A vibrant and inspiring leader of a regional church ‘given focus’ at Cootamundra
Yvonne Gunning had been serving at Cootamundra Anglican Church for around five years when she was introduced to the services of City to City Australia’s (CTCA) Revitalise Australia initiative.
The Diocese of Canberra-Goulburn launched Revitalise Canberra-Goulburn and engaged CTCA as a strategic move to reinvigorate five of their regional centres.,Cootamundra was selected as one of those five. Those in leadership within the Diocese had been noting a decline in the vitality of several of their regional centres, and this was only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yvonne is a vibrant, clear thinking, and inspiring leader in a church where seventy percent of the members are over seventy years of age. More broadly, she noted that there are only a handful of churches in Cootamundra that were still operating with a trained and paid pastor. Several churches have folded, while some have kept meeting informally with lay leaders. She is gravely concerned for the future of the church in regional areas, given Cootamundra is not alone in its experience of a dwindling church presence in the community.
In the first years of her ministry in the town, Yvonne focussed on helping her congregation to develop the groundwork for change in the congregation. She had taught about the need for the implementation of new strategies if young people and young families were going to come and join the congregation. So when the opportunity to engage with the RA program was presented, she eagerly embraced it. The process, and the results thus far, have been tangible and very exciting.
In Yvonne’s words, the RA process, led by a City to City consultant in her church, has “given focus” to all members of the congregation at Cootamundra, in looking to engage a younger demographic. This has been instrumental in implementing change. The process has resulted in all members of the church responding to an invitation to pray for the future of their church, both in whole-church gatherings, and in smaller groups. Seeing people pray with focus and excitement has been a wonderful encouragement to Yvonne and the whole leadership team.
One of the key recommendations for implementation in the congregation has been the launch of a 4pm service. Yvonne said the hall was full, and the church ran out of chairs. Members of the congregation had to learn to be children’s leaders on the spot! Similarly, the café the church added to their Op Shop a few years ago has been revitalised with a stronger focus on making connections with members of the broader Cootamundra community. This is particularly bearing good gospel fruit.
One of the leaders from Yvonne’s church had this to share after their Revisioning Day last weekend:
““Our consultant is so good. He comes so totally objectively with a clear approach. I guess it’s his work but he sees exactly where and what we need. It has been a very good experience. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of City to City’s programs.””
Yvonne describes Rod as someone who listens, and observes the full gamut of information provided to him when he consults for the RA initiative.
The highlights for Yvonne have been the character of the City to City consultant, the renewed commitment of her congregation to prayer, and the wildly successful launch of their new family focussed service at 4pm on Sundays. Yvonne observed that CTCA’s RA program helps with the processes involved in running a church, in ways that the whole leadership team can access and work within. At the same time she emphasises that RA is NOT a program; it’s an approach to leading change that is tailored specifically to an individual church.
And to anyone considering using the program she says “Go for it! But are you willing to change?”