Separated by 1 hour 30 minutes of open road, the Presbyterian congregations in Miles and Roma, Queensland, gather as one every Sunday through livestream. 

Instead of closing their doors, they’ve chosen to replant, sowing new gospel seeds with fresh vision. Pastor Glen Perkins shares their story.

How did the story of Miles Roma Church begin?

After being a mechanic for a number of years, I retrained and later became the pastor at Miles Presbyterian Church in my 40s.

When I started at Miles, Roma was a separate church with an elderly congregation of about nine people and didn’t have leaders or elders.

The Presbytery faced the question: what do we do with the church in Roma? Resources were scarce, but many could see that Roma is strategic for the gospel in southwest Queensland.

Our elders from Miles came together, drove west to Roma, and stood amongst that small, ageing congregation, who had been holding on with quiet perseverance. 

Rather than let it fade, they made a bold decision: to bring the two churches together as one, out of conviction that the gospel still had work to do in Roma.

The Miles and Roma Presbyterian churches amalgamated in 2021, but it wasn’t going to be the same old, same old. We decided to replant.

We use the farming term replant because we need to put in new seed and commit to change in order to see the church grow.

What is it like having two locations function as one church?

We livestream the weekly service from Miles and put the congregations up on the screen in both locations. This is to foster a sense of togetherness between Miles and Roma. 

Being based just north of Miles, I conduct most services from Miles. 

However, about once every six to eight weeks I’ll drive the 1 hour 45 minutes from my home and livestream the service from Roma, and Miles will join remotely. 

I am supported in caring for the congregations. Our elders visit the Roma congregation regularly. One of them also travels to Roma with his wife every second Tuesday to lead a bible study. 

Long distances are challenging, but common in the bush. There’s something uniquely special about growing up in the bush and ministering there.

There’s a man from our church in his 90s who went on holidays and attended other services. 

When he came back to Miles Roma Church, he expressed how at home he felt here.

Because I’m originally from a small town further north in Theodore, he feels like I speak his language and can relate to him on a personal level. 

Roma has around 15-20 people each Sunday now, and Miles sees about 35-40 people. 

The two congregations enjoy a good relationship. We’ve made an effort for it not to be a “them versus us” mentality. 

The attitude we’re trying to foster is that we’re in this together for the sake of the gospel.

What have you been thankful to God for throughout this process?

I’m really thankful for the hearts of those who are keen to get on with the gospel, and for the relationship the Miles-Roma Church enjoys between the two locations.

Miles is a friendly, typical country town. If you go to the grocery store, you’ll see someone you know. 

How good is it to be able to minister in the bush! I’m thankful to be here!

I’m also thankful for the elders in our church who have really been there through thick and thin. 

When you’re feeling rubbish, you can just be honest with these guys. They get it. And you celebrate together when things are good, too.

What’s your vision for rural ministry?

Our prayer is to gather people together in places that can’t sustain ministry on their own. 

There’s a lot of small communities in Southwest Queensland that need the gospel.

This could look like having four, five or six people around a laptop, enjoying fellowship, and doing church together with us by livestream.

At the same time, we don’t want to neglect the fellowship of believers. I don’t want people doing lounge-chair church unless they are ill or live far from church.

We want to have an established church in Roma and Miles and provide ministry that can be in hubs further out, wherever that might be.

How can we be praying?

We’re working on a partnership with Presbyterian Inland Mission and the Darling Downs Presbytery to put a ministry team in Roma, to do ministry there and beyond. 

We’re pretty excited about that, but we need workers, and we need the finances to pay them. So, they’re two really big things we’re praying for.

We’re also praying for wisdom, because while we have great relationships, change can be challenging. 

Pray that we would manage change well and love people well, even when we drive each other nuts!