We took the long trip to Australia to celebrate our partnership with City on Hill.
Guy and Vanessa Mason planted City on a Hill Melbourne ten years ago. In that period of time they have grown to a network of five churches. Spanish River Church has partnered on two of these plants with hopes of continuing the planting partnership to start many other churches throughout Australia.
Our first stop in Australia was to Brisbane. We were visiting with Dave and Rowena Meirs.
They are celebrating their first year planting City on a Hill Brisbane. This church has already experienced amazing growth, their attendance is at 150 for their Sunday morning worship service. They also have eight gospel communities meeting weekly.
City on a Hill Brisbane is blessed to have some amazing lay leaders in their church. We had the privilege to meet with many of them during our time in Brisbane. On our first night in the city we attended a meeting called “Introducing Jesus”. This is a gathering for church members to bring their unsaved friends to hear a short message and to ask questions. The meeting was held in a Italian restaurant close to downtown Brisbane, and there were about 30 people in attendance. The next day we visited a gospel community (small group) in downtown Brisbane. Dave’s vision is to start as many of these groups as he is able to raise up leaders.
Our next stop in Australia was in Melbourne.
Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia, but quickly catching up to Sydney. City on a Hill Melbourne is trying to keep pace by planting several churches in the Melbourne area. We arrived on a Saturday morning and went directly to a local park, where the church was celebrating with a family picnic. It was very encouraging to see all the young families and more seasoned members as well.
The celebration service on Sunday was held at the historic Melbourne Town Hall. The Hall was built in 1870 and is located downtown Melbourne. The service opened with several testimonies and the opportunity to celebrate what God has done in the the lives of hundreds of people in the church. Guy Mason preached a powerful message that not only celebrated the last ten years, but gave a great vision for the future of City on a Hill. The service ended with about 25 people getting baptized, including one young lady whose story you can read here.
The rest of the time in Melbourne was spent meeting with the lead pastors of all the congregations, and visiting the location of the newest church plant in East Melbourne.
We are excited to see all that God is doing through City on a Hill. It’s a great privilege to partner with them in their church planting ministry. To learn more about City on a Hill, watch a video of the celebration service here.