The Operations group supports our local Baptist Churches in relation to finance, administration, property, compliance, insurance, governance, reporting, remuneration, taxation issues and much more. Operations also includes GodSpace, our primary school SRE curriculum, and Balance Ministry Services.
During the last year our Operations group has been supporting on our Gen1K vision, investing into our leaders, creating healthy churches and increasing our capacity in preparation for growth in our next season. We have continued to equip our churches through our Church Leaders Playbook, which includes a newsletter and training sessions. In 2023 have continued the consolidation of our funds for efficiency and to assist in mobilising resources for strategic initiatives. Consequently, we have now seen the start of land banking for future church plants and the consolidation of our resources.
In 2023 we continued to invest in technology to streamline processes and achieve enhanced CRM and database management. This is directly improving the overall support the Association provides to our churches, pastors and leaders.
Property is key to our Gen1K goal, so in the last year we have formed a new committee, the Property Advisory Group, to help develop and provide support to our property strategies. This group is actively supporting our Association in ensuring we are well placed for the future by thinking through and actioning our property related needs.
Quick stats:
Four years ago, the GodSpace team, began the enormous task of updating and refreshing the GodSpace SRE/RI curriculum with the intention to create a more engaging and relevant resource for a new generation of students in schools to explore the Christian faith.
In 2024 we will complete the roll out of the final year in the new three-year curriculum cycle. We have been encouraged by the positive feedback we have received regarding the high quality of the visual resources and the impact in the way students are engaging with SRE/RI lessons. The redevelopment of the GodSpace curriculum resulted in 2023 seeing more Christian schools and children’s ministry programs eager to use the new dynamic resource.
In 2023 over 50 000 students explored the Christian faith with GodSpace in their SRE/RI classes in public schools. It is encouraging to see three hundred teachers regularly attending GodSpace curriculum training events as we support them in using the resources more effectively.
We have continued to support churches in the Philippines with our excess resources delivered to many churches all over Cebu. The students love using GodSpace at their Vacation Bible School.
We are grateful to Heidi Tak for her wisdom in bringing together a highly competent, creative, and faithful team to bring this project to fruition. We are thankful for Sally Smith and her team of writers as well as Jenny Hanslow and the Xenos Media team who went above and beyond to bring the new GodSpace vision to life. We are so grateful to God for his provision financially and spiritually in showing us that with Him anything is possible.
We would like to thank all of you who continue to support GodSpace with your prayers, finances, and time. We are grateful for the faithful volunteers who go into schools each week to help students question, explore and discover faith with the GodSpace curriculum.