When Jonas Lee met with Andrew Katay to discuss his plans to become involved in multicultural mission with university students on campus, he had no intention of planting a church; he had never even considered it.
Jonas was interested in multicultural missions with students. But one conversation was all it took for Jonas to become interested in pursuing church planting. Andrew described a method and a mode that appealed strongly to Jonas, where a team is gathered, and a non-English speaking church is planted alongside an existing majority-culture church. Coming from Korea, these two elements were new to Jonas, and were very attractive to him.
Jonas had become a believer in Korea and had attended Seminary there. He grew up in a church where a doctrine of prosperity was taught, where church members were expected to attend church events every day of the week, and where the senior pastor held an unquestioned elevated position. In Seminary, Jonas learnt that the prosperity gospel was not the life-giving gospel of Jesus, the gospel of the bible, and discerned that a life overseas on mission was for him. Jonas then spent several years on mission in Mexico, before he eventually came to settle in Sydney.
Jonas had visited Sydney twice before he and his wife, Hani, came to live there five years previously. Hani was looking to do a PhD, and they chose Sydney as the place for her to complete it. Jonas, being a missionary, was keen to become involved in campus ministry when Andrew Katay and he had that pivotal conversation. Jonas was particularly intrigued by the ideas of gathering a team to prepare to launch, by the concept of a “soft launch”, and by considering the importance of systems by which a church might operate. Reflecting on life and practice in church in Korea, Jonas said that there is no team, no gathering of support or donations, and no staged launch process when a new church is planted: a pastor just goes! Jonas was grateful for the opportunity to plant alongside Christ Church Inner West in Sydney, and to have the support of a team around him during the process.
Jonas planted Mathetes Church in February of 2021. The team had gathered and planned to begin regular meetings, but Covid restrictions caused them to meet online for a whole year before they could meet in person. Of the experience, Jonas says.
“Mathetes itself is a work of God. As soon as the church was planted, Sydney went into lockdown with many covid restrictions; so for nearly a year only the launch members gathered online. Even after the lockdown ended in early 2022, newcomers didn’t come for a while, and we had a difficult time. However, God worked at the time when we confessed that we couldn’t do it on our own. So it was totally out of our power, it’s only from God. In less than a year the number grew from 10 to 41, so I have no choice but to confess that it’s only God’s work, so I can always be humble and grateful.”
When Jonas considers the journey of Mathetes Church, he is grateful for the Church Planting Cohort offered by City to City. A big benefit, particularly during lockdowns, was that he felt less alone in planting. Also, Jonas had several ideas about planting, but belonging to a cohort of planters helped him consider the culture he was now living in in Sydney. While Mathetes is a Korean plant, Jonas is careful to consider his context when leading his congregation, and to avoid some of the pitfalls he observed in his previous church experience:
“We are a very slow church, and I take everyone’s opinion. In Korea, the Pastor is king, so if the senior pastor says something, you have to do it right today, not tomorrow.” Some Korean Christians don’t like this. They see it as unbiblical. “The Pastor is not king, we are all the same because the gospel is really important.”
Being committed to growing a “slow church”, Jonas has taken just over two years to add anything other than a Sunday service to the calendar of Mathetes. Consulting with his congregation, they have just added weekly Bible studies to their schedule. Jonas is delighted to be growing Mathetes alongside Christ Church Inner West, to be growing disciples of Jesus, and to be watching God at work as he walks with Him.
Jonas and Hani Lee
Written by Jane Duff