Who We Are - And What We Are About
Hi there, and welcome to our church website. My name is Paul Bennett and I have the awesome privilege to pastor Dunedin City Apostolic Church. So, while I have your attention, let me both inform you and introduce you to who we are and what we are about.
Dunedin City Apostolic Church is affectionately known as 'Dunedin Apo', or just plain 'Apo', to the locals. We are affiliated with the national Apostolic Church Movement of New Zealand. This gives to us the safety and accountability of being part of a much bigger church family than happens for an independent church.
Although we are affiliated to a national movement, we have all the autonomy we need to build a great church in our city. With this autonomy comes the challenges and the priviliges to be responsible with the vision God has given us.
The Apostolic Church was founded out of a spectacular move of God in the nation of Wales at the beginning of the 19th Century - known as the 'Welsh Revival' of 1904. We are a part of the Pentecostal stream of Protestant churches.
Apostolic is a word that many people of today seem neither to understand or even know how to spell. So let me give you some understanding.
From the very beginning of the Apostolic Church, the leaders were convinced that the ministries described in the book of Ephesians, chapter 4 verse 11, were to be seen in action now (today) just as they were in the 1st Century church. These ministry gifts were given by Jesus Christ to the church to provide spiritual leadership. Thus the church was to be in every way apostolic in nature, led by apostles. So today we continue to recognise these five-fold ministry gifts of apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist, and teacher as ministries that are responsible to God to train and equip all God's people to be able to do the work of His ministry. Therefore, you can see that the term Apostolic is about the form and function of both the Governance and Ministry of the church.
The geographical location of our church buildings:
We are located right alongside the University of Otago and the Dunedin Polytechnic campus's. This has historically given our church a unique opportunity to have a specific ministry to impact the city's tertiary students. These students come from all around our nation, and from other nations, to our city - and we are called to have a vital role in their lives.
At present we number 650 people.
Our congregation demographics are made up of people from right across the age range - although 70% are under 35 years of age. We draw people from right across the city, making us truly a city church. Although we have the unique opportunity to reach tertiary students, we don't believe that God has just called us to be a student church. We believe that God's grace is upon us to be a family church that has a special call to affect the lives of the young people that find themselves coming to our doorstep to further their education.
A Seedpod Church:
A number of year's back, God spoke prophetically to the church and declared that we were to see ourselves as a 'seedpod church'. Ever since then the church has been on a journey of unwrapping what this truly means. We know that a seedpod is like a family - it's a place of nurture, equipping, nourishment, and reproduction. This goes from one generation to another, continually having an effect upon the next generation. Therefore we believe that God has given us a great responsibility to equip continuing generations of young leaders with the DNA of the apostolic spirit within them - to be sent out into our nation, and the nations, to bring great impact on the churches they serve in, lead, and plant.
Our purpose statement is "Living to see many others turn and follow Jesus". This means, clearly, that we are on the journey of becoming a people who, in every way, are learning to live our lives in such a way as to have an effect through our words, actions, and lifestyle upon the people of our city. Our hope is that people would consider the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, accepting His forgiveness and His salvation, and therefore become His followers (disciples).
So if you are surfing the Internet looking for a church to attend because you are coming to University, or you are moving to our city for work or other reasons, come and check us out. Maybe you are a part of the 'not yet church' people in our city, and you are looking for a place to learn about Christianity or explore the claims of Jesus. Then please feel free to come and sit in our services and talk to one of our leaders. We are a really friendly bunch and we love nothing better than to talk to people about our Lord and King - Jesus Christ.
Click on the links below to find out more about what we believe and value as a church.