Sunday, October 11, 2015

"It's not enough to attend church and pray every Sunday; you have to act." - Abbe Pierre

Sunday in Atwell - Tim is away on a fly out, so Kathryn and the girls were interested in attending a different church than the one that they have been going to since arriving on Australian soil. I won't go into detail as this is their story to tell, but I want to share my experience at this church, halfway around the world, but yet not so very far away at all.
The church (The Red Door Community Church) is tucked away, almost in a back alley - no visibility from the roadside and unless you were aware of the location or were searching the internet for churches near Atwell, you would not know that it exists. It is interesting to note that 200-250 people were gathered there this morning for worship and teaching. Just pondering the things that worked this morning to help me in my walk with Christ, but also to bring home some possible ideas that we might someday incorporate at New Minas.
 Welcome Home - a lovely greeting for someone so far from theirs.

 There were 4 plaques before entering the sanctuary basically telling the vision and purpose of this church.

 This was the front of the sanctuary, which I didn't quite understand. There were wooden pallets, 3 wooden doors, the insides of the piano and lights suspended from the ceiling. I'm sure there was a story behind it all.

 The front entrance off a parking lot. There is an actual red door out front.

 The church operates an espresso cafe next door weekdays from 7 am to noon which serves businesses in the same area.

 The reason why they chose the name for their church.

This is their baptismal 'tank'. Note the simplicity of this but serves the purpose.

The pastors are a husband/wife team, Adam and Dale Meredith and a youth pastor (from Canada!) Dale delivered the message today and was excellent - well thought out and Bible based teaching, reinforcing the need for relationship with Jesus and with others. Adam then finished the service with a spontaneous baptism, which was very touching. He explained what baptism means and although he didn't have anyone planned, 3 women came forward and he baptized them in the clothes they had on. It was exciting to watch this happen as it didn't take much effort, but I'm sure it made an impact on the entire church. My impression is that they have a multi aged congregation of sincere believers, seeking God's will for what their church can do for their community. If the worldwide church would have similar objectives to reach the local community for Jesus, I'm sure it would change not only our lives but those around us. 

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