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Ministries

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Below you will find information on all our various ministries:

Kids Church, Youth, Students/Young Adults, Small Groups, Counselling, and Missions & Justice (incorporating the Container Ministry, Missions, and Grace Aid).

Scroll down to view the ministry you are interested in.

Kids Church is a fun, safe place for kids to discover the adventure of following Jesus. We are passionate about kids! We use creative and age-appropriate Bible teaching, high-energy worship, and caring, loving small group leaders give our kids the “GREATEST HOUR OF THE WEEK!” We also understand that there is more to leading children to Jesus than just Sundays. That’s why we love to partner with parents and families to make the most of these years in a child’s life. Parents can sign up for a weekly e-mail that details the week's lesson for each age group and ideas for related family discussions. If you want this weekly email, or have any other questions, contact one of our our Kids Church Pastors:

Kids Church Director: Karen Lombard 031 575 9300 - karen@grace.za.org

Kids Church Umhlanga Campus Pastor: Lauren Laurens 031 575 9300 - lauren@grace.za.org

Kids Church Riverside Campus Pastor: Megan Balt - 031 575 9300 - megan@grace.za.org

Kids Church Ballito Campus Pastor: Maryke Viljoen - 032 586 3385 - maryke@grace.za.org

Check out what's available for every age from birth to Grade 6...

FIRST STEPS (0 – 3 years)

This crèche facility is staffed by dedicated volunteers, with your little one’s safety being our priority. All children are signed in and out and are allocated a unique number. In the event that a parent needs to be contacted during the service, your child’s unique number will appear on the screens. Available during the first 3 services (8am, 10am and 4:30pm).

STEP UP (Grade 00 – R)

Our pre-schoolers enjoy a structured time of worship and story time followed by a fun activity to reinforce what they have learned. The focus in this age group is “God made Me, God loves Me and Jesus wants to be my friend forever.” All children are signed in and out and are allocated a unique number. In the event that a parent needs to be contacted during the service, your child’s number will appear on the screens. Available during the first 3 services (8am, 10am and 4:30pm).

JUMP START (Grade 1 – 6)

Our primary school children get together for high-energy, action-packed worship and a creative, relevant teaching time. This is followed by age appropriate small group time that reinforces the lesson with our super Kids Church volunteers. Available during the first 3 services (8am, 10am and 4:30pm).

FOR PARENTS WITH SMALL CHILDREN AND BABIES (0-12 months)

In all four services:

Room 201 - 'Family Room' with live video feed for parents with children.

Room 106 - Glass window into the main auditorium, see and hear the service, for parents with infants 0-12 months.

To download our weekly Kids Church newsletter for parents CLICK HERE

FRIDAY NIGHT YOUTH

Every Friday night during school term (7pm to 9:30pm), Grace Family Church fills up with teens, Grades 7-12. It's a rad time for hanging out and making friends. But besides the fun and crazy times, something significant and life-changing is happening - young people are discovering the love of Christ and exploring what it means to have a real relationship with God. We’re on a mission to build a community of teenagers passionately following Jesus in a way that compels others to follow Him. Join us for rocking praise and worship, teaching that is relevant and real, and community where you can belong.

Check out our Umhlanga Campus web calendar under 'what's on' for weekly Friday Night Grace Youth events.

TAG GROUPS

We encourage all young people who attend Youth at Grace Family Church to get connected to a TAG Group. These groups are for grades 7-9 and meet before Friday night Youth from 6pm to 7pm. They are led by both adult leaders and student leaders, and are divided up into grades and gender. These groups are great places for young people to connect, build great relationships with others and discover what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus. To find out more, go to the facebook page www.facebook.com/Graceyouthumhlanga and click on the TAG Groups tab.

SUNDAYS

Each Sunday the community of Grace Youth meets together to connect, worship and learn more about what it means to be a follower of Christ and have a rad time doing it. In the 8am, 10am and 4:30pm services, Grades 7 to 9 meet for Youth Church in Youth Central. Whilst Grades 10 to 1st year are encouraged to join any of the regular Sunday services at Grace, in particular the 6:15pm service.

NEED MORE INFO?

Like our Facebook Page to post your thoughts, say hi to everyone, and stay up to date with what's happening. Go to www.facebook.com/graceyouthumhlanga or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/graceyouth7 or contact the Youth Pastor: Paul Rowney - 031 575 9300- paul@grace.za.org

INFO FOR PARENTS

Have you ever dropped your kid off in the parking lot on a Friday night, watched them disappear into a crowd of teenagers and wondered, “What do they even do in there?” We’d like you to know what’s happening at youth, too. Seeing that being a fly on the wall isn’t possible, and your child would disown you if you followed them around on a Friday, here’s the breakdown of what a typical Friday night looks like...

First, we kick off with a live worship band. The band is made up of high school students and adult leaders, and this is always a rocking time. We choose songs with lyrics that will help our teens connect with God, understand more about Him, and experience His love for us. From high energy to some pretty deep moments, worship is a highlight for us.

Then, we have have a 10-15 minute session of teaching. Sometimes its a video, sometimes its a live speaker, but its always a time of learning about God in a way that is relevant, challenging and age-appropriate. We usually do a 3 or 4 week series that explores a specific topic. After the teaching, we occasionally break up into Small Groups to discuss what we’ve heard, and bounce our questions around.

All this takes just over an hour, and is followed by a more laid-back time of hanging out, sometimes some crazy games and activities, but mostly just chilling with friends. Friendship is important, and we try to create a safe environment for teens to build community with each other, with our leaders, and more importantly with God. Some of the best conversations happen around the pool table, or over hot chocolate, or kicking the ball around! Ultimately, our goal is to build a relational community of teenagers who are passionately following Jesus, and living lives that compel others to do the same!

If you have any questions about youth, we’d really like to hear from you. You can contact the Youth Pastors, Paul Rowney - 031 575 9300 - paul@grace.za.org

Is there more to life than exams, school, friends, partying, Facebook, varsity, music, or simply being awesome? Have you ever wondered: Is this it? At Grace Students, we believe life is worth exploring, including what you think about God. Ask the questions. Think for yourself. Know why you believe. If you're a student in grade 10 to university, then grab a friend and join us.

Keep up to date with all the latest happenings under "This week and coming up - Umhlanga Campus" on this website or on our facebook page www.facebook.com/students.grace

Contact: Jess Basson 031 575 9300 jess@grace.za.org

It happened in the early church and it happens today.

Small Groups are weekly get-togethers where you can get connected, and build authentic relationships - with God and others. Being part of a Biblically functioning community is significant part of what church is all about, and that is why we encourage everyone at Grace to be part of a Small Group.

There are different groups that meet all over Durban at various times during the week and our awesome Small Group leaders love to welcome new people in. Joining a group may seem overwhelming, and you’re probably wondering how it all works. There are a couple of ways to get involved:

After each Sunday service you can visit our Info Desk to find out more and get connected,

or you can email us at smallgroups@grace.za.org. We will then touch base with you, so we can connect you with a group,

to browse our groups or search for one in your area, CLICK HERE!

Link to our Umhlanga Campus Small Group page.

Link to our Ballito Campus Small Group page.

Our Counselling ministry aims to demonstrate the love of Christ through a Biblical model of counselling care and support. Our goal is to equip people with practical tools for personal and spiritual growth. It's really important to us that applying truth becomes practical, that the relationships are loving and non-judgmental, and that the counselling helps people become Christ-followers.

We have a team of volunteer lay-counsellors should you find yourself needing counseling. We also have a variety of support groups and courses you can attend. Details below.

For info on any of these, contact our Pastoral Counsellor Ministry Leader:

Madz Nixon madz@grace.za.org 031 575 9300 OR

Counselling Administration - for enquiries about support groups and or bookings for courses contact:

Gail Whittal counselling@grace.za.org

One-on-One Counselling

Madz Nixon and our trained volunteer counsellors work to help you in your journey to wholeness. Contact Pastoral Counsellor: Madz Nixon madz@grace.za.org 031 575 9300

Grief Support Group

For those dealing with tragic loss and bereavement, there is a monthly support group to attend and lifeline numbers to call. This group meets the second Thursday of every month.

Addictions Support Group

Grace offers a weekly Addictions Support Group that follows a Biblical 12-step AA program, this group focus’s on peoples potential in Christ more then the type of addiction they have. We aim to understand the nature of addictions and get practical steps in the healing journey. This support group is facilitated by volunteers who have been trained by Derek Smith, who has spent years working with addicts in support groups in Durban and Johannesburg. Please note this addictions support group will not diagnose addictions nor offer medical treatment for addictions.

We also have OPEN NIGHTS a meeting for friends and family members of addicts every 2nd Monday night at 6:30pm.

Boundaries Course

Boundaries teach us about what our responsibilities are, and what they are not. Learn when to say “yes” and when to say “no” through this 8-week course written by American psychologists Henry Cloud and John Townsend.

Divorce Care Course

This is a 6-week course for anyone who is separated or divorced, providing support and encouragement necessary for healing from divorce.

Wholeness Course

The Wholeness Course is all about bringing together the spiritual with the cognitive and emotional aspects of your self. It will give you a very practical framework for understanding how God fits into every area of your life and the tools that will help you grow closer in your relationship with Him. This is a 4-week course and is the pre-requisite for the Counselling Training Course.

Counselling Training Course

The counseling course is a 14-week course that will firstly equip you with the theology behind this biblical model of counselling for an understanding of what it means to be human. Secondly it will equip you with some basic counselling skills. There are assignments, an exam, and a weekend assessment built into the course. For more info contact Madz madz@grace.za.org

Contacts: Dudley Thompson - dudley@grace.za.org

Dave Richter - dave@grace.za.org

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another." Zechariah 7:9

One of the greatest challenges we face in our country today is the immense divide between rich and poor. At Grace Family Church, we believe it’s vitally important to direct our resources to the oppressed and underprivileged.

Our Missions & Justice Ministry connects our congregation with the poor. Whilst we work hard to meet the practical needs of others, we also use these opportunities to share the message of hope that there is to be found in Christ.

There are many exciting ways that the Missions & Justice Ministry reaches out with both support and God’s love. We support Christian organisations locally and globally, and we try to use every resource available to alleviate suffering and address the injustice of poverty.

These are the areas we work in:

The Container Ministry is an audited registered Non Profit Organisation and registered Public Benefit Organisation with an established network of over 140 trustworthy charitable organisations involved in caring for the poor. We are a conduit of food, equipment and related relief aid to those who need it most in the east of South Africa and lower Mozambique.

Overseas donors donate food and equipment, and ship them in shipping containers to us in Durban. We arrange and pay for clearing and forwarding from Durban Harbour to our distribution centre. We allocate the aid to the charitable organisations in the network who are involved in caring for the poor.

To download the latest, fortnightly Container Ministry Newsletter, CLICK HERE.

We believe that every Christian should be involved in serving the poor. That’s why we’d like to help every member of Grace to experience reaching out to others. Whether it’s a mission trip (local or overseas), a local day mission, or distributing food parcels, there are chances for adults, young people and families to get involved.

To download an information flyer of our mission trip to India (Aug 2012) CLICK HERE.

To download an application form for Mission Serving trips CLICK HERE.

To download a document of FAQs on Mission Serving trips CLICK HERE.

Banking Details to deposit fees for Mission Serving trips: Grace Family Church Missions, Nedbank, Swift: NEDSZAJJ, Durban North Branch, Acc.No. 1352-020-548, Branch Code: 135-226. Applicants to use their name and which trip they are going on as a reference eg. J.Smith Midlands.

Mission Statement

To demonstrate compassion by addressing poverty through community relief and development.

Grace Aid is...

“A charity that helps other charities.”

A conduit to those who need help most.

An audited and registered: Nonprofit Organisation and Public Benefit Organisation with an established network of over 140 trustworthy charitable organisations involved in caring for the needy.

These charitable organisations work in the areas of:

Care for children (abandoned, abused, and vulnerable children, baby homes, places of safety, crèches, pre-schools, children’s homes, orphanages, and after school care),

Feeding those in crisis,

HIV/AIDS care,

Self-help training (training for home-based caregivers, farming training, life skills training, and early childhood development training),

Help for refugees, prisoners, the drug-addicted,

Care for senior citizens.

For more information you can:

To visit the Grace Aid website www.graceaid.org or download a brochure - CLICK HERE

Online Giving for Grace Aid: https://www.myggsa.co.za/connect/receivers/grace_aid