Pillars (seniors) and KRANC’s (youth)
- mission/ministry-focussed groups such as MOPS, Lifeworx, Mainly Music, Music team, and Children’s Church team etc.
These smaller communities come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some meet fortnightly on an ongoing basis, others meet for a set period of time. There are groups just for men, others for women and still others that are mixed. Some groups meet for study, discussion and prayer, others are engaged in a specific task or mission. Then there are those targeted at a particular age or stage in life and faith.
If you’d like to be informed about any of these groups then please make sure you pass your details onto the information desk at the back of the auditorium on Sunday mornings, or to contact us click here.
A copy of our annual “Telephone Directory” is also available to those who have decided to make CFUH their church family.
|
Is there more information that I can read about how CFUH operates? |
|
Yes! The documents and articles to the left of this page give insight into the “how’s” and “why’s” of our structure and organization.
|
