Christian Reformed Church of Perth

CRC Perth Rural Outreach

View a DVD movie of the work  (14mb - 7 minutes)

This movie will be updated from time to time to keep you up to date with the progress of this mission.

Expressions of interest are invited for those living in rural and outback areas as to joining on line the 2011 catechism class led by Pastor Geoff van Schie as screened on the DVD. Just send us an email at pastor@crcperth.org.au and in the email subject field type 'Online Church Youth Education''

Expression of interest are also invited for those in rural and outback areas who would like to join in 2011 an online Bible fellowship group led by Pastor Geoff van Schie of CRC Perth. Just send us an email at pastor@crcperth.org.au and in the email subject field type Ónline Bible Fellowship''

Your prayers for this mission and especially for fellow Christians in the bush would be most appreciated, especially as the Wheatbelt Christian fellowship seeks to provide an ordained worker to help those in rural communities to reach the lost for Christ.

1.  INTRODUCTION

(a) Rural Towns Missions outreach

The Gospel outreach in the rural towns of the wheatbelt has by God’s grace been an exciting initiative of the CRC Perth as we were presented with an opportunity to pastorally support a few South African migrant families in Wongan Hills. This work began in March 2006 and has grown to now include Australian residents from a number of rural towns.

From the beginning we have had the support of Classis WA as it approved a proposal for the pastor of Perth to be dropped from the monthly Classis preaching roster and later when the timing of that swap and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper were altered to enhance the opportunities for the work to progress. By God’s grace this outreach has stabilized so that now when all the regulars are present we have a gathering of 17 adults and 5 children.

We have been invited by a further town (Dalwallinu) to lead an interdenominational fellowship there. Meetings after worship services at the end of March and June had more than 30 adults in attendance. These meetings concluded with an unanimous agreement that CRC Perth’s Wheatbelt Christian Fellowship initiative would have the full support of the local Christians present who would promote the initiative in their town. The local tourist centre in Dalwallinu invited us to lead a special Spring festival service on September 7^th at which about 100 local people were present. This service was put together by pastor Geoff van Schie and was an interdenominationally led service with local Christians who attended the special meetings leading in music, reading and prayers. Those present also called for a regular presence in town using the local recreation centre for pastor Geoff to conduct pastoral visits and as a base from which to conduct visits to outlying farms and towns (To begin in 2009 this would be envisaged to be fortnightly). It was asked that the future worship services also be in the recreational centre so people who may have fallen away from the local churches would not identify the Christian Wheatbelt Fellowship meetings with any one denomination in town and so it is hoped this will encourage disaffected people to attend who otherwise might not do so. This we have agreed to do beginning in 2009.

CRC Perth has reached the stage at the end of 2008 where the next step was taken in developing this mission to grow the mission further in Wongan Hills, Dalwallinu and further abroad. This next step has included the calling of a second minister (Rev. Reinier Noppers) who was installed on December 7^th and pastor Geoff van Schie was officially set aside for the rural mission.

Please click here if you want to visit the Wheatbelt Christian Fellowship website.

2.  Wheatbelt Vision and Mission Statements

The VISION is through an interdenominational community supported and led by an ordained minister of the CRCA to reach the rural towns and their related farms with the Gospel.

This vision realises that no one denomination can sustain a full time ministry when the largest towns are no more than 1,500 to 2,000 in population size – many towns are just 500-800. The last thing these towns need is yet another small church of 10 or fifteen people doing their own thing and splitting the ‘faith’ resources of the communities. What is needed is a gathering together of faithful Christians to nurture and encourage each other in their relationship with Christ and to effectively reach out with the Gospel to their communities in a united way.

In what is envisaged, each person if they desire, retains their denominational identity – that is, they will not need to become members of the CRCA. However the format of worship as to liturgy, sacraments and what is preached, will be according to CRCA Church Order and doctrine. The last two years at Wongan Hills (and more recently in Dalwallinu) has proven there are people from various denominational backgrounds who are willing to sit under Reformed preaching and leadership and who do want to reach their communities with the Gospel. This year (2008) we have in Wongan Hills begun to administer the Lord’s Supper without any problems, using the CRCA Green Book of Forms and admitting only faithful professing folk to the table just as we do in CRC Perth.

The immediate vision is to establish the first of these fellowships as a pilot program with a view Lord willing to move on and establish other such fellowships in neighbouring areas. Should it please the Lord to bless this work it is envisaged to eventually expand the work across the entire wheatbelt area of WA.

The MISSION is through the CRCA to gather rural Christians in an interdenominational fellowship to work as one in their communities for the extension of the Kingdom of God through the faithful collective proclamation of the Gospel.

This will include:

1.     Provision of an ordained minister from the CRCA to provide leadership in the pastoral care of those in rural towns and farms.

2.     Regular worships services in the towns led by this ordained minister

3.     Establishment of small groups in each town (support in the case of existing fellowship groups) for the purpose of faith nurture and outreach with the Gospel

4.     Pastoral visitation and care of those who join this interdenominational fellowship

5.     To spiritually and pastorally support children’s and youth living in remote areas

6.     Train and equip local people for leadership, mentoring and personal Gospel witnessing

Our GOALS in Christ and by His will and grace include:

1.     Provision of a ‘church planter’ to work in the rural area of the wheatbelt north east of Perth.

2.     Establish a network of towns and farms who together can support the ministry of a full time CRCA ordained minister

3.     Establish worship centres in strategic townships where people from various home groups in outlying townships can gather for worship to hear strong biblical preaching with practical application to life as it is experienced today.

4.     Via the internet to eventually provide live coverage of services to more remote towns, where those serviced in this way will be pastorally supported by a minister based in a central township. (This will depend on the roll out of broadband in the bush as per the government’s policy).

5.     To facilitate the development and support of local town home groups for personal spiritual growth and leadership training. Those with the gifts are to be trained to become leaders of these groups in the future.

6.     These home groups to be trained to become centres of pastoral care whereby each member of the group is responsible for the pastoral care of all the others. These home groups will then be the first port of call for the delivery of pastoral care. In cases where more experienced care needs to be provided, a centrally located minister will be at hand to meet any need the home group believes to be beyond their ability to cope with.

7.     The spiritual isolation of children to be cut through catechism classes conducted using the internet so that children hundreds of kilometres apart will meet each other using existing conferencing tools.

8.     Such home groups to be centres of outreach to their local areas by being ‘bridge building’ centres where relationships can be grown through which the unconverted in the local region can be introduced to Christ.

9.     Establishment of a regular ‘coffee/dinner’ ministry whereby fellowship members provide a non threatening context for the lost to meet the ordained minister with a view to follow up visitation in their own homes in the towns and on the farm

3.  The Fourfold Task

This is indeed a big ‘vision’ and at every point is guided by the CRCA’s fourfold task adopted by Synod 2006.

1.     CRC Perth supports this work in our prayers for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us as a congregation assured of God’s love to be the godly people He intends and to be filled with sacrificial compassion for the lost. A special prayer group has started up with this especially in mind both for the wheatbelt work as well as that work done in the local Perth area. This prayer group meets weekly and provides a prayer list in the weekly newsletter for the rest of the congregation to take up in their homes and other church gatherings (at the AGM on August 5^th by a show of hands it was indicated this is used by many in their personal prayer life).

2.     CRC Perth seeks to plant fellowship groups and interdenominational church fellowships in the wheatbelt as it also seeks to do in the local church.

3.     Intentional ministry development has been an ongoing work in CRC Perth in which we also hope to raise up leaders and this is a focus of the wheatbelt ministry for these rural home groups and worship centres.

4.     CRC Perth is restructuring the way it does ministry in the local church as an implementation of lessons drawn from CRC Perth leadership retreats led by Revds. Murray Capill  (Pastor Care’ and ‘Leadership Teams’).  The Wheatbelt ministry is evolving according to the lessons learned both from these retreats and the restructuring going on in CRC Perth.
A further part of the restructuring work has been  the calling of a second minister so as to enable the wheatbelt work to advance as well as in the immediate future to give more focus to local small group development and ministry formation training in the local church.