Goolwa, the nearest town to the mouth of the Murray River, and one of the best places to see pelicans, will get a church plant from the SA-based Trinity Network, and the process has just begun. Matt and Annika Winter from Trinity Brighton in beachside Adelaide are moving south to live in Goolwa, joining Trinity Victor Harbor to plan, gather support, and plant the new church.
This family tree of the Trinity Network from an article by Trinity Network’s leader, Paul Harrington, shows that Victor Harbor is a granddaughter congregation of Trinity’s first church plant at Aldgate. So that will make Goolwa a great-great-granddaughter or great-great-grandson congregation of Trinity North Terrace.
“The Trinity Church Victor Harbor has been hoping to reach more people in Goolwa for a few years,” Matt Winter told The Other Cheek. “That’s what we’re doing it for. Reach people for Jesus in a fast-growing town. There are a number of attendees at Trinity Church, Victor Harbor, who live at Goolwa and are keen to get the new church going. I’m not sure on numbers yet. We’ll be focusing on trying to reach new people for the Gospel and building a church that’s welcoming with clear and accessible Bible teaching.
The Other Cheek asked Winter to tell us about himself: “I grew up with faithful example and teaching of parents, of the Uniting church I attended, and then benefited significantly from AFES ministry.” He graduated from Adelaide University, then “I worked for four years as a systems engineer. Felt like God opened some doors and listened to some wise counsel from a few people, and decided to do a ministry apprenticeship, which led to Bible College and then working as a pastor.”
Like several other Trinity pastors, Winter trained at the Bible College of SA, part of the Australian University of Theology.
Matt, Annika, and their children are moving to Goolwa early next year, “keen to get to know the town more. It’s a longer-term plan – so potentially a church starting in 2027 with things like the venue arranged [by then].”