Island Bay Presbyterian Church
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About Us
Who are we?
Here is some more detailed information about our parish in case you are considering checking us out!
1) Presbyterian...
“Reformed and reforming” is a strong Presbyterian catch-cry. In keeping with this, IBPC is committed to its place in the Presbyterian denomination and to the Reformed theology tradition. Our identity shapes our worship and structure, however as most of our members were not raised Presbyterian, we are also open to new ideas and worship styles.
We are blessed with musicians, having a band an an Ensemble who both lead our worship once a month, our organists/pianists leading us for the other services.
IBPC is committed to the Presbyterian culture of a bottom-up, democratic style of leadership. The congregation appoints members to Parish Council to serve for 3-6 years, who set the vision and oversee the life of the church. Responsibility for the finances, buildings, and pastoral care are handed over to different Task Groups, while external oversight of our parish comes from Wellington Presbytery.
2) Kids Friendly! 
IBPC has been officially certified as a Kid’s Friendly church, a process which involves recognising the vital contribution that children and their families make to healthy congregations and intentionally ministering to them.
At IBPC children:
· are welcomed, celebrated and nurtured
· belong and participate in the life and worship of the faith community
· are encouraged to explore, learn and experience the love of Christ
· are valued for the immense love and life they bring to the whole church family
· create opportunity for people of all ages to learn from, respect and appreciate one another.
3) Local
Island Bay is a very defined suburb with hills on two sides, the sea at one end and a golf course at the other. While not all our members live in Island Bay, this is the community where we meet, and that we believe we are primarily called to serve.
We have strong links with the other churches in the Bay (Anglicans, Baptists and Catholics), and have regular combined evening services and annual outreach events.
Members of IBPC belong to various local groups including the Bowling club, kid's groups and environmental groups - and many of our children go to local schools.
We employ a Children & Families Worker, Mel who runs various activities for the community as well as for the families of our congregation.
Boys’ Brigade and Girls’ Brigade companies are both hosted by our church and are actively supported by the parish.
Our facilities are highly sought after, and are rented out almost all week by various outside groups.
On a wider scale, we support Downtown Community Ministries, a group that works with our city’s homeless population. We also have links to Urban Vision – a contemporary order following Jesus at the margins of Wellington society.
4) Global
On a global level, we try as a parish to be aware of social and environmental issues, and to apply them to our faith. With this in mind Trade Aid has accredited us as a “Fair Trade Church”.
We support a number of Christians who have left Wellington to serve God in Asia, This includes a young couple from our congregation who are seeking to bring God’s love to the slums of Manila with the Kiwi mission Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor, and another couple from Island Bay who are seeking to establish industrial chaplaincy in East Asia.
5) Creative!
Our talents are given to us by God, and we yearn to see people using those talents to God’s glory. People are encouraged to be involved in the life of the church both in services and wider church life, and we love to display art or sing songs created by both our adults and our children.
