Bondi Beach Anglican launches!

On Sunday 22 October, Bondi Beach Anglican Church officially launched in this iconic suburb of Sydney! Blake Hatton, Church Planter and Pastor, shared with us about how it all started and how the launch day went...

Because Jesus is good news for Bondi Beach, we've opened up a new church. We'd been gathering a team, thinking and working hard on contextualisation, refurbishing, painting, putting in new lights, advertising and praying for many months, and then on Sunday the 22nd of October the doors were opened and the new church started. 81 people came in, including a large proportion of locals checking it out for the first time.

We listened to Colossians 2 and John 3 hearing that as a person engages with the Lord Jesus, he gives them a new spiritual start and growth into someone who is spiritually "rooted, built up, established and overflowing". We sang to him, we prayed to him and heard about the growth he's worked in one of our team. It was a great time together and we're off with some good momentum now. We're very thankful to God and excited about this first season in our new church.

For those interested in becoming a part of the church, this Saturday November 11 they'll be holding a Welcome Brunch to hear about life at Bondi Beach Anglican Church.

Please join us in prayer for Blake and the team at Bondi Beach Anglican. Give thanks for the launch and for all those who came, including those from the local community visiting for the first time, and that many people in the area would come to know that God is good and has made himself known and available to us in the Lord Jesus.

Bondi Beach Anglican Church meets every Sunday at 60 Wairoa Avenue, Bondi Beach NSW. Find out more here.

Regeneration Church Launches!

After a vision evening and two preview services, Regeneration Church officially launched on 16 July 2017. By God’s grace they had a great launch service. Over 120 people came which was significantly more than expected as only 80 gift bags had been prepared. They had Seng Kee, an elder from Pantai Baptist Church, Stephen’s home church in Malaysia, as well as Paul, his City to City coach from Sydney. They had Pastor Murray Campbell representing Mentone Baptist Church and Matt Pingitore representing the Baptist Union of Victoria. In a great show of gospel unity, there were pastors and elders from other churches (Presbyterian, Brethren, Anglican, Independent Baptist, Pentecostal) who came to support them as well. There were many new people who were looking for a church and importantly, several non-Christians who came and heard the gospel preached.

In the weeks that have followed, Regeneration Church have been averaging 50 people in attendance with new people, both Christian and non-Christian, continuing to come to check out the church. They kicked off with a series on the Gospel of John, and are preparing to do a series on the Reformation and the 5 Solas to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. By God’s grace they have three Missional Communities (small groups) that have been able to accommodate the new people and integrate them into healthy community while having a missional mindset. They are now preparing for their first Baptism service as three people have asked to be baptised.

Thank God for an encouraging start to Regeneration Church! Please pray:

• That God would work through the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit that many people would profess faith in Christ.
• That Regeneration Church will continue to grow slowly but surely from week to week – both numerically, but also in the depth of faith and fervency for Jesus, his people and his mission.

Regeneration Church meets every Sunday at 4:30pm at 80 Catherine Avenue, Mount Waverley VIC. Find out more at www.regeneration.org.au

Chapel Hill Celebrates its 2nd Birthday

Chapel Hill is a new church community that loves to be in Rozelle, Sydney’s Inner West. The church was started by Michael and Amy Nhieu as keen newlyweds with a dream for Chapel Hill to be an authentic and creative church where people from all walks of life could do life together as we worshipped God.

Now in its second year since the church doors opened in 2015, God has continued to build the church with a very diverse group of people who call Chapel Hill home. This diverse community has made the life of the church interesting, lively, fun and challenges us all to get out of our comfort zones. Through the diversity in the church, people have felt comfortable to be themselves, vulnerable to share joys and burdens and open to explore the Christian faith whilst making genuine friendships. But of course this has all taken time, perseverance and prayer!

“Through the diversity in the church, people have felt comfortable to be themselves, vulnerable to share joys and burdens and open to explore the Christian faith whilst making genuine friendships.”

Launching with 13 people, Chapel Hill now has 40 regular attendees of a Sunday and three active Community Bible Study groups during the week. Discipleship amongst the church congregation is growing and the desire is that organically people will connect and care for each other on this Christian journey.

At Chapel Hill’s recent second birthday close to 100 visitors attended and provided a wonderful support and encouragement for the regular members. The celebration was made to be even more special with the induction of Ben Yee and Nate Kemp as elders, marking a significant milestone of establishing Chapel Hill’s own leadership. Renovations have begun on the church building as well as in many of the hearts of those at church.

God is shaping Chapel Hill to be a place of continued diversity and a place that we long to be a real light and ‘city on a hill’ in the community of Rozelle and greater Inner West.

Chapel Hill meets on Sundays 10:30am at 665A Darling Street, Rozelle. You can find more details at www.chapelhill.org.au