PLANTING A NEW CENTRE IN ADELAIDE

My name is Eddie. I guess you can call me Hope Adelaide City Centre’s church planter. We are at Gilles Street in Adelaide and we are the first seed church from Hope Adelaide Payneham. The decision to plant a church was probably the most important decision I had to make in my time serving the Lord. I knew that if I made the decision, it would have to be a wholehearted and a committed one. It wasn’t going to be a decision which I could back out of should things get too hard or if it didn’t turn out the way we expected.

[Dr Eddice & Dr Janice Fong Hope Adelaide City Centre, South Australia]

Dr Eddie Fong Video Interview

Preparing for church planting

So I made sure I was as spiritually prepared as I could be before I made the decision. I can share that part of the process involves asking God to fill us with faith, to ask God to assure us of our identity, to assure us of His purpose and our purpose for Him. I meditated hard on these things because I anticipated that when we start planting a church, the devil will throw a whole heap of challenges that will test my faith and my trust in God. Uncertainty will also be at my doorstep and that would be a difficult road to travel if I was not prepared. I needed the knowledge of his purpose for 'church' to be down-packed.

Seeking the presence of God

We planted Hope Adelaide City Centre about a year and five months ago; it’s been great.

I made sure God was present at every service so that no matter how few or how many people are at church, it will still be a fantastic service. Fantastic because God was there and people’s hearts are being touched and being released and being filled with faith. And also because we can experience and testify of God’s goodness and God’s grace in our lives.

To have God present, I had to ensure that my spirit was victorious even before opening the doors for setup. I had to work through my thoughts and spirit so that I was not fazed or discouraged even with setbacks or impending difficulties on the Sundays.

Growing step by step

We average around 35 people at the moment. The number varies from 40 plus on a good day, to twenty on a bad day. However I’ve been prepared to see numbers fluctuate. Our aim is of course to get to 50.


Loving the family of God

As I seek God about my role here, I believe God impressed on my heart that one of the most important things that I had to do was love the people.

Love God and love people: the two major commandments that God had given to us. And so, I pour my heart out to love people as they are, accept them and influence them towards God. It has really borne much fruit. People here, I believe, feel loved. They feel like they have a leader who is prepared to do life with them, a leader who is prepared to walk the walk and not just talk and talk. In a sense, everything falls back onto that, if I don’t know what else to do, I just make sure I love them, and not just on Sundays. So throughout the week, I have to love them and try to meet their needs holistically.

Spiritual support from mother church

So far, it’s been just great here and the help we’ve received from our mother church in Payneham has been crucial, especially from Pastor Brendan and Pastor Helen, Paul Joswig and Andy in the core team. The worship leaders from the Payneham church have also been paramount in carrying us through the first year with a respectable quality of worship music. They have willingly supported us and helped us ..and this is so essential for a seed church to get a solid start to life.

[Pastor Brendan & Helen Kirby Hope Payneham City Centre, South Australia]

I am so thankful because praise and worship is an area which will obviously take a long time to build up. But praise God, believe it or not, we now have four keyboardists here. We’ve got one drummer and some keen prospects in training. We have now one dedicated worship leader. We’ve got three bass guitarists as well but we’re still waiting upon God for guitarists.

A challenge for church planting

Is church planting for you? Well, I would encourage you at the very least be part of a team.

If you don’t feel like you can lead in planting a church, then just be support staff in a planting team. Every team, every person that’s sent out to plant a church needs your support and they need your help. You’re a vital part in church planting, fulfilling God’s purpose and his plans for his church.

So do be part of a church planting team. It’s fruitful, it’s rewarding, it’s challenging but that’s when we grow. So, get to it.

Dr Eddie & Dr Janice Fong
Hope Adelaide, City Centre