Church planting in Waterloo

I don't think of myself in church planting terms. Someone described me this morning as "...kind, patient and understanding... filled with useless facts." I'm a resource person and more inclined to encourage someone to do what he or she has already felt called to do than to direct a person into a project.

I like the Quaker idea of the "bundle of responsibility." We all have a duty to find and fulfil that responsibility in life. If I can help you find that, well and good; but I am unlikely to try to tell anyone what it is.

And, last night, I was involved in the first night of what, I pray, might be the launch of a Christian fellowship, maybe even a Baptist fellowship, at Waterloo, a southern inner suburb of Sydney.

In 1998, the denomination considered encouraging our little church at Marrickville to close down so that the money could be used to plant churches on the expanding periphery of Sydney.

I considered that a crazy idea, and my opinions were justified when I plotted the "reach" of existing churches onto a map and found a large wedge south of Sydney where there was little evangelical and no Baptist work. It also happened to cover the Green Square urban renewal project. I argued that opening gaps in inner city work to expand on the periphery was counter productive.

I approached this as a Town Planner (my former profession), not as a church planter.

After many discussions with different people, I concluded that it was unlikely that any outreach would commence here in a hurry. But I was pleased when a couple with church planting skills tried to start something, and saddened when it failed.

But I can see a glimmer of hope. It is a team effort. Jan, who moved into Waterloo, is a true evangelist, able to say, "I was lost, but now am found." She brings her neighbours and friends to church, and she saw the needs and found some on-the-ground opportunitites in Waterloo. She also arranged for us to use the Department of Housing meeting room, and organised refreshments.

Jay and Mouy picked up my suggestion that we take fellowship out to our people instead of expecting them to come in to us, and interpreted that in terms of a roster to go to different locations.

I put together a program; Nick suggested that this might be the time to roll it out.

So we got there, the same people who have met for over a year in Marrickville, but it's a start. We met some people and told them what our plans were. We waved to one or two who looked in but didn't come in. We smiled at the chap who ducked in for a biscuit and dashed off again.
It's all relationship-building.

Maybe we will eventually need a real church-planter. Meanwhile, we trust God and depend on your prayers!