I heard something incredibly encouraging at Presbytery today: a church taking radical steps to take the gospel to the lost of their area.
Presbytery is the group that oversees our church at SCPC and other Presbyterian churches in the Northern Rivers from Grafton in the South to Tweed Heads in the North and out to Casino and Kyogle. About 15 churches in all – with a minister and elder from each making up the Presbytery. It’s hard work and we face lots of challenges but this is a great story – and one really worth sharing.
We have been praying from time to time at SCPC for Tweed Heads church as they have been church planting at Terranora, a growing part of the coast. What is fantastic about their story is not only that they’ve had the vision to do that but that they’ve really thought through different ways to reach out with the gospel in order to reach this area.
The church at Terranora meets in a school. And it meets on Wednesday nights. And when it’s time for the Bible Talk, it’s the adults who get up and move to another room so the kids can continue learning! With the particular school facilities they are using it just works out better that way. The point is – it’s all radical stuff. Everything is being thought through in terms of what’s most effective for the gospel, not “what’s usually done”.
And they’re growing. 50 people including 20 kids are now gathering week by week. Not only that, but the other congregations in the parish – at Tweed Heads – they’re growing too. Because when you get focussed on outreach it changes your outlook and opens your eyes to the many other opportunities all around you (Colossians 4:5).
Let’s pray for these wonderful brothers and sisters in our Presbytery and pray also that we’ll be spurred on by their visionary example as we gear up for connect09.
