Wangaratta Wesleyan Methodist Church

More About Us

Quicklinks: Worship | Children's Church | Our Vision | Our Doctrine | Pastoral Care | Our Heritage

Worship
Worship is central to the life of our church. Our services on Sunday mornings are occasions when we leave behind the cares of the week to focus our attention on God and his goodness to us. Our worship recognises the broad cross-section of people who make up our congregation. Our people love to sing and we take advantage of the wide range of music available from both traditional and contemporary sources, accompanied by a variety of instruments. We emphasise participation rather than performance, with various people involved in leading, reading the Scriptures and praying. Preaching reflects our appreciation of the Bible as God’s word to us, and seeks to apply its teachings to life.
A time of sharing over a "cuppa" is a valued and important conclusion to our morning’s worship. 
Newcomers are always welcome to join us. We meet in our church building on the corner of Parfitt and Great Alpine Roads, and services commence at 10.00 am each Sunday.


Children’s Church
Children are precious to God and it is our privilege and joy to care for the children God has entrusted to us. Children need to worship just as we do, in ways that are relevant to them. We seek to train our children to worship through Children’s Church where they sing, learn and pray in an environment suited to their needs and ages. Our children spend the first 10–15 minutes of their time each week with us in our main service where they take part enthusiastically in a time of singing and prayer before moving to Children’s Church. They join with the whole church during holiday times and for special services to enable them to understand their importance as part of the whole church.
While Children’s Church has its nominated leaders, the whole church supports this vital ministry with a team of leaders and helpers serving on a roster. This provides variety as well as continuity, and allows our leaders regular worship in our main service. Our children love Children’s Church! If you know someone who would enjoy worship at this level please bring them along; 10.00 am each Sunday.


Our Vision
Looking to God to guide us, our vision is for a Church that is growing. We expect to see:
• Personal growth as each believer is challenged to follow Jesus daily and seeks to develop his or her gifts for ministry.
• Growth in worship as together we encounter God and are inspired by him.
• A growing congregation as we reach out to our community with the gospel message.
• Others continue to join us.
To see our vision become reality, we aim to provide:
• Worship services which are alive and uplifting, a reflection of the joy we share in being brothers and sisters in God’s family.
• Small groups, where like-minded believers can meet mid-week for prayer, Bible study and mutual encouragement.
• Pastoral care for every person through the ups and downs of life, provided through our small group ministry as well as one to one.
• Training for leadership so that gifts and ministries will develop and the needs of our growing church will be met.
• A warm and friendly environment where God’s love is evident to members and visitors alike, and where kindness and compassion underpin all our activities.


Our Doctrine
The Wesleyan Methodist Church stands in the mainstream of the protestant evangelical faith Wesley emphasised. Thus we believe in: 
• One eternal God in three Persons
• The deity of Jesus Christ
• The Holy Spirit as a divine Person 
• The inspiration/infallibility of the Bible
• Salvation by grace through faith
• The "priesthood of all believers"
• The bodily resurrection of the dead
• The personal return of Christ
  
Our church upholds the conviction of early Methodism that "God is not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9b). Accordingly, we emphasise four Scriptural truths:
• Salvation is provided for all people
• Salvation is provided from all sin
• Salvation is received by faith
• The Holy Spirit testifies to our salvation

These truths, believed and lived, are a powerful motivation to holiness and evangelism.
Wesley defined holiness as follows: "It is purity of heart and life. It is the mind that was in Christ, enabling us to walk as he walked. It is loving God with all our heart; the loving of our neighbour, every man, as ourselves. It is the doing good to all men, in every point, as we would they should do unto us."
We believe and teach the importance of this emphasis today.


Pastoral Care
Our church recognises the complexities of life and the difficulties these sometimes cause, and seeks to offer support through pastoral care in a number of different ways:
• Participating in one of our small groups provides an opportunity for mutual caring and support, often the most effective form of pastoral care.
• Pastor Alan Akers is ready to offer a listening ear, encouragement and support, as well as assistance with concerns of a spiritual nature.
• Barb Detlefsen is also employed as a counsellor through the church. Barb has a special ministry of encouragement to women as they seek to grapple with the issues of life.
• A small Pastoral Care Team of volunteer visitors aims to keep in touch with the elderly and those not well, and becomes a point of contact for further care when needed. This team also administers a small food bank for times of emergency.
You are invited to contact us if we can assist you in any way.


Our Heritage
The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia is part of a worldwide evangelical denomination in the USA, Britain, Canada and Australia and over forty other countries. Methodism traces its origins to the great spiritual awakening of the eighteenth century, and the leadership of John Wesley. It began as a movement emphasising evangelism and a closer walk with God for those in existing churches, becoming established as a denomination in the USA in 1784 and then in England in 1795. The Wesleyan Methodist Church was established in the USA in 1843, growing out of a reform movement within the Methodist Episcopal Church over the issue of slavery. The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia began in 1947 and property was purchased that year in Glenroy for a Bible college (now Kingsley College.) From its small beginning, the movement has grown to around a hundred churches, mostly in the eastern states. 
In 1978 our own church started in Wangaratta and commenced services at "The Centre" in Chisolm Street. Being a comparatively young church, many of our people have had previous experience with other churches and bring a diversity which enriches our fellowship. In 2002 we purchased a block of land on the intersection of Parfitt Rd and the Great Alpine Road. On the 31st July, 2005 we dedicated our new premises "to the glory of God and the service of our community."