Church on the Hill
Church on the Hill
A Contagiously Beautiful Life in Jesus
Church on the Hill is aiming to be a church without walls. Alongside this we want to be a church without staff...as much as possible anyway. The church appears to us both from observation of culture and the Bible, to function best when Everyone Gets 2 Play. So a picture of the planting couple is only one snapshot of our church community. There are other stories in our midst, maybe they will be added in here from time to time.
Anyway, this is Sare and Ty, and God gave us the vision initially to start Church on the Hill. Before moving to Gloucester, they were part of Northridge Vineyard Church in Sydney. Ty had never been involved in a Baptist Church before his appointment to the role of Associate Pastor there in 2011 - these guys were very trusting and God was good in the time we had there.
Midway into this 2.5 year role God was speaking to both Sare and Ty about the unreached in our town, specifically those who had some interest in God but hadn't connected with a church. After the initial stirring of God to make a place where people to have a conversation about Jesus but outside of a traditional church framework, we sat and prayed and thought for about 6 months. God was still doing it, so Ty left his role as Associate Pastor at the Gloucester Baptist Church, and they began this new adventure in their lounge room in Feb 2013.
It has been a constant reminder from God to stay on track with this initial heart. Keep translating church culture, be aware of the potential walls you are making, keep doing what I have told you to do says Father God. So we keep walking forwards and trying to press ahead.
We want to see new communities forming out of this first community. We hope to see a new gathering start soon in the area, with the same heart as ours but varying styles based on the leadership. And inside these communities we pray that God will be working his contagiously beautiful life in people. That we would see kids and adults, spiritually homeless people, coming alive to the love of God and showing the signs of that in their lives together.
Why us?
At the moment you are reading about Ty and Sare Soupidis, who planted Church on the Hill in 2013 in their lounge room.