We know that new churches reach new people. Praise God for the eight churches planted in partnership with our network in 2023. Enjoy these updates from four of the churches.
There are around 26 million people in Australia, and only around 7% of people know Jesus. So even if every one of the existing churches across Australia doubled in size over the next five years, we still need hundreds more churches. Be praying for hundreds more across Australia.
The plant is a partnership between three FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches) churches in Brisbane – SLE Church, Christ Community Church and St Lucia Bible Church.
“Can’t believe it’s only been 10 weeks since we opened our doors! We’ve grown from 80 in the launch team to about 125 on average on a Sunday. Super encouraged by the growth, the way the launch team has been welcoming newcomers, the diversity of people who have come (multi-ethnic and multi-generational), and visitors who are not Christians or regular church-goers. Please pray for God’s grace to keep supplying all we need and to see people come to and grow in Christ!” – Ben Ho
This church kicked off in April 2023 led by Glen and Donita Jones in the heart of Sydney’s north-west growth corridor.
“Our church started with eight people praying in a room on a Sunday afternoon, and yesterday that room was bursting at the seams. There are a whole bunch of new people coming with a fresh vision for the area and a growing excitement to reach the people around us. We’re now a church of 45 people with eight cultures represented. It really isn’t something we could have done – The Lord is gathering his people and building his church for his glory.
“We’re tired, but it’s a good tired. Over the last few months it’s been a season of deepening relationships. We’re from such diverse backgrounds. Our church community doesn’t make sense when you look at it from the outside from a worldly perspective, but we’re one in Christ.
“In January we’ll be meeting in a park because the school won’t let us meet in their hall over summer. You could say that’s a bad thing, but it might provide opportunities that a hall doesn’t. It’s easy for people walking past to drop in. Be praying for more gospel conversations.” – Glen Jones
This church is less than three months old – they had their first service in October 2023.
“The common story of people coming to our mission events is that they haven’t been to church since Covid started, or even five, ten, twenty years. We’re getting 70-80 people at church every week after launching with 35, and last night we had 300 people at carols.
“Marmong Point really did need a new church. All these people weren’t planning on going to a church, but now look at that, a new church right in their community! Pray for the 42 guests who have come to our mission events this month. It’s been really exciting to make those connections.” – Liam Doyle
Our 2030 stretch goal
If we’re going to reach Australia, we need gospel courage to evangelise hundreds more churches into existence. This means we need hundreds more church planters, hundreds of sending churches, and tens of thousands of God’s people who will make the challenging and sacrificial decisions to go and make disciples.
If you have a deep gospel conviction to reach the lost and want to explore church planting, contact us. Church planters are all different, and we need lots of different models that will reach lots of different people.
If you’re leading a church and want to talk about what it might look like for your church to move from where you are to raising up a church planter and sending a church plant, contact us. Even if you think this might be years away, the best time to start that discussion is today.
Resources on church planting
- 7 Common Myths About Church Planting, Debunked in 2023
- Learn about the rigorous assessment process potential planters in our network go through
- Ever wondered if you could plant a church? Got fifteen minutes? Take our free church planter questionnaire now
