History or EV part 2

  • Started with a core group, Feb 1996 with one other couple. 4 adults and two kids.
  • One of the costs of planting was that their children had to grow up in a youth group with no other Christians. Thankfully there's now 280+ youth.
  • Invited another 8 people, 6 said yes, the other 2 said no, but came 8 months later. Started as a Bible study in a lounge room.
  • We found the living room too awkward for people to bring their friends and so moved to a school room a few months later. Grew to 30 people there and then went public in August. 30 adults and 20 kids at launch.
  • Great publicity was given when the local bishop opposed them. This attracted ten more people: 'If he was against you, we figured you'd be alright!". Maybe a good strategy? :-)
  • At this time Andrew was still working part time ("one of the worst years of my life") - running a night church in Sydney with 250 people (weddings, growth groups etc).