What’s happening at West Beach Community Church
The first service held in the new building
The new exterior of West Beach Community Church
The previous exterior of West Beach Community Church
Recently, as part of a renewed passion to be a fruitful missionary community in the West Beach/Henley South area, we’ve just completed a thorough renovation of our church buildings. We’ve been investing strongly in community connections and presence, but our buildings were getting to the point where they were working against our mission more than for it. It took us a couple of years, but our facilities are now much more modern, accessible, hospitable and great for all generations.
We aim to be all through the community all through the week. Our most prominent ministries are ‘The Sunday Feast’ (our main all-age weekly gathering which begins with a cooked breakfast), a booming youth group, children’s ministries (as part of The Feast but also outreach holiday programs in school holidays), several home groups, ‘The Lighthouse’ (a drop-in morning) and more.
The aim of all our programs, and our unprogrammed presence, is to represent Jesus to people and point people to Him. Over 5 years, we hope that a cumulative process of ongoing witness, invitation, sharing our great message, baptising and discipling those who respond, and developing believers in maturity and ministry will result in a church that is not just self-sustaining but able to release others for mission and ministry elsewhere as God calls them.
We are also facing challenges, as every church does. Currently, we’re in a pastoral search process, which always is a time of uncertainty. We’re also, sadly, facing a bit of slander online, which isn’t fun. And thirdly, we’re all also pretty tired, having poured a lot into our mission over the last 5 years. But we’re pressing on as we’re able, trying to keep things fairly simple, and looking to be a great team ready to go (indeed already on the go) when our pastoral leadership settles.
Join in prayer
Please pray for more workers for the harvest and the raising up of more ministry leaders. We’re the only church in West Beach, but still most local Christians drive off to other churches. Pray that the Lord would call some to join us in our local focus. Please pray for discernment as we look for a new pastor. Pray that the ‘mud’ a few people are slinging online won’t stick. But most of all, please pray for our neighbourhood, and for many hearts and minds open to the gospel message, particularly among the local kids we’re seeing a lot of.
