ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
STILBAAI UNITED CHURCH
MAY 2022/2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
The Lord has been good and faithful to us once again this past year. We stand in awe of all that God has done in and through our church. Therefore, with the hymn writer we can say “When we consider all the works of Thy hands then sings my soul how great Thou art.”
Just when we feel we have seen it all, God opens us to experience more and more of Him in our lives, personally and also as a congregation. As we reflect back over the past year we see what a privilege it is that God has brought us safely through the Covid period and that we could get to doing things again. When I look at our services, what a joy it was to have numbers increase again at our weekly services and the chairs could be moved closer to each other and we could see each other’s faces again. We could have tea and coffee after the services too. Also how good it was to have a full house at our Christmas Day service and to see families worshipping together. We had the privilege to have done the Ortberg course “Who is this man Jesus” and “Anxiety ” by John Piper on Sunday evenings. Our Holy Week and Easter services were well attended. We also have continued with our U-Tube services. It is a real blessing for those who cannot come to church due to health reasons and even touched people who have never come to church. Here we need to thank Benjy and Hannatjie Kuun once again for their time and effort.
We had wonderful outreach opportunities. We helped Badisa (School fees), Ouma Lena Huis, school needs financially, stationery for Melkhoutfontein and Bertie Barnard Schools. We also helped people from the emergency fund. Our Women’s Group did a wonderful outreach in knitting knee blankets for the needy and elderly and filling maternity bags with special items for new born babies whose parents cannot afford to care for their new born babies. We are also involved with Badisa’s “Sakkie vir ‘n Pakkie ” donating dry food for the needy in Stilbaai and Melkhoutfontein.
We also again did the Sandcastle competition for the holiday makers on the beach in December and here we need to thank Zelda and her team. We did the Surfers’ burgers again at the surfing competition in September and here Bill and his team did great work. We also donated money to the Gideons for Bible distribution.
With regards to our church building, we fitted an inverter to help us with the data projector, lights and microphones with the power outages. Then I would like to thank Johan and Gavin and the team of men who organized and did the recoating of our church chairs. What an awesome task but now our chairs are in a good condition. Our garden team has done a good job with maintaining our garden.
Fundraising: We want to thank the Whitecrosss family for donating us a meat hamper that raised R6 411 and the Surfers’ braai that raised R3 885. Our Women’s Group organized a car boot sale that also raised R5 388,05
It also has been a wonderful year as we have received a number of new members. We would like to welcome all new members and we are glad to have you as part of our church family. Our deep felt sympathies to those families who lost loved ones during the year.
Then the highlight of our year ending in May 2023 was Trevor Hudson’s weekend mission, 5 – 7 May 2023. What an inspirational weekend and so many people of the other churches in Stilbaai joined us and we had outstanding attendances and so blessed by his messages.
I would also like to thank all the people who so freely gave of themselves in serving God in our church – the Data Projector operators, Riaan for the music each Sunday, the Door Stewards welcoming the people on Sundays, the ladies who help with serving tea and coffee on Sundays and also all those who bring refreshments each fourth Sunday and also Melinda for organizing the Communion Table on Communion Sundays.
Our Bible Studies continue to meet faithful and care for each other.
Lastly, I would say what a joy and privilege it is to serve God amongst you. May God continue to bless us and use us to serve Him.
Yours in Christ
Ronnie Cawood
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
UNITED CHURCH STILBAAI
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2021/2022
I greet you all in the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. How God has brought us safely thus far through the pandemic we are facing! Another year has come and gone. By God’s grace we have come to this day.
God has brought us through so many things as the hymn says: “Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come; ’tis grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.”
There is light at the end of the tunnel as restrictions are being lifted and God is opening a new way for us.
I want to thank all those people who helped us to sanitize, take names at all of the services and taking temperatures during the strict Covid restrictions. You were truly a great help to us.
During the past year we could at least do the course “The Me God wants me to be” by Ortberg. We also held the contemplative prayer course and what a special time for us.
Our services have also grown in attendance where we are now averaging sixty people. What a joy to see people coming back to church. For as the writer of Hebrews say “Let us not give up meeting together.” God calls us into His family and not into isolation. We are also now going back to serve tea and coffee after the service, so we can enjoy some fellowship again.
Then, we also need to thank Johan Raaths and our garden committee who, during the Covid restrictions, kept our church garden in a very good condition. The garden has become a place where people come and spend time and enjoy the garden.
Once again we must thank our women’s group for the way they have reached out to the needy people in our area in various ways, blankets, jerseys, baby bags and meals for members going through trying times.
It has also been pleasing to see how our Bible Study groups have continued to meet and nurture people in their walk with Jesus. We have also recently opened the church for prayers to those who want a place to pray on Tuesday mornings. Our Holy Week services and Good Friday and Easter Sunday were well attended and a great blessing.
We must commend our data projector team who made our services very special and meaningful. I would like to commend you all on your financial generosity during the year that enabled us to keep the doors of the church open and also we have helped many people financially this year. In our giving, we are always acknowledging our Lord’s goodness and faithfulness towards us.
Our Financial figures look healthy. Our current account closing balance is not bad, although it has decrease from R33 019,91 at the end of 2019 to R12 261 and rose again to R16 311 at the end of 2021. Our savings account has grown from R208 398 at the end of 2019 to R454 344 at the end of 2021. Our property trust account was R150 076 at the end of 2019 and now it is R150 000 at the end of 2021.
We give grateful thanks to God for your continued financial support during these very difficult times with particularly the rise in the cost of living.
I also want to thank Benjy and Hannatjie Kuun for faithfully doing our Youtube recordings. It is a means of outreach to others. So weekly our message still goes out via the Youtube and people do appreciate it.
Our property committee under Johan Raaths has done an outstanding job with regards to our church property. The steeple was redone and the light on the steeple was repaired so we could light our cross for the Lent and Easter season. Also, fixing our gas geyser for hot water in our kitchen. They have kept their finger on the pulse of what needed to be done.
We have been privileged to financially help Badisa, Ouma Lena’s house, help pay some children’s school fees, donate money for Bertie Barnard School for additional class rooms, sent a youngster to a drug rehabilitation facility and also to help pupils of both primary schools with stationary.
So God has blessed us to be a blessing to others. Thank you to all of you who made this possible.
We look towards the future with keen anticipation as we know that Jesus has gone ahead of us to prepare the way. There is still so much more that God wants to lead us to and grow us, that is why I believe we ain’t seen nothing yet. There is still so much more to experience. So, let us rise up into the future with great faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I would also like to thank Riaan Terblance, who very faithfully serves as our church’s secretary/treasurer and plays each Sunday the piano that we can sing. We thank God for his unselfish service. We need to acknowledge Marion Potgieter, our auditor as well who faithfully audits our books.
Lastly Christina and I once again want to thank you for the privilege and honor that is ours to serve God amongst you special people of God.
God bless
Yours in Christ
Ronnie Cawood
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
UNITED CHURCH, STILBAAI
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2020/2021
What strange times we find ourselves in. Whoever could have thought that we would find ourselves in times like these? Yet, despite of these times, God is still on the throne.
During these times I found such strength from the hymn:
In heavenly love abiding
No change my heart shall fear
And safe is such confiding,
For nothing changes here;
The storm may roar without me,
My heart may low be laid
But God is round about me,
And can I be dismayed
Due to the Covid restrictions we could not hold our Annual General Meeting last year. So this report covers last year as well.
We ran a very successful Alpha course with the NG Church and it was a real blessing to work together with them. The Holy Spirit weekend of the Alpha course was a highlight at Hartenbos.
Our new church building has been a great blessing as we have benefitted so much from it. It is a pity though that Covid has put real brakes on many of our plans. We are not allowed to have tea/coffee after the service, we have to keep our distance and leave after services. This “new normal” has been very difficult not to have fellowship.
Most of our fundraising like the surfers’ boerewors rolls, curry evening and pancake sales have all been put on hold. Our new kid on the block, our Women’s Group Craft Market in December also had to be put on hold. Thus our fundraising has grown to a halt.
We also had to move to YouTube Sunday services to reach those who felt unsafe to come to church and also because our numbers at services at the beginning were very strictly limited. But since February our numbers allowed at services were increased. With regards to the YouTube, I need to thank Benjy Kuun greatly for being so faithful each week, recording the services for us. The YouTube has reached lots of our people. We just need to be careful that this does not become an excuse for not coming to church as we know it is our Lord’s deepest desire that we meet together in worship and fellowship as Jesus calls us into a family, God’s family.
So far, our mission and outreach has been limited as we could not hold special programs or courses due to Covid restrictions. But, in the near future in June, we will be doing two courses. The first course on Contemplative Prayer and then after that a course from John Ortberg on “It all goes back into the box”.
Our Women’s Group has done outstanding work in knitting jerseys, beanies, baby clothes and also made lots of blankets. These have all gone to needy families. They have also made hampers for new born babies of disadvantaged parents to help them. They have made meals, which is kept in the church’s freezer for people who are going through difficult times. They also organized a craft market that had to be cancelled in December because of Covid.
Our Bible Study groups are still meeting even though for a time we had to stop but they are in full swing again. We also have our church open for prayer each Tuesday morning from 10h00 to 10h30. You are free to come and go as you want to.
It was also good this year to have had Holy Week services as well as Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We missed that in 2020. It was so good to have children at our Easter Sunday service. We really miss our children at services.
The one sad matter is that services have now been closed in Riversdale as many members moved away and some passed on and the people of Heidelberg, due to age could not travel to Riversdale any more.
Sadly we have lost two of our key leaders in the church – Christine Kroon, who served on the Church Council as our Catering Chairperson and then of course John Pote, who was one of our founder members and a real pillar of strength on the Council meetings.
We also need to thank our Garden Committee, under the Chairmanship of Johan Raaths, that has done outstanding work to make our church garden a special place.
We must commend our data projector team who made our services very special and meaningful. I would like to commend you all on your financial generosity during the year that enabled us to keep the doors of the church open and also we have helped lots of people financially this year. In our giving, we are always acknowledging our Lord’s goodness and faithfulness towards us.
Lastly but not least of all, I would like to commend those who have assisted with door duty on Sundays in these trying times. Also all the helpers who have helped with the handy man work around the church – a big thank you.
As we look to the future, we look with great expectation as we know our Lord holds our future in His hands and we trust Him. We as a church now face a new challenge of how to be the church in these new times and I know and trust God will open new doors and new opportunities to be His church. yes, despite all, these are exciting and challenge new times and I know God wants and will do a new thing among us. To God be the glory and honour now and forever more.
Once again thank you for allowing my wife and I the opportunity of ministering among you.
God bless you all.
Yours in Christ
Ronnie Cawood