What is family?

From research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS)

Defining ‘family’ is not straightforward. While the legislation in various contexts provides definitions of family and relationships and outlines obligations and entitlements, the way individuals experience and understand family in their day-to-day lives can be very different.

How people define family and decide who is included in their kinship circles is influenced by these legal definitions but also shaped by culture and personal life experiences and circumstances. People may also have multiple definitions of family and group these into different sets of people with different values and functions – for example, their ‘birth family’, their ‘in-laws’ or their ‘chosen family’.

Cultures, values, social expectations and laws have all changed over time and vary from place to place. For example, while marriages and families were once guided by, and created through, obligation and tradition, today relationships are increasingly shaped and defined by love, satisfaction and individual choices.

In research by AIFS, love and unconditional non-judgemental support had universal agreement as being important in defining what makes a family. Across the entire sample, as well as each generation and group analysed, these 2 characteristics were the most likely to be chosen as important or very important.

In contrast, while there was much more variation in views on the importance of blood and genetics, and legal ties or obligations; overall and in each generation and group analysed, these more traditional definitions of family were the least likely to be rated as important or very important.

Love and support are central aspects of relationships with ‘chosen family’ and are often the reason why people are selected to be in one’s ‘family’ alongside, or sometimes instead of, people related by blood or the law.

More than half of the participants in this study (52%) included pets as a part of their family. Like chosen family, recent research suggests that animals can play an important role as confidantes and offer people a place of non-judgemental safety and unconditional love.

What makes a family? Participants answered as either ‘important’ or ‘very important’:

Love (95%)
Unconditional, non-judgemental support (92%)
Shared values, beliefs and traditions (70%)
Common experiences and activities (57%)
Blood/genetics (34%)
Legal ties or obligations (31%)

Men were more likely to rate blood and genetics as important. Women were more likely than men to consider love as very important.

Who is included when you think about family?

Children (85%)
Sibling(s) (79%)
Parent(s) (76%)
Partner or spouse (63%)
Pet(s) (52%)
Grandparents (49%)
Chosen family or close friends (42%)
Grandchildren (39%)
Parents-in-law and other members of partner's family (35%)

Watch this 1 minute video:

Read the full article and report here.

From research by the Australian Institute of Famil, 16/07/2024

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet at the Church Building (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be wearing a Welcome lanyard.

We serve tea, coffee and biscuits from 10am, before the service begins. It is a great way to meet people, or simply take time to find your bearings. All refreshments are free.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There are disabled toilets in the main foyer.

Our Service

The main service begins at 10am with a warm welcome from one of our team members. Then follows a time of sung worship, led by our band. We typically have 2 or 3 songs lasting approximately 20 minutes. Sometimes a person might pray out loud or read a small passage from the bible. Sometimes people share things that they believe God is saying to the whole church family. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it’s all part of our connecting with God. We then share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church. One of our leaders will then give a sermon that is bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then finish with a final worship song. Sometimes there is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service.

images: Services

What about my kids?

We have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages:

Creche (0 months to 3 years). Children under 6 months are welcome but must be accompanied by their parent/grown-up at all times.
Livewires (3-7 years)
Encounter (7-11 years)
Katalyst (11-15 years)
Young people (15+ years) Stay in service.

Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and notices. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. At the end of the notices someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups. You will need to go with your children to their groups and register them as part of our child safety policy. Whilst you are dropping your kids off at their groups, we pause to take time to chat to someone sitting near or next to us, giving folk a chance to come back before the sermon begins.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, testimonies, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.

Getting Connected

Small Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out Small Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team.

Other Ministries

We also run the following ministries:

Men's Ministries
Women's Ministries
Night Shelter
Foodbank

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

Leadership


Leader 1		Leader 2
Leader Intro		Leader Intro

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best Wishes

(Handwritten Signature)