The main thing that Gladesville in Sydney and Glenorchy on the northern edge of Hobart have in common is alliteration. G-L-. And a need for gospel ministry. Prompted by someone at Bible College planting the idea of ministry in Tasmania, Martin Hughes left the bustling Christ Church Gladesville, an Anglican church that has a rich history of church planting, for the working-class district of Glenorchy.
It was not an overnight move. Hughes went through the Geneva Push (now reach Australia) assessment process for church planters and had to invent a side hustle to support himself, as this church plant was unlikely to be able to support him and his family anytime soon.
Hughes, keen on fitness, took the time to get himself certificates in personal training.
The Other Cheek got on to Martin Hughes from Reach Australia’s Executive Director Scott Sanders and Derek Hanna, their Director of Church Planting. They pointed to Hughes as an example of someone doing a “pioneer” church plant, one with more risk.
Some people might see the working-class district as a hard place to do a church plant. But Hughes points out that the busy-ness of people’s lives there also makes the inner suburbs of Sydney, where he grew up, also a tough place to do a church plant.
The Other Cheek asked Hughes, a Moore College grad, if he preached differently from at Gladesville after two years at Glenorchy and City North church: “There’s definitely a difference”, he responds. “There;’s less background knowledge. There’s not the vibrant youth ministry that you have in Sydney.
“Some people might call it simplistic, but I want people with no background knowledge of the Bible to understand what I am saying.
“There’s a lot of interjection because people are not used to church, not from everyone but from newcomers. It unsettles you a bit. If I ask a rhetorical question, it gets answered.
“It is a noisy area. If you go to places where people drink and do drugs, it is noisy with people yelling.
“If people have a problem, they won’t sit down and have a quiet cup of coffee. They will yell across the park, and a fight might happen.”
It was hard to find a place to have church. It was only two months before their launch that the team found the golden years club. “It had its heyday back in the eighties. It was closed due to Covid because most of the people who came there were elderly. They said they were happy to let us use it on Sundays for $100 a week.”
It’s very different from the pictures of Church plants in cool buildings, and Hughes was worried that the tired decor would put people off. Hughes’ deception of the club having its heyday in the eighties seems to apply to the decor. But it works. “But they love it.” And a joyous team bumps in and out each Sunday. Hughes saw the London Hillsong meeting in a theatre, reputedly the largest bump in and out operation in the world, as an inspiration and has built a team that is just as keen as those Londoners.
Asked to describe City North, Hughes finds the word “welcoming.” They have a welcoming team, but the church as a whole does it as well. They get many locals checking them out. But little transfer growth. “We are in a tough area; people don’t want to come here. It is too great a church hop.”
He’s found that some other things are different in this church plant.
“The top rule or one of the main rules about church plants is that you become financially self-sufficient. But City North can’t do that.”
Asked if he thinks there needs to be more church planting in tough areas, Hughes says that people need to go where God calls them. He is grateful for Gladesville. “If you are a new high school teacher, which is what I used to be, you are best to go to a school with established teachers who have been there ten years. I got that at Christ Church, with every team member helped to do their job.”
“Don’t look laterally,” he says. He means you should not compare your ministry to others. He emphasises the point, saying it does actual harm.
He hopes to plant a church from City North, with a minister to come through the Reach Australia system.
City North church’s website can be found here.
Image: City North church at Golden Years Club. Credit: City North Facebook