community that’s
authentic
Missional Communities
There are several Missional Communities living in NSW and Victoria (including Dubbo and Newcastle). These communities are made up of families and individuals who share life together and join with Jesus in growing faith, hope and love in their local neighbourhoods. Here are some glimpses of three communities, and the kind of things they’re involved in…
– Quick Links –
Bendigo | Orange | Swan Hill
Bendigo – Victoria
Bendigo came into being when the land that had recently been opened up to grazing, was discovered to be rich beyond imagination with alluvial gold sitting just under the soil. We hope the town’s beginnings are a small reflection of the life of our committed company – maybe not much to catch the eye on the outside, but a rich source of true goodness, love and life to anyone who scratched below the surface.
The Bendigo Committed Company began with 3 families moving into the suburb of Quarry Hill in January 2008, renting homes within a few hundred metres of each other, centred around the local primary school, and near to the university. We share life and resources together, working part-time in our trades and professions. We share a community garden and a commitment to being present in our neighbourhood in meaningful ways. Hospitality and shared meals are characteristic of our community. By simply building friendships, following the organic networks of relationships that form around us, and seeking to be a positive presence, we have increasingly found ourselves as a hub for our community of neighbours work colleagues, school families and various other friendships that have arisen through the particular shape of each of our lives. The events we organise – whether they be youth groups, craft groups, mothers groups, community garden times, live music nights, or our regular gatherings for follower’s of Jesus – are now simply the contexts in which our different relationships are grown, deepened and extended.
In it all, Jesus is enriching the life of the local neighbourhood, and the world is a little more like He intended it to be, even if some don’t initially recognise him. Along the way, many are re-evaluating their ideas of God, Jesus, life and faith, with some deciding to walk closer to Jesus themselves.
Get in Touch
Rose Vincent
Rose@cornerstone.edu.au
(00) 0000 0000
Bowen – Orange NSW
The Bowen Cornerstone Community formed in 2018 when three families moved into the same street in the suburb of Bowen, Orange. Through deliberate and genuine community, we seek to live out the rich, full life that Jesus gives us, and to share this good life with others.
We seek to live the culture of God’s reign by sharing life and resources. We work part-time in our professions, reserving Fridays to dream, scheme, do jobs and pray together. Weekly rhythms include Thursday breakfasts, prayer walks around the block, discipleship groups and Sunday gatherings with local Christians. Together we participate in the multicultural groups that welcome new migrants to Orange.
It is typically through hospitality and shared meals that friendships are fostered, and networks of friendships are formed. Events such as poetry and live music nights, fire buckets, reading the Bible stories at a park, and pancakes-in-the-park provide opportunities for people to taste the Kingdom of God, to belong before they believe.
For people who want to grow their relationship with God, we offer small discipleship groups, Cornerstone online studies and the Challenge of Jesus immersion experience.
Like Jesus, the Bowen missional community invites people to ‘come and see’.
Get in Touch
Steve Johnston
steve.johnston@cornerstone.edu.au
0439 491 363
Swan Hill – Vic
Living in a large ‘fruit-growing’ region of Australia has helped to appreciate the way that local farming, business & tourism must creatively adapt their practices amidst change, yet not lose the wisdom provided from a generation of pioneers. After more than ten years of providing discipleship training & community engagement in Swan Hill, we continue to look ahead to how we can respond to what God is doing in our host community.
Our Missional Community is a network of friends who intentionally share our time and resources to engage in submerged ministry; the process of ‘being amongst’ our neighbours, demonstrating to our host community in local schools, businesses, sporting clubs, churches and community groups that Jesus is ‘for’ them,‘with’ them, ‘in’ them, and ‘of’ them.
As teachers, farm workers, social workers, chaplains, mothers, fathers and students, we aim to make an authentic response to what we see God is already doing in the lives of others around us. Over the years this has taken the shape of providing mentoring in schools, hosting kids clubs, hospitality nights, leadership camps and supporting community enterprises that contribute to the welfare of the region. For the people in our lives who don’t yet enjoy harmony with God, we seek to help them discover how their story comes out of God’s story.