Meet the Team
We believe that we all have a part to play in the church and are a community of plenty of interesting people with different gifts serving the Lord in their own capacity. We value everyone from the kids church teachers and baristas, to the guitarists and welcomers at the door. There are far too many great people to fit on this page, but here are a handful of ministry leaders to look out for it you’re new.
Elders
Some men have been chosen as ‘Overseers’ on the grounds of ability to teach the scriptures, refute error and have proven godliness. Their role is to lead the church with teaching and management, with an attitude of loving service. In recognition of this role, they are the team who ensure that the Bible is being taught correctly in all the different contexts as they have a responsibility as guardians of the gospel at CCNC. The elders exercise pastoral care over the church by guarding the teaching and those who teach. The Rector (senior Pastor) is employed to lead in this role.
Staff
The ministry leadership team is made up of the pastors and leaders who are responsible for developing and maintaining the ministries that enable us to move forward with Jesus’ mission. The Bible does not stipulate what staff teams must look like. However, the Bible clearly outlines the character and core beliefs of Christian leaders. Thus, ministry leaders need hold to the right doctrine, demonstrate godly character in their community and, where applicable, be able to teach.
Council
The Diaconate is a group made up of Deacons and Deaconesses. Some have been chosen as ‘deacons or deaconesses’ to occupy administrative leadership roles on the grounds of gifting and proven godliness. The role of the Diaconate is to help lead the congregation with administration and management in loving service (e.g., finance, policies, staffing, building, etc.). The Diaconate further holds the position of making sure that the ministries are growing by making sure the right people, with the right budgets and facilities are in place, so that each area can be maintained and grow. In this sense they are the governance authority of the church.
Apprentices
Our three apprentices, Hannah, Bena and Eldané, have taken an intentional year out to figure out what’s next while being challenged to grow in ministry integrity and ministry confidence in the church context.
FAQs:
Our services start at either 8 am or 10 am but it is best to come quite early because the parkings closest to the church fill up fairly quickly, so leave some time to find a parking spot and walk to the entrance. We have people ready from half an hour before each service to welcome, inform, usher or just have a chat with you. If your kids are attending CCNC Kids Church we are available for parents to check in their kids at the front entrance.
It’s hard to give an exact time, as our song and talk lengths can vary from week to week, but our services generally last 70 – 80 minutes, however we’d love you to stick around longer for a coffee so we can get to know you (and so you can get to know us!)
We meet in the Old Umhlali Hotel on Old Main Road in Umhlali (see map at the bottom of this page). Heading north on the N2 from Durban take the Salt Rock Exit 214. Turn left towards Umhlali. Turn left at the turning circle and you’ll see CCNC next door to the post office.
Our services generally follow a similar structure from week to week. If you were to visit on any given Sunday, you can expect something similar to this:
- The service leader will begin by welcoming everyone, followed by a short reading from the Bible
- We sing a couple of songs together
- The Service Leader will share any news happening in the life of our church letting you know what’s coming up at CCNC.
- We listen as someone prays from the front
- We then hear one of our pastors give a Bible Talk.
- Once a month we also share communion together – this is always explained from the front beforehand.
- To finish off we sing one or two more songs together
- At CCNC we serve tea & coffee after the service. This is a great time to meet others in our church, chat, and find out more about us.
Our pastors preach from the Bible. This means we open up the Bible before every talk, hear it read, and then hear the pastor explain it and apply it. We usually work through books of the Bible, looking at a small section week by week, but we sometimes hear about what the Bible says about particular topics. Every so often we have a guest preacher who might give a talk outside of our regular preaching series.
We usually sing three or four songs during our service (although sometimes we may do more). We are led by a contemporary band (usually consisting of guitar, keyboard, drums and bass) who play a variety of songs, both traditional hymns and more modern/contemporary songs. We sing songs from many different artists, publishers and churches. We are less interested in a song’s style or feel, and more interested in what it teaches us about Jesus, who he is, and what he’s done for us.
Absolutely! We have many families attending CCNC. Our CCNC Kids Church is run by our dedicated team of teachers and helpers who provide age-appropriate classes for children aged 2 to 11. Unsure where to take your children when you arrive? You’ll see our friendly kids check-in team outside on our veranda – they’ll be able to point you in the right direction!
There is no dress code, just wear whatever is comfortable for you!
There is no allocated seating. Sit wherever you like. For moms with little ones who might be restless in the service you are welcome to sit in the Cry Room located just outside the auditorium which has a live video and sound feed.
No, it’s free! We want you to be our guest so we don’t pass a bag or plate around asking for money. We ask those who have committed to CCNC as their church to support our work by contributing to us financially – click here to read about our preferred ways of giving.
We want you to feel as comfortable as possible, so you won’t be obliged to do anything you don’t want to do. We will probably invite you to fill in a Welcome Card, asking for your name, email address and phone number. This is so we can send you a welcome email during the week, telling you more about us. You don’t have to fill it out if you don’t want to, but we would love the opportunity to welcome you and get your feedback. If singing or praying is not your thing, you are welcome to just sit and listen.
We Believe:
Christ Church North Coast belongs to a denomination called REACH-SA (Reformed Evangelical Church of S.A). The denomination is simply an institution that serves the interests of the local church, protecting those that belong to it from departing from the historic gospel. We are grateful to belong to an institution that keeps us accountable so that we will not drift away from the truth. The general statement of faith for REACH-SA is the ’39 Articles of Faith’ that can be read online here. Below, however, is a great summary of what we believe:
1. God
We believe that there is one God, who exists eternally in three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is unchangeable in his holiness, justice, wisdom and love. He is the almighty Creator, the Saviour and Judge who sustains and governs all things according to his sovereign will for his own glory.
2. The Bible
We believe that the Bible, as originally given, is the inspired, inerrant, infallible and clear Word of God. Christians must therefore submit to its supreme authority and sufficiency, both individually and corporately, in every matter of belief and practice.
3. Humanity
We believe that all human beings, made by God in his own likeness, have inherent and equal dignity and worth. Their greatest purpose is to obey, worship and love God. However, as a result of the Fall, their sinfulness and guilt has rendered them subject to God’s wrath and condemnation, and has resulted in their alienation from his life, suppression of his truth, and hostility to his law.
4. The Lord Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son, is fully God; conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary; his humanity is real and sinless; he suffered under Pontius Pilate, died on the cross, was buried, was raised bodily on the third day from death, ascended into heaven and is now reigning over heaven and earth at the right hand of God the Father.
5. Salvation
We believe that salvation from guilt, penalty, God’s wrath and all other consequences of sin, is solely through the work of Jesus Christ — by his perfect life, penal substitutionary death, bodily resurrection and exaltation as Lord. He alone is truly God and truly man, the only mediator between God and man. There is salvation through no other person, creed, process or power. The entirety of a sinner’s justification, from beginning to end, is by his grace alone appropriated through faith alone, in Christ alone.
6. Election
We believe that before the foundation of the world God in his mercy chose a people for himself out of the human race. He did not choose them on the basis of their foreseen faith or works, but solely on the basis of his perfect desire to glorify himself in his Son by their redemption.
7. The Holy Spirit
We believe that the person of the Holy Spirit is fully God, sent by the Father and the Son to glorify Christ and to apply his work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives a true understanding of the Scriptures. He indwells all believers, brings assurance of salvation and produces increasing likeness to Christ. He gives gifts to build up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission.
8. The Church
We believe that the holy universal church is the people of God, the Body of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit to which all true believers belong. The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. The Church’s calling is to worship and serve God in the world, to proclaim and defend his truth, to exhibit his character and to demonstrate the reality of his new order.
9. The Future
We believe in the personal and visible return in glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to raise the dead bodily and bring salvation and judgment to final completion. God will fully establish his kingdom when he creates a new heaven and a new earth from which evil and evildoers, suffering and death will be excluded, and in which he will be glorified forever.
To help clarify our beliefs we believe it may also be helpful to declare what we do not believe. In stating who we are not, we do not seek to attack those who disagree with us, but rather distinguish ourselves so that anyone considering joining our network may be aware of who we are, as well as who we are not*.
- We are not Liberals who embrace culture without discernment and compromise the distinctives of the gospel, but rather Christians who believe that the truths of the Bible are eternal and therefore fitting for every time, place and people.
- We are not Fundamentalists who retreat from cultural involvement and transformation, but rather missionaries, faithful both to the content of Scripture and context of ministry.
- We are not Isolationists, but seek to partner with like-minded Christians from various churches, denominations and organizations in establishing church-planting churches.
- We are not Hyper-Calvinists who get mired down in secondary matters, but rather pray, evangelize and do good works through us, his people.
- We are not Dispensationalists, but believe that divisive and dogmatic certainty surrounding particular details of Jesus’ Second Coming is unprofitable speculation, because the timing and exact details of His return have not been revealed to us.
- We are not Egalitarians, but do believe that men should be heads of their homes and male elders should lead their churches with servant minded love like Jesus Christ. We believe that this is expressed in the public assembly by only inviting godly and gifted men to preach.
- We are not Open Theists, but believe in the sovereignty and foreknowledge of God in all things.
- We are not Religious Relativists, but believe that there is no salvation apart from faith in Jesus Christ alone.
- We are not Nationalists seeking simply to improve one nation but rather ambassadors of the King of kings commissioned to proclaim and demonstrate the coming of his kingdom to all nations of the earth.
- We are not Moralists seeking to help people live good lives, but rather evangelists seeking to help people become new creations in Christ.
- We are not Relativists, but gladly embrace Scripture as our highest authority above such things as culture, experience, philosophy and other purported forms of revelation.
- We are not Universalists, but believe that those who do not repent and believe the gospel will spend eternity in the torments of hell as the Bible teaches.
- We are not Naturalists, but believe that Satan and his demons are real enemies at work in this world and subject to God. We believe Satan’s work in the moral realm is effectively undone by the work of Christ applied through prayer, preaching the word and calling people to repentance and faith, without the necessity of exorcisms.
- We are not Rationalists, but believe that not everything can be known, but that God calls us to live by faith with mystery and partial knowledge regarding many things.
- We are not Evangelical Feminists, but believe that God reveals himself as Father and is to be honoured without apology by the names he reveals to us.
- We are not Polemicists who believe that it is our task to combat every false teaching but are passionate about preserving the integrity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- We are not embarrassed by the bloody death of Jesus Christ and believe he died, in selfless love, as a substitute for the sins of all who put their faith in his blood.
- We are not ashamed and proclaim a loving gospel of grace which sounds like foolishness and offensiveness to the unrepentant, while also saving multitudes with ears to hear the good news.
- We are not proponents of ‘the social gospel’, ‘the prosperity gospel’, or ‘the healing gospel’ – all of which falsely seek to draw into this age the blessings of the next. We also lament how many are in love with this present world and its pleasures, rather than longing for the age to come where there will be prosperity, healing and eternal social good.
- We are not in acceptance of the veneration and worship of, and communication with, the dead, as broadly and specifically practiced within African Traditional Religion and Roman Catholicism, but believe that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man.
*Adapted from the Geneva Push and Acts29