This month sees a major focus on community, discipleship and evangelism with the first of our South quarterly social events, the much anticipated new theme, ‘the Journey of Discipleship’ and the lead up to our new Accelerate discipleship training course which will launch off in April, as well as our first Bloke’s event for 2007.  It promises to be a great month in Church!

Last weekend we officially farewelled our South Connect Pastors, Ryan and Karen Hill and their beautiful girls who are moving to Corrigin.  We take this opportunity to wish them every blessing in their new season and to thank them for their dedicated and faithful service to the South Campus community.  We look forward to regular updates from you on your return visits to Perth!  Our very best wishes for the future.

Joining us as the South Connect Pastor for the next two months is Dave Ryder.  We are very excited to have Dave on the South Team for March and April and he looks forward to meeting you all.  Please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself to him and welcome him into the South Campus community. 

Our first Bloke event for 2007 is on Wednesday 14 March at the City Campus Auditorium, commencing at 7:30pm with pre-entertainment from 6:30pm.  Tickets are $20pp and include a beer, hotdog and chips on arrival.

Our Special Guest for the evening will be Nick Farr-Jones.  Nick is best known for his captaincy that led the Wallabies, Australia's Rugby Union team, to become world champions in 1991.

This is a great night out for all the boys so book your tickets now online at www.riverviewchurch.com.au or pick them up at the bookstore on Sunday.

Our next Water Baptism is this Sunday 4th March at 2:00pm at Point Walter Reserve, Burke Drive, Bicton.  If you or anyone you know would like to be baptised, please don’t hesitate to contact Barbara Ridyard at the church office on 9416 0000 or email barbarar@riverviewchurch.com.au for details.

We have a fantastic youth program on Friday nights at the City Campus from 6.30pm till 9.30pm for high school students.

We realise it may be difficult to transport you teenagers to the City on Friday nights so we currently run a bus every Friday night during the school term departing from Winthrop Baptist College car park at 6.00pm and returning at 10.00pm.

The youth team and their amazing south bus driver Ross White, would love to extend this route to start from the South Campus in Cockburn Central to allow high school students who live further south the opportunity to come along.  If you would use a bus service departing from the South Campus, we would love to hear from you so we can let you know when it commences.  Please contact Chelsea Jones at the church office on 9416 0043 or email youth@riverviewchurch.com.au for further details.

Our Children’s Teams do an incredible job under the leadership of our South Co-ordinator Sharon Wilson. We are currently in urgent need of new volunteers for this very important area of ministry.

We are looking for committed, caring and enthusiastic workers in all areas including Administration, Toddlers, Little People’s (ages 3-5) and Primary Zone.  If you are interested in attending a training night or want to find out more, please don’t hesitate to talk with Sharon Wilson on Sunday or contact her at the church on Tuesdays or Wednesdays on 9416 0000. 

Our first South Social for 2007 is a Pizza Party, with Clive and Hilary Elliott kindly donating their 5-acre property and wood fired oven for these events!  There are two dates for you to choose from.  Details as follows:

Date:                   Friday March 9 or Friday March 16 2007
Time:                   From 6:00pm 
Address:              194 Foxton Drive OAKFORD
What’s provided:  Pizza bases, soft drinks, plates and cups.
What to bring:      Your favourite pizza toppings to make your own pizza (Be as creative or conservative as you like!) and any other drinks you might like.
RSVP:                 No later than Sunday Mar 4 and Sunday Mar 11 respectively.  To register please come to the Info Desk at the South Service on the weekend or alternatively you can email Alyson Passauer at the church at alysonp@riverviewchurch.com.au indicating which date you will be attending.

Please let us know asap if you will be attending for catering purposes. These are fabulous opportunities to get to know others who attend the South Campus.  We look forward to seeing you there.  We would also like to extend a HUGE thankyou to Clive and Hilary for offering their home for these events. 

With the recent interest in South Connect Groups, we have an urgent need for Connect Group Leaders in our region.  If you would like to find out more about becoming a leader (or you know someone who would make a great CG Leader!!) please contact Alyson or Dave Ryder at the church office on 9416 0000 or email daver@riverviewchurch.com.au or alternatively, come and see us at the Lounge on Sunday. 

We have a particular need for Leaders in the Bibra Lake, Rockingham, Baldivis and Canningvale areas.  Let us know if you’re interested and we’ll start the journey from there!

For information about how you can become a greeter, usher, or safety and traffic attendant at South, please speak with Marcus Passauer or Neil and Tania Davidson on Sunday or call Thomas Chee, Service Teams Co-ordinator, at the church on 9416 0000.  Alternatively you can fill in a Volunteers Card for any area of service you may be interested in and drop it off at the Lounge after the service on Sunday.

If you are proficient in sign language we would love to hear from you.  We have had a special request from a hearing-impaired attender of our South service for someone who might feel confident to sign for him during the service.  Please contact Alyson or Dave at the church office or see Alyson or Alan Rycroft at the Lounge on Sunday if you are able to assist.

Riverview Children’s Foundation is now taking applications for its 2007 Impact Trips to Rwanda, Ukraine, Thailand, and Cambodia. These trips provide an amazing opportunity for people to visit the projects that the Foundation is partnering with.  They are for people of all ages and life experience, who would like to be involved in the work of the Foundation in a practical way. 

Applications for the Rwanda and Ukraine trips close soon.  So pick up an information pack at the weekend services or email Bridget O’Donohue at foundation@riverview.org.au

Well that’s the news to the minute.  Looking forward to a jam-packed month of growth and enrichment.  See you Sunday.

God bless you richly!

Alyson & Marcus