LEADERSHIP REPORT
This year started with a changing of the guard of the Leadership Team (LT). Nicole Camacho and Faye Snook ended their term and Aaron Snook and Zane Brown joined for the first time. The Leadership Team pays tribute to Faye for decades of service to the church in many capacities, and no doubt she will continue to do so.
Aaron has brought a lot of practical knowledge and provides a useful link with the Management Team of which he is Chairperson. Zane has brought some real spiritual leadership and a younger perspective.
After the last election I accepted the role of Chairperson to provide some continuity until the appointment of a Senior Pastor.
We have been blessed to have an amazing staff team who have worked incredibly hard this year. They have shown a willingness to step outside of their comfort zone to ensure that our church continues to achieve our vision to love God and others through our services, ministries and missional outworkings. They were ably assisted by interim pastor Rachel Roche.
Rachel’s role has been different and special. Her title is Interim Pastor but her job description is more aligned to that of a Transitional Pastor. An interim pastor is to steady the ship…a transitional pastor is to prepare, then steer the ship. Much was asked of her and she has constantly delivered. In particular, we wanted to have FBC as healthy as possible. This has included improving our practices around discerning the mind of Christ as a family together.
A highlight was, and continues to be, the Setting Your Church Free Programme. We had Murray Cottle guide us through an all-day workshop from which we realised that we did in fact have some outstanding issues that needed addressing. We have worked through those over several Sundays, and have committed to keep journeying on the restoration and healing journey. The LT are grateful to God and to the Northern Baptist Association in releasing Rachel to us and grateful to Rachel for her sterling efforts.
We also recognise the impact of the Ministry Team Leaders and the members of those teams. It is no wonder that the church is doing well during economic times that are different for many. Thanks also to those gifted and talented people among us who have contributed to the preaching on many Sundays.
Particular recognition and thanks is due to Jan Day for her years of great work as treasurer. Jan is grateful that Krystal Sue has stepped forward to take over that responsibility.
The Search Team have been prayerfully and conscientiously looking to find the person God has in mind to lead us and we have every confidence that their selection will be inspired.
Every Sunday and many days in between I am grateful to be part of this church family. So many scriptures speak of us all being part of the body and when I look around I see that concept in action.
We thank you all for the part you play.
Alan Calvert (Chairperson) on behalf of the LT
Rachel Roche
Esther Calley
Liz Kelsey
Zane Brown
Aaron Snook
Erin Temu
Interim Pastor
Rachel Roche
This has been a year of God’s undeniable faithfulness, guidance, healing, and overwhelming love. Franklin Baptist Church is loved by God, and evidence of His blessing is lavishly spread on every page of this report. As you read through it, please join me in giving thanks to God for each restoration story, each new beginning, each life-giving ministry, each outstanding event, and each opportunity we as a whaanau have been given.
The year has been marked by welcome, willingness, worries, wonderings, and walking.
Welcome: I am grateful firstly to the whole congregation. You are whaanau. Journeying with you all at a time of change has been a privilege. Many have encouraged me as I found my feet (which was — literally and metaphorically — in sewage those first few months!), the word welcome frames all we do and all we are.
Worries: Like any year — and especially one with no permanent Senior Pastor — there have been concerns, things to work through, and areas needing refreshment. Together, we walked through the Setting Your Church Free process. Together, we have held space for personal and communal anxieties. AND as my first intentional interim role I have had to bring my own worries honestly to God, too.
Willingness: I am grateful to the fabulous Leadership Team, Staff, Management Team, ministry leaders, and teaching team. What a gift and a blessing each one is. Each has embraced this year, given their time, offered flexibility, and been courageous in a changing landscape — with hard conversations, and listening to yet another one of my ideas or requests for help. Thank you.
PLUS so many exciting things are beginning. For example how exciting that we have taken up the challenge to be willing to partner with God at the local Rugby Club. Four people have said, “I am willing to train and become a Chaplain.” Then others have signalled willingness to pray for and support the team. What a wonderful opportunity we have.
Wonderings: This year has been full of questions — opportunities to sit with tension, listen deeply, and seek God together. We have explored hard issues, knowing we will not always agree, yet trusting that unity in Christ holds us. In our wonderings, I have seen faith stretch, perspectives shift, and grace poured out.
Walking: We have walked together through meetings, ministries, milestones, and messes. We have celebrated, grieved, worked, and worshipped side by side. Micah 6:8 continues to shape our steps: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God and each other — always learning, always growing.
Finally, I am grateful to God. Without Him we would not exist or even hope to survive. He has held us so that we could serve each other in both challenge and celebration. I look forward with anticipation for what is next as FBC continues love God and love others.
Rachel Roche
Executive Pastor
Penny Day
Once again as I reflect on another year here at Franklin Baptist Church I stand in awe of God’s great love towards us as a community of believers. We have had a year of growth not only in people attending but in our maturity as believers in Christ.
It has been a great blessing to us as a church family to have Rachel Roche join us on the staff team as our Interim/ Transitional Pastor for most of this last year. Rachel has been instrumental in leading and supporting the staff team so we can become more focused and efficient with our ministries.
It is my role as Executive Pastor to support the staff team, which consists of pastors, Rachel Roche, Sandra Bruin, Carol Dobbe, Josh Temu and our office staff Den Camacho and Sherrell Amoore. It is a privilege to work with such a great team of faith filled and talented people, who in a time of searching for a new Senior Pastor have been committed to being flexible in their roles within the team. As part of our registration as Baptist Pastors we are all required to attend and be a part of workshops and teaching sessions to enhance our ministry. This year, our team has been focusing on attending preaching workshops, as well as other specialised ministry areas. We are all also required to have external supervision and attend the Baptist Regional and National Hui.
It has been wonderful to have Josh Temu intentionally reach out to form networks between pastors and ministers of the churches here in Franklin. We consequently are meeting every few months to connect, share resources and support each other and our local churches.
It is part of my role to support and oversee our volunteer ministries. Our church family and community benefits greatly from having these many leaders and teams, who give of their time and talents to serve God in different areas.
We have been on a journey together this year to grow more like Jesus in all areas of our church life. The Setting Your Church Free framework has given us many practical tools and spiritual freedom in order to continue our growth as the body of Christ seeking diverse oneness.
My prayer is that God will use us mightily as the body of Christ, seeking to bring His Kingdom here on earth.
Blessings and encouragement to you all,
Penny Day
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Aaron Snook
God is good in his provision for this church in what has been another fairly tough financial year for many. While we never seem to quite meet our budgeted weekly giving target it is always boosted by the rental stream. It is amazing how this building is utilised throughout the week and I want to thank Den and Sherrell for all the bookings and running around they do to accommodate the renters. We had hoped this year to have some spare dollars to upgrade some of the more used rooms to make them more appealing. This unfortunately did not happen. However, that may be a possibility this coming year if funds allow.
Krystal Sue has been a great enhancement to the team. She and Jan have done a sterling job with the finances.
Praise God that we haven’t had any health and safety issues. Thank you staff and Russell Voigt for overseeing this area.
One thing we have realised towards the end of this financial year, is the need for some oversight of our Technology/sound equipment. Josh and Phil have done the best they can with the hours they have available. However, we need to improve systems and processes. We have established a subcommittee of Myself, Den, Penny, Josh, Phil and I to look into a possible role of a “Media Team Lead.” We have up till now struggled along with just letting things get worn out till they break, which sometimes catches us out at the wrong time. Our hope is to establish a maintenance programme, provide training to new tech recruits and up-skill our current tech/music team.
Another aspect we want to establish this year, is to develop a 10-year property maintenance plan so we can budget better for cyclical works and get the place looking fresh. The roof and gutter replacement above the C4 room will take place this summer when the weather settles. That’s a fairly big financial hit but we knew it was coming up one day so are prepared for that. Zane Brown and myself will oversee this project.
As a whole there has been a lot happening and an awful lot more to happen but we have a solid team where everyone pitches in and as Bob would say, ‘working together to get the job done.’
Blessings and thanks for your support,
Aaron Snook
Pastoral Search Team
Jill Courteaud
Team members: Jill Courteaud (Chair), Selina Hira, Liz Kelsey (Leadership Team rep on Search Team), Jane Potter, David Quinlan, John Rice, Lisa Snook, Phil Walker.
On Tuesday 18 February 2025, prospective members of the 2025 Search Team (ST) were called together for a briefing with, and the chance to ask questions of, a few members of the Leadership Team (LT). We were issued with the Baptist Union Pastoral Search Handbook and on Sunday 9 March 2025 we were commissioned and began meeting fortnightly on Monday evenings, alternating with LT, our only free evening in common. From different walks of life and employment backgrounds (self-employed, state services, private companies) and supported by our Interim Pastor and Baptist Union advisor, Rachel Roche, the team set out on the learning curve of employment in the context of the Baptist Church.
The first few months and earliest meetings were dominated by familiarising ourselves with the search process as outlined in the Search Handbook, becoming informed about Baptist Distinctives, training in discerning the mind of Christ, and familiarising ourselves with the history of FBC, church and Pastor profiles from the 2023 search, and current FBC activities and ministries. This involved a mixture of attending gatherings, listening to podcasts, watching videos, reading articles/booklets/theses then debriefing and sharing observations with each other.
By the end of May, our background work was diminishing, and we were able to move forward. We began meeting weekly – sometimes more – in order to accommodate the gathering pace, with LT altering some of their meeting times to accommodate our need to meet more often. With finishing touches being put to the Church and Pastor Profiles, adapted from the 2023 Search Team’s work and with input from the Leadership and Staff Teams, we saw our way clear to making a timeline. Our information pack for candidates was nearing completion and we began drafting an advertisement and FBC-specific questions for the application form.
Once we reached this point, Rachel announced her intention to pull back from the process and stopped attending meetings in early June. Around this time, too, we began considering whether to shoulder-tap as well as advertise and, after reading what we could find online and listening to sermons of people recommended to us by the Baptist Union, we identified several people of interest to follow up on.
A decision was made to close applications on 7 July, shortlist on 14 July and carry out first interviews on 19 July. Attention turned to designing questions and preparations for meeting candidates. From June to August our discussions centred around prospective candidates. Much of the ruling in and out has been straightforward, guided by our profiles, job description (provided by LT) and other stipulations.
As I write, on 8 August, the day of the deadline for this report, we are still in the interviewing process, grateful for the high quality of the people on our shortlist, and confident we will soon be able to bring to LT, and subsequently the church, the name of the person God is calling to lead FBC into its next season.
Jill Courteaud (Chairperson)
Worship Team
Josh Temu
It continues to be a joy and honour to serve alongside each of you on the worship team. Your love for Jesus and willingness to give of yourselves so consistently speaks volumes. To those who have recently joined – welcome! I am grateful to do this journey of worship and service together.
This year, the Lord has been guiding us toward unity — unity in our worship, unity in our relationships, and unity in our understanding of who He is. While last year focused strongly on discipleship, this year has been a continuation of this as we seek to grow in both our relationship with God and each other.
As a team, our Thursday night rehearsals continue to be times of preparation, they are spaces where we encourage each other, laugh, and pray. Six times a year, we swap these for Team Nights — moments of shared meals, devotion, and vision. These have been key for building connection and fellowshipping altogether. We are currently two months into three months of workshops, which have been spaces for us to upskill and intentionally develop in our giftings.
We’ve continued to host Whānau Worship Nights — special evenings for our Franklin Baptist family to come together in a focused, Spirit-led environment. These nights are prepared for the purpose of connecting with God in different ways. My hope is that these would impact our depth and understanding of what worship is and how many different ways we can worship.
This year also saw the continuation of Community Worship Nights. We were thrilled to partner with worship teams from Equippers, Salvation Army and Uplift Church, gathering in unity under the name of Jesus. These evenings have not only expanded our expression of worship but have built genuine connection across church communities. I’m so excited to grow these relationships further.
In July 2025, we held our first Worship Team Retreat. This is one of my highlights of the year! A massive stretch for me and I imagine so many others. I value the team’s willingness to learn and grow together as a team.
Praise Points:
– God’s faithfulness and presence in every season
– The unity and heart of our team
– New doors opening for training and community
– Leaders stepping up and being shaped by God
Please continue to pray:
– For Spirit-led direction as we plan ahead
– For depth and intimacy with God as a team
– For new members to join and help carry the vision
– That our worship would be a light in darkness and always bring glory to God
Josh Temu
Life Groups + Care ministry
Sandra Bruin
Care + Connection Ministry
Everyone has a part in the big picture God has for Franklin Baptist Church. The members of the body fit in together and work together for the good of the whole. The people involved in Care + Connect teams, as well as those who just care for others around them, because that is what they naturally do, make a difference in our church family.
A wise person once said, “Teamwork makes the dream work.” I would like to say – the family who serves together grows in unity in Christ. What a beautiful example of diverse oneness we witness at FBC!
Pastoral Care Ministry
Meals
Looking back over the last year, I yet again stand amazed at God’s provision and faithfulness! Our Pastoral Care Team shared the dream of having a dedicated freezer filled with meals that can be shared with people in our church family who find themselves in difficult circumstances. Not only has God prompted someone to donate a brand-new freezer, but He has provided resources and willing hands to help cook and bake. In addition to the freezer, a huge thank you to those who heeded God’s still small voice and donated meat, vegetables, containers for freezing the meals, and their time. Time is not tangible, but time is one of the biggest donations anyone can give to God and his church – whether volunteering to serve, cooking meals, visiting the lonely or taking meals around to the sick. Thank you! May God bless you as you continue to serve Him and the people He loves.
Visitation
Pastoral Care goes beyond providing meals. It encompasses visiting those who cannot make it regularly to church services on a Sunday. Several of our church family are residents at Possum Bourne Retirement Village, and some in care at Palms. Without names (in case I forget someone), a big thank you to those who visit and care for our family members in assisted living. You are an integral part of our Pastoral Care team, which cannot function without you.
Possum Bourne Services
I want to give a shout out to our Possum Bourne Services team! A dedicated team from FBC takes a service at Possum Bourne village once a month, with some songs, a message and encouragement to the people attending (some with different church backgrounds to ours). You are amazing and your effort and time is much appreciated, not just by us but by the people whose lives you touch through your service.
Connect Ministry
A huge shout out to all the saints who are involved in this ministry – whether you are serving in Security, Welcoming, Information Desk, Hospitality or the Baristas. The feedback we hear from most visitors/newcomers is that our church is a warm and welcome place. This is mostly thanks to you!
To everyone who is welcoming and hospitable to new people and visitors to our church, even if you do not serve on a Sunday morning roster – thank you! Be encouraged to continue being friendly and welcoming to those who may be new or who you have not met before. Please feel free to order a hot barista drink on us to bless them. Most importantly, look out for them on following Sundays and introduce them to a staff member or a leader.
Life Group Ministry
I love the encouraging stories from how Life Groups journey together and learn new things. One Life Group tells of a learning opportunity they shared with a couple in their group who went on a trip Europe and on their return shared photos of their adventure with their group. Amongst other places, they visited many old churches and heard stories of not only how attendance declined over the years, but how the same churches (real old buildings) are now vibrant community centres with lively attendance. Praise God for the revival that is seen all over the world!
On a similar vane, another Life Group testifies to the power of prayer. A few short years ago, attendance to this group dwindled to two or three, including the leaders, on a good night. They prayed about maybe giving it up and joining another Life Group but felt that God wanted them to continue. Now their group consists of twelve regular members. Prayer changes things and having patience in the process of how God works out the answer to our prayers, pays off every time.
From praying together, to grieving together, to studying the Bible together and to celebrating together, Life Groups are where we do life together. Our Life Group leaders all serve with one goal in mind – “feeding God’s flock”. Thank you to all of you for the love and care you pour into the people in your groups and thank you most of all for your servant hearts.
I pray for you in the words of Paul in Ephesians 1:
16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Sandra Bruin
Children and Family Ministry
Carol Dobbe
This year has flown by! Over the past year we have had many changes but our love for God has stayed the same. A guiding verse for our Children and Families Ministry here at Franklin Baptist is Deuteronomy 6:5-9:
5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
The Children and Families Ministry is here to help and support our families as they raise their children. To this end we have had some great things happen over the past year.
We have run a Parenting Teens for a Life of Faith course. This course teaches some biblically grounded truths about how parents and grandparents can walk alongside their teenagers to develop their faith in God and their connectedness at church, such as is mentioned in the Deuteronomy passage. I really appreciated the families that came to this course and the way they engaged with the content. Parenting for Faith also has programmes aimed at Primary and Preschool-aged parenting. If you are interested in one or both of these courses, please let me know and we will make a plan.
We also ran a Tricky Chats evening with Jo Robertson in partnership with Kingsgate Christian School. This was really well attended by FBC families and I hope very beneficial for families as they consider tricky chats with their children and teens around the use of digital media.
We have had an increase in family gatherings. A huge thank you to Carolyn Cornu for arranging a great movie night and Krystal Sue for arranging a family lunch after church. It is so good to see our families forming friendships together.
This year we have also given back to children and families in need in our community. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed time, money and resources to our Christmas hampers and our recent winter warmers. It is so good to be the practical hands and feet of Jesus to those who need it.
We have continued to use the Orange Curriculum for our Sunday morning ministry. This programme give a good biblical foundation for our children and is easy for our leaders to use.
We have had some amazing leaders step sideways from serving in Kids Church into other areas of church life this year and new leaders step into serving and leading with us. Thank you to all leaders current and past for the way in which you have spoken into our children’s lives. It takes the body of the church to do the ministries we offer.
This year our parents and grandparents have also started serving in our Primary programme on a rostered basis. This has been amazing. One of the reasons we started this was because we were regularly sitting at 17-19 kids and we needed another person in the room in order to grow and have over 20 children in the space. Amazingly, the first day we had the additional family support in the room we had over 20 kids. God is so good! As we had capacity, more kids were able to come. This term the attendance has been lower with winter ills and chills. Please pray for health and wellness for our young families.
If you are at all curious about what happens within the Kids Church Ministry, I would love to talk to you about it. If you are interested in serving we would love to have you as part of the team, for one term or longer.
On a personal note, I would also like to thank the church for supporting me in my studies as I train at Carey Baptist College in Pastoral Leadership. I am so blessed to work and study here. Thank you so much of all your support.
Carol Dobbe
FBI
Carol Dobbe
I love being a part of the FBI team. It is such a pivotal time in pre-teen faith development and such a joy to see our kid’s personal faith developing. This year we have been busy having fun and loving Jesus.
A highlight of FBI are our socials every 2nd and 4th Friday during term time. We have loads of fun and laughter together. This year our socials have been games nights at church, donut decorating, escape rooms, pool party, mini golf, 10-pin bowling, movie night and more. If you know of someone who is intermediate-aged that might benefit from some good healthy fun, please do contact me.
We have also engaged with our community, taking cookies to the local rest home at Christmas time. A highlight for me was one lady telling us that we couldn’t come with cookies and not sing a Christmas song and so the group got together and quickly came up with a song to sing to her.
The biggest highlight on the FBI calendar is always eCamp. This is an amazing weekend over Easter where we get together with other intermediate kids from across the North Island and enjoy a weekend of games, watersport and God. The speaker this year was particularly good, engaging the kids with the great adventure of following Jesus. All of our kids were impacted by Jesus over the weekend.
Following on from eCamp we had some of our kids express an interest in Baptism, so watch this space as we continue to journey with them in what this choice means for them in their lives.
We also use the Orange curriculum within the FBI ministry on a Sunday morning. We use the middle school programme that brings the bible into real situations that our intermediates are facing such as the pressures of social media, fitting in, moving schools, and so much more.
We are a small but mighty team in FBI and we would love to have you join us. Thank you to our amazing team of willing leaders, this space would not happen without you. We are looking for leaders aged 16 – 95 (Colleen, I’m looking at you), if you have a passion to see kids have fun and follow Jesus, I would love to talk with you.
FBI kids – thank so much for being you,
Carol Dobbe
Youth
Josh Temu
What a year it’s been for our Youth Ministry!
Firstly, I want to begin by thanking our awesome youth leadership team – Nicole Camacho, Emily Palmer, and Sebastian Partridge (Bash). You have been a steady, faithful, and joy-filled presence in the lives of our young people. Thank you for showing up week after week with hearts ready to serve, listen, pray, and lead. I genuinely couldn’t do this without you – your friendship, support and ongoing encouragement has been incredible, and I don’t take it for granted!
We as a team would also love to acknowledge Chloe and Ned for their leadership in youth ministry over the past season as we released them last year to their calling to serve in our wider community.
Our Tuesday night gatherings have continued to be a place of laughter, worship and connection. This year our theme has been Relationship and so far, we have had a focus on our relationship with Jesus (Term 1), The Faithfulness of God (Term 2) and the Holy Spirit – Fruit of the Spirit (Term 3).
Personally, one of my highlights has been initiating parents evenings, which have been a great way to regularly connect with parents, share vision for the term and a space to ask questions. Another highlight was our intergenerational night, which was a time where some wise and faith-filled church members attended so our youth could get to know our church congregation (with the added benefit of eating the cookies we made together afterwards!).
We’ve also enjoyed our annual events – Southhead Camp, Easter Camp and Kings Birthday Youth Leaders Training. Southhead Camp was great, as always, but particularly hearing the testimony of Chloe’s journey to healing and getting to share in her moment of celebration was a real blessing – she really provided a safe and vulnerable place to reflect for both the youth and the leaders present. Easter Camp at Mystery Creek had a bit of a rough start weather-wise this year but we persisted and made it through safely. Thank you to Camp Dad (Tim Palmer) and to all those that contributed to making camp happen – it was fantastic to hear from our youth and intermediates a few weeks later about how God impacted them at camp. King’s Birthday Youth Leaders Training is always a great space for us leaders to collectively connect and grow. This year I specifically loved the fellowship we had not just within our team but also with other churchs’ youth leaders.
Please keep praying for our youth – that the seeds being sown will grow strong roots. Pray that these young lives would not only know about God but know Him deeply as the Father! I’d also appreciate if you’d join with me in praying for more youth leaders.
Josh Temu
24/7 youthwork
Carol Dobbe
This year has held significant change for the 24/7 programme. We have farewelled Josh van de Worp from the team after 17 years committed to our local Intermediate school as a youth worker and team leader. This is a big change but we are grateful that Josh has stuck with us and joined the Franklin Baptist Trust as a Trustee. I have stepped in as team leader and have been busy developing relationships with the Pukekohe Intermediate School, our partner church, Revive, and our youth workers Anna and Utiku.
The 24/7 focus is on presence-based youth work. Anna and Utiku do an amazing job walking alongside the kids at Pukekohe Intermediate. They are present at morning tea, lunch times and run personal growth groups and mentoring sessions. The school has reported that the kids they work with are going from being on the edge of troublemakers to engaged students.
Our team has exciting changes ahead as Anna prepares to become a mum later in the year. We will miss Anna while she is on maternity leave and look forward to her rejoining again. To prepare for this, we have Roxy joining the youth work team. This term Roxy will shadow Anna and develop relationships with the kids before she steps up into the role.
In June, Anna, Utiku and I traveled to Christchurch for the 24/7 youth workers Hui. This years’ theme was Rangimarie meaning Peace. The Hui provided space for prayer and resting in God’s presence and professional development to upskill us in our work. As a new team leader I really appreciated the extra time with Anna and Utiku along with connecting with other youth workers and team leaders from across the country.
Our partnership with Pukekohe Intermediate continues to grow and develop. This partnership was formed because we responded to a need in our community for a Christian presence within our schools. This year we have welcomed the Pukekohe Intermediate School into our building three times with two socials and the school production. You may not know this but we have teenagers attending our youth group that come to church after coming here for their production two years ago. Being available and serving our community opens doors for them to feel safe coming to us. This is a partnership together.
Please join us in praying for our local schools. We have two other schools interested in joining with Franklin Baptist Trust and 24/7 youth work programmes. This is a great opportunity for us to be present in our community. Please pray for our ongoing conversations with the schools and the right youth workers – remember, youth workers can be any age, they just work with youth.
Thank you so much for all you invest in our community. We love being a part of it!
Carol Dobbe
OASIS
Charlie Potter
As a ministry of the church Oasis exists to be a place where anyone old enough and free on a Wednesday morning is welcome to come and join the group for a time of fellowship, like a life group.
The Oxford Dictionary describes the word Oasis as “an area or period of calm in the midst of a difficult or hectic place, situation.” In other words, a place where we can have timeout to be with others and enjoy fellowship with them, to worship God and to grow in our faith, even in our older years. That is exactly what our group is.
Our format in the last year has been similar to past years, but we have added the introduction of some bible study, led by Evan Squires. We also have had representatives from Community Organisations, that have included Angela from St Johns Ambulance, Community Sergent Wayne Paxton from Pukekohe Police, and Andrea from the ASB Bank. These visitors gave us good and practical advice in facing the challenges of life today.
We were privileged to have a class of year 12 students from Pukekohe Christian School join us one Wednesday. They spoilt us by providing delicious food for our morning tea and openly sharing with us by sitting at our tables and talking about their lives and studies. They led two songs with the group, with one student playing the piano, and the other the violin for one song. It was inspiring to hear three of the young people share about their faith in God. We all participated in a quiz, and some students even played chess with two of the group. At the end of session, a group of the students assisted with dishes and vacuuming, which was appreciated. All in all, it was a wonderful experience.
Also, this year we have started having a celebration of people’s birthdays of significance, particularly those 80 years and over, ending with 0 or a 5. On each occasion we have had a special cake made. There were four this year, Colleen Harris 95, Val Horne 90, Stewart Bent and myself turned 80.
The pattern of having a Chapel Service followed by lunch on the first Wednesday of the month has continued. These occasions have been led by Helen Elley, speakers having included Stewart Bent, Maggie Quinlan, Sandra Bruin, John Koutimanis (the Greek), Evan Squires, Ian Moorhouse, Helen Elley, Jane Potter, Rachel Roche, Penny Day and Colin Maloney.
In addition to Chapel Services, visiting speakers, and bible studies, we have watched some inspiring and challenging teaching videos by David Jeremiah, Charles Stanley, Max Lucado, plus an interview by J. John with Dave Bell. All have shown us that despite out age we can always learn more about the amazing God we serve.
When we have a 5th Wednesday (once a quarter) this provides an opportunity to do something different giving social interaction, going out to a venue for fellowship and a meal. These have included indoor bowls before lunch at the Pukekohe Cosmopolitan Club, a visit to the Lavender Farm at Karaka, the Autobarn at Bombay and a low-key event at the Potter residence. At all these events there was a good time of interaction together.
In conclusion, I want to give thanks to God for all those who have contributed to this important ministry in the past year, including the support and encouragement of my wife Jane, my leadership team of Val Horne, Stewart and Margy Bent, Colin Maloney and Helena Round, plus Arlene Hutcheonson on the piano, and Sheryle Spyve and team in the kitchen.
Without the support of these people and God’s leading and directing by His Spirit this ministry would not succeed like it has.
To God be all the glory, honour and praise.
Charlie Potter
corporate prayer
Ian Moorhouse
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.“
2 Chronicles 7:14
It has been encouraging this year to see an increased emphasis in our communications and in our services on the need for prayer as individuals and collectively as the body of Christ at Franklin Baptist.
John 15 records the words of Christ which are so applicable to increasing our level of fruitfulness as a church:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”.
To remain in Christ as a body is to spend time together in prayer and loiter together in His presence. It is only then that the Holy Spirit can instruct, can convict, can strengthen, enable and guide us as a church.
It has been good to see the numbers meeting to pray together before our Sunday morning service.
Each Sunday evening, a small but dedicated group meet to pray over the fellowship at Franklin Baptist and spend time with the Lord. As we press into God together and He reveals his heart to us individually and as a fellowship, all of us involved would say these times have proven lifechanging.
Collectively as a fellowship, we must regularly spend time with our creator if we are to be a fruitful church, one of any use to the needy and desperate world around us.
God can achieve all things in the physical and spiritual realms affecting our community, but He waits for His people to care enough to take the time to ask.
We would love to have you join us each Sunday at 9:15 in the auditorium, 5pm in the Church lounge and during the week on Tuesdays at 9am in the staff room.
Ian Moorhouse
Prayer Chain
Arlene Hutcheon
The Prayer Chain is a team effort starting from the request that is received by a phone call, or email, or text.
The next step is to send the request out to the people on the prayer chain and then leave it in God’s hands.
There has been a slight change this year in the way we can send a prayer request.
Our congregation can access the Planning Center App and send their own prayer requests. Alternatively, they can continue to send prayer requests to me, if they so wish.
It is good to receive feedback on how God has answered prayer, and this is also passed on to the Prayer Chain to encourage them.
I would like to thank all who are on the Prayer Chain for their faithfulness in this ministry.
Arlene Hutcheon
GLOBAL ACTION
Stuart Smith
“I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there – all nations and tribes, all races and languages …. singing Salvation to God on his Throne! Salvation to the Lamb!“
Rev 7: 9-12 MSG
Our Team:
Marian Whitehead, Helena Round, Carol Dobbe, Stuart and Julie Smith, Patricia McKelvey
Partner Highlights:
- Greg and Rosie, Thailand: Mark’s gospel published in L language! Translation team will continue with James and 1st Peter. Greg and Rosie relocate to NZ in September after 17 years in Asia.
- Kevin and Gillian, Cambodia: Gillian’s successful eye surgery, ongoing teacher training at Salaa Hope and Hope Centres, pastor workshops and resourcing on digital platforms. Hosted short term team from FBC. $660 from FBC Kids Church for reading books for local children.
- Peter, Dasha, Sean, East Asia: Arotahi partners. Long awaited first visit to NZ as a family. Local community ministry opportunities and business growth.
- Peter and Leonora, South Asia: Arotahi partners. New Leadership for the college, continuing growth in village church communities, marketing contacts made for the Basanti products during recent home assignment in NZ.
- Alan and Fiona, Leeston: Getting established in SIM communications role with their 2nd magazine completed. Family short -term mission trip to Cambodia.
- Aimee Reid: Currently training for global service. Has started a year of leadership and ministry development training with YWAM Tauranga.
Promoting a Global Focus @FBC
We have continued to present monthly missions updates in Sunday services to pass on partners’ recent news and prayer needs. Along with the bi-monthly Prayer Focus leaflet, this enables everyone at FBC to be a part of what our partners are doing in other parts of the world.
Global Focus lunches gave opportunity to learn about the variety of ways God is using people to bring the Good News to less reached places. We heard from Colin and Tania Anderton, Ruth Lennox, Peter and Leonora and some from FBC including Emily de Bruin, Carol Dobbe and the Cambodia Team.
FBC Global Focus policies were reviewed, updated and shared with several other churches looking for help in this area.
The short-term trip to Cambodia (20 Feb- 6 March), instigated by Nigel Brown, was a highlight in the way that so many of the church became enthusiastically involved. A large quantity of teaching resources were prepared for the team to take with them.
The annual “Renew Together” saw many of the team helping to lead the services around the theme of knowing, embracing and stepping into God’s call.
Stuart and Julie Smith
Women’s Ministry
Kylie Lendrum
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”“
Isaiah 6:8 NIV
God’s invitation involves grace, grace for ourselves and others as the ‘sending’ looks different for everyone. Sometimes it’s in the daily moments that God wants us to ‘turn up’ and other times it’s in the bigger moments that God brings about.
I, for one, never saw myself leading a women’s ministry and yet by God’s grace I find myself in this role. I had to be obedient to God’s leading, and with the encouragement and prayers of others, I stepped up and into this position. The last two years have been an adventure and an ongoing learning curve for me in this role and I am very thankful for God and for each one of you, for your grace, encouragement and prayers, for me personally, as well as for the ministry as a whole. It is all appreciated.
We have so many passionate women at FBC, who love God and love others. Women’s ministry is so much more than events, it’s when we get to stand with and alongside other women in life. This is truly evident when a team comes together to help organise each event or through conversations, practical help or prayer. Women and God in partnership, in action, and I for one, love it.
October 2024, we had an awesome team of ladies led by Pip Brown who organised our very first T-Time event, this was filled with practical tips, lots of laughs and of course a variety of items that began with the letter T.
We had our first women’s retreat earlier this year and though it didn’t quite happen as we originally planned, God still showed up in the unexpected. Friday and Saturday evenings were times for women to come and receive, to worship and to hear from some great speakers that were obedient to what God was laying on their hearts for us and to be encouraged. Saturday found us taking over a local restaurant for brunch and then spending time with arts, crafts and hands-on activities back at church. We are looking forward to praying and planning for our next retreat.
The op shop ball that we had at the end of June, that was initially booked for a women’s ministry evening, developed into something different. It was a night for family and friends, of all generations, to have fun and spend time together. It was an evening of community.
God is the cornerstone of women’s ministry and so we gracefully surrender this ministry to him so that he can lead. On that note we do have some exciting plans for women’s ministry for this coming year. We love hearing about your ideas for this ministry, how God is partnering with you in life (your testimonies) and journeying with you individually and as a collective of women.
Our email address is: women@fbc.nz or find us on Facebook: Franklin Baptist Women’s Ministry.
May God bless each one of you.
Kylie Lendrum
Men’s Ministry
Charlie Potter
This past year has been seen positive improvements in the Men’s Ministry. We have held four events with an average attendance of 42 men, an improvement on last year.
In the past twelve months there have been breakfast meetings, held in the café, with an abundance of delicious food prepared by a dedicated team of Greg Abbott, Daniel Bailey, Marinol Ison, Scott Heaford, Keith Amoore, Russell Voigt and Nigel Brown. Others have played a vital role with technology, and setting up, those committed men include Anthony Dunk, Tom Russell, Graham Brooks and Craig Dexter to name but a few.
The Promise Keepers Organisation has provided some invaluable help and support, including providing two speakers in Nick Tuiatasi and Michael Bragg plus a video to watch, also supplying advertising material. We have been greatly blessed to have our very own Erin Temu as speaker too.
Through advertising and emails, we have reached out to other churches in the area and an increasing number of men from different fellowships are now attending events.
Plans are underway for a pool and pizza event in the coming year. We have confirmed a breakfast meeting for September with Frank Po Ching the National Director of Promise Keepers, to be our speaker.
I am very grateful for all the support I have had through the year and look forward to Anthony Dunk and other younger men becoming more involved in this important ministry in the future, with God’s guidance I believe this work will provide even more opportunities to reach out to men in our community, and be an even more vital support to men’s lives in FBC.
Charlie Potter
community toy library
Leanna Dunk
It is with amazement that I am writing this report. This year has flown by and I cannot believe it has been a year since our last report.
We continue to praise and give God the glory for his unfailing provision and protection over this ministry serving the Franklin Community. Through the connection that we have built with the families there has been many conversations about a growing struggle financially and also with little space in their homes the gratitude for this service is voiced a lot. Franklin Community Toy Library is appreciated by so many families, caregivers, grandparents and in-home educators that enjoy bringing the kids in to choose toys. What a blessing to have so much variety and the constant flow of donations to process ready for the kids to enjoy.
Isabella Day and I work together to warmly welcome our new and existing members at each session, building on connection with our families and interacting with the children of all different ages and stages looking for opportunities to bridge the gap from the Toy Library to FBC services or any events that our families would be interested in attending.
After applying for our main Lotteries grant in the later months of 2024 we received the news that our application had been declined. So prayerfully we approached the congregation to get on board in supporting the running and continuation of this amazing ministry. With God’s unfailing love and provision we gratefully received the amount needed to keep going and stay open. Thank you for your prayers and financial support through this tough time.
We were blessed again this year to be approached to host the Modern School of Music Cafe which is our main fundraiser for the year. 300+ people over two full days while the competitions were on, connecting and serving with a fantastic atmosphere in Franklin Baptist Church. After all expenses were paid we were blessed with a profit of $3,300 which was gratefully received and to be put towards the operational costs to keep this amazing community service open.
Once again I would like to give God the glory for you – for your prayers, yummy baking, financial support and serving alongside me I truly appreciate you all. I would also like to thank the Franklin Community Toy Library Committee members for all your support namely Kylie Lendrum, Arlene Hutcheon, April Haru and Selina Hira, my right hand ladies. Carol took on the position that was formerly Fiona Murray’s role processing our Payroll/Accounts and helping us with our advertising/marketing. We thank you for the work that you do in the background. Esther Calley another mention of gratitude and appreciation for all you do for the Toy Library applying for the different grants that are available to us, attending Franklin Baptist Trust meetings and your general support with the operation of the Toy Library.
Our goals that we have set for the year are slowly being worked on and measurable progress is being reported to the trust each quarter (thank you Kylie Lendrum) With being in a small space and blessed to have so much variety and quantity of toys there was a real need for more storage to create an illusion of more space in a very cluttered work environment. I would like to personally and collectively thank Keith Amoore and his team of men that provided us with a new set of large shelves which has been utilised to shelve our bigger toys.
In the last few weeks I have been very blessed to have Ruhan (Grace’s daughter) volunteering with me on each session through the week while she has been here visiting her mum. Having a permanent helper has enabled me to catch up on other jobs I was unable to get to. So thank you Ruhan, it has been an absolute pleasure getting to know you and helping you improve your English.
What I see is the Body of Christ in action with this ministry, each person including our brothers and sisters in the congregation serving with the gifts given to us from the Holy Spirit all playing a part with the result of a very blessed year in the Franklin Toy Library.
Thank you and God bless you abundantly
Leanna Dunk
alpha
Sandra Bruin
A beautiful story from Leanna, an Alpha team member:
“Assisting in Alpha brings me a lot of joy. To hear, share and connect with people who have their own stories to share whilst being vulnerable, we continue to see God’s love, God’s grace and God’s unfailing transformation in each person. The videos are incredible and, no matter how many times we watch them, there is always something that God highlights in a new way. It is an incredible ministry and a true blessing to be a part of. God continues to bring people on our path to simply journey with, to listen and show compassion to and to enjoy the new connections we have made.”
Many of you would know that Paul Brown, after many years of leading a successful and fruitful Alpha Ministry in the UK as well as here at FBC, stepped down from his leadership role towards the end of last year. In his years of leading Alpha at FBC, Paul has seen countless people come to Christ through the Alpha Course. Many of them are still attending church here and have been baptised as their next step in their faith journey.
Paul – we commend you for all those years of faithfully serving God, and your heart for spreading the gospel through the Alpha Ministry.
After Paul stepped down, Howard McCawe eagerly and faithfully stepped up to lead Alpha. Sadly, he led for only about 6 months before he passed away in June. Howard has, however, in the years before he led the ministry, facilitated several courses, and every time, God reached someone under his leadership, and he led them to Christ. While very different in their leadership approaches, both Howard and Paul were used mightily by God, and we rejoice with every new person added to God’s kingdom.
We remember Howard with fondness. He was a man of huge capacity with an even bigger heart for evangelism, and we will miss his input in Alpha. He has left a big hole in our hearts.
Like with every other ministry at FBC, the success of Alpha would not be possible without the support of the whole team, and many of you reading this. Morning teas, meals, desserts and faithful prayers provided by you, are greatly appreciated.
Alpha is God’s ministry, and we are blessed to serve in this ministry at FBC. Under new leadership, Alpha may look different going forward but Alpha will continue at FBC. We believe that, through Alpha, we will witness many more lives being transformed and hearts given to Jesus Christ in the future.
Sandra Bruin on behalf of the Alpha Team
Seedpods
Emily Stevens
Thursdays 9:30am-11:30am during school term.
Founded by Lynley Clark
Facilitated by Emily Stevens
Seedpods is a small group of mums/carers and pre-school children who meet weekly. Children and adults enjoy exploring a theme while building friendships through shared experiences, curiosity and play together.
It is attended by mums/carers who are looking for opportunities to connect with their children, additionally they appear to be looking for ways to engage with church life and church activities beyond the Sunday Service. Approximately 6-8 parents and 8-12 children participate weekly. There are a number of denominations and faith perspectives represented, many who attend Franklin Baptist Church on a Sunday.
Our families come from varying backgrounds through local friendships. It is a time of building relationships with Christian and pre-Christian families.
There are 30 pre-prepared programmes that can be chosen from for the sessions. They include music, activities and crafts as the formal part of the programme. This is followed by self-provided lunch boxes, informal play and hot drinks for the parents.
I volunteered to facilitate Seedpods this year. Every leader volunteers different skills and curriculum practices. I have a Bachelor’s in Design. I favour learning through books, pictures and objects and bring encyclopaedias and other resources to support the ‘theme’ of the box. I occasionally dress up in that theme as a point of interest. The connection between child and parent is very important to me. Hosting this group is part of finding a balance between the importance of internal family connection with my own children and external family connection with the broader church family.
This is a simple, yet effective ministry to run. Please pray for this ministry and consider if you can help out in these areas:
- One child-free volunteer to connect with the twins while I facilitate the group.
- Baking for morning teas.
- Helpers to serve the morning tea.
Emily Stevens
made with love
Lynda Wilde
Once again our ladies knitting group has had a very busy year knitting; cardigans, jumpers, vests, singlets, beanies, bootees and blankets. We have ladies who sew quilts, bibs, muslin face cloths and Toys. Two of our groups husbands produce rattles from their lathes.
Our monthly coffee mornings are very inspirational and we share ideas and patterns. We have 30 members in our group and all feel the fellowship time together is very important to us.
This year we had Claire who is the head midwife at the birthing unit in Pukekohe come and speak to us and this was very encouraging to us all. We also had a talk from Colin Maloney representing the Gideons who provide us with the bibles that go into the monthly bags.
We have supplied Pukekohe Maternity Hospital over the last 12 months with 225 bags including 12 Christmas bags and 10 Easter bags. On an average we are providing 20 bags per month.
The midwives monitor which mothers have the most needs for these bags and it is very encouraging to hear how gratefully received these are.
We have also had some mothers fill out a ‘feedback’ form and its heartwarming to hear their story and to know they truly appreciate our gifts.
Through the year we have had donations of wool from Michelle Ann Wool Shop in Pukekohe and Spotlight donates their end of line balls to us throughout the year. These very generous contributions are extremely useful towards the high output of knitting our ladies produce.
We so appreciate donations for this important ministry as there are so many mothers with babies who cannot afford essentials so this enables us to help where we can.
Thank you so much to the church family for supporting this worthy Ministry.
Blessing from ‘Made with Love’ Team.
Lynda Wilde
heartfelt catering ministry
Lynda Wilde
Our ministry has had a quiet year, praise the Lord for this.
This ministry came together to help families with the loss of loved ones to ease the burden of the funeral arrangements after the service with light refreshments.
This is a stressful time for the family and we as a team come together to make this a special and personal tribute to their loved ones.
We have an amazing dedicated team of helpers who, when required, come together to help in preparing and serving the food needed at these times.
If further information is required re this service please contact the church office for more details.
Blessings from the Heartfelt Catering Team
Lynda Wilde
Prison Ministry
Ian Moorhouse
It has been a great blessing this year for the team to continue to be involved in what God is doing amongst the inmates at Springhill Correction Facility. Our team consists of six people from Franklin Baptist and five from other fellowships.
We lead Church services in the various units of the prison each Sunday morning. These services last about 30 minutes and are as interactive as possible. Each team of two leaders would typically take two services on any given day. We would typically see about 10-15 inmates at any service.
In the last few months our work has expanded to leading afternoon services in one unit for prisoners who are locked up in the morning.
This year we have been holding weekly online prayer meetings for the team.
We have seen God answer many specific prayer requests as we commit to seeking his face together for the enabling for this work.
It is humbling to see what God is doing amongst people at Springhill and to see many becoming renewed as they accept Christ. We are also seeing an increasing hunger for the word of God which I attribute to a determined prayer effort behind the outreach.
Romans 10 v 13 -15 says this
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
We welcome those who feel God is calling you to this ministry to talk to myself or Grant Buchanan. We also welcome as many as possible to pray regularly for our enabling and protection both physically and spiritually.
Ian Moorhouse
financial report
Jan Day and Den Camacho
The search for a Senior Pastor has continued over the 2024-2025 year.
Rachel Roche has continued since Josh van der Worp left and will lead us until September 2025 as our Interim Senior Pastor. As Rachel works four days per week, this has meant a heavier workload for our other staff which includes Penny Day, Sandra Bruin, Carol Dobbe, Josh Temu and Den Camacho. Sherrell Amoore has also joined as Office Assistant.
Our staff has worked well together, and we are very grateful for the extra work they do. It has also meant that we have been able to use some money budgeted for a Senior Pastor to pay for extra hours.
$93,000 of loans from the congregation has been repaid this financial year, leaving $120,000 still to be repaid. Repayments have been made from general donations as well as a savings deposit we were holding for repairs and maintenance. While we are pleased to be able to repay debt, this extra repayment above the $48,000 budgeted has curtailed some day-to-day operations of the church.
As we have all found, expenses have increased considerably. We are happy to report our church donations have covered these outgoings. Thank you.
We note the church insurance has gone up 3-fold as the building was required to be revalued before insurance would cover us as, were working on a valuation of 10 years ago. Our premiums have gone from $12,000pa to $36,500pa.
We are fortunate to have good rental income from other groups using the hall, although also mindful that more heating, coffee etc is used.
In order to give good service to renters and the church, we are looking for a technology person for the “Media Team Lead” as mentioned in the Management Team report.
With all the rain this year we have several leaks in our roof and will need to repair them soon. The estimate we have to do repairs is between $38,000 and $50,000, which will require fundraising by the church.
At our church budget meeting on 27th July 2025, the congregation unanimously passed the budget for 2025-2026 as presented below.
Den Camacho
mortgage repayment scheme
Alan Calvert
The position relating to the Mortgage fund
The balance owing in early August was $110, 000.
The final date for settlement is September 2027 … 22 months away.
However through fundraising we hope to make the final payment several months earlier.
I would like to thank those people who have already suggested fundraising ideas and would be happy to receive any other suggestions.
Alan Calvert
ADMIN & membership report
Den Camacho
Digital Systems Update
This year, we’ve made significant progress in transitioning our office systems to digital platforms. The Planning Center and Microsoft 365 are the main tools that are functioning effectively and continue to evolve to meet our needs. They are actively used by our Leadership Team, staff, Management Team, volunteers, and several church members.
Microsoft Teams has become a central hub for video meetings, collaborative notes, and agenda planning. Our presence on social media remains strong, with both the Franklin Baptist Church Facebook page and the Franklin Baptist Community Facebook page receiving consistent support and engagement.
This year, we will be working on a documentation filing system using Sharepoint, MS Teams and Onedrive. We’ll also be doing a clean up of our database.
Facility Rentals & Income Growth
Once again, a substantial portion of our church’s income has come through our well-managed booking system, powered by the PCO calendar platform. Since last year’s report, we’ve upgraded several rooms to include video projectors and live streaming capabilities for the auditorium. We are continuously making our spaces more versatile and appealing for rentals.
However, the growth in bookings also brings increased demand. Behind the scenes, managing these rentals requires significant effort and coordination. The C4 room is scheduled to be repaired this year, and this will be a good alternative room for hiring. We are also in the process of reviewing our Terms and Conditions for hiring our facilities.
Financial Management & Reporting Enhancements
We are continuously partnering with our accounting firm, CATAS, in revising some of our budget reporting. This updated approach enables us to better identify and manage areas of ministry that require focused attention.
Designated giving will now be clearly categorised, including whether contributions are subject to tax or not. In addition, we will be producing more tailored in-house reports this year to meet the specific needs of our ministries. These customised reports will allow for quicker access to vital financial data, empowering our leadership and church community to make more informed and timely financial decisions.
Membership and Demographics
The majority of our attendance are in these age brackets: 4-11; 12-18; and the 65+. The breakdown of these figures is outlined below for your reference.
Den Camacho
