About

HOW IT BEGAN

Our connection to Australia began with Jim’s visit to Sydney in the Summer of 1993.  He was leading a short-term missions team to Papua New Guinea when they had a week-long layover in the “Land-Down-Under.”  But, that one brief week made an indelible impression on him to consider many future ministry possibilities.  Throughout these past years, God has been shaping and molding those thoughts into a specific vision for His Kingdom, and how we may serve Him in that plan as church-planters.

OUR STORY

Jim grew up in California.  He majored in economics in college, and worked for several years in the finance and banking industry until called to ministry.  Since entering ministry in ’92, he has actively served in large and small churches in various capacities (children, youth, college, education department, missions, etc.).  He has also served in a university campus ministry for over ten years and mobilized, trained, and led many on short-term missions (to Kenya, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand).  Jim went to Westminster Seminary California where he received M.Div., and is a minister with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

Claudia grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil until age 15.  She then moved to New York, New Jersey, and finally to California where she met Jim.  Claudia studied child and adolescent development in college, and taught elementary students in Long Beach Unified School District.  She speaks four language (English, Portuguese, Spanish, and a bit of Korean).

Jim and Claudia have been married since 1998, and were commissioned to Australia in 2006 through Mission to the World (MTW).  In 2010 July, after 12 years of marriage, the Lord granted them a precious daughter Eleanor.

OUR VISION

“Our Vision is to plant and serve a dynamically reformed evangelical church community in Sydney that is relevant to its contemporary, diverse in the inclusion of its people, and committed to the Great Commission mandate.”

This new church-plant will be Christ-centered and Gospel-driven, foster thoughtful believers, raise able leaders through discipleship and ministry trainings, spawn other church-plants, and commission many Christian workers to the Asia-Pacific nations.  We desire to be a strategic and effective tool in God’s hand to take part in the remaining work of the Gospel ministry in Austral-Asia.

A Closer Look at the Vision

Our Vision…  We personally and with great joy embrace this vision as God’s providential calling in our lives.  Inwardly and outwardly, the Lord has made known to us His desire to redeem His own in and through Sydney, Australia and Asia.

To Plant and Serve…  There are at least two ways to plant multiple churches.  One way is for particular church planters to raise a church in one area, then move on to plant the next one elsewhere, then the next, etc..  Another way is to plant a strong resourceful parent church that will train, equip and launch multiple church planters with the same vision to do likewise.  We are of the second stock.  We will seek to build wide, not up.

Dynamically Reformed Evangelical…  Why not just be non-denominational or inter-denominational?  This is a well meaning question in the midst of many denominational splits and lack of unified voice in the Christian community.  I truly empathize with this regretful and often sinful reality.  However, even non-denominational and inter-denominational churches stand to be distinguished from traditional denominations.  They are saying what they are not, but not what they are.  Having a doctrinal and theological position is to plainly communicate what the church believes, and how the leaders will be serving its people.  We are evangelical in our commitment to the Scriptures and redemptive mission; we also value our fellowship with other evangelicals.  We are also Reformed, connected to the historic faith that sees the Bible as a living unit of redemptive promises and fulfillments between God and His people.  It is a wonderful heritage of faith for a rootless, drifting postmodern society.  However, static traditionalism can hide the beauty of the Gospel; therefore, we are also committed to the ongoing work of the reformation, transforming and being transformed according to the pure standard of God’s Word.

Church Community…  Church is the gathering (ekklesia) of the called-people (qahar) of God.  It is a community of God’s families (oikos).  It is not just a building or an organizational institution.  It is an organic entity, with all of human dilemmas and triumphs.  We will seek to minister God’s grace to our eternal family members by loving, teaching, admonishing, counseling, laughing, living, visiting, helping, crying, sharing, waiting, celebrating, praying, and hoping.  The Church is indeed primarily about worship and mission, but not limited to a narrow definition of them.  We desire to minister to the full breadth of Christian living, from Sunday through Saturday.

In Sydney…  Sydney is a brave new world city, poised in the heart of the East.  It is an exciting, emerging, and important city.  It is also becoming a hub of the Eastern-Western commerce and culture.  There is some evangelical church presence now, yet hardly enough to make a significant difference, and the statistics for church attendance is steadily declining.  Therefore, our goal is to join the existing Christian churches of Australia in praying and working for the revival of the land.  We hope our new church plant will add to the vitality and spiritual momentum of this strategic land.

Relevant…  When Luther translated the Bible into modern vernacular at the time, it was a big controversy; but  we benefit from his sensible action even today.  We are not seeking to be hip or cool, or use gimmicks and sensationalism.  Rather, we simply want to be sensible and sensitive to the people of our own generation, our contemporary.  We want to communicate using modern words and grammar, minus the pomp and faddish slangs; we want to use the available technology when helpful; we want to employ and encourage creativity and innovation; we want beautiful and skillful worship music; and we want to deal with real and contemporary issues in the lives of our brothers and sisters.

Diverse…  This can be a sensitive issue for some, resisted by others, and embraced by a few.  However, there is no debate that the Kingdom of Heaven will include people from all tongue, tribe, and nation.  Shall we be segregated until then?  I believe that the only biblical basis for separate worship is when language is confused.  But, since our ministry will be in English, the new lingua-franca, we hope to dialogue with the general population of Australia and Sydney residents.  The flip-side of such openness is an unhealthy agenda to include every kind of people, an ecclesiastical affirmative action of sort.  However, a more sensible way is to teach and promote unprejudiced compassion, model it in evangelism and staffing decisions, and just let the people share the Gospel to those around their lives and bring to the fold of the church.  The Gospel is still shared from faith to faith, whenever and wherever the Holy Spirit leads.

Great Commission Mandate…  What leads us to the new land, to plant a church there, and to evangelize will not only be taught at the new church, but characterize the very faith and identity.  Dr. James Kennedy, of Evangelism Explosion, calls the Great Commission Mandate of Matthew 28:19,20, “His last command… our first concern.”  We believe with all of our hearts the urgency of the call unto faith, to be reconciled to God, for the day of salvation is here, and Christ will come soon.  This sense of redemptive urgency will ring throughout our church’s emphasis on evangelism, church-planting endeavors, and foreign missions.