What A Church Was Intended To Be

One of the standout presentations for me was that of Wayne Krause, pastor/church planter of Central Coast Community Church in New South Wales, Australia. Before planting the church he met with his core team for a little over a year to train, disciple, and prepare them for a paradigm shift in church thinking. Theirs would be a church that was “for the community.” I know you’re thinking, aren’t all churches supposed to be like that? True, but very few actually are. This is a church where people from the community actually come as they are. The “pastor’s study” is in a coffee shop. That’s where he meets people. He gives Bible studies there. He does counseling there. He holds his staff meetings there. He’s become such a fixture and been able to build such relationships, that employees of the coffee shop have asked him to do weddings for them.

Their church is across from a skate park and once a week their church makes lunch and brings it out to all the kids. Once a week (i believe) that also provide a breakfast to the kids in the public school nearby. It’s an impoverished school where quite a few often go without. Because of the trust that he’s earned in the community and in this school, they’ve asked him to become the school Chaplain. Yes, this being in a public school.

For me it’s very inspiring to hear of churches that are being “incarnational” and making a difference everyday. They’re not a mega-church, but they are a growing church that I believe is making a big impact for the kingdom. I believe God is proud of their church. Here’s a little youtube video where he was interviewed if you want to hear him share a little.

I also had the privilege of presenting in one of the break out sessions a seminar called “Engaging First Time Guests So They’ll Want to Come Back.” It was a case study presentation based upon the Fusion and the Assimilation seminar by Nelson Searcy. I couldn’t believe the level of interest. People were really interested and yearning to hear more. So yes, if you’ve never purchased the book or heard the Assimilation seminar you need to get to it. It will make a huge difference in your church.

Tomorrow I’ll be heading out to the Exponential Conference in Orlando. I’m looking forward to hearing from some of the big players out there and learning some good stuff.